Unlock your lockpicking potential.
Everyone loves a good lockpicking mini-game, and Bethesda has been paving the way for them ever since the early days of The Elder Scrolls and Fallout, now turning their attention to Starfield and Digipicks.
These lockpick challenges require a bit of thought, patience and sometimes the necessary level of skills to jimmy them open. By doing so, the rewards can be very useful in your pursuits across the galaxy.
Even if a brief tutorial is provided in Starfield, it’s fair to say that Bethesda does leave a lot to be figured out by players themselves.
Love gaming? Listen to our podcast One More Life!
That’s where we come in. Instead of failing countlessly while using up all your valuable Digipicks, we’ve done our best to break down exactly how these pesky puzzles work step by step and what you need to succeed.
With all that in mind, head below for all the details on completing Starfield Digipick mini-games, including where to find more of the useful lockpicking devices.
Starfield Digipick explained: How to complete the lockpick mini-game
Whenever you have a Digipick in your possession and you attempt to pick a lock, the lockpicking mini-game screen will be presented. This features a number of rings with open slots, all of which need to have a key that fits into them.
On the right-hand side, there are the available keys (represented by straight lines), with the aim being to figure out which keys fit into which open slots. The best thing to do is to take your time and count how many slots there are to eliminate which keys won’t work.
Alternatively, if you unlock Security Level 2, the rings will light up blue when you have selected a key that will fit. Just because it fits doesn’t necessarily mean it will work, however, as you can lock out another key required to complete that ring or the next one.
Advanced locks will need multiple keys for each ring, so experiment with lining each up. These keys will be left in place when you try a different one.
Make sure to line up keys that work with the outer and inner rings, and that the keys in their respective rings don’t have overlapping slots before attempting to insert them, as it will use a Digipick – and undoing it will use another.
To access all levels of lockpicking, make sure to upgrade the Security Skill to Rank 3, then everything from Basic to Master can be attempted. By upgrading to Rank 4, players can then eliminate any keys that aren’t required to complete the puzzle by expending a Digipick.
YouTuber Kibbles Gaming has a great explainer video on how to successfully use a Digipick (above) that’s worth checking out too.
Where to get more Digipicks in Starfield
You can find Digipicks in Starfield in all corners of the universe whenever you loot containers and deceased enemies. Truth be told, Digipicks are reasonably random. Sometimes you will just stumble upon one on a desk, so make sure to keep an eye out.
Additionally, pickpocketing NPCs can also yield Digipicks. To do this, players will need to have unlocked the Theft skill or selected the Cyber Runner or Gangster background during character creation.
Vendors also sell Digipick for 35 credits, with plenty of such places in New Atlantis – for instance, Jemison Mercantile, which is found in the spaceport.
Unfortunately, vendors only sell three at a time. What you need to do to get more quickly is to buy the few available, find a chair or bed and wait 24 to 48 hours in-game (it differs) and the vendor will refresh their stock.
Take your time, stock up regularly and keep an eye out when journeying across the cosmos and you should always be in strong supply.
Read more on Starfield:
- Starfield missions list – how far are you?
- Starfield tips and tricks – how to get started
- Starfield character creation – all your options explained
- Starfield Digipick – how to lockpick
- Will Starfield ever come to PS5? Developer comments
- Starfield cast – all voice actors
- Starfield companions – who to recruit
- Starfield soundtrack – how to listen
- Starfield storage guide – don’t be overburdened
- Starfield FOV – change your point of view
- Starfield FPS – developers explain 30fps
- Starfield PC requirements – specs needed
- Starfield performance – potential fixes
Starfield is available across Xbox Series X/S and Microsoft Windows
Subscribe to our free Gaming Newsletter for weekly insights, and follow us on Twitter for all the latest updates.
Looking for something to watch? Check out our TV Guide or Streaming Guide.
Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.