Lockpicks and the Lockpicking Skill

If you have not met the lock puzzle yet, read the lockpicking guide first — it covers the plates, the seven holes, and why every pin has to reach the centre (slot 4). This page is about the two resources around that puzzle: the picks themselves and the skill that protects them.

Where to get lockpicks

Lockpicks are consumable items, and the early game is stingy with them, so it pays to gather every one you can:

• Buy them from traders. Several merchants stock lockpicks — the traders around the Old Camp marketplace are the most reliable early source. Picks are cheap individually, so buy in bulk whenever you pass a vendor who carries them.
• Loot them. Picks turn up in containers, on bodies, and as scattered world loot. Searching thoroughly in the camps and mines is usually enough to keep a working supply.
• Keep a buffer. Because a careless move can snap a pick instantly, never walk up to an important chest with only one or two. A dozen is a comfortable cushion for the harder locks if you are solving by hand.

The surest way to make picks last, of course, is to never make a wrong move — which is exactly what the solver is for. A computed sequence never pushes a pin off an edge, so it cannot break a pick no matter your skill.

What the lockpicking skill actually changes

A common misconception is that a low lockpicking skill makes chests unsolvable. It does not. The alignment puzzle has the same answer at every skill level; what training changes is your margin for error — how many strained or wrong moves a pick can absorb before it snaps, and what happens when one does.

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The skill tiers

Lockpicking is trained in tiers, the same way other Gothic skills are. The broad effect of each step up is more forgiveness at the lock:

• Untrained. Picks are fragile and a single bad move tends to end the attempt. At this level a wrong sequence is genuinely expensive, so it is the level where planning your moves — or using the solver — saves the most picks.
• Trained. A pick can take several strains before it breaks (around four), and a break no longer resets the lock — so you can keep working the same chest after losing a pick instead of starting the whole sequence over.
• Master. Picks tolerate even more strain (around six), and a broken pick actually removes one of the lock's connections, simplifying the puzzle rather than just costing you the pick. At this tier the web of linked plates can shrink as you work.

Treat the exact strain counts as guidance rather than gospel — the takeaway that matters is the direction: more skill means more wrong moves survived, and at the top a break helps you instead of hurting you.

One subtle consequence at Master

Because a broken pick at Master level deletes a connection, the lock in front of you can change mid-attempt. If you are following a sequence and a pick snaps, re-read the lock before continuing: a plate that used to drag two others may now move alone. If you are using the solver, just re-enter the new connection map and solve again — it takes seconds and guarantees the rest of the sequence is still valid.

The fastest way to stop wasting picks

Skill helps, but the cheapest pick is the one you never break. Two habits do most of the work:

1. Map the connections before you commit.Most broken picks come from a chain reaction you didn't see — a linked pin shoved off the edge. Knowing the wiring first removes the surprise.
2. Let the solver plan the route. Enter your lock and connections and follow the step-by-step sequence. Because it only ever moves pins within slots 1–7, it physically cannot tell you to make the move that snaps a pick.