Inventory System

Overview

Crimson Desert does not use a carry-weight system. Instead, everything Kliff picks up occupies a single slot in a grid-based inventory. You start the game with 50 slots and can expand that total well past 230 through bag purchases, quest rewards, and story milestones. Because every item, from a one-handed sword to a single herb, takes one slot, inventory management becomes a core part of the gameplay loop. Knowing how to group items, when to sell or open pouches, and where to stash overflow loot makes the difference between constant inventory juggling and a smooth adventure.

The inventory screen is accessed through the main menu. Items are displayed on a flat grid sorted by the order they were acquired, though the Group function (covered below) lets you collapse similar items into a single visual cluster. There is no auto-sort button, so grouping is the primary organizational tool at your disposal.

Beyond the main inventory, Crimson Desert provides several external storage options: Private Storage (a dedicated 240-slot chest), the Supply Chest (which collects missed loot automatically), and the Kuku Iron Pot (a special container for Abyss objects). Each system serves a different purpose, and this article covers all of them in detail.

Starting Inventory and Bag Upgrades

Kliff begins his journey with 50 inventory slots. Pearl Abyss originally set the starting count at 20 during early testing, but community feedback prompted a generous increase before launch. Even so, 50 slots fill up quickly once you start looting camps, harvesting materials, and collecting quest rewards.

Expanding your inventory is done through bags. There are four bag tiers, each adding a fixed number of slots when acquired. Bags are consumed automatically the moment you pick them up or purchase them; there is no equipping step.

The most cost-effective early strategy is to buy every Small Bag you come across. At 50 Copper each, they are dirt cheap, and the cumulative effect adds up. Pair those purchases with steady quest completion to stack Medium Bags, and you will rarely feel cramped. By the late game, with all bags collected, your inventory can exceed 230 slots.

The Group Function

One of the most overlooked features in Crimson Desert is the ability to group items. When you select an item in your inventory and press T on keyboard (or the equivalent controller button), all items of the same category collapse into a single inventory tile. Hovering over that tile reveals the grouped items in a row to the left.

Grouping works across broad categories: one-handed weapons, two-handed weapons, chest armor, food, elixirs, insects, crafting materials, and more. For example, if you have twelve different food items scattered across your grid, grouping them condenses those twelve slots into one visual entry. This does not increase your total slot count, but it dramatically reduces visual clutter and makes finding specific items much faster.

Keep in mind that grouping is purely visual. Your actual inventory capacity stays the same, and items will appear un-grouped if you open a vendor sell screen. Still, for day-to-day exploration, the Group function is one of the best quality-of-life tools available. Combine it with regular trips to Greymane Camp to deposit overflow items, and your backpack stays manageable.

Private Storage

Private Storage is a dedicated 240-slot chest where you can manually deposit and withdraw any item from your inventory. It was introduced in Patch 1.00.03 on March 22, 2026, in direct response to player demand for a real stash system. Before this patch, the only external storage was the Supply Chest, which does not allow manual deposits.

Locations

Private Storage chests are found in two locations. The first is at your initial temporary lodgings in Hernand, available from the moment you claim your first tent near the Royal Trading Post. The second is at the Howling Hill Camp (Greymane Camp), which becomes accessible after completing Chapter 3 of the main story. Items deposited in either location are shared; you do not maintain separate stashes.

How It Works

Interact with the Private Storage chest to open a grid interface similar to your inventory. You can deposit items by selecting them and confirming, or withdraw stored items back into your bag. Consumable items stack in a single slot up to 50 units, so storing 50 pieces of meat only costs one of your 240 storage slots. This stacking behavior makes Private Storage especially useful for hoarding cooking ingredients, alchemy reagents, and crafting materials that would otherwise eat through your inventory.

Private Storage accepts almost every item type, including weapons, armor, consumables, crafting materials, and trade goods. The main exceptions are quest-critical key items and items currently sealed inside the Kuku Iron Pot.

