Lock-picking the easy way
Ok so lets say that you haven't done the quest yet to get the Skeleton Key. You need a way to get past those locked doors and into those locked chests. Well I was having a nightmare with lock-picking (I'm only a 19 in Security) until I realised something. Now some of you out there will go "dur, yeah of course that's how it works" but I've discussed this with a few people in my friends list and none of them had sussed it so I supposed there must be more poeple out there who haven't. Also what I write here is what I have found to work for me. I can't guarantee it will work for anyone else but I'll share the knowledge and you can all try it for yourselves! The first thing to realise is that lock-picking relies on pushing the pins up and getting them to lock into place. This relies on pressing the A button (Xbox 360 version of course) when the pin is as high as it will get, and this needs to be done at different times depending on how strong the spring is (different spring strengths mean that the pins move at different speeds and therefore the A button needs to be pressed at different times). Right that's the easy bit out of the way. This whole process becomes far more simple when you realise that the strength of the spring is randomised each time you move the pin (and not just set for each pin). There is one particular setting of strength which means that the pin will move much slower (relatively speaking) and these are the ones that you need to find. It means that you need to have fairly good reactions and also not be drawn in if you're not happy with the speed of the pin. I always start at the right-most pin (I don't know if you have to or not, that's just how I do it) and I keep pushing the pin up until it moves at the slow speed and then I lock it in. Then move to the next left pin, rinse and repeat. To give you some idea of how successful I've found this, before I used this method I would break around 6-8 picks per lock. Since I've been using this method I've picked around 12 locks and not broken a single pick. I never press the button if I'm not happy as I'd rather save the pick and try again. Like I say it might not work for everyone but I've found it helps me…
Hi there,
I have a real problem with lock picking. I find it a silly little micro-game that I could do without. That said there is no avoiding it. It annoys me so much trying to pick the locks that some times I just auto attempt breaking tons of pick in the process to avoid having to do the work myself.
this leads to my question for posting…where do you buy more picks? When I was trying to join the Thieves Guild the guy would sell them to me for 5gp….now I cant get them…where can you buy picks?
Is there a solution to having to pick locks. I have spells to break locks but i’m too low a level to use them!!!!
Cheers,
Justin.
I’m fairly sure that some of the vendors sell them and only in small quantities so when they’re gone, they’re gone. I’ve found recently that if you can get to Skingrad and get into some of the instanced dungeons around the city, the goblins tend to carry quite a few (I think I’ve looted about 20 from one medium sized dungeon alone) so this is a good place to pick them up.
you can also buy picks from fences
lockpicking the easy way - go get yourself a skeleton key
Hi there,
I’ll stop annoying people after this post I promise
Where do you start the quest to find the skeleton key? I would imagine it is quite involved if it renders every lock in the game useless??!!??
Cheers,
Justin.
nope its easy. good luck
where do you start the quest from…is it a guild quest?
Yo Monkey - your method of picking locks is pretty much the same as mine - only you’re better at articulating it than me.
Hey - in addition to the slow spring, you can hear an extra ‘ting’ when you got the right spot. Pick with your eyes closed a few rotations and you will hear it distinctly. You will also note that they are repeating patterns.
Once you start learning the patterns, notice that each difficulty has the same or nearly so tumbler settings. Most of the mid level locks are Short-Long-Short-Long. Time it on the long for each tumbler and your done. There are longer patterns on the harder locks. S-L-S-L-S-S-L etc.
I routinely break a few picks, but only because I get impatient. Carry as many as you can find and locks fade into the background of the game.
Good luck
and you suck!
DOES ANYONE KNOW WHERE THE QUEST TO KIND THE SKELETON KEY STARTS/ENDS ETC…..OR WAS SOMEONE ULLING MY LEG!
I HATE LOCK PICKING…..IT MAKES ME WANT TO SMASH MY SCREEN!!
you too
To do the skeleton key quest you need to find the Shrine of Nocturnal. See article at http://oblivion.gamewikis.org/wiki/Shrine_of_Nocturnal
I just do a save game, auto-attempt…if it breaks more than 2-3 then I reload and try again….eventually the auto-attempt gets it first time…jobs a goodun!
I got the Skeleton key at last!!!! I’ll never have to hear the sound of a broken pick again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
There is a guy right outside the imperial city . If you walk around the walls of it you will see him named Shady Sam. He sells lockpicks.
Hey everyone. I too am just working on the thieves quest guild (after I have beaten the: Dark Brotherhood, Mages Guild, and Arena), and I also was having a hard time finding picks.
Any of the fences will usually have 100 picks on them to sell, now that is what I use.
When I previously had no picks, and needed one to continue I was forced to cast the open easy lock spell hundreds of times at a door, to get my alteration level high enough to use the Open Hard Lock spell.
Now that I have picks I am back to using them, only to get my security level up.
