Revision 4

Quartermaster Backpack is the fourth tier of Backpack Progression in Windrose. It requires Cursed Swamps-tier material and adds 16 inventory slots.

Recipe

Crocodile Hide Piece drops from Plague Crocodiles in the Cursed Swamps biome, making this backpack tier a natural Cursed Swamps milestone. Unlike previous tiers, the Quartermaster recipe is simple (only two components), but both are gated by biome access.

When to Craft

Most players reach the Quartermaster Backpack when they first clear Plague Crocodile encounters in the Cursed Swamps. 5 hide pieces typically requires 3 to 5 Plague Crocodile kills depending on drop variance. The upgrade brings total inventory capacity to a level where mining runs and quest-item hauls no longer require mid-run inventory management.

See Also

• Backpack Progression: full chain

• Bosun Backpack: previous tier

• Traveler Backpack: next tier

• Crocodile Hide Piece: input

• Plague Crocodile: source enemy

Progression Priority

By the time the Cursed Swamps open up, most players have learned to plan trips around the current Inventory cap. The Quartermaster Backpack is the tier that flips that relationship: instead of the bag dictating the length of a farming run, the run length starts to be dictated by stamina and food buffs. Community guides (notably the Things I Wish I Knew walkthrough from the early launch window) call backpack upgrades the tip that should have been number one: upgrade as early as humanly possible, and the +16 slot jump here is the single largest pre-Tortuga gain in the Backpack Progression chain.

Fold the craft into the first extended Plague Crocodile farm. Five hide pieces usually land inside three to five kills, and consuming the Bosun Backpack at the Workbench the same session removes a return trip that would otherwise have been spent sorting Crafting materials. After the Quartermaster tier equips, the only remaining step is the Traveler Backpack from the Tortuga Goods Seller, so budget 500 Piastres from the next loot-sell cycle rather than rolling it into ship upgrades or faction gear.