Overview
Dashing through hallways to create clever distractions behind secured doors, making use of his (and his crew’s) distractions to break into that heavily guarded vault or simply leading the way for his team for safe and quick getaways and advances: the Locksmith can do it all and more!
A Glimpse into The Mind of The Locksmith
The Locksmith is a cunning and important member of the heist crew. While many may consider his skills to be subpar compared to some of the more popular criminals, “The Pick” keeps true to his importance in game in a majority of the heist maps. He thrives off teamwork and provides great leadership potential depending on the skill of the player and the layout of the map. Often outshined by The Mole, this clever rouge relies on stealth, speed, communication and distraction to do what he does best, create secured locations into havens for his team.
As the main orator of the initial story of the game, The Locksmith serves well as a leader or solo for speed running. Depending on crew make-up, he can also serve as a useful support. Both of these styles and his skills will be described at length further.
Did I miss something or is something needing additional details for clarity? Perhaps I worded something that leads the meaning into obscurity or just plain jibberish? Please leave a comment or message me and I will ammend the guide.
(Many of the tactics and information described within can also be applied to other characters, so some of this guide will be able to act as a basics of the game for those who wish to learn or refresh.)
The Art of the Pick
This “Blue Collar Wonder” sports helpful skills under his probable beer belly. These skills help craft him in his position as both leader and support; the most important of these skills being his primary.
-Unlocking Doors
Any door with a lock icon over it will slow down the team. This may lead to patrols walking into the surprised thieves or lasers locking on to their position. If moving in a large group to a safe location (or running from the hunt of security), be sure that your crew is right behind you to ensure evasion and success. This skill allows The Locksmith to either move with the group, go off on his own and create “safe rooms” as he evades patrols or to act as support and navigate through the building and unlock doors for his team as they achieve other objectives.
The Locksmith can unlock any normal locked door in 1 second rather than the normal 3, and can unlock heavily secured doors (double lock icon) in 3 seconds instead of 6. Having this ability allows him to sneak past guards and lasers through locked doors without threat of detection.
-Unlocking Safes
Safes have locks too, ya know, and The Locksmith is just as good as unlocking these highly secured containers as he is unlocking heavily locked doors. It takes him 3 seconds to unlock a safe making him twice as fast as any other member of the heist. This provides opportunity for quick reclaimation of hoarded cash hidden away in safes, cash registers, and ATMs. If your team utilizes good communication and distractions, The Locksmith can use this to his advantage and break into safes and get out before anyone is the wiser. While this is not as useful as having The Gentleman or The Pickpocket in some situations, it helps to ensure safety and efficiancy during heightened situations during the job.
Safety Before the Safe
Since The Locksmith does not have any bonuses to conventional escape (i.e. airducts, stairs, bushes), he must make use of the shadows and quick jolts through locked doors to evade detection. Often times he is able to unlock and pass through a door before even being suspected by anyone who might catch a glimpse of this criminal. It is important to secure and hold locked doors for team members during times of alarm and to ensure safe progression and retreat.
As goes with all crew unable to knock-out, charm, or blend in with the crowd, The Locksmith must adhear to stealth and hiding to move freely through out the building. Be sure to make use of bushes, corners not in patroling security personnel’s view and air ducts. One will quickly learn that moving fast and careless through the heist will often end terribly for our team of thieves (although The Mole begs to differ).
This does not mean that The Locksmith is useless during high speed crime. In fact he enables the team to move quickly through an area by unsecuring those often pesky locked off spaces. These unlocked spaces can be often used as quick places to hide from persuers or direct routes to loot. A skilled player will also be able to create distractions by just letting guards look at him and become suspicious as he dashes away or around them.
Pesky guards keep undoing all your lockpicking work? Corpses placed in the doorway will jam them so that they will be unable to be relocked as long as the body remains in place. Doing this ensures quick movement through the landscape but may allow guards to peek into rooms and potentially spot you or your fellow criminals. Be sure to use this tactic with caution and keep tabs on patrols (as every player should).
It’s Not Easy Being Blue
As many players experienced in Monaco will sometimes tell you, The Locksmith is probably the least “powerful” of the eight thieves. His skills are often completely useless based on the map, and they offer no “completely safe” means of escape. Being able to dash around locked areas and use them as cover may be very useful, but by no means does that mean you will always evade detection in this manner. Luckily, there are equipment that blend well with the purpose of his abilities.
– Shotgun/Machine Gun
If used as a distraction, make sure there is room between you and your intended persuers so you can escape without actually being chased. If done correctly, they will only be suspicious and follow to the space of the origin of the shot, allowing you to move behind or around them toward your destination. If all else fails, the shotgun (or machine gun) is also a very useful murder tool against those who would confiscate your lockpicks.
– Smoke Bomb
The implications of use are pretty self explanitory when looking at the type of jobs The Locksmith will be performing. For example, if the only sure method of escape is through a secured door and you are already being chased, smoke bombs will help buy you the time to not only open the door (since you open them so fast) but also to make a run for it and get to somewhere safer. The same method also works if you are caught breaking into a safe or door.
– EMP
Even with the ability to basically go in any room you want at any time, hazards such as security lasers and cameras will often plauge your very existance. Sure opening a door is great, in fact it is marvelous, but opening a door that leads into a myriad of red lines that only wish you death is a frightening factor. Sometimes these traps are nearly unavoidable unless you have The Hacker or The Mole (to burrow around it) and you may be stuck completely if you are moving solo. The EMP allows for the same effect as turning off the lights for the room, complete darkness and lack of power to any servailance systems. Using this item can keep you moving forward just as safely as you always do.
– Wrench
The wrench is a multipurpose tool which can allow teams to emulate other classes in an instant. There is no waiting tim on actions as long as the wrench is used, making this an important tool for any thief. It can also be used to knock out guards as well as having use for disabling security devices that are generally impossible without a hacker (such as alarm triggering safe boxes), however.
– Tranquilizer
Very useful for when detection could cause for a very messy situation or when guards are stationary in areas difficult to get into without being spotted. This weapon is a ranged Cleaner and best of all, it is silent. It has a very accurate shot compared to other ranged gear so be sure of where you are firing
Doorway To Safety
Having a Locksmith in the party provides great support and leadership for the whole team. With the right team and gear, The Locksmith can become a nearly unstoppable blur moving from one end of the map to the other. His ability to quickly secure rooms for hiding give him an advantage, as most of the time air ducts or stairs and bushes are not easily locatable as an empty room will be. All of his skills and jobs he can perform prove that this working class man has what it takes to pull off a successful heist.