Hi! I made a Thief and I have now 2 questions:

1) Pickpocketing: How can I easily pickpocket people that they can't notice me?

2) How can I easily train Open Lock spell?

Thanks!
~ Greetings From Finland!

You can easily pickpocket people by... being sneaky. You need to be in sneak mode - and the more you are in sneak mode, the higher your sneak skill goes and the better your chances of being undetected. When going to pickpocket someone or pick a lock, make sure to pay close attention to the "eye" icon. It has to be dimmed when you click to pickpocket or unlock. If it is bright, then you have been detected.

For example, if you are on a street, and want to pick a lock of a house, be in sneak mode. If a guard is walking up the street (and no one else is around), watch the "eye" - you will see it is bright as he approaches because you are in his field of vision. After he passes you, it will go dim.

Greetings.

1. You can pickpocket a sleeping person pretty easily. Improving sneak also helps. Of course make sure no one is around to see you (particularly guards). The less light there is (ie the darker it is) the better. You can improve sneak by moving around dark dungeons. The Imperial City sewers are good for that - mudcrabs are not very observant, and you gain experience for sneaking around creatures as well as people.

2. You can buy a cheap open lock spell (not sure I can say where in the General forum). Then you can cast it on locks to train - it actually doesn't matter if the lock is already open.

Ok.. Does it matter if Spell is Open Very Easy Lock and the targeted lock is Average, does Open Very Easy Lock get experience then?

I usually don't train alteration that way, so I'm not 100% sure. But I think it does. You can try it. At lower alteration levels it should be easy to see whether the bar moves.

But using any alteration skill will help with the open lock spell. To self train, I usually buy or use a cheap protect spell and cast it alot on my character. That will increase alteration, and so allow you to buy higher level open lock spells even if you don't use Open that much.

Note that you cannot buy a Open Very Hard lock spell, but you can make one. Note also that Armor reduces spell effectiveness, so that may affect an open spells ability to work on some locks.

If you're going to be opening locks alot, you might consider increasing security skill and getting used to the lockpick minigame. I was terrible at it when I started but after a while, it gets easier. Also there is an item in the game that hugely helps with lockpicking, but I can't say what this is in the general forum.

Basicly, your sneak skill is the primary factor when pickpocketing. As previously mentioned you need to be undetected to pull it off. I think the weight of the item that your lifting has an affect too. The lighter it is, the easier it is to steal. And try not to steal more than one thing at a time when pickpocketing.

Personaly I prefer lockpicking to the open spell. The higher your security level is, the easier the lockpicking minigame gets and security levels up very fast if you use it a lot. Alteration can be leveled up as easily as any other school of magic but I'm not sure if it levels up as fast as security. However it's technicaly possible to unlock a very hard lock from day 1 with security. It took me forever to get the mini-game right but now I wont go any other way unless I decide to roleplay a pure mage.

P.S.
Welcome to the forums. :wave:

About open lock, you might consider something MUCH easier and practical: go to the Spellmaker and make a 1 second Fortified Skill +100 to Securty. Fortify Skill is actually a Restoration spell (you must know the spell effect to do this).

Now all you will ever need to open anything is ONE lockpick. Impossible to miss....

Chameleon cloaking improves your ability to pickpocket. Chameleon can go well above 100% (I don't know what the limit is.). Enchantments based on grand souls gems can each give you 20% Chameleon for a maximum of 120% cloaking from enchantments. Spells can increase that and so can potions. The various effects all add up to the total effect.

The weight of objects pickpocketed has an effect on how easily you are detected. The level of your victim also effects whether or not you are detected.

If you want to go with spells and increase your Alteration skill, find yourself a feather, a shield or water breathing spell or something which you can cast on yourself and just cast away Then you can cast and create spells for higher level locks.