Safe cracking vs lockpicking

[SOY SHU]

I was reading guides and one said that damaging a container (safe) makes the loot worse, is it true and should I use lockpicks or do I just break the container?

[seven]

I think the only difference is a lockpick is quiet, while banging a safe open attracts zombies.

[Amanoob105]

Another difference is that one can take longer than the other. Though which depends on a mix of;
What skills you have points in (Lock Picking vs Miner 69’er mostly).
The level and quality of your tools (stone tools and it doesn't matter the level, chances are good you are going to be there for a very long time).
And more than a bit of luck (some rare times you can pick a lock with a single pick, other times it will take you 20+ on one small safe).

[Brevan]

I'll use Lockpicks on the 10k HP safes, unless I've got a decent strength Auger (30 block damage before Mods, level 4+ Miner69'er; it's faster or at least easier). I haven't noticed a different in loot via either opening method. I notice the loot improving in later gamestages though.

[FT]

I like shotgun breaching ammo for opening safes in one shot. Finding the book though... :(

[DthBlayde]

Originally posted by Yulian:

I was reading guides and one said that damaging a container (safe) makes the loot worse, is it true and should I use lockpicks or do I just break the container?

This was more a "wishlist" item that someone suggested in order to make lock picking more viable, since the argument was that some builds could punch through a safe faster with a mining pick than a lock pick. The only thing that would damage the loot is absolutely destruction of the container itself ( and even then I think it'll just drop the loot on the ground)

[Crater Creator]

How you get the safe open doesn’t affect the loot inside… unless it’s such an ordeal that you level up in the process, in which case the loot could theoretically get better.

[SOY SHU]

Okay, now I know what to do haha, thank you all people

[FT]

Originally posted by DthBlayde:

The only thing that would damage the loot is absolutely destruction of the container itself ( and even then I think it'll just drop the loot on the ground)

I think if you search a container but leave items inside and then destroy the container the items will appear as a backpack, but if you destroy a container before you search it then the whole thing disappears (items and all).