Oblivion Remastered: Lockpicking guide

Lockpicking is a core mechanic in The Elder Scrolls 4 Oblivion Remastered that lets you access locked chests and doors in the realm of Cyrodiil. While understanding the system behind it is essential, you need a lot of patience to succeed. However, there are additional features available in the title that will make lockpicking easier.

This guide explains the lockpicking mechanic in Oblivion Remastered and how you can master it effectively.

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How lockpicking works in Oblivion Remastered

Carefully set each tumbler when it reaches the top (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming // Bethesda)

You can frequently obtain lockpicks in-game and utilize them to unlock specific doors and chests. These objects are marked with a lock symbol and a difficulty level, which ranges from very easy to very hard.

After interacting with those doors and chests, you must accurately set up the tumblers to unlock them. The number of tumblers increases depending on the difficulty level.

Here are the tricks to easily execute the lockpicking tactic in Oblivion Remastered:

• First, carefully notice when the tumbler randomly starts to slow down at the top when pushing it up.
• When the tumbler is at the top (and the spring is not visible at all), quickly set it by pressing A (Xbox), X (PS5), or Space (PC).
• If the lock has multiple tumblers, repeat the process.
• To know when the tumbler will be slow, notice its speed as it goes up after the push. If the tumbler goes up fast, it will fall fast as well. Keep trying and only set it when it goes up slowly.
• Trying to set the tumbler when it goes up fast will most likely break the lockpick.
• Since the lockpick will break if you don't "Set Tumbler" in time, you must have extra lockpicks to continue the process.
• Failing to set one tumbler will reset the lockpicking progress, and you must start over from the beginning.

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Tips to make lockpicking easier in Oblivion Remastered

While lockpicking is a learning curve that can be improved with time, some in-game aspects can make the process easier. These are:

Security skill

Increase the security skill to make lockpicking easier (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming // Bethesda)

As mentioned, if you fail to set one tumbler while lockpicking, the progress will reset. You must increase your character's security skill to avoid this. The security levels and their effects are shown below:

• Novice: Up to four tumblers will fall.
• Apprentice: Up to three tumblers will fall.
• Journeyman: Up to two tumblers will fall.
• Expert: One tumbler will fall.
• Master: No tumbler will fall.

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Skeleton Key

After reaching Level 10, travel to the Shrine of Nocturnal (north of Leyawiin) and finish the Nocturnal quest. As a reward, you will get the Skeleton Key. This can be used as a lockpick. The impressive part is that it never breaks, no matter how many times you use it.

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The Tower Birthsign

The Tower Birthsign helps unlock any lock with average difficulty (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming // Bethesda)

Oblivion Remastered features many Birthsigns to choose from – they give you significant buffs in your journey. One is The Tower Birthsign – selecting it will let you open any lock (up to average difficulty level) once a day.

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Check out more Oblivion Remastered gameplay guides below:

• Best Cheats and Console Commands
• What are the best Attributes to increase?
• 5 things The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion does better than Skyrim
• Best settings for RTX 3090
• System requirements: Minimum and recommended specifications