Can some doors be IMPOSSIBLE to lockpick at certain skill levels?

[Mike22]

I haven't been able to find a "successful lockpick chance" formula; so I figured I'd just go ahead a straight up ask.

In otherwords, can my lockpick be so stupidly low that just a normal locked door is literally impossible to get through? Or will there always be a chance, no matter how slight, that you will get passed it? If so, does anyone know how the game calculates that chance?

I just don't want to sit there trying over and over seeing "you fail to pick the lock on this door" with the hope that it will eventually budge when in reality I'm just wasting my time. And yes, I'm not above save scumming. I've beaten the game probably a dozen times over my life. I've earned the right to save scum to get the things I want.

Thanks.

[BreakinBenny]

Not certain about it, but I've only got a tip: the worse your lockpick skill versus the lock's difficulty, your chances of unlocking it are also lowered. A set of lockpicks (as an item) can somewhat improve it though, but the doors need a specific type to be of use.

[Dustin81]

An electronic lockpick are to be used for sliding high tech doors .

[Vassago Rain]

Yes, your lockpick skill can be too low to open doors. In fact, that's not all. If it's way, way too low, you can critically fail the attempt and jam the door shut forever.

Protip: most wooden doors can be punched down with strength 6+ and spiked knuckles or a powerfist. You can blow open many metal doors with frag grenades and molotovs, as well.

[red255]

Yeah, Frag grenades bust most locks, so do explosives, but explosives weigh 5 whereas a grenade weighs 1 so you can carry more.

Plasma grenades do not break locks. god knows about moltovs.

But yeah I needed 50 lockpick and electronic lockpicks to get into the toxic caves. Lockpicks mk1 are +20% the Mk2 are +40% lockpick skill.

[Vlodimuar]

Originally posted by red255:

Plasma grenades do not break locks. god knows about moltovs

Molotovs do. That's how I usually open Vic's door in Klamath before going to the Den.

[red255]

What about using flame throwers as lockpicks then?

[Disgruntled Cuttlefish]

Yeah, as Vassago said, you can knock down certain doors, but I don't think my character had a strength of 6 or higher either. (?) Also, I think you can just kick certain doors, certain doors don't even require a weapon to be destroyed.

Also, as Vassago mentioned, your lockpick skill can be too low to open certain locks, and often if your skill is low enough, you can break the lock in the process.

[Vassago Rain]

Another thing that I didn't mention, and that's not actually explained in fallout 2, is that if you put a crowbar in your active item slot, your strength is X points, and you 'use' the crowbar on a locked container or stuck door, you can actually open them without needing to invest in lockpick.

[BreakinBenny]

Also, doors in Fallouts 1 and 2 don't permanently jam. They may eventually unjam themselves the next day.