For anyone who has done a military aligned playthrough (a work in progress still, done via creating a custom character and changing the faction option to "Military"), you know that the Broker drops a key on death that opens the locked door right next to the black market shopkeeper. Inside is a treasure trove of equipment: one red chest, three armor cabinets, three weapon cabinets, three standard artifact containers, and one code locked artifact container containing a Regression Matrix! Needless to say, this is a huge score for any character, even those decked out in high-end gear!

Thankfully there exists a way to pilfer the items inside this vault without angering the broker or freelancers, and without engaging in combat. Doing so will require a little preparation, some reputation management, a little luck, and potentially a lot of quitting the game and reloading.

At this point you have probably been in and out of the black market shop dozens of times completing quests and trading with the various traders, the shopkeeper, and the Broker himself. Let's do a quick runthrough of the black market shop and the characters who reside there:

• Entrance Area
  Heading in the front door and to the right, you will encounter the first two traders and a guard. Guards are easily identifiable by their common Basic Helmet/Medium Plate Armor combo and the R-100 LMG they wield.
  
• The Shop
  Walk left past the guard and down the stairs to arrive at the black market shop. Notice the reinforced door behind the trader with the alarm horn/strobe light above it? That is our ultimate target!
  
• Broker's Office
  Turn left past the reinforced door and you will enter Broker's office. A guard is posted on each side of the office with eyes on the broker.
  

Overall we have four traders, three guards, one shopkeeper, and the broker present in the black market shop. The guards are who we have to be concerned with so remember their positions!

There are some items you need to bring (or not bring!) with you to break into the vault, as well as some reputation requirements that need to be met in order to keep the Broker as a business partner:

1. Safecracking Tools
   You will need an appropriate tool in order to bypass the lock on the door and get into the vault. There are three main options here with two tiers of effectiveness:
   
   
   1. Easy Tier, Option 1: Blowtorch

      ---

      The blowtorch has three uses and will automatically open any door after a short animation. It is a rare utility, and can be found in either random containers or offered by traders. Weird Luck seems to make it appear more frequently in the inventory of traders. This method has the bonus effect of opening the door permanently and preventing it from ever being relocked!
      
      
   2. Easy Tier, Option 2: Skeleton Key

      ---

      The skeleton key is an artifact that will automatically unlock any door at the cost of some eather, related to the difficulty of the lock. You will need either an eather canister or small eather cell in your inventory with at least 99 eather to unlock the door. Unfortunately, the skeleton key is one of the rarest artifacts in the game and you are less likely to find it than a blowtorch. Of the 20 or so characters I have made that completed most of the available quests and gone artifact hunting, I think 3 have managed to find a skeleton key.
      
      
   3. Hard Tier: Lockpicks and the "Lock Smith" attribute

      ---

      For those not lucky enough to come across a blowtorch or skeleton key, this is your only option. You will need to amass a sizeable collection of lockpicks and you will need at least one rank of the "Lock Smith" attribute. The Lock Smith attribute can either be taken at character creation when making a custom character, or it can be granted by wearing the Tech Rig armor. The Tech Rig can be found in armor cabinets or it can be offered by traders. It's an uncommon find, but one any character is likely to find eventually during their playthrough.
      
      My original 50 lockpick test was unusually lucky or something, as I was unable to get anywhere close to the same luck with a recent character. I re-did the lockpick test using 100 lockpicks on 50 attempts:
      
      
      Attempt 1-10

      Attempt 11-20

      Attempt 21-30

      Attempt 31-40

      Attempt 41-50

      28

      44

      56

      66

      69

      96

      64

      70

      18

      3

      Fail

      Fail

      37

      Fail

      15

      Fail

      7

      16

      16

      79

      90

      45

      57

      17

      81

      40

      Fail

      88

      Fail

      37

      5

      12

      53

      3

      30

      30

      86

      6

      59

      19

      39

      Fail

      17

      28

      8

      23

      22

      10

      30

      Fail
      
      100 lockpicks was still not enough to guarantee success as I had 8 attempts fail. Again going with the optimistic assumption that failures would succeed on lockpick 101, the average lockpicks needed was 49. The numbers vary wildly though, with the standard deviation around 34 using the same assumption.
      
      Amassing enough lockpicks to make lockpick attempts reasonable (and minimize quit/reloading) isn't too difficult. Lockpicks are often found in random cabinets, are offered by traders (2-3 picks when available), are sold by some merchants (the Strange Shop and Raven's shop in Lone Wolf Salloon often have about 7 picks for sale), and can be traded for with Sewer Thing in the Cistern (1 Brown Mushroom = 1 Lockpick). However, in my experience the quickest way to get lockpicks is by turning Tool Kits into Lockpicks and Screws at a crafting bench. 1 Tool Kit can be consumed to create 3 Lockpicks and 4 screws.
      
