Lock (Fallout 76)

Locks are part of a gameplay mechanic, found on doors, containers, machines, and terminals in Fallout 76.

Characteristics
Locks are instances that can be picked, hacked, or opened with keys and passwords. When interacting with a locked item, the display will indicate the skill needed and current skill. One must have a bobby pin in the inventory to pick a lock, and which locks can be picked depends on perk cards equipped. Depending on its difficulty, successfully opening a lock grants a number of XP.

Perks
For locked items, there are three lockpicking related perk cards, including Picklock, Expert Picklock, and Master Picklock, or are automatically unlocked when using the Master Infiltrator legendary perk. These perks allow for the opportunity to attempt and increase the chance of opening a lock successfully. Each perk also increases the range of the 'sweet spot' by 10%. The Picklock card allows level 1 locks to be picked, Expert Picklock allows level 2, and Master Picklock allows level 3. ​Duplicate perk cards cannot be equipped to increase the lockpicking skill.

For locked terminals, Hacker perk cards allow for access attempts. The ability is increased by one for each unique hacking perk card equipped, including Hacker, Expert Hacker, and Master Hacker, or are automatically unlocked when using the Master Infiltrator legendary perk. To unlock terminals requiring a hacking skill of 3, all three perk cards must be equipped at the same time or having a rank 3 Master Infiltrator legendary perk. Equipping duplicates of a perk card does not increase one's hacking skill. Master Infiltrator renders Hacker (Expert, Master) and Picklock (Expert, Master) redundant and will not stack.

Controls
If the conditions are met, one of two mini-games is activated. For world objects, a bobby pin and screwdriver are inserted into the keyhole of the lock. The lockpicker attempts to find the correct position for the pin, which is checked by turning the screwdriver as if it were a key. The further the screwdriver turns the lock, the closer the pin is to the correct position. Once the screwdriver can turn the lock a full 90 degrees, the lock opens.

If the lockpicker fails to determine the correct position of the lock too many times, the bobby pin will break, forcing them to use another to continue the attempt. The difficulty level of the lock determines how accurately the bobby pin must be placed and how easily the pin will break.

For terminals, the lock is circumvented by guessing the correct word on the screen. The terminal interface displays a list of words, all of the same character lengths, interposed with random characters. The length of the words is determined by the difficulty of the lock. One of the words is the correct password, and the player has four chances to guess or will be locked out. Each respective hacker perk reduces lockout time, where rank 3 will prevent this lockout altogether and Bobblehead: Science allows one extra guess for one hour.

Workshop
Doors, containers, portable toilets, collectron stations, water purifiers, and extractors in C.A.M.P.s and public workshops can be locked to prevent others from accessing or taking resources. In build mode, switching to modify will allow three levels of locks to be applied, as well as the option to remove the lock.

Each will cost a small number of resources, increasing with the lock difficulty and dependent on the level of Picklock card equipped. Removing a lock does not require resources. Stash boxes and scrapboxes cannot be locked, as other characters cannot access contents. Successfully picking a lock in another player's C.A.M.P. results in a wanted status, the consequences of which include a bounty placed on the player, noted by a wanted icon indicating where they are located on the map, and the reward for killing them. Locked doors and resource collectors in a team member's C.A.M.P. are unlocked for all members of that team.