Kingdom Come: Deliverance – How to Master Lockpicking and Pickpocketing

This page outlines everything a master thief needs to know about Lockpicking and Pickpocketing in Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

Both Lockpicking and Pickpocketing are exceptionally useful skills since some of the most valuable treasure in Kingdom Come: Deliverance lies behind locked chests and doors. Unfortunately, you can’t just waltz up to any old lock and start fiddling around with it, nor can you stick your hands down anyone’s pockets. First, you must learn the art of thievery.

Before you can learn to lockpick, you need lockpicks – which are in short supply early on in the game.

The first time you can find lockpicks is in Skalitz – if you try to steal back your father’s items from Kunesh, you’ll find his trunk is locked. You can get some free lockpicks by talking to your friend Fritz.

If you miss them, you can also find some at the lone trader in Talmberg while in the castle walls. He sits on a bench near the main gate. If you are low on money, ask Lady Stephanie for some bribe money, and you can buy a few.

Otherwise, you must reach the point in the story where Henry wakes up in Rattay Mill after being rescued by Theresa from an ambush at Skalitz. This is a few hours into the main story of the game so if you’ve just started playing then you’re in for a wait. 

The person you must find is Theresa’s uncle, Miller Peshek which should be easy considering he’s the owner of the mill you’re staying at during that time. Speak to him and look for the dialogue option Training.

Ask him to teach you the skill lockpicking and he’ll gladly offer to begin your training in exchange for 60 Groschen. This price is negotiable as you can barter with him and get him to lower the price to about 50 Groschen if you’re skilled enough in Speech.

You can obtain 10 of them from Miller Peschek. He’ll give you the first 5 after you ask him to teach you about lockpicking and then ask you to practice on a chest at Rattay Mill.

If you can get the hang of it quickly, you get to keep the leftover lockpicks. Additionally, during the quest The Good Thief, he will provide you with 5 more lockpicks in exchange for helping him retrieve a ring from Executioner Hermann.

The first step to picking a lock is finding the starting point. This is done by moving the small silver circle around until it grows large and turns gold. Next, begin turning the lock, carefully following the curve of the rotation. You want the gold circle to maintain its size and shape. Don’t fall out of that zone too much or the lockpick will break.

Each time you successfully lockpick, Henry will gain experience and earn skill points. These skill points unlock perks that make the process easier and will eventually transform you from a clumsy lock fiddler to a master thief.

Unlike Lockpicking, Henry won’t be able to pickpocket another character by default – even if he sneaks up behind someone. This skill must be taught, and only Miller Peshek at Rattay Mill can give you the initial training.

Once you take him up on his offer to steal from the Executioner, return to him and ask for training in pickpocketing. He’ll show you the basics and allow you to try pickpocketing him.

Even with Peshek’s training, pickpocketing can be very tricky to get the hang of. There’s a lot of moving parts and things to keep track of, and one wrong move can get you thrown in jail. With that in mind, it’s best to practice in the wild on drunks or folks that are sleeping, when there awareness is low. You’ll also want to make sure Henry has clothes on that produce low noise, low visibility, and low conspicuousness so people don’t notice him in the act.

Once you find a target, crouch down behind the person you wish to pickpocket, and hold down the interact button. Once this fades, keep holding down the button as an icon appears in red as a yellow line builds out in a circle, with a number in the middle that increases as time goes on.

This is your allotted time that you’ll have to rummage through their pockets before time is up – the longer you hold down the button initially, the longer you’ll have in the next phase. Keep in mind that you don’t want to hold down too long – or someone may notice you. Try to aim for around 15 seconds for alseep targets or 10 for those who are awake

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After releasing your hold on the interact button, you’ll then be taken to the next phase – inspecting and grabbing the contents of their pockets. You’ll fine one to several objects in a larger radial menu, with a door icon at the top, and the yellow length of timer counting back down from however long you prepped for.

Some items may already be revealed, while others will take additional time to expose – you will have to rotate around the radial options to find the item you seek, and then grab it. As you do, you’ll see more time shaved off in red for the time it take to take it out of the pocket.

Once you finally have the items you seek, you’ll still need to escape back to the exit icon at the top of the radial menu before time runs out to successfully pickpocket the target.

Word travels fast in communities, and stolen goods can often be hard to get rid of. Once you’ve stolen something, it will appear with a red hand icon in your inventory – and this also includes poached animal parts!

There are three ways you can get rid of stolen goods. The first is to simply travel far enough to a town or community that hasn’t heard of the recent thefts. You’ll notice a stolen item also lists where it was stolen from. An item stolen from Rattay can usually be sold in a far off place like Talmberg, and vice-versa.

The second option is to simply wait for the heat to die down. Leave your stolen items somewhere safe (and beware of town guards who may randomly come up to you asking to search for stolen goods). Your trunk at home is a good place, as is your horse. You’ll notice after a few ingame days that items are no longer marked with the stolen icon. Usually, the more expensive the item, the longer it will take for people to forget about it.

The final option is to find a fence – someone who deals in stolen merchandise. Miller Peshek is one such person, and he knows other Millers in the trade. Besides Peshek at Rattay, you can find Woyzeck in Kohelnitz – a tiny mill North along the river from Rattay. There’s also Simon, who operates in Sassau.

Note that these dealers don’t have unlimited funds – so after you offload as much as you can, give them a few days to replenish their money so you can sell more.