Inventory management can make or break your experience in Crimson Desert. Nothing is more frustrating than having to leave behind valuable loot in the middle of a dungeon or after a difficult boss fight simply because your bags are full. While the game provides a standard amount of carrying capacity at the start, it expects you to actively seek out upgrades to expand your inventory space. Fortunately, these upgrades are not locked behind difficult quests or high-level zones; they are available surprisingly early if you know where to look. In this guide, I will walk you through every method to increase your inventory slots, from one-time purchases at vendors to trust-based rewards with specific NPCs, ensuring you can carry all the gear, resources, and food you need for your journey across Pywel.
Small Backpacks: Your First Inventory Boost
The most straightforward way to increase your inventory space is by purchasing Small Backpacks. These are one-time purchase items that permanently add a few slots to your bag. The game does not explicitly tell you about them, so it is easy to walk past these vendors without ever noticing these essential upgrades.
Almost every general goods vendor, equipment shop, and street vendor you encounter will have a Small Backpack available for sale as a one-time inventory item. These are typically marked with a bag icon and are relatively inexpensive, costing only a handful of silver. The key is to make it a habit to check every vendor’s inventory when you enter a new town or settlement.
The best place to start is in Hernand, the central hub you will return to frequently. The equipment shop near the central square sells one, as does the general goods merchant nearby. However, do not stop there. As you progress to different regions of the game, other vendors in smaller outposts and faction camps will also have these backpacks available for purchase. Because they are a one-time purchase per vendor, you can theoretically collect several of them throughout your playthrough, significantly expanding your inventory capacity without any crafting or questing required.
Medium Backpacks: Completing NPC Requests
For a more substantial upgrade—a Medium Backpack that provides three additional slots—you will need to engage with the trust system. Certain NPCs, primarily shopkeepers, will offer you small requests or side missions. These requests are often incredibly short and serve as tutorials for specific game mechanics, but the reward is almost always a Medium Backpack.
To find these, pay close attention to NPCs who have a dialogue option indicating they need help. In Hernand, for example, the equipment shopkeeper and the innkeeper often have simple fetch quests or tasks that take no more than a few minutes to complete. Not only do these quests reward you with the backpack, but they also grant +50 trust with that specific shopkeeper. This trust boost is crucial because it puts you halfway to reaching 100 trust, unlocking even more benefits like exclusive gear and daily restocks of rare crafting materials.
Make it a priority to complete any request you see in a new town. The inventory space is invaluable, and the trust points are a welcome bonus that pays dividends later in the game.
Inventory Grouping: Maximizing Your New Space
Once you have acquired these backpacks, you will notice your inventory becoming much more manageable, but it can still feel cluttered. Crimson Desert includes a highly useful but easily overlooked feature: item grouping. This function automatically consolidates all items of the same category into a single tile.
For example, instead of having ten separate icons for different types of ores or leathers, grouping them will stack them into one tile that you can expand when needed. This is particularly useful for food, which you will be carrying in large quantities to sustain yourself during boss fights. By enabling grouping, you can navigate your menu much faster, find your healing items in the middle of combat preparation, and keep your newly expanded inventory organized.
Reaching 100 Trust: Exclusive Rewards and Daily Resources
Once you have acquired the Medium Backpack from completing NPC requests, you may wonder what else the trust system offers. The answer is quite substantial. Each shopkeeper in Crimson Desert has a trust meter that increases when you interact with them, purchase items, or complete their requests. Reaching 100 trust with a vendor unlocks unique perks that go far beyond inventory upgrades.
For most shopkeepers, you can gain +5 trust per in-game day simply by speaking with them or making a purchase. While this seems slow, combining it with the +50 trust from their initial request puts you well on your way. In Hernand, for example, reaching 100 trust with the equipment shopkeeper rewards you with access to a special kite shield that features a reduced guard stamina cost socket—a valuable item for defensive builds.
Perhaps even more importantly, once you reach 100 trust with a shopkeeper, they will begin stocking crafting resources that refresh every in-game day. This means you no longer need to venture out into the wilderness to mine ore or hunt animals for basic upgrade materials. Instead, you can simply visit your trusted vendors daily and purchase exactly what you need. For players looking to upgrade their gear efficiently, this is a game-changer. Make it part of your routine: wake up in Hernand, visit the blacksmith to reinforce your weapons, then stop by the equipment shop and general goods vendor to buy out their daily stock of ores, leathers, and other essentials.
If you are wondering what reaching 100 trust with the blacksmith unlocks, that remains somewhat of a mystery even among dedicated players. If you discover any unique perks from maxing trust with other vendors, share them in the comments to help fellow adventurers.
Clearing Inventory Clutter: Scrolls and Bounty Posters
Even with upgraded backpacks and organized grouping, your inventory can still become clogged with quest items and scrolls. One of the most common sources of unnecessary clutter is bounty posters and other scrolls. The game does a poor job of explaining how these function, leading many players to hoard them indefinitely.
Here is the key: bounty posters and scrolls are divided into two categories—active and completed. Active posters represent criminals you have not yet captured or missions you have not finished. These cannot be sold, so they must remain in your inventory until resolved. However, once you complete a bounty, the poster remains in your bag but is now marked as completed. These completed posters serve no further purpose and can be safely sold to any vendor for a small amount of copper.
The same applies to recipe scrolls. After you inspect a recipe scroll and learn the cooking formula, the scroll itself becomes useless. Rather than letting it take up space, sell it. Some recipe scrolls actually sell for a decent amount of money, providing a nice source of early-game cash while freeing up valuable inventory slots.
To keep your inventory clean, make it a habit to periodically visit a vendor and sort through your scrolls and posters. Sell everything that is marked as completed or learned. You will be surprised at how many slots you recover.
Final Thoughts on Inventory Management
Expanding your inventory in Crimson Desert is not a single action but an ongoing process. Between purchasing Small Backpacks from vendors across the world, completing NPC requests for Medium Backpacks, building trust for exclusive access to resources, and regularly clearing out completed scrolls, you have multiple avenues to ensure you never run out of space at a critical moment.
The most successful players build these activities into their daily routine. Every time you return to Hernand or visit a new settlement, check the vendors for backpacks, speak to shopkeepers to build trust, complete any available requests, and clear out your completed posters. Over time, your inventory will grow to accommodate everything you need—from healing food for boss fights to crafting materials for gear upgrades.
With a properly managed inventory, you can focus on what truly matters: exploring the world, conquering challenging encounters, and uncovering the secrets that Crimson Desert has to offer.
