Lockpicking

UTG_Zilla · June 2015

Normally this is very easy for me on ES games but really tough on eso, anyone got good tips?

skwake · June 2015

I watched a youtube vid and nailed it next try, all about the timing. But It is gonna suck on the more difficult locks thats for sure

Syntse · June 2015

Practice... it is pretty easy in ESO too. Not much tips can be given.

Zenzuki · June 2015

I'd like to know this too! First time in an ES game that I'm having such a hard time with LP.

Tadhg_Longhouse · June 2015

Learn that each pin can stop at 3 different locations: First quarter down. Half way and at the bottom.

Knowing this, be ready at each stage to release the button as soon as it starts to jiggle.

It changes if you exit and try again but during an attempt all the pins stay the same so if you miss the first time remember when it missed and that will be your sweet spot to stop.

You should almost constantly be holding down a pin, stopping only to lock it in place or switching pins. You get about half a second to lock it once it starts jiggling, but the pick can break during this time. The quicker you stop when it jiggles the less likely you'll break picks.

Remember pins can be locked in any order, so start on whatever pin you start at and work your way from there.

If you're fast a master chest will give you enough time for one or two mistakes and still open. Again, you need to be constantly pressing pins without breaks.

This is from my experience on the PC. I'm not sure how the controls for console work but I would hope they are similar enough this helps.

daemonios · June 2015

Unless you have huge latency, it's rather easy. Listen to the cue of each tumbler, they rattle when they reach the right spot and you need to stop pushing then or you'll break your pick. There's also a visual cue but I find it easier to listen to the rattling. Also, there are only 3 possible. "sweet spots" and they're the same for all tumblers. Other than that... practice makes perfect

TheShadowScout · June 2015

Most locks give you enough time to do each tumbler twice - once to check where its position is, once to lock it to that position. Push down, note where it gets jiggly, release, half the time you might do it in time with a bit of practice, and the times when you don't, push down again, and knowing exactly when to let go now will make success all the more easier.

When I started, I had trouble too, but after months playing and lots of practice, I now usually even open master locks on the first try...

Qyrk · June 2015

Just advice for new players, definitely start the legerdemain skill line (justice system) as you can utilise points towards the skill that increases percentages for "forcing locks". Later on in the game, you'll probably be tired of doing the locks, therefore forcing locks open come in handy with a couple of buttons to make chest opening easier and faster (it is a percentage so it is not always 100%).

Tadhg_Longhouse · June 2015

Qyrk wrote: »

Just advice for new players, definitely start the legerdemain skill line (justice system) as you can utilise points towards the skill that increases percentages for "forcing locks". Later on in the game, you'll probably be tired of doing the locks, therefore forcing locks open come in handy with a couple of buttons to make chest opening easier and faster (it is a percentage so it is not always 100%).

You can do this if you find picking that hard. But I can usually pop any lock within 10 seconds so the force lock skill is a waste for me. Low level players would have higher priorities for their skill points I'd think. There is no wrong way to play the game though.

Frawr · June 2015

It;s just practice.

Force lock will be an irrelevant skill once you have had some practice.

You will reach the point where even a master lock can easily be done in the default time available.

Danikat · June 2015

I didn't like it at first. I wasn't a big fan of it in Oblivion which used tumblers but didn't have a timer, I prefer the Skyrim system with turning the lock.

The biggest thing that helped me was to realise that most of the time you have far more time than you need, so you can ignore the timer. Otherwise it's just wasting time by distracting you and causing you to panic.

Other than that it's just practice. Learning where it can stop and how to recognise the jiggle animation, when to let go and start that tumbler over to avoid breaking your pick and sometimes when to give up because it's highly unlikely what's in the chest is worth the time it's taking you to pick it.

Merlin13KAGL · June 2015

A few things:

Don't start in the middle. Pick an end and move one direction only, forward or back - you'll be less likely to fumble that way.
Learn about a tumbler first. If you don't lock it in place, you at least have a rough idea of where it needs to stop. Try, at most, a second time, then move on.
Along with the step above, don't linger. Keep moving always. If you can't nail a tumbler right away, go to another one. You'll have more success learning the position (and likely locking into place) the remaining four tumblers and then coming back than if you spend 80% of time on one tumbler with no knowledge of the remaining positions.
Quick tap. When you hear and see the rattle, remove your finger from the button for a split second. It will often be enough to back it off without a full restart at the top. Think of the motion like trying to keep a car from rolling down a hill while you're also running out of gas...let up for a second and resume.
Don't focus the countdown bar. It won't help you and will likely get you more flustered than you already were. You either open it in time, or you don't. No bonus items or points for having more/less time remaining.
Don't sweat the broken picks - it doesn't burn as much time as you think it does. Again, it's there to get you rattled.

After a while, you'll be doing Master level chests with half your time remaining and you'll never recall why you had such trouble before.

UTG_Zilla · June 2015

Thanks guys, I guess I got too used to skyrim locks, I could Lockpick master locks in like 5 seconds on skyrim, but they totally kick my ass here but I haven't done much practice on it, only seen few chests. Thanks for tips tho

YDdraigDdu · June 2015

Yeah it's just a matter of muscle-memory practice. After I had done a few hundred of them I could almost do it without looking at the screen. Think of it like riding a bike or driving a car - sure it takes a while to learn but eventually you do those things without even thinking about it. Good luck.