      
      
      I had also completely forgotten that Simmi in the Observatory will trade you 2 lockpicks in exchange for Electronic Scraps.
      
      
      
      Electronics Scraps can be found in containers, obtained from traders, and can also be crafted by breaking down certain electronic items. I've shown a couple items below that can be turned into Electronics Scrap, with the most efficient item being the Arc Grenade. It is a relatively cheap item that can be found in the inventory of traders and some shops in the mid/late game.
      
      
      
   
   
2. Incriminating Evidence
   With a few exceptions we will get into later, you WILL be losing rep with the Freelancers as a result of your thievery. Any Failed Conduit artifacts that you own should be left in a stash, as they grant the "Intense Personality" attribute that multiplies any rep gain or loss you incur. If you still have any Failed Conduits on you when stealing from the Broker, it is recommended you drop them on the ground before opening any containers in the vault. Just don't forget to pick them back up when you are ready to make your escape!
   
   
3. Reputation
   To stay on good terms with the Freelancers and subsequently the Broker, you must maintain a reputation of "Stranger" or better with them. This corresponds to a rep level of -100 or greater. Once you hit -101 and enter "Distrusted" status, the guards will begin warning you to back off and eventually open fire if you don't. More importantly, the Black Market Shop will no longer be a "Safe Zone" for you and you will not be able to use the "Save and Quit" button from the escape menu. While it is not strictly necessary to use Save and Quit to successfully steal from the Broker, our goal here is to be able to steal quickly and efficiently, and to keep the Broker as an ally.

This is the reason we are all here. We want the sweet, sweet loot the Broker has hidden away in order to make our characters further approach demigod status. Here is the quick and dirty summary of what is in the vault and the associated cost to access it:


Rep values are base values with 0 ranks of Intense Personality. Now for the more in-depth details of each container type found in the vault:

• Red Chest
  One of five red chests currently in the game. Red chests contain a random end game weapon or armor from a preset selection that typically cannot be found anywhere else in game. From the EVA Helm, to the Anti-Materiel Rifle, to the Plasma Repeater, to the Super Heavy Armor: it is pretty much all top-of-the-line gear. Its contents reset once a day at midnight, so if it does not contain an item you want, you can quit the game (without saving) and check again the next day. Repeat until you find an item you want! You suffer no reputation penalty from opening the red chest.
  
  
• Artifact Container (Code Locked)
  A code locked artifact container holding a Regression Matrix artifact. This artifact used to be given as a reward for telling Mama Roach about the contents of Bixby's apartment. Arguably the most useful artifact in the game as it allows you to "mark" any location and then "recall" to that location instantly for 100 eather. Currently there is no known way to obtain the code to this container in-game. Some intrepid Inheritors did manage to brute-force the code for us: 0451. Like the red chest, you suffer no reputation penalty for opening this artifact container. It is anyone's guess as to why the two most valuable containers in Broker's vault are the only ones you can open for "free"!
  
  
• Artifact Container
  There are three standard artifact containers inside the vault. Each one contains an artifact from the list of artifacts that spawn randomly throughout the world. These can vary from the always useful Amber Manifold and Luftballoon to the near useless Glow Worm. These reset their contents at midnight so you have three chances each day to get an artifact you want. This is the first container in this list that has a reputation penalty for opening: -300 rep per container opened. You will need to manage your rep carefully, especially if you are playing the Wretch or a custom character who took 1 or more ranks of the Intense Personality attribute.
  
  
• Armor Cabinet
  Three armor cabinets can be found inside the vault. Like most other armor cabinets, they are locked and need to be opened via the crowbar or Lockpick (technically you can use the Skeleton Key or Blowtorch too, but come on now). They each contain one suit of armor and 0-2 headgear/helmets. Armor can vary from the junk starter armors all the way up to Stalker Pro and Heavy Plate Armor. Headgear items can vary wildly too, as I have seen basic Tac Lights and Scouters up through Winter Solider Helmets, Ballistic Helmets, and Night Vision Goggles. Its contents reset once a day at midnight, and you will suffer a -300 rep penalty for each of these that you open.
  
