Inventory Management

Overview

Inventory management is one of the most important skills to develop early in Crimson Desert. Every piece of loot, every crafting material, and every weapon takes up space in your bags. Kliff Macduff begins his journey with a limited number of inventory slots, and filling them up is easier than you might expect. Fortunately, the game offers several ways to expand your carrying capacity through purchasable bags, quest rewards, and story milestones.

This guide explains the default inventory size, how to acquire every type of bag, where to find Private Storage for offloading excess items, and practical tips for staying organized as you explore Pywel.

Starting Inventory

When you first take control of Kliff, you start with 50 inventory slots. Pearl Abyss increased this from an original count of 20 slots based on player feedback during early testing. The inventory operates purely on a slot-based system with no weight limit. Each weapon and each piece of armor occupies one slot regardless of size. Consumable items and crafting materials stack up to 50 units in a single slot, so a stack of 50 Iron Ore takes the same space as a single sword.

While 50 slots may feel adequate during the opening hours, inventory pressure increases rapidly once you begin looting enemy camps, gathering crafting materials, and collecting equipment drops. Expanding your capacity early is one of the best investments you can make.

Expanding Your Inventory

Bag Types

There are four types of bags in Crimson Desert, each adding a different number of slots to your inventory. Bags are consumed automatically when picked up or purchased, and their effect is permanent.

Because bags are permanent upgrades, there is never a reason to hold off on picking one up. If your inventory is completely full when you try to collect a bag from the ground, you may need to free up a slot first.

Small Bags

Small Bags are the most accessible inventory upgrade. Nearly every merchant across Pywel sells at least one Small Bag for 50 Copper Coins. Each Small Bag adds a single inventory slot. While the per-bag gain is modest, the sheer number of vendors means you can accumulate a meaningful boost simply by visiting every shop you pass.

Each vendor stocks only one Small Bag at a time. Once you buy it, the bag does not restock immediately; vendors refresh their Small Bag stock when their inventory resets. Because of this, it pays to check every merchant you encounter, even specialized ones like butchers or tanners.

Hernand Vendors Selling Small Bags

The city of Hernand has the highest concentration of vendors in the early game. The following merchants each sell one Small Bag:

That means you can pick up seven Small Bags in Hernand alone for a total of 350 Copper, adding seven extra slots to your inventory. Open your map and switch to the Environment tab to look for question mark (?) icons, which indicate vendor locations. For a full list of merchants, see the Vendor Directory.

Vendors Outside Hernand

As you travel beyond Hernand into regions like Arboria, Howling Hill, and other settlements, continue checking provisioners and roadside merchants for Small Bags. Innkeepers, general goods sellers, and even some less obvious NPCs (such as a goblin merchant near a mill) carry them. Every 50 Copper spent on a Small Bag is 50 Copper well spent, especially in the early chapters when inventory space is at a premium.

Medium Bags

Medium Bags are the single best source of inventory expansion in the game. Each one grants +3 inventory slots, and they are earned entirely through gameplay with no purchase cost. The game awards Medium Bags (also referred to as Standard Inventory Expansion Tools in quest reward descriptions) for completing Commissions and Faction Quests.

You can track available Commissions by opening your Journal and navigating to the Faction Quests tab. Hover over any quest to preview its rewards on the right side of the screen. Quests that reward a Medium Bag will show an inventory expansion icon.

Hernand Commissions

Hernand offers the largest pool of Commissions in the game. There are approximately 63 Hernand Commissions available, and each one rewards a Medium Bag upon completion. That translates to a potential 189 additional inventory slots just from Hernand Commissions alone. These tasks range from gathering resources and delivering items to clearing bandit camps and crafting specific recipes.

Greymane Commissions

After establishing the Greymane Camp at Howling Hill during Chapter 3, you unlock a second set of Commissions. There are roughly 27 Greymane Commissions, each of which also rewards a Medium Bag. This adds up to another 81 potential inventory slots. Many of these quests become available as you recruit new Greymanes and speak to them back at camp, where they offer additional tasks.

Prioritizing Medium Bags

Because Medium Bags are free and offer triple the slots of a Small Bag, completing Commissions should be a top priority in every region you visit. Pick up Commission tasks from notice boards and NPCs before heading out on exploration trips so you can complete them along the way. Between Hernand and Greymane Commissions, dedicated players can earn over 270 extra inventory slots through quests alone.

Large Bags

Large Bags grant +5 inventory slots each and are tied to major story milestones. Unlike Small and Medium Bags, you cannot farm Large Bags through vendors or side quests. They are automatic rewards for reaching specific points in the main campaign.

