Skyrim: Here’s How To Do Bucket Glitch

If one thing Skyrim is known for, it’s the bugs and glitches. Sometimes they are funny, sometimes frustrating, and rarely they are incredibly beneficial. In today’s post, we’re going to discuss one profitable glitch involving a simple bucket or similar object and NPC’s line of sight. If you play your cards right, this glitch can make you rich beyond your wildest dreams, so without further ado, let’s see how to do a bucket glitch in Skyrim. 

How does sneak detection work in Skyrim? 

By now, no matter how many hours you have in Skyrim, you’ve probably figured out that no sneaking scenario in Skyrim is the same. Sneak detection in Skyrim is influenced by several factors: line of sight, light, casting magic, movement speed, the armor you’re wearing, and the weapons you’re using. In the rest of this post, we’ll explain every factor that influences sneak detection in the game and why NPCs can spot you even when your sneak skill is relatively high.

Light levels influence how well NPCs can see you 

No matter how good you are at sneaking, if you’re the darkest object in the otherwise very light room, you are going to be easier to spot. That’s why most of the time, it’s a good idea to keep to the corners of ruins that have less light or none at all. This is just pure logic at this point. Although it’s not the deciding factor whether you will be spotted or not, it’s an incredibly important one, so keep that in mind next time you see natural light in the caves or a large candle-filled room in ruins.

Spells affect how easily NPCs can detect you 

Spell-casting in Skyrim can be pretty loud. Most spells will be moderate when you’re casting them, but most conjuration spells, when you summon otherwordly beings to fight for you, will be extremely loud. This can be negated with the “quiet casting” perk in the illusion skill tree. The quiet casting perk makes all your shouts silent as well. 

However, the sound of the spells is not the only thing that can be your demise if you’re trying to sneak around the enemies with spells equipped. Certain spells give off a particular shine that will allow your enemies to spot you easier, especially fire-based spells that give off the effect like your hands are burning and can easily throw a faint light all over the room. 

The faster you are, the easier enemies can detect you 

Once again, this is pure logic and no wonder it was implemented. If you move really slowly, you can avoid a lot of noise. Moving faster makes a lot of noise, especially if you’re not in sneak mode. No matter how high your sneak skill is, the enemies are far more likely to spot you if you’re trying to run even when sneaking. 

Heavier armor leads to more noise 

Noise is an essential factor when it comes to AI detection. Even when they can’t exactly see you, they can still hear you and use your noise to discover your location. The heavier your armor is, the easier you are to detect. There’s an excellent explanation for this since most heavy armors logically make a lot of rattling noises due to being bulky and full metal in nature. This is why stealth-oriented characters should, at best, wear light armor. Light armor is usually made out of lightweight materials and leather, so it produces less noise. In a perfect scenario, you would be wearing cloth. 

Your weapons affect how well enemies can see you 

There’s a massive difference between trying to sneak up on someone with a dagger or a war hammer. Usually, daggers can be concealed pretty easily, and war hammers are generally the size of a smaller child. The bigger your weapon is, the more noise you make when you wield it. Daggers are entirely silent. 

You know that extremely loud noise your weapon makes when you unsheathe it? You don’t have to worry about that since it doesn’t affect how well enemies can detect you.

Line of sight is among the most important factors when sneaking

Last but not least is the line of sight. Line of sight is a certain “cone of vision” every NPC in the game has. If you fall inside that cone of vision of an NPC, you are more likely to be detected. If you block an NPCs line of sight, you can still be detected by the noise you’re making but less likely.

Several factors must be successfully performed to avoid detection, and line of sight is one of them. Line of sight is likewise the most important for the glitch mentioned above, as bucket glitch works by blocking NPC’s line of sight. 

How to do the bucket trick in Skyrim?

To successfully perform the bucket trick in Skyrim, you will need a single bucket or iron cauldron. Both things are considered to be common clutter, and you can find them lying around in random locations, but most likely, you will run into one in NPC’s houses.

A bucket glitch can be performed either by grabbing the bucket or using the telekinesis spell from the alteration school of magic. To do the bucket glitch in Skyrim, follow these steps: 

1. Approach the NPC whose line of sight you want to block. 
2. Drop the bucket or cauldron from your inventory 
3. Press and hold the “activate” button or use a telekinesis spell on it and lift the bucket in the air
4. once the bucket is in the air, turn it upside down. 
5. Place the bucket on the NPC’s head like he is wearing a helmet.
6. Steal everything. 

Placing a bucket on NPC’s head will result in the NPC’s line of sight being blocked, and it will not be able to detect you no matter what you do. Since NPCs were never designed to remove the buckets from their heads, NPC is stuck with it until you decide to remove it. 

And that’s pretty much it. If you’re interested in more Skyrim-related guides, check out our guide on how to stop guards from attacking you. Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!