AlnilamE · June 2015

Practice definitely helps. Once you get the hang of it, they are really easy.

I actually preferred Oblivion's system to Skyrim's, so I was happy to see ESO go "back" in that respect.

Nestor · June 2015

Best advice I ever saw about Lockpicking and I now spread it around

Do not look at the Pins, look at the Springs. They jiggle long before the pin does.

nastuug · June 2015

Nestor wrote: »

Best advice I ever saw about Lockpicking and I now spread it around

Do not look at the Pins, look at the Springs. They jiggle long before the pin does.

This.

SirAndy · June 2015

It takes a while to get used to it but once you figure it out, it becomes easy. I rarely ever break a lockpick these days days and even master level chests aren't any problem anymore.

If you watch the pin you can see it just starting to wiggle a little right before you're at the right spot. That's when you release the pick. It also changes sounds at the same time, so both the sound and wiggle are clues to release the pick.

nine9six · June 2015

I never noticed the timer before, if that tells you anything. I'll look for it when I get home.

Pick a few locks and the next thing you know you'll get ever pin on the first shot. Takes seconds.

Pheefs · June 2015

SirAndy wrote: »

If you watch the pin you can see it just starting to wiggle a little right before you're at the right spot.

yes, watch for the wiggle!

O.O

Chuggernaut · June 2015

I actually hope LP is changed to this in Fallout: IV

Eventide · June 2015

Nestor wrote: »

Best advice I ever saw about Lockpicking and I now spread it around

Do not look at the Pins, look at the Springs. They jiggle long before the pin does.

I have to agree with this. As a deaf player, this (and experience lockpicking in Oblivion) really helps.

BigM · June 2015

Tadhg_Longhouse wrote: »

Learn that each pin can stop at 3 different locations: First quarter down. Half way and at the bottom.

Knowing this, be ready at each stage to release the button as soon as it starts to jiggle.

It changes if you exit and try again but during an attempt all the pins stay the same so if you miss the first time remember when it missed and that will be your sweet spot to stop.

You should almost constantly be holding down a pin, stopping only to lock it in place or switching pins. You get about half a second to lock it once it starts jiggling, but the pick can break during this time. The quicker you stop when it jiggles the less likely you'll break picks.

Remember pins can be locked in any order, so start on whatever pin you start at and work your way from there.

If you're fast a master chest will give you enough time for one or two mistakes and still open. Again, you need to be constantly pressing pins without breaks.

This is from my experience on the PC. I'm not sure how the controls for console work but I would hope they are similar enough this helps.

Yep nailed it, they also say you can hear like a rumble, but with my logitech headphones to this day on PC I have never heard it but am old.

UTG_Zilla · June 2015

Okay okay....I feel dumb and feel free to laugh....
I didn't know about letting go of depression trigger to lock picks in place..
I skipped the tutorial lol..when it came up I thought "tutorial? I've been lock picking in elder scrolls for 10+ years I don't need a tutorial! How dare you!". Now I regret my haste lol. So thanks not a lot but A TON! Lol

UrQuan · June 2015

UTG_Zilla wrote: »

Okay okay....I feel dumb and feel free to laugh....
I didn't know about letting go of depression trigger to lock picks in place..
I skipped the tutorial lol..when it came up I thought "tutorial? I've been lock picking in elder scrolls for 10+ years I don't need a tutorial! How dare you!". Now I regret my haste lol. So thanks not a lot but A TON! Lol

You must unlearn what you have learned.

Seriously, when it comes to game mechanics there is a lot that's different in ESO from previous TES games. Now that you know how to do the lockpicking, with just a little bit of practice you'll start finding it super easy. I actually think it's a lot easier than it was in previous games. I only ever break a pick or fail to open a lock when I'm really not paying any attention to what I'm doing. That's not a boast about how great I am at it either - I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of players who've picked more than just a handful of locks would say the same.

Zusia211 · June 2015

I am not a huge fan of this lockpicking switch but it isn't terrible. Just mainly need to push it down till right before it starts to shake, at least from what I seen that is what works. Picks don't break to easy so usually just a trial and error thing.

nimander99 · June 2015

There's only a few actual rotations of tumbler locations, I would like to see this made more difficult tbh.

Amsel_McKay · June 2015

Its really easy if you know the 3 locations that it can be at. I dont even need to hear or see the spring wiggle anymore just hold it down to the 3 points and pull up quickly to test if it was the right one.

UTG_Zilla · June 2015

Yea I'm sure it's easy one I get practice in. But that's really the hard part, don't really see any chests (not really looking hard for them tho) and usually when I do there's some peeps around but thanks all for tips/tricks

UrQuan · June 2015

UTG_Zilla wrote: »

Yea I'm sure it's easy one I get practice in. But that's really the hard part, don't really see any chests (not really looking hard for them tho) and usually when I do there's some peeps around but thanks all for tips/tricks

You can also practice on locked doors in cities, but if someone sees you you'll get a bounty, so it's a little bit risky.

UTG_Zilla · June 2015

Yea, I'm just starting out too so I don't wanna get any bounties yet, just saving up gold right now, lil upset about no jail. It's either pay or wait like 1g off bounty/minute