These three Large Bags provide a combined 15 extra slots. Since they are earned through natural story progression, there is no special effort required beyond playing through the campaign.

Extra Large Bag

The Extra Large Bag is the single largest inventory boost available in the game, adding +10 inventory slots in one pickup. It is a unique item found in the open world rather than purchased or earned from a quest.

Location

The Extra Large Bag is located in the Hills of No Return, southwest of the Arboria Craftshop and northeast of Hernand Town. Look for a ruined wagon on the roadside. The bag sits next to the wagon and can be picked up by interacting with it.

How to Reach It

The nearest fast travel point is the Abyss Nexus near Karin Quarry. From there, travel northeast past Hook Rapids until you reach the Hills of No Return. The ruined wagon is visible from the main road, so keep an eye on both sides of the path as you travel through the area.

If your inventory is completely full when you attempt to pick up the Extra Large Bag, you will need to discard or consume an item first to free up at least one slot. It is worth making the trip early, as 10 free slots represent a significant quality-of-life improvement.

Total Inventory Potential

Combining every source of inventory expansion gives a rough picture of how large your carrying capacity can grow:

Players who complete all available Commissions and collect every bag can push their inventory well past 200 slots. The exact maximum depends on how many vendors you visit for Small Bags across the entire map, but a dedicated completionist can reach roughly 350 or more total inventory slots.

Item Categories

All items share the same inventory pool, but they are sorted into categories for easier browsing within the inventory menu.

Item Stacking Rules

Understanding how items stack is essential for managing your inventory efficiently. Not all items follow the same rules:

The non-stacking behavior of collectibles is a common source of inventory bloat. A single captured butterfly occupies as much space as a full suit of plate armor. Keep this in mind when deciding what to carry and what to sell or store.

Managing Inventory Space

Selling and Discarding Items

You can sell items to any vendor in Pywel. Valuables exist solely to be sold and should be offloaded whenever you visit a merchant. Recipes and documents should also be sold or discarded after reading them, since their effects are permanently learned once read and the item itself serves no further purpose.

Vendor Repurchase

Before Private Storage was added in Patch 1.00.03, players discovered a workaround using vendor repurchase tabs. If you sell items to a vendor, those items remain in the vendor's Repurchase tab and can be bought back at the same price. This effectively turns any merchant into a temporary deposit box.

Important caveats:

• Items remain in the Repurchase tab for roughly seven in-game days before they are permanently removed from the vendor's stock.

• Items can only be repurchased from the same vendor you sold them to. Selling a rare cloak to Rhett means only Rhett can sell it back.

• Now that Private Storage exists, this method is largely obsolete, but it can still be useful in a pinch if you are far from a storage chest.

Vendor Restocking

Standard merchant goods like food and crafting materials restock every in-game midnight (0:00). You can force time to pass by sleeping at a campfire and then revisiting the vendor to find their stock refreshed. Note that unique items like Small Bags and certain special goods do not restock once purchased.

Private Storage

In addition to expanding your personal inventory, you have access to a separate Private Storage chest that holds up to 240 slots. Private Storage was introduced in Patch 1.00.03 (released March 22, 2026) and is a shared stash where you can deposit items you are not actively using.

The storage chest is shared across all playable characters (Kliff, Damiane, Oongka, Dain), so items deposited by one character can be withdrawn by another. There is no fee for using Private Storage. Consumable items stack inside the chest the same way they stack in your inventory, up to 50 per slot, which means 50 units of meat take up only one of the 240 available slots.

Private Storage Locations

Both storage locations link to the same shared chest, so anything you deposit at Hernand can be retrieved at Howling Hill and vice versa. The chest also automatically receives goods from stronghold liberation activities and Greymane dispatch missions, so check it periodically for new items.

What to Store

Use Private Storage to offload items that are valuable but not immediately needed. Good candidates include:

• Spare weapons and armor you may want later for different builds or characters

• Boss drop equipment that cannot be re-obtained if discarded

• Excess crafting materials beyond what you need for your current recipes

• Collectibles and key items that serve no immediate purpose but may be needed later

• Upgrade materials you are stockpiling for future gear improvements

Using the Group Feature

Crimson Desert includes a Group function that consolidates scattered stacks of the same item into a single slot. For example, if you have Iron Ore in three different inventory slots with partial stacks of 12, 18, and 20 units, grouping merges them into one stack of 50 and leaves the extra slots empty.

To use the Group feature, open your inventory and press the designated button (L3 / left stick click on controller, or the key shown in the inventory UI on keyboard and mouse). Grouping does not increase the total number of items you can carry; it simply reorganizes existing stacks to eliminate wasted slots. Make a habit of grouping your inventory after every major looting session or before heading into a dungeon.

