For players who want to loot everything that is not nailed down, increasing their carrying weight in Starfield will be a high priority. Characters do not start with a large capacity; soon enough, they will run low on space. At this point, the game will begin, warning you that being over-encumbered will cause quick oxygen loss.
Exploring Starfield will take a long time to complete, but this time can be extended even more if you travel over-encumbered. This is because you cannot run for more than a few seconds, and fast travel will become unavailable. At that point, you will have to decide what to leave behind and what is worth keeping to sell later, unless you find a way to increase your carrying capacity.
How To Upgrade Inventory Space & Carrying Capacity In Starfield
The only known way to permanently increase your character’s carry weight/inventory space is to unlock and rank the Weight Lifting Perk under the Physical Skill tree. This is a Tier 1 Skill, so it can be fairly easy to get from the beginning. To continue ranking this perk up, complete the challenges associated with each Rank. Each Rank in Starfield will require you to sprint for an associated distance while at 75% carrying capacity, which heavy looters will have no problem completing quickly. The Ranks and Rewards are shown in the table below:
|
Rank |
Reward |
Challenge to Complete |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
Increase total carrying capacity by 10 kilograms |
Unlock with Skill Point |
|
2 |
Increase total carrying capacity by 25 kilograms |
Sprint for 1000 meters at 75% or more of your maximum load capacity. |
|
3 |
Increase total carrying capacity by 50 kilograms |
Sprint for 2500 meters at 75% or more of your maximum load capacity. |
|
4 |
Increase total carrying capacity by 100 kilograms. Gain 50% resistance to stagger. |
Sprint for 5,000 meters at 75% or more of your maximum load capacity. |
Note that players will have to spend a Skill Point after completing the challenge to complete the Rank Up.
However, players may not have a Skill point to spend or already have maxed the Skill out. While that is the only permanent method to increase the character’s carry weight, save for the PC Cheat Code player.setav carryweight [value] to set your character’s carry weight individually; there are other options. For instance, several Aid items, such as UC Battlemeal Multipacks, can increase carry weight for a short time after consuming the item. Likewise, various outfits, such as the Blue Collar Offwork Duds, can also increase carrying weight when worn.
Players can also use their ship and their companion to carry items for them, but they may forget where or who has their items. However, any ship upgrade in Starfield for the Cargo Hold will also improve the ship’s carrying capacity, making it easier to store things in the easiest place to retrieve them. This can be a bigger Cargo Hold, more Cargo Holds, or utilizing the Payloads Perk in the Tech Skill Tree, which functions the same way the Weight Lifting Skill does but for your ship instead.
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Starfield
- Platform(s):
- PC, Xbox Series X/S
- Released:
- 2023-09-06
- Developer(s):
- Bethesda Game Studios
- Publisher(s):
- Bethesda Softworks
- Genre(s):
- Open-World, RPG, Sci-Fi
- ESRB:
- M
- Summary:
- Bethesda Game Studios presents Starfield – the first original IP from the studio in twenty-five-plus years. Set in the year 2310, the United Colonies and Freestar Collective are observing a shaky truce after a war set 20 years prior. The player will customize their character as a member of a space exploration team called Constellation while navigating The Settled Systems and the conflicts between the warring factions. According to Bethesda, players can explore over 100 systems and 1000 planets to find resources and build their ships, living out their own sci-fi journeys.