Supply Chests

The Supply Chest is a passive loot-recovery system. Unlike Private Storage, you cannot deposit items into it. Instead, the Supply Chest automatically collects items you failed to pick up during certain events, most notably camp liberations where dozens of enemies drop loot at once.

Location

The main Supply Chest sits behind Carl, the Base Camp Provisions Keeper, at Greymane Camp on Howling Hill. Before you reach Howling Hill, a smaller Supply Chest may appear at earlier story locations. Once Greymane Camp is established, the chest moves there permanently.

What It Collects

• Loot from enemies that despawned before you could pick it up during camp liberations

• Dropped letters and recipes you did not examine

• Items left behind after story sequences where the game advances automatically

The Supply Chest does not collect items you manually dropped from your inventory, and it does not save Kuku Pot items. Those go through Carl's Recover Items service instead.

Pets and Loot Pickup

Pets are the best tool for preventing lost loot in the first place. A pet follows you during combat and automatically picks up nearby item drops while you fight. In large liberation events with dozens of enemies, a pet will gather drops as you move from target to target, reducing the number of items that end up in the Supply Chest.

Carl's Recover Items Service

Carl, the Provisions Keeper at Greymane Camp, offers a special "Recover Items" tab under his Manage Provision menu. This service lets you buy back certain items that you walked away from or lost, particularly items tied to the Kuku Iron Pot and Abyss progression.

How to Use It

1. Talk to Carl at Greymane Camp.

2. Select "Manage Provision" from the dialogue options.

3. Navigate to the "Recover Items" tab.

4. Browse the list of recoverable items and purchase whichever ones you need.

Cost

Each recovered item costs 10 Silver. This fee can feel steep early in the game when Silver is scarce, so it is generally better to be thorough with your looting. However, if you accidentally miss a Power Core or a rare Abyss component, the 10 Silver buyback is a small price compared to losing that item permanently.

Note that Carl's Recover Items tab is separate from the Supply Chest. The Supply Chest handles generic missed loot from combat encounters, while Carl's service specifically covers Kuku Pot items and Abyss-related objects.

The Kuku Iron Pot

The Kuku Iron Pot (sometimes called the Cuckoo Pot) is a special inventory container that can seal and store Abyss-type objects, machine parts, and contraptions. You receive it during Chapter 4 as part of the "Mysterious Pot" quest at the Kilnden Workshop. It has 230 dedicated slots, but it cannot hold regular items like food, weapons, armor, or recipes.

How to Seal Items

When you encounter a valid Abyss object in the world, activate your Axiom Force (hold L3 on controller). If the "Seal" prompt appears, press Triangle (PlayStation) or Y (Xbox) to absorb the object into the Kuku Iron Pot. On PC, use the corresponding keybind. This puts the item safely into your pot inventory so you do not have to drag it manually.

Discarding Sealed Items

To release a stored object back into the world, open the Kuku Iron Pot from your inventory and select the item you want to retrieve, then choose "Discard." The item reappears in the environment where you can pick it up or interact with it normally.

Practical Uses

• Transporting Power Cores across Abyss puzzle rooms without manually dragging them on the ground

• Storing machine parts and contraptions needed for late-game crafting at Kilnden Workshop

• Keeping Abyss-related objects out of your main inventory so regular slots stay free for loot

The Kuku Iron Pot is not a general-purpose stash. If you need to store normal items, use Private Storage instead. The pot exists specifically for the Abyss item pipeline and the fantastical machines and technologies tied to Crimson Desert's late-game crafting systems.

Key Items

Key items are special inventory entries tied to quests, story progression, or unique collectibles. They occupy regular inventory slots and cannot be sold, dropped, or moved to Private Storage. Early in Crimson Desert's life cycle, certain key items that had already served their purpose continued to sit in the inventory permanently, eating valuable slots.

