Lockpicking is exactly what it sounds like: the skill of getting through locked doors and into locked chests without a key. It belongs to the Stealth category and is boosted by The Thief Stone, the guardian stone that speeds up all thieving skills. A higher skill makes the lock’s sweet spot more forgiving, so you break fewer picks and open hard locks with less fiddling.
Unlike in some older Elder Scrolls games, nothing stops a novice from trying a Master lock – you just need patience and a pile of lockpicks. That makes the skill useful from the very first dungeon. It is a natural partner for Sneak and Pickpocket, and anyone heading into the Thieves Guild will be using it constantly.
How Lockpicking works
The minigame
Every lock has a hidden sweet spot. You rotate the lockpick to a position and turn the lock with the other control; the closer the pick is to the sweet spot, the further the lock turns. If you force it in the wrong position, the pick takes strain and eventually breaks. Lock difficulty runs from Novice through Apprentice, Adept and Expert up to Master, and harder locks have a much narrower sweet spot.
What the skill and perks change
Your skill level and the tier perks widen the margin for error, making the sweet spot easier to find and picks less likely to snap. Some locks can only be opened with a key and cannot be picked at all, no matter how skilled you are.
Raising the skill
The skill improves when you successfully pick a lock, and harder locks give more experience than easy ones. Picking a lock is a crime if someone sees you doing it to a door or container that is not yours, so check your surroundings first – or take the perk that removes the problem.
Lockpicking perk tree
The Lockpicking tree has 11 perks with 11 ranks in total. Required levels are the Lockpicking skill level needed for each rank.
| Perk | Ranks | Skill level | Requires | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Novice Locks | 1 | 0 | – | Novice locks are much easier to pick. |
| Apprentice Locks | 1 | 25 | Novice Locks | Apprentice locks are much easier to pick. |
| Quick Hands | 1 | 40 | Apprentice Locks | Able to pick locks without being noticed. |
| Adept Locks | 1 | 50 | Apprentice Locks | Adept locks are much easier to pick. |
| Wax Key | 1 | 50 | Quick Hands | Automatically gives you a copy of a picked lock's key if it has one. |
| Golden Touch | 1 | 60 | Adept Locks | Find more gold in chests. |
| Treasure Hunter | 1 | 70 | Golden Touch | 50% greater chance of finding special treasure. |
| Expert Locks | 1 | 75 | Adept Locks | Expert locks are much easier to pick. |
| Locksmith | 1 | 80 | Expert Locks | Pick starts close to the lock opening position. |
| Master Locks | 1 | 100 | Expert Locks | Master locks are much easier to pick. |
| Unbreakable | 1 | 100 | Locksmith | Lockpicks never break. |
Perk guide
Lockpicking has a small tree, and many players get by with only a few points in it. The question is how much you value convenience versus perks in combat skills.
The tier perks. Novice Locks, Apprentice Locks (25), Adept Locks (50), Expert Locks (75) and Master Locks (100) each make their lock tier much easier to pick. In practice, the early ones matter least because Novice and Apprentice locks are already easy. If you are picking perks sparingly, these are mainly the road to the more interesting perks.
Quick Hands (40) lets you pick locks without being noticed, which is valuable for burglars working in occupied houses and shops. Wax Key (50) automatically gives you a copy of a lock’s key after you pick it, if that lock has a key. It saves you from picking the same door twice and quietly fills your inventory with keys to places you will want to revisit.
Golden Touch (60) means more gold in chests, and Treasure Hunter (70) gives a 50% greater chance of finding special treasure. Both are pleasant over a long playthrough rather than game-changing.
Locksmith (80) starts your pick close to the opening position, which makes almost every lock trivial, and Unbreakable (100) makes lockpicks never break. If you invest heavily in this skill, these two are the real payoff – but by the time you reach 100 you will probably have more lockpicks than you will ever use.
A sensible thief’s route is Novice, Apprentice, Quick Hands and Wax Key, then Adept and onward only if you have perk points to spare. Pure warriors and mages can often skip the tree entirely.
How to level Lockpicking fast
- Pick every lock you see. Dungeons are full of locked chests and gates; the experience adds up quickly simply by never walking past one.
- Prefer hard locks. Expert and Master locks give far more experience per lock than easy ones, so bring spare picks and take the challenge.
- Buy lockpicks in bulk. Blacksmiths, general traders and fences sell them cheaply; a large stock lets you practise without worrying about breakages.
- Train with Vex. Vex of the Thieves Guild in Riften trains up to Master level; Khajiit caravan traders Ma’jhad and Ra’zhinda train up to Expert.
- Read the skill books. Books such as Advances in Lockpicking and The Locked Room each give a free skill point.
- Use the Thief Stone. If Lockpicking is part of a stealth build, the Thief Stone speeds it up along with Sneak and Pickpocket.
Trainers
| Trainer | Trains up to | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Ma'jhad | Expert (up to 75) | |
| Ra'zhinda | Expert (up to 75) | |
| Vex | Master (up to 90) |
Each trainer can teach up to five levels per character level, and training costs more gold the higher your skill is.
Lockpicking skill books
Reading each of these books for the first time raises Lockpicking by one level:
Tips and notes
- Quick Hands is easily overlooked, but it turns daylight burglary from a gamble into a routine chore.
- Wax Key only works on locks that actually have a key somewhere in the world; for locks without one, you will be picking them again next time.
- The Thieves Guild Armor set includes gear that boosts Lockpicking, making it a natural fit for guild members.
- Lockpicking is often called the weakest tree in the game because skill alone already makes most locks manageable – which is good news if you just want the locks open and your perks elsewhere.
Perk tree, required levels and trainer levels from the Skyrim LE 1.9 master files (AVIF AVLockpicking, PERK and CLAS records).
