How to pick locks in Fallout 76

Lockpicking is a relatively simple action in Fallout 76 that is required if you want to truly explore the entirety of Appalachia. There are many secrets hidden behind locked doors and chests that are just waiting to be revealed so it is only wise to have at least some skill in picking locks. Unfortunately, if you are used to Fallout 4, you will realize that lockpicking has changed a little bit. It now requires perk cards.

Perks required to pick locks

Locks are broken up into four difficulty levels. They begin at rank zero which is low enough that anybody can open them and go up to rank three which requires great skill to unlock. Unfortunately, you can’t just pick locks in Fallout 76. You will need the following perk cards:

• Picklock
• Expert Picklock
• Master Picklock

Each of these perk cards raises your lockpicking skill by one. Having all three will allow you to pick any level of lock in the game. You can also choose to use the Master Infiltrator legendary perk card instead. This will automatically make it so you can pick any level of lock without needing to get the other three perk cards.

Related: How to hack terminals in Fallout 76

How to pick locks

Before you can pick any locks, make sure that you have bobby pins on you. You won’t be able to pick locks without them. When you find a lock in the world that needs picking, highlight it to see what skill level is required to open it. If you have a high enough skill, interact with the lock and the game will bring up the lock along with a bobby pin and screwdriver like in the image below.

Move the bobby pin around in the lock. This is typically done using the left stick on controllers or the mouse on PC. As you move the bobby pin around, use the other control stick to use the screwdriver to try and turn the lock.

The closer you are to the sweet spot with the bobby pin, the further the lock will spin when using the screwdriver. Keep moving the bobby pin around and spinning the lock until you find the sweet spot. When you do, the lock will fully spin and unlock.