Hacking/Lockpicking/Pickpocket

[RoflTank]

So I'm getting a lot of conflicting info on these three. Some say Hack/Lockpick OR Pickpocket, and some say get a minimum of 50eff Pickpcket AND 130/~125 Hack/Lockpick. That's a LOT of potentially wasted skill points.

My thought was put points in to all three at the start, and then slowly level them. On the other hand, I don't know how fast the skill checks ramp up.

What do?

[Yaldabaoth]

I've not even finished one playthrough but lockpicking and hacking are about equally important. Both can give you loot. Lockpicking gets you through more doors while hacking somtimes allows you to take control of computer networks, deactivating cameras, robots, turrets etc. Getting both (I did) gives you a ton of options. I really don't know what more you could possibly gain from pickpocketing, I am already overflowing with loot and can get in to any place without keys (apart from story related areas). I'm in core city, I guess 60% (?) through the game and the highest lock/hack skill check I've found was 90 but most are 60-70.

[Qiox]

Because of how much INT affects Hacking and DEX affects Lockpicking, how quickly the checks ramp up vs your required skill investment can vary significantly.

If you dump DEX to a 3 and you max out Lockpicking at every level up, you will encounter some locks here and there that you cannot pick immediately. You likely would have to come back to it after gaining another level.

The same is true of Hacking if you dumped down to a 3 INT.

With a 7 in the relevant stat, you will be able to succeed at all checks as you encounter them.

They also gain a synergy bonus from Mechanics & Traps for Lockpicking, and from Electronics for Hacking.

The highest Hacking check is 130. On my current playthrough, taking into account my 8 INT and planned investment of 108 base points into Electronics, I only need to invest 90 into Hacking to achieve an effective skill of (130). The 130 difficulty check is at a computer terminal. Therefore a Hacking tool cannot be used, unlike when hacking open an electronic lock.

For Lockpicking, the highest check is 135, and with my 7 DEX, Traps and Mechanics skill synergy, I only need to invest 82 into Lockpicking to reach (135) effective skill, while using a Mark 3 tool and holding the Jacknife unique item that gives +7.


For Pickpocket, the reason people recommend (50) effective skill is that it will be enough to steal 1 item from almost everyone you meet. And that can be very useful in the early game. This is especially true on Dominating difficulty, in the latest experimental branch patch, where vendors only pay 25% of item value when you sell stuff.

Pickpocket is also desirable when playing using the Oddity XP system, since some oddities are only found in the inventory of 'friendlies'.


If you are not concerned with a completionist approach to the game where you just have to open everything, you can go with less Hacking and Lockpicking. With (100) effective skill you will succeed at something like 90% to 95% of all checks in the game.

The only caveat is with Hacking. There are checks of (100) and (130) at computer terminals (no tools count) that allow you to bypass otherwise difficult fights.


Here is a link to a web based build tool that lets you plan out your skill investments: http://underrail.info.tm/build/