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Lockpicking in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion can be a hassle since it’s so different from the lockpicking minigame in later Bethesda RPGs. There’s one item that can make your life a whole lot easier: the Skeleton Key. If you’re fed up with breaking lockpicks all the time, the Skeleton Key is what you need.
This guide is valid for both Oblivion and Oblivion Remastered. Although the list of Oblivion Remastered changes is actually pretty impressive, it doesn’t change the original quests.
The Skeleton Key is an unbreakable lockpick that also boosts your Security skill by a whopping 40 points. Not only does it make lockpicking a whole lot easier, but it negates the need for lockpicking altogether since you can just brute force every lock by spamming the auto-attempt button over and over again. The Skeleton Key never breaks, so you get to roll the dice an unlimited number of times until the auto-attempt eventually succeeds.
How to Get the Skeleton Key in Oblivion
Like most of the coolest gear you can find in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the Skeleton Key is a Daedric Artifact. It’s locked behind a special Daedric questline, but thankfully, the recommended level for this one isn’t very high.
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Skeleton key quest: Nocturnal
The quest to get the Skeleton Key in Oblivion is called Nocturnal. You can start the quest by visiting the Nocturnal Shrine north of Leyawiin after reaching level 10. You’ll find Leyawiin in the southern part of Cyrodiil near the coast. Once you arrive at the shrine, you’ll need to recover the stolen Eye of Nocturnal.
Go to Leyawiin
Your search for the Eye of Nocturnal sends you into the city of Leyawiin, the home of the suspected thieves. Two Argonian suspects are your primary targets: Weebam-Na and Bejeen. Start your investigation at Weebam-Na’s house in the center of the town and ask either of the two Argonians about the Eye of Nocturnal.
As you’d expect, they both deny any involvement in the theft of the artifact. After speaking to them, sneak off to a shadowy corner of the house to eavesdrop on the pair without being noticed. If your Stealth skill isn’t high enough to avoid detection, you may need to drink an invisibility potion or cast a spell to hide more efficiently.
When the Argonians think you’re gone, they’ll speak openly about the Eye of Nocturnal. It turns out that the artifact is at Tidewater Cave southeast of Leyawiin. Leave the town and head there to continue your search.
Go to Tidewater Cave
Tidewater Cave is a fairly straightforward dungeon. It’s filled with trolls and low-level enemies, so it’s not that big of a threat even if you’ve only just hit level 10.
To reach the Eye of Nocturnal, keep making left turns in Tidewater Cave. You’ll end up in a deeply flooded tunnel with a chest underwater. The Eye of Nocturnal is sitting right next to that submerged chest and is bright and glowing, so you can’t miss it.
Go to Nocturnal’s Shrine
At this point, you can continue to search Tidewater Cave or head back to the Nocturnal Shrine to deliver the artifact.
Once you return the artifact to the Nocturnal Shrine, you’ll get the Skeleton Key as a reward. It will never break no matter how many locks you pick, and you’ll have a permanent Fortify Security buff that adds 40 points to your Security skill as long as it’s in your inventory. Enjoy your stress free lockpicking!
Skeleton Key console command
If you’d rather skip the quest, you can add the Skeleton Key to your inventory with the help of Oblivion console commands:
- Press the tilde (~) key to open the command line.
- Type “player.additem 0000000b 1” without the quotation marks and hit Enter.
Enjoy your Skeleton Key!
Since the Skeleton Key never breaks, there’s no need to add more than one to your inventory. You still can if you want, though. All you need to do is change the number at the end of the console command. The Skeleton Key can be taken away from you in rare scenarios (like getting arrested), so this console command can come in handy if you need to recover your thieving cheat code.