Does anyone know where to buy the open very hard locks spell? E-mail me at msdoran@hotmail.com
Another way would be to just get Open Easy Lock as a spell, cast it an insane number of times on an Average Lock (or higher), levelling your Alteration to 75 and then creating Open Very Hard as a spell, in the Arcane University. At that time, each cast, of the Locksplitter spell (as I’ve called it) is about 100 mana. Being a Breton with good Willpower, I can regen that back reasonably quickly.
As stated before, I too could have done without the microgame of lockpicking… and now I don’t need it anymore either.
I’ve found that security is a pretty hard skill to level up.
Here’s a few tips on getting other skills up though, I’ve found that you can bunch quite a few together to make a pretty good training session.
Conjure a Skeleton, Picking any higher and its likely they’ll be casting destruction spells on you. From here you can do three things: take the hit (and put up your light / heavy armour), block the hit (putting up your block) or kill the skeleton (putting up your blunt / blade / hand to hand / destruction). Your health will probably go down, so restore it using spells. Your armour and weapons will’ve probably taken abit of a beating so repair them using repair hammers.
As you can see, it has the potential of raising: Conjuration, Blade, Blunt, Hand to Hand, Light Armour, Heavy Armour, Block, Restoration and Armorer.
As for security, Nocturnal’s mini-quest is pretty straight forward. I don’t remember the town, but all you have to do is find a thief and listen into his conversation…you are directed to a cave and your item is in there. Take it back to Nocturnal’s shrine and you have the skeleton key.
Lock picking is easy,
the main element is the sound the pin makes when you push it. A slow pin makes a different sound. now slap yourself
Next time your stuck in a jail, check your supposedly confiscated items.
you should have 1(ONE) lockpick within.
If your one hell of a lockpicker(or if you have that open-lock-spell),
you can actually escape from jail, freeing you of wasted time and skills.
just watch out for the patrolling guards, and be sure to pick up your stuff on the way out(witch may include the stolen items you have!).
Picking locks is insanely easy. As mentioned above, that slow speed spring will make a high pitched “ting” that is completely different from all the other pins.
Once you get the hang of it, you can pick Very Hard locks with ease. I havent broken a pick in about 100 picking attempts. Wait, I broke one. Darn.
On Williamīs subject, getting out of jail is fairly easy if you know what to do. If you havenīt done Jorundrīs quest and donīt want to, and if you are incarcerated in Brumaīs jail, just start punching J. and the guard will unlock the door, letting you out and attacking J. There is a sword on the torture table, and you can kill the guard with it. Because there is only one guard on duty, the kill is not usually reported. You also get free chainmail gauntlets, greaves and boots, along with a Bruma cuirass and silver mace, very helpful for a new profile. To get your stuff, just come back later with more lockpicks and unlock the evidence chest. Long range spells cast at guards in other cells might work for getting out, or picking their pockets and failing. I have not tested either of these however.
Happy Jailbreak!
Umm, does anyone know where to buy the open very hard lock spell? It would be very useful (have all the other ones.) Thank u!
You make it in the Arcane University. Chironasium, IIRC. It may be the Procto-place.
If you need more picks, go see Shady Sam outside of the Imperial City. to get there, go to the stables at the city and head north along the walls. you will run into a man wearing a black robe and hood. This is Shady Sam, and he usually has lockpicks.
I dont know if this works all the time but it worked for me, first you need to buy the Benerus manor (5000 gold) in anvil(talk to velwyn benirus at the counts Arms)and the lift the curse. kill someone and sleep in benerus manor you will be visited by lucien lachance in your sleep, kill him and he should have infinite lockpicks in the misc. page of his inventory. NOT in the “all” page. again i dont know if this works every time or anywhere other than benerus manor.
Yeah, but then the Dark Brotherhood questline is gone forever.
im a pretty good mage conjuration and alteraion at 100 and all but i have a problem with aleration. i looked everywere for open very hard lock i cant find it and i tried to make it at arcane university but i can only make very easy ones so can anyone help me out.
p.s. if u wanna get conjuration to 100 keep summoning skelotons i got from 40 to 100 in like hours same with alteration i kept on using buyoncy or watever its called to get that to 100
if u get into the dark brother hood guild which is very easy all u have to do is kill that old guy u can buy 30 lockpicks at a time in cheydinhal or however u spell it. when in the abbandoned house there talk to the kijiit the one that doesnt like you very much :D, hes the one that sells them.
ok thx but i got the skeleton key thanks to whoever was talking about it before so no more buying lockpicks and also im getting my mysticism to 100 to go along with my alteration and conjuration so anyone know if mysticism is anyone good cause the only good thing at lvl 59 mysticism is levitete or watever so at lvl 100 is there something cooler thean levitate?
