Bethesda loves their lockpicking minigames – and Starfield is no different. Picking locks with the Digipick can seem intimidating at first, but there’s always an easy trick with these, and I will teach you what I have learned. No door will stay locked, no loot will be kept from you, and nobody’s coffee mugs will be safe!
Guide Contents
How to Pick Locks Easy
The Basics
Let’s explain what you’re looking at first. If you have a Digipick, you’ll get this screen when you try to open a locked container:
The rings in the middle represent the lock (The rings are not normally blue; more on that later). The teeth on the outside of the ring represent the selected digipick. Press A and D to rotate the pick around the layer until all of the teeth line up with a hole, and then press E to slot it there.
On the right, you’ll have a number of Digipick shapes. Click one of them to use that shape on the lock. Each one can only be used once, and some of them are not used to solve the lock, so choose wisely!
If you make a mistake, you can press R to undo the last pick you inserted. Each undo costs an additional Digipick from your inventory.
After solving enough locks (and with enough points in the SECURITY skill), you can earn auto-slot charges. Press B to use one, and a pick shape will automatically be chosen and moved into its’ correct position.
Skill Points
Unlike Skyrim, you can’t just pick a Master lock like the one above unless you put skill points into the SECURITY skill. Fortunately, it’s at the top of the TECH tree, so you can put points into it right away!
Here’s what each skill point does for you:
- Rank 0: You can only attempt Novice locks.
- Rank 1: You can attempt Advanced locks. You can also gain up to 2 autoslot charges
- Rank 2: You can attempt Expert locks. Lock rings turn blue if you select a Digipick shape that can fit. +1 autoslot charges
- Rank 3: You can attempt Master-level locks. +1 autoslot charges
- Rank 4: You can spend an extra Digipick to remove any pick shapes that you don’t need to solve the lock. Maximum (5) autoslot charges
Rank 4 isn’t really needed, so feel free to save that point for something else.
The Secret!
It’s actually really easy to solve locks after you get the hang of it. Here are the steps I use:
- Count the number of holes in the current layer.
- Choose a Digipick shape that fits, from among those with the MOST number of teeth. If more than one fits, choose one but don’t forget the other(s). Line up the pick in a valid position, but DO NOT SLOT IT YET.
- Check the remaining holes in the current later – the ones that your first pick won’t cover, and find the shape that will fill them with the same number of missing holes. (If the first pick covers 4 of the 7 holes, find the shape that covers the other 3). If you don’t have all the holes in one shape, you may need more than one to finish the layer. If NONE of the remaining shapes fit, go back to Step 2 and find another pick to start with.
- Repeat from Step 1 with each new layer until the lock is picked.
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