You've finally made it. You just spent forty-five minutes sculpting the perfect jawline for your Sole Survivor, watched the world end from a hillside, and crawled out of a cryogenic tube only to find your first real obstacle. It isn’t a Deathclaw. It’s a locked door. Specifically, it's the lack of bobby pins in Fallout 4 that’s holding you back from that sweet, sweet loot.
Honestly, it's frustrating. You see a Master-level safe and you just know there’s a legendary snub-nosed .44 or a pile of Pre-War money inside. But your inventory is empty. Or worse, you have one pin left and your hands are shaking more than a Ghoul on a Jet bender.
Getting good at lockpicking isn't just about having high Perception. It’s about understanding the "feel" of the mechanic and knowing exactly where the Commonwealth hides its stash of metal.
The Physics of a Broken Pin
Let’s be real: the lockpicking minigame in Fallout 4 is basically a game of "hot or cold." You rotate the bobby pin with your mouse or right thumbstick, then you test the lock with your screwdriver.
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If the lock doesn't move? Cold.
If it turns halfway and then starts vibrating? Warm.
If it goes a full 90 degrees? You're in.
The mistake most people make is being too aggressive. If you're on a controller, the vibration is your best friend. The second—and I mean the millisecond—you feel that controller start to rumble, let go of the tension. If you’re on PC, watch the pin. If it starts to jitter, stop pressing 'D'.
Every time the pin vibrates, it’s losing "health." On Master locks, the sweet spot is so tiny that one heavy-handed mistake will snap your last pin.
Why the "Sweet Spot" Moves
Here is a weird quirk: if you back out of the lockpicking screen and go back in, the sweet spot resets. This is a double-edged sword. If you’re down to your last pin and you’ve completely lost track of where the sweet spot was, exiting the menu can save your pin. But you’ll have to find the new spot from scratch.
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Where to Find Bobby Pins Early
You shouldn't ever have to buy these things, but in the first five hours, you might be desperate. Don't go to Diamond City just for pins.
Check the mirrors. Seriously. Almost every bathroom mirror in Sanctuary Hills has a high chance of spawning a bobby pin or some stimpaks. It’s like the people of 2077 were obsessed with keeping their hair in place while the bombs fell.
The Concord Secret
Most players run straight to the Museum of Freedom to save Preston, but they miss the houses on the outskirts. There is a house right as you enter Concord (the first one on the right after the dead brahmin) that has a guaranteed box of bobby pins on the second floor.
- Vault 111: Check the security desk near the entrance. Usually, there’s at least one or a small box.
- Trashcan Carla: She’s the roaming merchant you usually meet near Drumlin Diner. She almost always carries a stock of 5 to 10 pins.
- Settlers: If you’re really hurting, talk to your settlers and ask to trade. They often have a few pins in their personal inventory that you can take for free (or for a few caps).
Making Your Pins Unbreakable
Eventually, you’ll want to stop worrying about it. This requires the Locksmith perk, which lives under the Perception tree. You need Perception 4 to even start.
- Rank 1: Pick Advanced locks.
- Rank 2: Pick Expert locks.
- Rank 3: Pick Master locks.
- Rank 4: Your bobby pins never break.
Is Rank 4 worth it? Kinda. By the time you reach level 41 (the requirement for the final rank), you probably have 400 bobby pins in your pocket anyway. However, for the sheer "quality of life" factor of never seeing that "Your bobby pin has broken" message again, many players swear by it. It turns the minigame into a five-second chore rather than a tense puzzle.
The Cait Cheat Code
If you hate lockpicking or didn't put points into Perception, go to the Combat Zone and recruit Cait. Give her a stack of bobby pins and point her at a door. She can pick any lock in the game, including Master ones. Just keep in mind she can break them, so don't give her your last three and expect a miracle.
Advanced Tactics: The "Nick" in the Metal
If you look closely at the lock graphic, there are small scratches and notches around the outer rim. Use these as visual anchors. If you find a spot where the lock turns 45 degrees before sticking, note which scratch the pin is pointing at.
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If it breaks, you now have a landmark. "Okay, it was just to the left of that rust spot." It’s much more effective than just "guessing" where you were.
Also, keep an eye out for Tumbler’s Today magazines. Each one you find makes the lockpicking sweet spot slightly larger. There’s one in the Fens Street Sewer and another in the West Roxbury Station. Finding all five makes even Master locks feel like Novice ones.
Practical Steps for Your Next Session
Stop slamming the screwdriver into the lock. It's a gentle process. If you want to maximize your loot-to-pin ratio, follow these steps:
- Farm Sanctuary Mirrors: Before leaving the starting area, clear every house's medicine cabinet.
- The "Tap" Method: Instead of holding the turn button, tap it rapidly. This gives you a "preview" of the resistance without putting full stress on the pin's durability.
- Binary Search: Start at the far left, then the far right, then the middle. This helps you narrow down which "half" of the lock the sweet spot is in within three seconds.
- Save Your Perk Points: Don't rush to Rank 4 of Locksmith unless you have points to burn; focus on Rank 3 to ensure no door is ever truly closed to you.
The Commonwealth is full of locked safes that have been sitting there for 200 years. With a bit of patience and a steady hand, you'll be the one finally seeing what's inside.