You have to visit the Shrine of Nocturnal to get the Skeleton Key, it’s a pretty easy quest… The Skeleton Key kicks ass… I’ve heard there are more than one, but that is how I got mine.
to get infinite free gold, get turned into a vampire… (sleep near one, ask that dude in the Dark Brotherhood to turn you into one, or fight one.) and then go to Skingrad, and talk to the King dude, he’s a vampire too… do the quest to cure his wife of vampirism, and yourself if you wish… and when you go back to him to collect the reward, keep clicking “reward” he will give you gold every time… forever, and ever, and ever… hahahaha! sorry. but anyways… I think the amount of gold depends on your level, I was roughly level 17 or so, when I did the quest… and he gave me 5,000 gold… so I kept clicking reward, and he kept giving it to me, you can even do it later on, after the quest is over and you leave, come back, and get more gold. I have over a million. I know it’s a dirty little cheat, but I won’t tell if you don’t.
Guyz there is currently a glitch in the updated version on the xbox 360. Unequip your weapon. and equip a set of arrows. (must be divisible by 10). Then look down at the ground and use right trigger and punch, but before the attack has been completed push B to bring up the menu. Select the arrows you had equipped and try and unequip them. It will say you cannon do this, but leave that. Now scroll down and find the item you wish to duplicate, in this case lockpicks. On the lockpick push X to drop it. Then get out of the menu, and on the ground you will find loads of lockpicks. (eg if you had 100 arrows equipped you will get 100lockpicks). This works 100% and i have used this for free lockpicks. But as alwayz save the game before hand. Hope this has helped you guyz out. This glitch works on any itmes, but dO NOT USE IT ON the single use spells written on notes, as this will cause it to affect the entire game. Eg, if you clone nighteye it will be blue the whole game.
have Fun
Hey,
if you need lockpicks, you can either do the duplicate item glitch (The one that Cl@ye posted is wrong) or get the Dunbarrow Cove (pirate’s cave) mod, there are ppl in there that sell about 100 of them.
To get more lockpicks [can't have patch] just aim bow at ground pull back string and go to menu. Double unequip arrows [should show message saying you can't] then drop picks and there are as many picks as you have arrows.
Does ne 1 know how to get different conjuration skills apart from summon skele like summon a zombie.
pls reply, i really wanna summon one to help me!
also, its not just conjuration how do you get other spells apart from the ones u get after u come outta the sewers.
lol i bet its gonna b really simple so im gettin redy 2 slap myself in the face!
How do u get new skills like new summoning skills for conjuration or destruction. Can u only get them from the altar of spellmaking?
If you have a PC version of oblivion, press the button with ` Ž and a verticle line on (under the escape button), then type player.additem 0000000a “100″ for 100 lock picks, or player.additem 0000000b “1″ for a skelington key. Also for easy money u can also do player.additem 0000000c “100000″
to get more spells for conjuration or whatever, just go to a guild hall and buy the spells off the mages there.
different guild halls in different cities specialise in different schools of magic:
Cheydinhal: Alteration
Chorrol: A Conjuration
Bravil: Illusion
Anvil: Restoration
Skingrad: Destruction
Leyawiin: Mysticism
And Bruma is a bit different because it is a mixture of all the different schools of magic in one.
Hello fellow citizens of Cyrodill. As head of the shadowy Theives Guild I find it easiest to use the Skeleton Key. Now there is not a house in the whole of Tamriel that is safe(well maybe the one. The home of Nastarel in Skingrad opposite Rosethorn Hall. Creepy place that is and you should only enter if you have an obsession of being killed by undead creatures). After using the Skeleton Key to enter houses I take all the loot I can carry. Capital! So if you wish to be a succesful member of my guild I recommend the Skeleton Key.
Yours sincerely The Gray Fox
Thanks everyone, very helpful. i have just bought oblivion and im addicted
All you need to do really is just duplicate the lock pics then just keep messing up on purpose till your level increses, then its all easy.
cl@y’s method of the updated 360 dupe glith is 100% correct! i am being completely honest when i say i have done it and it works!!! no bs. so all u 360 gamers go have some glitching time =P
Watup g’s?
To make a really powerful guy, they have to be able to level up their SKILLS, but not their actual LEVEL. For this, you need to make a class with major skills that you dont use very often. Set your most commonly used skills as minor skills, as they will be constantly levelling up as you use them every day (But not blade/blunt, make that major or you will get whooped by everything)
I set my sneak and security as minor, and just did the trick with Rufio to get almost master at sneak. And lockpicking is more based on your skill as the player, rather than your characters skill.
