As a genuine role-playing game, Baldur's Gate 3 will allow players an opportunity to explore caverns, loot chests, and break into anything with a durable lock within the world. There are multiple ways to get into a locked chest to steal the loot, and one requires a little luck and a skill check to complete.
Sadly, many players will not have the skills or character build to pick locks in Baldur's Gate 3. This guide will help break down the skill, its uses, and how best to lock pick in the game.
Updated by Brandon Morgan on August 16, 2023: Baldur's Gate 3 is a massive role-playing game with so much for the players to see and do. We've updated the header image to be more appealing and the links within this guide to better serve players with more relevant content about the game.
Two Ways To Open Locks In Baldur's Gate 3
As previously mentioned, there are two ways to open a lock in Baldur's Gate 3: a key or Thieves' Tools. The latter is the most likely option for players who simply cannot or don't want to explore the environment thoroughly. That said, using the Thieves' Tools does require luck and a skill check, whereas using the appropriate key simply opens the lock.
How To Get The Thieves' Tools in Baldur's Gate 3
Like many items in Baldur's Gate 3, the Thieves' Tools can be purchased from vendors in towns or found within the world as random loot. For players in Druid Grove, Mattis and Arron will both sell the player Thieves' Tools. The former will offer a discount.
Alternatively, if players do not have the coin to purchase the tools, upon waking up at the beginning of the game, after the wreck, head up the beach toward the Overgrown Ruins. Here, in some wooden boxes along the coast, players can find their first Thieves' Tools item.
Where To Find Keys
Unlike in most other role-playing games, like Final Fantasy 7, loot in Baldur's Gate 3 is absolutely everywhere. It's not limited to chests or cabinets but can also sit around on tables, desks, shelves, and even the floor. As such, when looking for a specific key to a chest, players will want to search the immediate area or zone in places where one may find a key. It requires a bit of intuition and common sense at times.
How To Pick Locks In Baldur's Gate 3
There are many locks in the game, including doors leading to a new route or a chest filled with loot, and instead of abandoning the path altogether, players will likely want to pick the lock for the promise of untold treasures.
To successfully pick a lock, however, players require one of the two previously mentioned items, with the Thieves' Tools being the most common. To use the tools, players need a character who can lockpick, which means having Sleight of Hand or high Dexterity to pass the skill check.
With these factors in mind, ensure the Thieves' Tools are in the inventory and added to the hotbar. Then, click the corresponding hotkey while interacting with the locked object, and the game will perform a Dexterity roll.
It's recommended that, due to the luck-based requirements of lockpicking in Baldur's Gate 3, that players save their age beforehand to reload after a failed check.