Fans of Bethesda titles know the constant tug of war with inventory limits and the dreaded maximum carrying weight. Overload is not a feature to exploit, and Starfield offers a staggering amount of loot, resources, and gear to collect. This guide outlines practical strategies to expand carrying capacity so explorers can collect more without being bogged down by weight.
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How can carrying capacity be increased to carry more items in Starfield?
Beyond simply draining oxygen when overburdened, there is another drawback: the game curbs movement speed. With Starfield’s vast world and the distance between your location and your ship, overload quickly becomes a real problem for space travelers.
Skills
The straightforward approach is to invest a skill point into Weightlifting. This skill raises the maximum carry weight by 10, 25, 50, or 100 kilograms, depending on the rank. New levels unlock by completing tests such as running 1000, 2500, or 5000 meters while carrying at least 75% of the maximum load.
Equipment
Another option is to equip items that explicitly boost carry capacity. For instance, a backpack can grant an additional 20 kilograms of payload. Similar gear appears in various locations and often bears a noticeable weight bonus on its description.
Drinks and other consumables
Consumables can have interesting effects on capacity. Drinking certain alcoholic beverages or cocktails temporarily increases your carrying limit. This can be handy for ferrying items to the ship quickly or bypassing the “Cannot fast travel if overloaded” restriction. It is important to note that alcohol consumption also accelerates stamina (oxygen) burn. Other items in the game may provide comparable boosts.
Companions
One classic tactic is to leverage companions to carry more. Engage an ally in dialogue and request an item exchange. Then fill both inventories with loot and sweep a location clean. It is helpful to compare each character’s carrying capacity to your own, typically shown alongside backpack limits. The inventories can be toggled with a quick key, allowing seamless transfers between you and companions.
Using the same keystroke, excess items can be moved to the ship’s cargo hold. While aboard the ship, open the inventory and press the toggle key to move items between personal storage and the ship’s cache. Items can be shifted to the ship regardless of the ship’s location in space.
How do you increase the cargo capacity and cargo space (hold) of your ship in Starfield?
At the start, a vessel typically holds about 450 kilograms. There are two paths to expand this limit: allocate a skill point to the Payloads trait or upgrade ship components through the shipbuilding interface.
The Payloads skill raises ship cargo by 10, 20, 30, or 40 percent. Unlocking higher levels requires investing four skill points in the tech branch and earning 10, 25, or 50 jumps to other systems while the ship’s hold remains at least 75% full. These milestones unlock progressively stronger cargo capabilities.
When combined with ship upgrades, the effect is substantial, making each cargo module significantly more efficient at maximum rank.
To add more cargo modules, locate a ship service engineer, choose the option to view and customize ships, then press B to enter the ship designer. Click G to add a new module.
The relevant modules live under the Cargo tab. Each module increases the ship’s carrying capacity and, to a degree, the hull strength, though they add weight that can reduce mobility and jump range.
That is why it is essential to monitor overall ship performance and avoid neglecting engines and reactors that keep the ship agile.
The ship module route is the most expensive, but it turns the vessel into a portable warehouse for minerals, resources, and equipment.
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Source: VG Times