Gothic 1 Remake Lockpicking Guide: How I Learned to Stop Breaking Picks and Open Every Chest

I Almost Quit Gothic 1 Remake Because of Lockpicking #

Let me be honest: I was this close to refunding Gothic 1 Remake. Not because the world is ugly (it’s gorgeous in Unreal Engine 5). Not because the combat is clunky (it’s deliberately old-school). No — I was ready to walk away because of a lockpicking minigame.

The first chest I found in the Old Camp looked innocent enough. A basic wooden box. I had a lockpick. What could go wrong?

Two hours later, I had burned through 30 lockpicks, rage-googled “gothic 1 remake lockpicking sucks” at 2 AM, and discovered I wasn’t alone. Reddit was on fire. Steam reviews were calling it “the worst lockpicking system in any RPG.” Chinese players on Bilibili were calling it 算数背板做题玩 — “doing math homework.”

But here’s the thing: after 40+ hours with the game, I’ve learned to love it. Or at least, I’ve learned to master it. This guide is everything I wish someone had told me before I broke my first lockpick.

TL;DR: The lockpicking system is a slider puzzle. It’s punishing at skill level 0. Spend 10 LP and 100 ore to train with Fingers in the Old Camp — it literally removes mechanical complexity from locks. And if you still hate it, there’s a mod for that.

How Lockpicking Actually Works (And Why Everyone Hates It) #

The remake completely reworks the original Gothic’s simple “left-right-left” memorization game. Here’s the new system:

The Anatomy of a Lock #

When you click a locked chest, the camera zooms into the mechanism. You’ll see:

Plates (Layers): Horizontal segments, 3 to 8 depending on lock difficulty
Pins: Each plate has a golden pin sitting in one of 7 holes (positions 1–7)
Your Goal: Move every pin to hole #4 (dead center). When centered, the pin pops up and glows red.

Sounds easy, right? Here’s the catch.

The Interconnection Nightmare #

Moving one plate affects others. Every lock has hidden “interconnection rules”:

SAME: Plate A and Plate B move in the same direction
OPPOSITE: Plate A moves left, Plate B moves right
NONE: No connection (these are your friends)

At zero skill, you’re solving a system of simultaneous equations blind. Push a plate too far and your lockpick breaks — usually after just two mistakes. The lockpick snaps, the puzzle resets, and you’re out one lockpick and five minutes of your life.

As one Steam reviewer put it: “It’s a Herculean wrangle. Moving one plate affects everything. You need a PhD in linear algebra to open a peasant’s chest.”

The Real-Time Problem #

Here’s the kicker: the game doesn’t pause while you’re picking. If you’re in a restricted area and a guard walks by? You’re caught. If you’re underwater? You’re drowning while solving a puzzle.

The Underwater Chest That Made Me Rage Quit #

I found this chest under Silas’s Tavern in the New Camp. It’s underwater. You have maybe 30 seconds of breath. The lock has 5 layers with complex interconnections.

I tried twelve times. Twelve times I drowned because I couldn’t solve the puzzle fast enough. The loot? A bottle of beer and two chunks of rat meat.

This is the moment most players either:

Install the Nexus Mod that removes lockpicking entirely, or
Learn the system properly

I chose option 2. Here’s what I discovered.

Step-by-Step: How to Open Any Lock Without Breaking Picks #

Step 1: The “Wiggle Test” (Identify Your Plates) #

Before doing anything, wiggle each plate left and right one click. Watch which others move. You’re mapping the interconnections:

If you move A and…	The plate is…
Only A moves	Free plate — your best friend, solve this first
B moves the same direction	Same-linked to A
B moves opposite direction	Opposite-linked to A
Multiple plates move	Complex chain — save for last

Take a mental note. On paper, this takes 30 seconds. In practice, it saves you 30 minutes of frustration.

Step 2: Solve Free Plates First #

Free plates (no connections to anything) are trivially easy. Move them straight to position 4. Done. This reduces the puzzle complexity immediately.

Step 3: Tackle Same-Linked Pairs #

If Plate A and Plate B are SAME-linked:

They move together
Move them both toward 4 simultaneously
The gap between them stays constant

Strategy: First figure out where each pin needs to go, then move them as a unit.

Step 4: Opposite-Linked Pairs (The Tricky Ones) #

If Plate A and Plate B are OPPOSITE-linked:

A goes left, B goes right (or vice versa)
One click on A = one click on B in opposite direction

Pro tip: Opposite pairs are actually easier once you spot them. Just remember that moving one automatically moves the other in reverse. Commit to one direction and watch the other plate fall into place.

Step 5: The Golden Rule — Never Push to the Edge #

A lockpick breaks when you push a plate past position 1 or 7. At zero skill, you get two mistakes. At skill level 1, you get four.

