The Lockpicker costs 20 credits and opens locked doors. The store lists the time it takes: 30 seconds.
Nobody buys this item for the 20 credits. They buy it for the half-minute, and that is the part worth thinking about.
The cost is time, not money
Thirty seconds does not sound like much until you picture where you spend it.
You are standing in one spot, facing a door, unable to run. Your hands are busy. If something comes down the hallway behind you, the correct response — leave immediately — is the one thing you cannot do without abandoning the attempt.
So the real question is not “can we afford 20 credits.” It is “can this crew afford one player being stationary for 30 seconds in this facility.”
On a calm moon with a guard watching the hallway, that is nothing. On a run where you have already heard something moving, it is a long time.
When to bring it
- The crew has a spare pair of hands. Somebody is watching the hallway while the picker works.
- You are looting systematically. If the plan is to clear a whole wing, locked rooms are part of the route, not a detour.
- The quota is comfortable. You are not racing the clock, so buying access to more rooms is a reasonable way to raise the haul.
- You keep hitting doors you cannot open. Repeated dead ends are the clearest signal that the item would pay for itself.
When to leave it in the store
- Solo play. You have nobody to guard you, and 30 seconds alone in a hallway is where runs end.
- Tight quotas. If the trip has to be short, you want scrap you can reach immediately, not scrap behind a timer.
- Hostile moons. On moons where the corridor itself is the threat, standing still is the last thing to add.
- You are already carrying heavy. Inventory space is limited, and the picker competes with loot for a slot.
How to use it safely
The safe pattern is simple and crews skip it constantly.
Clear the hallway first. Know what is behind you before you start. The 30 seconds should be spent in a corridor you have already walked, not one you are meeting for the first time.
Post one player. The guard’s job is not to help pick the lock. It is to watch the hallway and say something early enough that the picker can stop and move.
Pick the door nearest an exit. If the attempt has to be abandoned, you want a short path out, not a run back through the facility.
Do not stack locks. Opening two doors in a row doubles the stationary time and doubles the exposure. If the second locked door is deeper inside, that is a separate trip.
Where it sits in the buying order
The Lockpicker is a second-day purchase.
Day one is a Shovel, lights, and radios — items that keep the crew alive and in contact. Once those are covered and the quota is under control, access to more rooms becomes the next thing limiting your haul, and that is when 20 credits is a good spend.
If you are interrupted, leave
The worst habit with this item is restarting. Something appears in the hallway, the picker backs off, it goes quiet, and then everybody goes back to the door.
Do not. An interrupted attempt means standing still for another 30 seconds in a corridor you now know is not empty. The information you gained was that this spot is exposed, and the correct response is to act on it.
Either post a guard properly and start again with someone watching, or come back on the next trip. The loot behind the door is not worth two exposed half-minutes in a row.
Related guides
- Best equipment tier list — the full buying order.
- Best loadout — who carries which item.
- How to carry heavy scrap — why inventory space makes this item a trade-off.