Skyrim Pickpocket perks
Stealing from other people's pockets. Pickpocket is a thief skill with 8 perks and 12 perk ranks.
- Perks
- 8 perks, 12 perk points to complete
- Skill type
- Thief (Stealth)
- Race bonus
- Argonian, Wood Elf, Khajiit +5
- XP 15 → 100
- 87,351 skill XP
- Training 15 → 90
- 120,450 gold (75 sessions)
Pickpocket perk tree
| Perk | Rank | Skill | Requires | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Light Fingers | 1/5 | 0 | — | Pickpocketing is 20% easier |
| 2/5 | 20 | Light Fingers 1 | Pickpocketing is 40% easier | |
| 3/5 | 40 | Light Fingers 2 | Pickpocketing is 60% easier | |
| 4/5 | 60 | Light Fingers 3 | Pickpocketing is 80% easier | |
| 5/5 | 80 | Light Fingers 4 | Pickpocketing is 100% easier | |
| Night Thief | — | 30 | Light Fingers | +25% chance to pickpocket sleeping targets |
| Cutpurse | — | 40 | Night Thief | Pickpocketing gold is much easier |
| Poisoned | — | 40 | Night Thief | Silently poison targets by placing poisons in their pockets |
| Extra Pockets | — | 50 | Night Thief | +100 carry weight |
| Keymaster | — | 60 | Cutpurse | Pickpocketing keys almost always works |
| Misdirection | — | 70 | Cutpurse | Pickpocket equipped weapons |
| Perfect Touch | — | 100 | Misdirection | Pickpocket equipped items |
When a perk lists two prerequisites, you need only one of them.
Planning your Pickpocket perks
Completing the whole Pickpocket tree costs 12 of the roughly 80 perk points you get by level 81, so most builds take only the perks they will really use. Start with the perks at the bottom of the tree, then follow the branch that suits your play style up to its top perk.
The highest perks in the tree need a skill of 90 or 100: Perfect Touch (100).
How to level Pickpocket
Every time Pickpocket goes up, your character earns experience equal to the new skill level, so a high Pickpocket skill also helps you level up quickly. Raising it from 15 to 100 takes about 87,351 skill experience in total. Trainers can take it to 90 for about 120,450 gold, five sessions per character level. Use the skill XP calculator for exact numbers between any two levels.