Tips and Best Practices

1. Buy every Small Bag you see. At just 50 Copper per slot, they are the cheapest permanent upgrade in the game. Check every vendor in every town.

2. Prioritize Commissions that reward Medium Bags. Open your Journal and scan the Faction Quests tab. Any quest listing an inventory expansion reward should move to the top of your to-do list.

3. Sell items you no longer need. Learned recipes, obsolete gear, and duplicate materials are all candidates for the vendor. Do not hoard items out of habit.

4. Use Group after every loot run. Consolidating partial stacks can free up multiple slots instantly, especially after farming crafting materials.

5. Visit Private Storage regularly. Deposit boss-drop equipment and stockpiled materials before heading out on a new expedition. You never want to find a rare item with a full inventory.

6. Empty your bags before exploration. If you are about to enter a new region or dungeon with heavy loot, sell or store everything you do not actively need first.

7. Collect the Extra Large Bag early. The trip to the Hills of No Return is worth making as soon as the area is accessible. Ten free slots make a real difference.

8. Discard used documents. Quest-related documents that have already served their purpose (read letters, completed maps) can be safely discarded to reclaim a slot.

9. Visit the blacksmith to refine your equipment rather than hoarding multiple copies of the same weapon or armor piece.

10. Keep an eye on vendor repurchase timers. Items sold to merchants disappear from the repurchase list after about 7 in-game days.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is There a Weight Limit?

No. Crimson Desert uses a pure slot-based inventory system. There is no weight mechanic. The only constraint is the number of available slots.

Do Small Bags Restock at Vendors?

Vendors restock their Small Bag after their inventory resets. However, each vendor only carries one Small Bag at a time, so the gains from revisiting the same vendor are slow. You get much better returns by visiting new vendors you have not bought from yet.

Can I Lose Items in Private Storage?

No. Private Storage is permanent and safe. Items deposited in the chest remain there indefinitely until you withdraw them. The chest is shared across characters, so switching to Damiane or Oongka does not affect stored items.

What Happens If I Miss the Extra Large Bag?

The Extra Large Bag in the Hills of No Return remains at its location until you pick it up. There is no time limit or quest requirement. You can return and collect it at any point in the game.

Patch 1.04 Inventory QoL Overhaul

Patch 1.04 delivered one of the biggest inventory and storage reworks since launch. The update added categorized tabs for faster browsing, made many previously single-slot items stackable, introduced a lock function to protect valuables, and added four new storage chest types that slot into Personal Housing alongside the original Private Storage crate. Two of the new chests function as shared storage for crafting and cooking, meaning you no longer need to carry every ingredient or raw material on your person. The result is dramatically more free slots in your personal inventory and a cleaner, more organized interface. When you log in after the patch, existing items are automatically reorganized into the new category groups, so equipable items bunch at the top, posters and notes collect together, and food items consolidate in their own section.

Categorized Tabs

The inventory screen now splits items across multiple dedicated tabs instead of presenting one long combined list. Tabs group items by purpose so you can jump straight to the category you need without scrolling past unrelated gear. The tab taxonomy covers:

• Equipable Items: armor, helmets, gloves, boots, capes, and weapons you can wear or wield.

• Consumables: food items, potions, elixirs, and other items used from the use menu.

• Ingredients: raw materials for cooking, including meat, fish, vegetables, grains, and other edible components.

• Pages and High-Value Treasures: recipe books, rare documents, and valuable collectibles worth holding on to.

• Quest Items: key items tied to main and side quest progression that cannot be sold or discarded.

• Special Currency: contribution tokens, faction currencies, and event-specific coinage.

• Bounty Posters: tracked separately with their own icon so they no longer clutter the general inventory.

Each tab has its own icon on the tab bar at the top of the inventory screen, and you can press the direction buttons to cycle between them. Within a tab, you can drill down to narrow categories such as helmets only or recipe books only. The patch also reorganizes items automatically on log-in, so even saved games imported from before the update will come back sorted under the new taxonomy without any manual cleanup required.

Stacking Changes

Several item types that previously occupied one slot per unit now stack in a single slot, reclaiming a huge amount of space for players who gather, fish, or farm abyss gears. The items converted to stacking are:

• Regular Abyss Gears: the common tier of abyss gears now stacks, so fragments from farming sessions no longer bloat the inventory. Greater abyss gears remain separate but are now also sellable to vendors after the patch.

• Fish: every fish species stacks per variant, a huge relief for anglers whose inventories used to fill after a single productive fishing run.

