Best way to level Pickpocketing without going broke on lockpicks in first 20 levels?

[DragonbornVet]

New playthrough, Thief build, and I keep burning through lockpicks like crazy trying to level Pickpocketing early. I know there's a perk that reduces lockpick breaking but I can't remember which tree and I'm not high enough yet. Is it actually smarter to just pickpocket low-risk stuff (like apples off tables) to level it cheap, or am I better off doing something else entirely until I grab the right perk? Playing on SE with USSEP, no mods.

 

[TamrielTactician]

The perk you're thinking of is in the Pickpocketing tree itself - there's one that cuts lockpick damage in half, and you get it pretty early (like level 30 or so?). But honestly, you don't need to wait for it.

Pickpocketing items off NPCs and tables is actually way better for early leveling anyway. It's not just cheaper - it's faster. You level the skill by successfully stealing stuff, and an apple off a table counts the same as picking a lock, but you burn zero lockpicks. Plus there's basically no consequence if you get caught stealing an apple.

If you really want to practice locks early without going broke, grab the ones you find lying around (there's a ton in dungeons), and save your purchased lockpicks for locks that actually matter - like chests with good loot. But tbh on a thief build, I'd just lean into pickpocketing NPCs for the first 20-30 levels. You'll hit that perk naturally, and by then you'll have enough coin to not sweat lockpick costs anyway.

 

[WhiterunModder]

That's solid advice, but I'll add: the item-stealing route gets boring fast imo, and you'll actually want to practice locks eventually anyway since you're going full thief. Might as well bite the bullet early.

What I do on thief builds is just accept the lockpick tax for the first 10-15 levels. Buy a stack of 50 from the Thieves Guild fence (or any general goods vendor), hit some low-level dungeons, and treat failed picks as part of the grind. You'll burn through them, yeah, but you're also building muscle memory for when it matters. Plus you'll find enough loose picks in those same dungeons to offset some of the cost.

The perk that cuts lockpick breaking (pretty sure it's called Wax Key or something like that - the one that halves damage) genuinely changes the game once you get it. After that you can basically lock-pick everything without sweating it. So it's not forever, just a rough patch.

If you're really strapped for gold early, grab the Standing Stone that boosts your Thief skills (the Shadow stone, I think?) for that first stretch. Speeds up the grind enough that you hit the perk sooner and spend less overall.