  
• Weapon Cabinet
  This is a unique container type found in the vault that is typically not found elsewhere. I think there might be a similar container in the room adjacent to the courier's room in the blue house in the Slums, but I have not investigated it in detail. There are three of these weapon cabinets in the vault and all three of them randomize their contents on area load. In terms of quality, the left cabinet appears to have the lowest quality items and the center cabinet appears to have the best quality by far. Each cabinet can contain up to two firearms in the top section, and the lower shelves can have an assortment of items in four available slots. I have seen various helmets, MRE's, pistols, ammunition, grenades, rockets, medical supplies, tool kits, flares, stacks of cash, and binoculars. Most of the weapons and helmets appear to max out around blue chest tier loot, especially in the middle cabinet. I've seen TR 77-C SAW, M-77 Army LAC, Riktor 45 Custom, Tactical Type 12 Pistol, Winter Soldier Helmet, and even a Combat Officer Helm. There is also a unique rifle I have otherwise only seen in red chests: the Type 18-G Assault Rifle. It is a Type 18 rifle with an underbarrel grenade launcher and a combat optic. It is pretty good in my experience, although I would probably still take an M-77 Army LAC over it. Since the contents of this container reset on area load, you can check them for something you like, and then just quit/reload your save to reroll the items inside them. You lose 300 rep for each weapon cabinet you open.
  
  

Now that we have hit all of the main points and fully prepped for our heist, let's do a run-through!

Using your safecracking tool of choice, head up behind trader #3 and unlock the vault door. Once the door is unlocked, open it when you are ready and head into the vault. The second you open the vault door a couple things will happen:

1. The alarm horn and strobe light above the door will immediate go off.
   
2. Guards #2 and #3 will immediately turn hostile. All other characters in the black market shop will remain passive (including Guard #1). Guards #2 and #3 will hunker down in the Broker's Office and will not leave to chase after you, but will open fire if they see you. If you return fire and injure them, everyone else in the black market shop will also turn hostile.
   
3. The shopkeeper and the Broker can no longer be interacted with.
   
4. A Rapid Response Team (RRT) made up of three guards will spawn by the front door and quickly make their way towards the vault. You have a measly 37 seconds before they enter the vault door.
   

Once inside the vault, I recommend closing the vault door so you can hear it open when the RRT enters the vault. If you have any Failed Vessel artifacts on you, drop them on the floor and then you are free to open containers as your rep allows! Once you are finished, pick up any Failed Vessels you dropped and then make a decision about how you want to quit the game:

1. Quit (without saving): If you didn't find something you wanted, felt like you used up too many lockpicks, or lost too much rep and are below "Stranger" rank with the Freelancers, select Quit from the escape menu. The next time you load the game you will reload at the black market shop entrance with the same reputation, items, and vault status as when you started.
   
   
2. Save and Quit: If you want to keep something you found, select Save and Quit from the escape menu. When you reload the game, you will be back at the black market shop entrance. All of the guards and other characters will be back in their default passive state. Any items you picked up will still be in your inventory, any lockpicks/eather/blowtorch uses you expended will still be gone, and any rep loss you incurred will still be present. Any containers you opened in the vault will remain open and will now be empty. The vault door will be re-locked UNLESS you opened it via the blowtorch, in which case it will be permanently unlocked.

Due to how quitting with or without saving works, there is some strategy to getting what items you want while minimizing rep loss. For any of the containers that reset at midnight, it is expedient to open all of them on a single run, observe what they contain, and remember which ones contain the items you want. Quit (without saving) and reload, and then go back and open only the containers that contain your desired items. Now Save and Quit to keep your new treasures!

Since the weapon cabinets reset their contents on area load, it is usually better to open them on heist runs separate from the other containers. Start with the center cabinet and check it. If it has something you want, take it and then Save and Quit to keep the items. Otherwise, Quit without saving and check it again. You can work you way down through each cabinet this way and get something potentially useful out of all of them!

Remember the Rapid Response Team I warned you about? Originally I was going to warn you to quit out if you are in there long enough to hear them open the vault door. In my testing I learned that they are not hostile, unlike guards #2 and #3! They will enter the vault and survey the situation for a few seconds. After that they will patrol to the top of the stairs by guard #1 and then back to the vault. You can open containers and pick up the contents in front of them and they do not react. They only care about your rep level similar to guard #1. The Broker clearly does not pay them enough to take their job seriously (or the dev messed something up)!

Building up and maintaining a positive rep with the Freelancers is going to be your most time consuming task if you steal from the Broker often. There are a couple methods I know of that increase your rep with the Freelancers:

1. Aiding Freelancers in a fight
   You will gain small amounts of rep for killing enemies that are engaged in combat with Freelancers. Rep amounts are small and this method relies on finding Freelancers out in the world and waiting for them to get into combat with someone. It is not a particularly fast method for building rep.
   
