Safe (Fallout 3)

The  is a storage item used for safekeeping and storage of valuable items. Safes are reinforced metal boxes, secured by locked doors. Safes are used in the Vault-Tec Vaults as well as in the Core Region, the Capital Wasteland, and the Mojave Wasteland. Most are still functional and usable post-war.

Fallout and Fallout 2
Safes can be lockpicked or blasted open using Dynamite or Plastic Explosives, or can be opened by using the appropriate key or combination, as with John Bishop's safe.

Fallout 3
Safes in Fallout 3 are large black reinforced metal boxes, found either freestanding, or installed into walls or floors. They are commonly somewhat concealed behind counters or desks, or covered up by since-ruined picture frames. and can be found in many buildings. Most safes will be found locked, but some can be found with open doors. However, opening a safe only brings up an inventory dialogue, and does not physically open the safe. Safe locks can range from Very Easy to Very Hard. The difficulty of the lock usually scales with the value of the loot contained inside; some safe loot is randomly generated, whereas other loot will be set, such as loot from quest rewards.

Safes remain empty after being looted for the rest of the game, giving the appearance to be safe storage containers for personal loot. (Currently testing strong PS3).

Using The Key
Safes owned by NPCs will usually have a corresponding key that can either be pickpocketed or must be removed from their corpse, or will be given to you, as in the quest A Manhandled Manservant.

Lock Picking
The most common way of breaking into a safe is to pick the lock using the Lockpicking skill, using a bobby pin. The harder the lock, the smaller the sweet spot for the bobby pin. Forcing the lock can break it, rendering it unopenable without the key. Successfully picking a locked safe will grant XP. See Picking a Lock. Note that some safes cannot be opened in this manner, as denoted by [Needs Key].

Computer Terminals
Usually the player will need a lower science than lockpick skill to open a given safe. If your Lockpick skill is not high enough to pick the lock, using Science skill to hack into a nearby terminal will usually grant access. See Hacking Terminals. Note that not every nearby terminal unlocks a safe, and some safes may only be opened by terminals, such as the safe in Jiggs' Loot. When you have accessed the terminal, the commmand to unlock will be listed, and the lock will open.