The safest play: keep every plate between positions 2 and 6. Never test the edges until you know everything is aligned.

The One Investment That Changes Everything #

Here’s the secret the game doesn’t tell you:

Train lockpicking with Fingers in the Old Camp. It costs 10 Learning Points and 100 ore.

Why this matters:

Skill Level	Mistakes Before Break	Plates Connected	Puzzle Complexity
0 (untrained)	2	All plates linked	Maximum chaos
1 (10 LP, 100 ore)	4	One connection removed	Noticeably simpler
2 (30 LP, 300 ore)	6	Two connections removed	Actually manageable
3 (50 LP, 500 ore)	8	Three connections removed	Almost easy

At skill level 1, your lockpick doesn’t break on the second mistake — it breaks on the fourth. The puzzle also gets physically simpler because linkages between plates are removed.

This is the #1 complaint from the community that Alkimia Interactive acknowledged: “The system becomes much easier when players invest skill points.” The problem? Nobody tells you this.

I spent 6 hours suffering before I found Fingers. Don’t be me.

Where to Get Lockpicks #

Before you can train, you need lockpicks. Here’s where to find them:

Location	NPC	Price
Old Camp	Mordrag (near the gate)	30 ore
Old Camp	Dexter (near the market)	25 ore
New Camp	Fisherman’s hut (hidden)	Free (loot)
Various	Random diggers’ huts	Free (steal)

Pro tip: Buy 10-15 lockpicks before you start training. You’ll break a few learning the system.

The Advanced Strat: Underwater Chests #

Remember that chest under Silas’s Tavern? Here’s how to do it without drowning:

Save before diving (obvious, but critical)
Hold your breath at the surface — go down with full oxygen
Wiggle test first — do NOT attempt to solve blind
Work in bursts — surface for air, go back down
If the lock is too complex, come back later — after skill level 2, lock linkages are reduced

The waterfall chest (near the Old Camp exit) contains Steel, Leather Strips, Iron, and Nuggets — worth the effort. The Silas Tavern chest? Honestly, skip it. The loot is garbage.

What the Community Says (You’re Not Alone) #

After writing this guide, I scoured the global community to see if my experience matched others:

Reddit #

“The lockpicking system is goddamn awful. Sleeper-awful.” — u/LengthAtHeart “I eventually removed it from the game with this mod.” — same thread, referencing a Nexus Mod

Steam Reviews #

“Fun-sapping chore. The kind of puzzle that works once but not as a recurring RPG mechanic.”

“Random diggers have Fort Knox security on their huts. Why does a peasant need a 6-plate lock?”

Bilibili (Chinese Community) #

“直到碰到撬锁环节，太麻烦了。隔壁天国做这么好榜样不学一下，在这算数背板做题玩，真是枯燥。”

Translation: “Until I hit the lockpicking section. Too troublesome. Kingdom Come: Deliverance set such a good example, and they didn’t learn from it. Here I’m doing math memorization and puzzle-solving. So boring.”

“不过加入新营地后学了1级撬锁后，去新旧营地撬箱子就简单多了。”

Translation: “But after joining the New Camp and learning level 1 lockpicking, going to the old and new camps to pick chests became much easier.”

Even the Chinese community feels the same way — and they also discovered that skill investment is the secret.

Developer Response #

Alkimia Interactive has acknowledged the “very mixed” feedback on lockpicking. Their statement: “The system becomes much easier when players invest skill points into it.”

They’re right — but they should have made this clearer in-game.

The “I Still Hate It” Solution #

If you’ve tried everything and still can’t stand the lockpicking:

Nexus Mod: “Remove Lockpicking” — completely bypasses the minigame
Nexus Mod: “Lockpicking Color Hints” — adds visual indicators showing which direction to move each plate
FireSpark81’s Lockpicking Calculator — web tool at firespark81.github.io/Gothic1LockpickingCalc — input your lock state and get the solve sequence

Personally, I recommend sticking with the vanilla system until at least skill level 1. The puzzle is genuinely satisfying once you understand the logic. It’s just… not explained well.

Final Thoughts #

Gothic 1 Remake’s lockpicking system is not bad. It’s unforgiving and unexplained.

The difference between “this is the worst system ever” and “this is actually pretty clever” is exactly 10 Learning Points and 100 ore — the cost of one training session with Fingers.

The game released on June 5, 2026 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. If you’re reading this in the first week and struggling with locks: train the skill first, then judge. Your lockpicks will thank you.

And that underwater chest under Silas’s Tavern? Skip it. Some locks aren’t worth solving.

Have your own lockpicking horror story or discovered a trick I missed? Drop it in the comments below. And if this guide saved you from rage-quitting, share it with a friend who’s struggling.

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