Palworld 1.0 Guide: Stop Hoarding Keys and Master Lockpicking

Quick Answer: Palworld’s crafted lockpicks are permanent, unbreakable items that weigh absolutely nothing. Craft all three tiers to trigger a fail-safe lockpicking minigame, sell off your useless key stash for easy gold, or bring a Mimog along to passively pry open any chest you find.

During my initial playthrough, I completely ignored the thievery tech tree. Staring at the resource cost for a basic lockpick, I naturally assumed the tool would snap into pieces the moment I applied too much pressure. Thankfully, I was completely wrong.

Pocketpair decided to be incredibly generous with this mechanic. Lockpicks are permanent Key Items. They sit securely in a dedicated inventory tab, weigh exactly zero pounds, and boast infinite durability.

A Familiar Minigame

Anyone who has spent time wandering the wastelands of Fallout or the frozen mountains of Skyrim will instantly recognize this system.

When you approach a locked container, the game gives you a choice. Pressing ‘F’ instantly consumes a standard key to pop the lid. Pressing ‘V’, however, drops you into a classic lockpicking screen. You rotate your tool to locate the sweet spot, then twist the cylinder to see if it gives.

The absolute best part about this mechanic is the complete lack of punishment. If you push too hard in the wrong spot, your pick does not break. The cylinder simply resets, allowing you to try again as many times as you need. It costs you nothing but a few seconds.

Crafting Your Arsenal

You cannot craft a single master tool and rob the entire island. Your ability to crack safes is gated behind three specific technology tiers. The material costs scale up aggressively, but you only ever need to build each tool once.

Unlock these the exact second you hit the required level. Walking away from a gold chest because your pockets are empty is terrible, especially since those containers hold legendary weapon schematics.

Liquidating Your Key Stash

Once your three picks are crafted, standard keys become almost entirely obsolete.

Because picks live in your Key Items tab, they never clutter your main inventory bags. Keys, on the other hand, eat up valuable bag space. Take your massive stacks of copper, silver, and gold keys directly to the nearest Wandering Merchant and liquidate them for a massive pile of cash.

The Only Exception

You should keep a tiny handful of standard keys on your character for one specific scenario: active combat zones.

The lockpicking minigame does not pause the world around you. If you are infiltrating the new Oil Rig or sprinting through a chaotic dungeon boss room, standing completely still to fiddle with a tumbler is a death sentence. When you are taking heavy fire, hitting ‘F’ to instantly burn a key is a much safer tactical choice.

The Mimog Skeleton Key

If you absolutely despise minigames and refuse to carry any keys whatsoever, the 1.0 update provided a fantastic alternative. Go catch a Mimog.

This bizarre, treasure-chest-shaped dog functions as a living skeleton key. Previously, a Mimog was restricted by its partner skill level. Now, any Mimog can open literally any chest in the game, regardless of its rank. You just have to wait a few moments while the Pal slowly pries the container open.

You can speed up this waiting game by utilizing the new condensation system. Sacrificing 48 duplicates bumps your Mimog up to a four-star rank, vastly increasing how fast it pops locks. If you combine a fully upgraded Mimog with the strategy from our Palworld Guide: The Most Broken Early Game Pal (And How to Catch It), you can safely infiltrate endgame zones and loot gold chests long before you ever reach level 53.

For more tips, walkthroughs, and everything else covering the game, check out our full collection of guides.