I liked this convo btw i broke one of my Xbox controllers through lockpicking so cheers for the skeleton key tip
sup people i got obilvion and know i can’t stop thinking about it! has anyone got any cheats? i am a bit stuck with stuff
peace out Night eye
you can also wait for him to leave his house and tail him .. pickpocket him for his house key and go in
i dont like how it takes an hour to get across the map, thats why im asking this
i have no lockpicks, and i want to get in that house with the dark brotherhood people.. i have no picks, and i dont want to travel all the way down to leyawiin for the skeleton key
is there anywhere i can get them thats close to cheydinhal?
i hope theres HTML, but someone message me and tell me how, because i will probably never see this again in my life
here
or at kibbles_n_bitts14@hotmail.com
by the time you reply, i will probably have it done but who cares, i like meeting new people
Search for stuff about the console. PC version only, of course, and it’s best to start a new character if you cheat, since you can accidentally make your character game-breakingly powerful and will probably end up regretting it. Back to the Open Very Hard Lock - once you have mastered Alteration and have access to the Praxograpical Centre in the Arcane University, you can create it yourself, providing you have a) a base open lock skill, b) enough magicka and c) enough gold (apparently called septims).
You can buy picks in Bruma by Ongar the fence
hey guys - i know how to duplicate items without using cheats.
get this - you bring up you bow - thenput in an arrow but dont shoot - then you also hold down the left trigger - then you go into your journal and select arrows that you are already using - you then attempt to drop them and a sign will come up and say u cant do that because the are equipped. you then drop whatever item you wnat to duplicate - you then exit the journal and viola (pronounced vwa - la) you have however many items as arrows you have equiped. (i.e. 120 arrows then drop item and get 120 MORE items of what u duplicated). thank you and goodnite
alex from au.
oi nite eye - if u use cheats on xbox 360 - u cant get acheivements
you can duplicate anything but sumtimes u have to try it 3-4 times
its better if you start from the right, trust me on that one. You have a less chance of dropping other tumblers, try it a couple times both ways and see if you find this to be true
the easiest way is to listen to the “TINK” when it hits.. exactly when or just milliseconds after you hear it hit the button. lock picking is easiest done with your eyes closed.
where is the evidence chest in the imperial prison?
Were is the Thieves Guild?
To start the quest to get the Skeleton Key, you must go to the Shrine of the nocturnal, then go to Tidewater cave, take three lefts, and grab the big glowy thing. Then return to the Shrine of Nocturnal.
Thats it.
Hope that was helpful!
umm i was wondering im apart of the dark brother hood what do you do to be the leader of it and how do u get a horse
thnx for the lockpicks cheat now i have 238
was up
i been playing oblivion for a while now does someone know how 2 shut down the gates of oblivion easly because it f*@#*# sucks when your in level 4 and a vampire just have around 13 hrs of gameplay
hello!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:):):):):):) (sorry my chix scary sometime said i am a nerd) ha
Thanks, I spent a good hour on a very hard chest trying to unlock it, in the imperial city sewers, when I fianlly got it - it had 15 gold in it………….
try and get conjuration to 100 then get lots of money and buy advanced spells. I suck at fighting so I just summon something like a rock golem thing for 100 mana and it kill pretty much anyone I need to fight in quests, haven’t tested it on guards yet though. Lmao.
where can i buy pick locks?
and spells for picklockinng?
wb quick
EASYIST WAY IS TO GET UR MAGIC LVL RELI HIGHT N MAKE A PICK VERY HARD LOCK SPELL N IT CAN UNLOCK ANY LOCK WIV OUT MESSING A BOUT BWT T?H?AT U HAV TO B IN THE ARCANE UNI
There are hardly any cheats for oblivion.. but i have to say i think it makes the game that much better, yeah i has glitches and stuff in it, but i mean, what game doesnt? i have been attatched to this game for quite some time and i have gotten really good.. ^.^ anyone else a die hard oblivion fan?
just kill dorian in imperial city and grab his gold its an infinate anount so then go to a person that sells lock picks and buy a bigilian of them that solve the problem. ( just dont push take all when u go to dorian cuz game freezes cuz the gold is infinate)
the best way to get lockpicks is going to Urasek dungeon right next to the imperial city where you can get around 12 lockpicks per (raid)
Hey,
My name’s Dylan and I was wondering can I make the Open very Hard lock on xbox 360 cause i got alteration 100 and im getting really mad that i cant open very hard locks.
and also i know this has nothing to di with locks but is there a way to buy summon daedra prince if u finished the mages guild questline?
anyway thanx, Dylan
To open the locks easy, wait until the pin you’re working on drops very quickly, the next time you lift the pin, press the button and 9/10 times it wont break.
hey everyone, a good place for lock picks is jims goblin hideout north of skingrad. i make a run abd get roughly about 20 picks and 400 gold in loot. great place to stock up on them.
all goblin mines are loaded with lock picks.
u can buy lock picks from shady sam out side imperial city gates ,behind the horse stables .
Is there a certain lvl you need to be for the Skeleton Key?