The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Character Building Guide: Lockpicking

With so many customization option given by the game, creating your character is not going to be too hard. We have taken a good look at each of the races available and understood that each one of them comes with its own strengths and weaknesses: some are better suited at being warriors while others are better at magic or stealth.

In creating your character and getting him or her ready for battle and adventure you’ll probably need some good understanding on how skills work. Skills determine your proficiency at everything that can be done in the world of Skyrim. Unlike previous The Elder Scrolls game, skills aren’t determined by the character class: the specialization of skills comes with the Perks system.

All Skills improve depending on the action you do: improving some of them can be somewhat tedious. There are other ways to improve skills without having to repeat some actions over and over: you can improve them by getting your hand on a Skill Book or find some Trainers who will help you improve specific skills.

Trainers can only train yyou five times per level: to get them to train you again you will have to raise you level. This limit doesn’t apply to a single trainer but to all: if you have already trained three times with a single trainer, you can only train two more times with another trainer. To start training again you will have to level up.

Some followers will also be able to train you: this actually comes with an advantage since you can get your money back by going through their inventory.

There’s also another trick to earn some good XP if you have the horse Shadowmere: this horse cannot be damaged by magic, direct and ranged attacks. Keep attacking him to earn some easy XP.+

Lockpicking

Lockpicking is probaby one of the most important skills to obtain in Skyrim: the whole game is full of stuff to loot and more than once you’ll find a lock in the way of your looting endeavors. The locks on chests and door require a certain degree of lockpicking mastery to get opened. While the first locks you’ll encounter are pretty easy to open, the more advanced ones require you to have a good understanding of the lockpicking mechanics. Obtaining the perks in this skill tree will allow you to have an easier time when picking locks as well as saving picklocks.

Perks

• Novice Locks

Novice locks are much easier to pick.

• Apprentice Locks
• LV 25

Apprentice locks are much easier to pick.

• Quick Hands
• LV 40

Able to pick locks without being noticed.

• Wax Key
• LV 50

Automatically gives you a copy of a picked lock’s key if it has one.

• Adept Locks
• LV 50

Adept locks are much easier to pick.

• Expert Locks
• LV 75

Expert locks are much easier to pick.

• Locksmith
• LV 80

Pick starts close to the lock opening position.

• Unbreakable
• LV 100

Lockpicks never break.

• Master Locks
• LV 100

Master locks are much easier to pick.