The locked chests and doors you reach in Cinder’s Cradle sit on a higher tier than anything in the earlier regions, and ordinary Lockpicks will not touch them. For those you need Archaic Lockpicks, a rare item crafted from Archaic Shards. Once you have them, the game slots them in on its own when you open a lock.
Quick answer: Collect Archaic Shards in Cinder’s Cradle after reaching Flame Level 9 or above to unlock the recipe. Craft an Archaic Lockpick yourself with 2 Archaic Shards, or use 1 at the Ancient Researcher.
What Archaic Lockpicks are
Archaic Lockpicks are a Rare item that stacks up to 50. Their item text reads, “Lockpicks exclusively used by the Ancients in their structures and dungeons.” They exist to open the tougher locks tied to the Ancients, which begin appearing in Cinder’s Cradle; the chest map shows where the locked chests sit.
You do not select them from a menu or apply them manually. The game’s own tutorial puts it plainly: “Lockpicks will be automatically used upon interacting with a locked door or chest”. Walk up to a higher-tier lock with Archaic Lockpicks in your inventory and interact with it; lockpicks are used automatically.
Common Lockpicks remain useful: make one (“Opens a lock.”) by hand from 2 Metal Scraps or 2 Obsidian, or have the Blacksmith craft it using 1 Metal Scrap or Obsidian. Picking up Metal Scraps teaches the recipe. Use these in earlier regions; they won’t work on Ancient locks.
Unlock the Archaic Lockpick recipe
You can read more on where to find Loraine Crim, the new survivor, if you need help locating her chamber.
Craft Archaic Lockpicks from Archaic Shards
With the recipe learned, you have two ways to make Archaic Lockpicks, and the cost differs depending on where you craft them.
| Where | Cost per lockpick |
|---|---|
| Manual Crafting (no station) | 2 Archaic Shards |
| Ancient Researcher (Loraine Crim) | 1 Archaic Shard |
Crafting at Loraine Crim costs half as many shards. Once she lives in your base, make your Archaic Lockpicks through her rather than by hand to stretch your shard supply further.
Where to find Archaic Shards
Archaic Shards are a Common material at item level 45 that stack up to 250. Their item text reads, “Jagged fragments of dense metal. Too irregular to smelt cleanly, too valuable to discard.” They are a Cinder’s Cradle resource.
- Ancient Constructs, the construct enemies of Cinder’s Cradle, drop them.
- They also lie around the biome as world pickups, with 307 shard pickups spread across Cinder’s Cradle.
You can track the shard pickups on the interactive map for Cinder’s Cradle to plan a collection run.
Archaic Infusion, Epic Fishing Bait II, and Eternal Acid Bite II also use Archaic Shards. Save some instead of turning your entire supply into lockpicks.
