How to lockpick in Gothic 1 Remake

The lockpicking puzzles in Gothic 1 Remake prove that the game's steep difficulty scaling isn't reserved for combat alone. Rather than jamming a lockpick in a locked chest or door, moving it around, and hoping for the best, you'll need serious brainpower to solve the lockpicking puzzles.

Here's how to lockpick in Gothic 1 Remake.

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How to lockpick in Gothic 1 Remake

To open a locked door or chest in Gothic 1 Remake, you must solve a lockpicking puzzle. Every puzzle is different, though you'll always find the same puzzle in the same location (they aren't randomized). To successfully pick a lock, make sure you have at least one lockpick on hand — you can get them from random chests or buy them from merchants such as Mordrag.

As you start the lockpicking mini-game, you'll see a set of tumblers (usually five to seven), each equipped with one peg and seven holes. The goal is to move each tumbler (you're moving the tumblers, not the pegs) until all pegs poke through the center hole. In this example, every tumbler on the left side is incorrectly aligned, and every tumbler on the right side is correctly aligned.

The problem is that most tumblers are connected; moving one tumbler often moves one to three additional tumblers alongside the first. In this example, on the left side, the player moved all tumblers in the correct position, except the fifth. On the right side, you'll see what happens if the player moves that final tumbler one position to the left; the two tumblers next to it have moved as well.

The solution to the Gothic 1 Remake lockpicking puzzles, in other words, is to move the tumblers in the correct order. To do so, you must carefully test what happens when you move each of them and try to remember it. The only way you can break a lockpick is when you try to move a tumbler in a direction it can't move toward. This can happen when the peg sticks through either the first or last hole in the row. In the example below, counting from the bottom, tumblers 1 and 4 are in danger of damaging the lockpick: tumbler 1 can't move to the right, and tumbler 4 can't move to the left.

Without lockpick skill upgrades, you can make only one such mistake before the lockpick breaks and the lock resets. With lockpick skill upgrades, however, lockpicking becomes much easier.

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How to train lockpicking in Gothic 1 Remake

The best lockpick trainer to seek out in the early game is Fingers. Enter the Old Camp and turn left at the castle gate. Hugging the castle wall, you will find a dark alley on your right; Fingers is usually standing there.

To convince Fingers to train you, all you need to do is speak with Diego to obtain the "Casting Shadows" quest, then go to Fingers and mention Diego. Accept the quest called "A Ring for Fingers," then ask him to teach you. You don't need to complete the quest first, but the training will cost 10 LP (skill points) and 100 ore nuggets. This skill upgrade will have the following effects:

• Breaking a lockpick no longer resets a lockpicking puzzle.
• You can make four mistakes (instead of two) before breaking a lockpick.
• Lockpicking complexity is reduced by removing a connection between two pieces (tumblers).

Should you wish to try lockpicking on a relatively easy lock, try opening the locked chest in Mud's hut (though beware that he'll start stalking you if he wasn't doing so already).

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Lockpicking tips for Gothic 1 Remake

Although training your lockpicking skill is the best way to make the puzzles easier, here are some additional tips:

• Always move tumblers with a peg in the first or last hole first. Try to move the peg further inward before the tumbler damages your lockpick.
• Focus on the tumbler with the most connections. If a tumbler moves four different tumblers, it's important to keep that one in place as much as possible. Try to put it in the correct position, and correct it whenever another tumbler moves it.
• Save unconnected tumblers for last. If you find a tumbler that can move on its own, fix the other tumblers first, as it won't screw up the other tumblers.
• Save before lockpicking. The lockpicking puzzle doesn't change, so if you break a lockpick, you can reload your game and repeat the previous steps, avoiding the mistake this time.
• Time doesn't stop while you're lockpicking, so beware that guards and owners of treasure chests may attack you if they catch you red-handed.
• Don't go lockpicking at night. If you resort to burglary, do it during the day, when everyone's at work and away from home. If you try to rob people while they're sleeping, they'll likely wake up.
• Some locks are meant to be tougher than others. As a general rule, the more tumblers, the more difficult the lockpicking mini-game. If a lock proves too difficult, you can always come back later.
• Lockpicking skill upgrades aren't required. Although we recommend using the lockpicking trainer, keep in mind that you can solve every lockpicking puzzle in Gothic 1 Remake without skill upgrades — even without obtaining spare lockpicks! So, if you like lockpicking puzzles, feel free to skip the training.

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How to solve lockpick puzzles instantly in Gothic 1 Remake

There's currently no option to remove the lockpicking minigame in Gothic 1 Remake, but if you don't want to pick locks, you can find some handy mods on the Nexus Mods website. The "lockpick settings" mod by Tautellini allows you to adjust the lockpick puzzles so you can make them easier or auto-solve them instantly. The "unlock all chests and doors" mod by Davidrofl unlocks every lock in the game, including all doors and chests.