The Outer Worlds Pickpocketing Tips

This guide contains all the basic information and handy tips to help you with the pickpocketing skill in The Outer Worlds

Being a proper open-world RPG, The Outer Worlds allows players to operate on both sides of the law. They can complete their tasks normally or with unsavory means. One way to acquire items in a not so legal method in The Outer Worlds is through pickpocketing and in this guide we will give you some useful tips to help with that.

The Outer Worlds Pickpocketing Tips

To pickpocket, you need to invest 40 skill points in the Stealth skill tree. Once done, it will unlock the “Pick Pocket” skill. Higher points in Stealth will improve the skill and allow you to easily steal from NPCs throughout the world. Pick Pocketing functions similar to hacking and lockpicking and thus will be considered illegal.

To pick someone’s pocket, all you have to do is sneak up behind them and press the interact button. It seems simple, however, make sure you maintain enough distance so that you are not detected as getting too close will alert the NPC.

Secondly, you need to make sure nobody else is watching you. Keep an eye on your stealth meter to see if you are being watched or not. If someone sees you, they will attack you, and reduce your reputation for that particular faction because….nobody likes a thief.

Having higher skill points invested in stealth or sneak will make it easier to steal, making pickpocketing faster and safer. The sneak subtree of stealth particularly helps to improve pickpocketing. If you have not invested enough points, you can increase your sneak by either wearing gear such as:

  • Rebuilt Mining Gear
  • Riot Control Armor
  • Retrofitted Heavy Power Armor
  • Riot Control Armor
  • Day Wear, Option 1
  • Elite Troop Armor
  • Elite Troop Armor Gold (L17)

Other than this, you can add Felix or Nyoko to your squad as companions which will also help boost your Sneak Skill.  Since players recieve a portion of skill benefits from their party companions, both Nyoko and Felix provide stealth bonuses at tier 3.

Once the pickpocketing is complete, the inventory menu opens, allowing you to see what can be stolen from the NPC. Keep in mind this works best against stationary targets as maintaining a safe distance and avoiding detection can be difficult if the NPC is moving around so wait for the perfect time before you attempt to pickpocket.

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Ali is a passionate RPG gamer. He believes that western RPGs still have a lot to learn from JRPGs. He is editor-in-chief at SegmentNext.com but that doesn't stop him from writing about his favorite video ...