Skyrim: Pros & Cons Of Leveling Lockpicking Skill Tree

Locks are the barrier between the Dragonborn and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s best loot, and the Lockpicking skill is the way to bypass that barrier. More than just a way to open locked chests, the skill also presents a way to avoid dangerous obstacles, open hidden pathways, and access powerful items earlier in the game. It can even be used to circumvent entire parts of some of the game’s quests.

Lock picking in Skyrim consists of a minigame that occurs any time the player wishes to crack open a lock. Locks adorn many of the game’s chests, doors, houses, strongboxes, and safes. The process requires at least one lockpick, and higher-level locks may take several attempts to successfully pick. Failed attempts will result in broken lockpicks. Without any lockpicks in the player’s inventory, the lockpicking minigame cannot be initiated.

The Unbreakable perk does stop lockpicks from breaking, but many players just keep Skyrim’s Skeleton Key on hand after progressing far enough during the Thieves Guild questline. This artifact is literally an unbreakable lockpick in and of itself. The Skeleton Key is also the only Daedric Artifact in the game that’s directly tied to a guild. As such, any player who undertakes the Thieves Guild will eventually come into contact with it. It must be discarded in order to complete the guild’s story properly, but it’s arguably better to just hold onto it. Its benefits usually outweigh the rewards for returning it to the Twilight Sepulcher.

There are thousands of locks to be picked throughout The Elder Scrolls V. Whether it’s burgling an NPC’s home in Whiterun, opening a sealed container buried deep within a crypt, or disarming a trap set by a territorial Falmer, there are many opportunities to use the skill. The ubiquity of its uses makes Lockpicking a good investment for any players looking to spend their perk points. Practically every dungeon has a locked chest, and even pure fighter or mage builds can benefit from the loot hidden within. By comparison, other rogue skills like Speech, Pickpocketing, and Alchemy in Skyrim aren’t worth leveling.

NPCs can resist poisons and detect pickpocket attempts, whereas a lock will never alert the guard or attack back. For the risk-aversive thief, lockpicking is the safer gamble. It’s an easy way to make money early in the game, with many chests and NPC homes hiding valuable gold for the taking, as well as any loot to later be fenced. More valuable than gold, Skyrim’s locked chests often hide powerful items. These could be staves, scrolls, jewelry, or other various high-level weapons and armor. In Skyrim’s early game, this kind of powerful gear can make all the difference - especially if the player hasn’t invested in crafting skills like Smithing and Enchanting.

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