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I'm not sure I've come across a lockpicking minigame that feels quite as brutal as the one in Gothic Remake, especially when you're untrained. I guess it's probably quite similar to how it would feel if I gave you a lockpick and asked you to open a locked chest in real life (assuming you're not some kind of master thief on the sly).

Luckily, like most things in Gothic, it becomes significantly easier if you invest in training and gather plenty of lockpicks to use when you're intent on cracking open a container and filching some items. So, here are the fundamentals of lockpicking, how to make it easier, and where to get more picks.

How to lockpick in Gothic Remake

Gothic has some of the hardest lockpicking I've encountered in an RPG, especially when tackling complex locks with six sliders. You can see me lockpicking a chest during The Cult's Recipe quest above. Otherwise, here's a brief rundown of how it works:

• Your goal is to align all of the sliders: Each slider has seven holes and your job is to align them all (by selecting and moving each) so the copper-coloured pin is in the middle hole for each of them. When a slider is correctly aligned, the pin will stick out of the hole.
• Sliders move other sliders: The tricky part is that moving a slider will either:
  • Move just that slider
  • Move other sliders in the same direction
  • Move other sliders in the opposite direction
• Lockpicks have durability: If a slider hits either side of the lock (which you'll know because it will be unable to move and will rattle), it will cost one durability. By default, lockpicks have two durability. When a pick breaks, the lock will reset, though you can also reset it at any time by pressing R. Though, if you exit lockpicking and your pick has any strain on it already, it will break.
• Training improves lockpick durability and adds break bonuses: If you're Trained, a pick will take four strains and the lock won't reset on a break. If you're a Master, it takes six strains, but a break will also remove a connection within the lock, simplifying the relationship between the sliders so it's easier to solve.

So, if you're serious about lockpicking, you'll want to get some training as soon as possible. If you pursue the Casting Shadows quest for Diego, you can ask him about teachers, and he will recommend you speak to Fingers in the Old Camp.

If you head left from the castle entrance, past Snaf and his cauldron, you'll find Fingers' shack up the slope to your right. He can train you in lockpicking, provided you have the ore nuggets and learning points from levelling up.

How to get lockpicks in Gothic Remake

Your best bet for acquiring lockpicks is either by keeping an eye out for them while exploring the world, particularly in prisoner-inhabited areas, or by buying them from Mordrag in the Old Camp. This New Camp representative is sitting on a bench outside a shack on the east side of the cloth-covered market area, in the south of the camp.

He sells them for 13 ore a piece, which is fairly expensive, so you're better off finding them and save-scumming to preserve your picks when you actually do some lockpicking. You can also buy them from Dexter in the same market area, the merchant who gives you The Cult's Recipe quest.

Unlocking fast travel in Gothic Remake will likely be a priority as soon as you start getting tired of traipsing up and down the same road to the Swamp Camp over and over. There are other ways to move quickly in Gothic—the Scavenger mount you can ride, for one—but if you want actual instantaneous fast travel, it's going to take a little work to acquire it.

Thankfully, though, the Gothic Remake at least has proper fast travel; there's none of that Dragon's Dogma 2 riding in a cart for 12 hours and seemingly being attacked by every cyclops on the map during your journey.

How to unlock fast travel in Gothic Remake

First off, unlocking fast travel is tied to your main story quest progress. You won't get the Swamp Camp fast travel rune (the first item you acquire to teleport) until the start of Chapter 3, which requires a fair bit of quest progress with the main story Swamp Camp quests. To clarify, this doesn't mean you need to join the Swamp Camp, since you'll be sent there by the other factions to complete these quests no matter what.

Complete Chapter 2 and its final quest to explore the Orc Cemetery, then as soon as Chapter 3 begins, Cor Angar will give you the Swamp Camp teleport rune. Is it a bit annoying that Swamp Camp fast travel only unlocks after you've completed a bunch of Swamp Camp quests already? Yes. Yes, it is.

During Chapter 3 you'll also unlock the New Camp teleport rune from Saturas when you visit the Water Mages. For me, I had to return to the Old Camp (where I was a member), speak to Raven, who pointed me to Diego, who asked me to go visit the Water Mages as part of the Water Mages' Plan quest. I haven't unlocked the Old Camp teleport rune yet, but considering Torrez doesn't sell it, I'm pretty sure it will also come from main quest progress.

You can use a teleport rune the same way as any other spell rune. Simply put it in your hotbar, select it, and then spend mana to teleport.