• Insects: bugs caught for crafting, cooking, and quest turn-ins now stack, eliminating what used to be the single worst offender for inventory bloat.

• Animals: small trapped animals and livestock-ingredient drops now stack alongside fish and insects rather than claiming one slot each.

Together these changes free up dozens of slots for players who have been playing since launch. If you logged in with a stuffed bag, the stacks consolidate automatically and you may notice your free slot count jump the first time you check after the patch.

Item Lock Function

The patch adds a lock function that prevents a protected item from being sold, discarded, or consumed as a crafting material. Open the inventory, highlight the item you want to protect, press the use menu button, and choose Lock from the list of options. Locked items display a small padlock icon on their stack and cannot be accidentally sold at a vendor, dropped, or fed into a crafting recipe. The lock is easy to toggle off from the same menu when you do want to use the item.

The feature is most useful for high-value items you do not want to lose to a sloppy mouse click at a merchant, such as:

• Rare tools like the miner's lantern hat, grindstones, and other crafting utilities that are tedious to replace.

• Commemorative drops from legendary hunts, such as the phoenix feather or rare boss trophies.

• Unique armor outfits earned from long quest lines where accidentally selling the piece would force you to redo the questline.

• Stacked recipe books or documents you have not yet learned.

• Bonding items and pet accessories from the secret shop in Pororin.

New Storage Chests (Housing Mode)

Patch 1.04 adds four new chest types that can be placed through the housing mode in your camp cabin, either at Howling Hill or at Palune once you have moved the camp. Each chest specializes in a particular item category, and two of them act as shared storage, meaning crafting stations and cooking spots can pull stored materials without you carrying the items in your personal bag. The table below summarizes slot counts, acquisition, and whether the chest is shared with any crafting system.

The two shared-storage chests change how you plan a crafting session. Because the Sturdy Gatherables Chest and the Kuku Cooler both expose their contents to any compatible shop in the world, the correct workflow is to treat these chests as a central stockpile: dump every ore, hide, herb, and raw ingredient into them when you return to camp, then travel light. When you arrive at a smithy, refinement shop, or cooking pot, the interface will count the stored items alongside anything still in your bag, and the recipe quantities will reflect the combined total. One known edge case is that quests checking for specific materials in your inventory may not recognize items that are currently in a shared chest, so pull the exact items back out before turning those quests in.

The Enhanced Kuku Cooler is worth pursuing as soon as you have completed the base quest. The 40-slot cooler fills fast once you start cooking seriously, but the 330-slot enhanced version absorbs an entire stocked pantry with room to spare. After delivering the base cooler back to the artisan, you unlock the enhanced blueprint and can craft the upgrade at Grimnir's workshop whenever you have the mercury, rubber, and brimstone. Gifting hides to the troll scholars at the Scholarstone Institute is a reliable way to stockpile those three materials if you do not want to farm them directly.

Housing Placement Improvements

The patch ships with an overhauled housing placement UI and a set of controls that make arranging all these new chests much less fiddly than before. Two additions stand out for players setting up storage layouts:

• Fine Control Button: hold the fine control button while placing an item to toggle precise movement. Normal placement snaps and moves in larger increments, while fine control drops the step size down so you can nudge a chest into a perfect corner against a wall without fighting the collision detection. This is especially useful when packing multiple 1,000-slot chests into a small cabin.

• Retrieve All Furniture: a new function retrieves every piece of furniture you have placed through housing mode in a single action. Instead of picking up chests and decor one by one when you want to redecorate, you can empty the entire cabin in one input, rearrange everything, and place it back. The retrieve-all button is surfaced directly in the housing menu.

• Select House Option: once your camp expansion reaches the right level, you can change your house layout between Compact House, Standard House, Spacious House, and Spacious Palune House by pressing the right stick in the housing menu. Swapping layouts does not destroy placed furniture.

If you plan to run Dispatch Missions at scale, the related patch-1.04 change to dispatch controls matters here too: press triangle on a dispatch-eligible mission to toggle repeat dispatch, which queues the mission to run again automatically instead of stopping after one completion. Combined with the new chests, you can now keep greymanes dispatching materials that drop straight into your shared stockpile without micromanaging every send.

Related Pages

• Items

• Key Items

• Crafting Materials

• Recovery Items

• Vendors

• How to Get More Inventory Slots

• Private Storage

• Personal Housing

• Housing and Farming

• Dispatch Missions

• Wardrobe

• Kuku Cooler

• Sturdy Gatherables Chest

• Collectibles Chest

• A Special Blueprint

• Early Encounter

• Grimnir

• Howling Hill