..but I've never been stopped by a pickable lock. I'll occasionally break a pick, or two on expert/master locks, but they're so easy to find on corpses, I never run out.

Why is an entire perk tree completely useless?

This is why I'm against mini-games for lock picking. Once again lock picking is broken. Not a damn thing was learned with Oblivion's broken lock picking mini-game. It's soley based on player skill and character skill has nothing to do with it.

Oh, to answer your question..... YES. The whole lock picking perk tree is totally useless, just like the lock picking skill.

The only potentially valuable perk from this tree seems to be Treasure Hunter, but I do now know if it affects anything other then locked treasure boxes.

Ya lock picking is a friggin joke. Why get perks when at level 15 Iockpicking skill I easily, I'm talking 8 lock picks broken total, cracked an expert lock. Now I'm level 50 lockpick and have not taken a single perk, have 99+ lock picks and it's stupid.

Anyone who doesn't know how to do this is a moron. The lockpick can be rotated 180 degrees. Cut that into quarter sections, start at the first quarter and see if the lock moves at all, continue until the lock finally moves. Now just move the pick up or down a tiny bit until the lock opens. Too easy, and too bad that lockpicking is one of the worst skills in the game. I'm tempted to get that perk for 50% better treasures, but I already find enough cool stuff that I never will bother.

I would probably get that at the start of some game as I will sometimes get a master lock chest open only to receive 8 gold?

Yup, I'll agree. It IS a complete waste to upgrade any lockpicking perks because locks are so easy to pick without the perks.

I'll be honest and say that i simply cannot unlock expert or higher locks without losing 15-20 lockpicks. Then again, my computer runs at 10 fps or so, so that makes it a lot harder, but i've gotten to the point that i don't even try on them anymore without save scumming it...and even then I'm always near to running out of lockpicks!

Seems decent to me. But that might just be my computer.

Kind of funny indeed, I too have been able to pick expert locks straight from the beginning without investing anything on the lockpicking tree.

So now that we know it wont trivialize anything because the whole thing is already trivial, can I have my open locks spells now?

I'm glad that other people noticed this as well. With so much attention being given to destruction, very few people are talking about how stupid the lockpicking skill is now. The 50% better treasure might be useful, but I really won't spend points to get it.

i personally dont mind the lockpicking perks. i haven't put to many perks to it but i have noticed that it has made some the harder lock levels seem much easier, as if they were the easiest level of lock.

Bit like speech and pickpocketing, its a nice idea but not worth wasting perks on. I got the pickpocketing perk for +100 carry capacity, but otherwise its not really worth it.

Same problem with Oblivion. They at least skill locked you in Fallout 3 and New Vegas. It does diminish the usefulness of lockpicking as a skill. Might as well get rid of it and make a general usefulness perk.

I think that's why they have screwed it up. Now they have a reason to remove yet another thing from the game and now they actually have a valid reason to do so, even if that reason is because of their incompetence.

oh my, player skill surely should have nothing to do with the outcome of an event....
i like the lockpicking, hope it stays this way, yes in the long run lockpicking is worthless perkwise it just means lockpicking needs to be merged with another skill, like pickpocketing

Lol, just thinking. To compensate in TES VI theyll probably make Lock picking so hard you'll need two controllers XD LOL!!!

Anyway, It is a bit broken but I don't mind. It still takes a bit of know how to get into these higher locks and I view them as a challenge to do. And yeah, I'm at like 60+ picks on average.

They could even cleverly gate the locks themselves and have them require special picks that are given as a blueprint at certain levels in lockpicking. The lockpicker becomes a locksmith. Make it where they can lock some containers in towns and stuff to store goods (especially good for thieves who don't want to live in a proper home).

yes, you are abosolutely right in this case. RPG means your character's skills should be the deciding factor, not your ability to use an XBox controller.

You mean the whole 1cm of sweet spot to open the thing and the lockpicking skill raising this sweetspot and making the pick more resistant makes the skill and perks useless?

No, really, how do you open these locks without breaking at least 20 to find the right spot?

Common sense, mostly.

Stop trying to turn the lock when it stops turning. With expert locks you may try just tapping the button for increasinly longer periods of time until you have found the sweet spot.

Its 'pretty fun' picking an expert lock with a lockpicking skill of 20 and instantly gaining 2 levels in it.

I never break lockpicks, I never did in Oblivion either.
If you tap the key, and it cannot move, the pick will sort of vibrate in place, if you do it properly you don't damage the pick, and thus can open literally any lock.

I didn't in Oblivion, but in Skyrim the Expert and Master locks I'll occasionally instantly break a pick even with a tap of the turn. Not that big of a deal, though, since you're showered with lockpicks.

I do not think the minigame needs to be removed, but I do think you should have a certain minimum amount of Lockpicking skill and perk before you are allowed to attempt picking locks based on their rank.
This is something that can be done through the CK I'm sure.