   
2. Tarot Cards
   Using the Tarot Card Deck has a chance to pull a card that can increase your rep with the Freelancers. This is highly random and not a reliable way to build rep unfortunately. See this guide for details on Tarot Cards and how they can affect rep:
   https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3525538738
   
3. Trading
   Whenever you trade with a Freelancer and end the trade with the indicator on their side of the trade bar, the excess value of the trade gets converted into rep. This is done most easily by trading items without asking for anything in return, essentially giving the item away. In the super basic preliminary testing I have done giving away items, the base conversion value is about $46 - $53 per rep point. This conversion value is affected by Intense Personality, so trading with 1 rank drops the conversion value to about $23 - $27 per rep point. It's not a bad method for gaining rep if you have lots of valuable items collecting dust in your stash. Do note however, that trading cash provides ZERO rep in return!
   
   
4. Contracts
   The easiest and most straightforward method to building Freelancer rep is doing contracts for them. Any of the contracts offered by Simmi or the Broker will reward Freelancer rep on completion. A standard playthrough will therefore slowly build rep over time as you progress and complete more contracts. Contract rep rewards are also affected by the Intense Personality attribute, so getting the trait early via Failed Conduits is highly preferable and will maximize your rep gain over a playthrough.

Where can I get a Failed Conduit you may be wondering? It is one of the randomly found artifacts that spawn throughout the world, so its up to chance how many you find during a playthrough. However, there is ONE fixed spawn for the Failed Conduit that any character is guaranteed to always have available. Here is how you can get your paws on it:

1. Preparations
   All you will need to bring with you on this journey is either a crowbar or a couple of lockpicks. Feel free to leave your other worldly possessions behind. If you already happen to have Star Dust or Fruiting Star Dust, you can skip the next step.
   
   
2. Finding the Key
   Head to Metropol and enter the police station. You will need to go to the stairwell and grab one of the large cardboard boxes underneath it.
   
   
   
   Carry the cardboard box with you to the top of the stairs and place it so that you can use it to crouch-jump on top of the stairwell roof.
   
   
   
   Once on top of the roof, walk along the top of the crane and jump from the end of it onto the apartment building next door. There will be a pallet on the apartment roof that you need to move in order to uncover an opening into the apartment below.
   
   
   
   Head inside the opening to enter the apartment of "Egg Head". There are a lot of great items here to collect, but the two we are interested in are the "Star Dust" and "Fruiting Star Dust". You need at least one of these in order to travel to the Exchange, which is where the Failed Conduit is located.
   
   
   
   
   
   Now find a comfortable bed to sleep in, as the last one you slept in will be where you return to after visiting the Exchange.
   
   
3. Opening the Gate
   Once you are ready, consume the Star Dust of your choice and you will be quickly transported to the Exchange. You visit in the Exchange is only for a limited time, and the duration is based on the strength of the Star Dust you took, so don't dawdle. If you turn to the southwest you will see two houses next to a railcar.
   
   
   
   Head to the front door of the house that still has a roof. You will need to use your crowbar or lockpicks in order to unlock the door and get inside. Head upstairs to the third floor and then climb the chain into the attic. Once inside the attic you will finally see the prize!
   
   
   
   Grab your new Failed Conduit and celebrate a successful journey!

Until your time in the Exchange runs out, you are free to explore and find the other useful items scattered about the landscape. The bold can choose to use their second Star Dust while still in the Exchange and travel deeper into Slate. For this I would recommend bringing a light source and a weapon, however.

I typically like to complete the first set of Simmi contracts (Wrench, Crossroads Jammer) and Dr. Mosby contracts (Computer Board, Flood Plains Jammer, Insurgent Sniper) before heading to Black Lake. From there I complete the Retake the Safehouse and Black Lake Jammer contracts before visiting the Broker. At this point I head into Metropol and go on my journey to the Exchange to get the Failed Conduit. I choose to grab the Failed Conduit at this point mainly because it is a convenient time/place in my questing path. You can definitely go grab it earlier in order to maximize your rep gain from Freelancer contracts. It's always waiting for you there in the Exchange so there isn't really a wrong time to go.

Anyways, good hunting Stalker Inheritor!

2025-10-22 (Beta 0.2.4): Re-wrote ending section to provide info on building rep with the Freelancers.
2025-10-17 (Beta 0.2.4): Updated info on where the Type 18-G Assault Rifle can be found.
2025-10-15 (Beta 0.2.4): Corrected some info/added new info on lockpicks.
2025-10-11 (Beta 0.2.4): This guide was originally created under Beta version 0.2.4. The developer has identified changes to the looting system that will remove blue and red chests in the near future and replace them with location specific loot. The next official update will likely require changes to this guide as a result (whenever that is).