Patch 1.00.03 addressed some of the most common offenders by removing the key-item status from objects that no longer had a gameplay function, automatically freeing those slots. If you notice items in your inventory that seem outdated or quest-related, check whether they can now be sold or stored after the latest patch.

Permanent Buff Consumables

Some rare consumable items in Crimson Desert provide permanent stat increases when used. Unlike food buffs that wear off over time, these items permanently raise your maximum Health, Spirit, or Stamina. They are one-time-use items, meaning each one can only be consumed once.

These permanent buff consumables are distinct from the stat dials on the Skill Tree, which also increase Health, Spirit, and Stamina using Abyss Artifacts. Both systems stack, so using a Fighting Spirit item and then upgrading the Spirit dial on the Skill Tree gives you the combined benefit of both increases.

Because these items are rare and their effects are permanent, it is worth seeking them out actively. Check hidden alcoves, Abyss dungeon rewards, and optional quest lines. For a full list of stat-boosting items, see the Tips and Tricks page.

Inventory Management Tips

Keeping your inventory clean is an ongoing task in Crimson Desert. The following tips and tricks will help you stay on top of your storage across all stages of the game.

Open Copper and Silver Pouches Immediately

Copper Pouches and Silver Pouches are common drops from bandits and looted containers. Each pouch takes up one inventory slot but contains a random amount of currency. Select a pouch in your inventory and press Space (or A/X on controller) to open it. You can also hold the interact button and choose "Use All" to open every pouch at once. The coins go straight into your wallet, freeing the slots instantly. There is no reason to hoard pouches; open them as soon as you pick them up.

Sell Unpackaged Trade Goods at Black Market Vendors

Unpackaged trade goods pile up fast once you start exploring. These items have no use other than being sold for profit. Look for the small green Gremlin vendor NPCs at Goldleaf Tradeposts (available after Chapter 2). They buy unpackaged trade goods directly from your inventory at competitive rates, with no need to package them first. Making regular stops at these vendors keeps your pack clear.

Embed Abyss Gears into Equipment

Abyss Gears (small stat-boosting gems) can accumulate quickly if you are running Abyss dungeons or defeating elite enemies. Each Gear takes one inventory slot. Rather than letting them pile up, visit a Witch vendor (unlocked in Chapter 3) and embed the Gears into sockets on your weapons and armor. If your current gear is fully socketed, you can create additional sockets on pieces you plan to keep. Upgrading three Level 1 Gears into a single Level 3 Gear at the Witch also reduces the number of slots consumed.

Use the Group Function Regularly

Press T on any item to group all items in that category into a single visual tile. Do this every time you return to camp or before opening a vendor screen. It does not change your actual slot count, but it makes finding specific items far easier and reduces the feeling of a cluttered backpack.

Store Overflow in Private Storage

If you are a collector who likes to hold on to extra weapons, backup armor sets, or stacks of cooking ingredients, deposit them in Private Storage at Greymane Camp or your Hernand lodgings. With 240 slots and consumable stacking (up to 50 per slot), Private Storage can hold a massive amount of materials. Get into the habit of depositing items you do not need for your current outing before heading out on a quest.

Sell or Discard Learned Recipes and Old Letters

Recipes you have already learned and letters from completed side quests serve no further purpose but continue to take up slots. Sell them at any vendor or simply discard them from your inventory to free space.

Use a Pet for Automatic Loot Pickup

Equipping a pet ensures that loot drops during large fights get picked up before enemies despawn. This prevents items from ending up in the Supply Chest (where they are harder to sort through) and keeps everything in your main inventory where you can manage it right away.

Storage Systems at a Glance

Patch History

• Launch (March 2026): Game shipped with 50 starting inventory slots, the Supply Chest, and the Kuku Iron Pot. No manual item storage existed.

• Patch 1.00.03 (March 22, 2026): Added Private Storage (240 slots) at Hernand temporary lodgings and Greymane Camp. Removed key-item status from several obsolete quest objects, freeing inventory slots. Various quality-of-life improvements to the inventory interface.