Oblivion Blog

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…

So there are a lot of people out there who seem, like my character, to have contracted swamp fever. And what a pain it is if you are of a class where Strength is one of your main attributes (like a warrior for example). Fortunately help is at hand and I know the cure, and I have to tell you that is maybe isn't as difficult as people think. First you need about 20 Nirnroot…. Only joking. In fact ridding yourself of swamp fever is as simple as finding yourself a church in which to pray. I used the one just outside Chorrol on the road between the Imperial City and Chorrol. Wander in, have a quick pray, and you're cured. Not a lot to it really!!