Carrying capacity returns once again in Starfield, effectively capping you out at the number of items, be it weapons, outfits, and resources that you can carry on you at any one time.

If you’re struggling to keep a lot of items on you at once, you’ll want to know how to increase your carrying capacity in Starfield, so you can zip around the stars collecting all the items you want to sell on to a vendor later on.

We’ll detail all that in this Starfield carrying capacity guide, including how to increase your companions’ carrying capacity, so you can store items with your companions, and then retrieve them whenever it suits you.

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If you need help with any other areas of Bethesda’s new RPG at all, you can check out our extensive Starfield guide hub, including all the tips and tricks you could need.

Starfield carrying capacity explained

All Bethesda RPGs feature a carrying capacity limit, dictating the total weight of items that the player can carry on them at once. Starfield is no exception to this rule, and although the starting carrying capacity is pretty generous in the spacefaring game, it can quickly restrict you.

When you head into the character menu of Starfield, you can access your inventory by selecting the option to the bottom right of your character. Here, you can now see your character’s maximum carrying capacity near the bottom left corner of the screen, right next to the figure displaying how many Credits you currently own.

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In the carrying capacity section, the figure on the left is the total weight of all items in your possession, while the figure on the right is the maximum weight you can carry at any one time. If the left figure is greater than the right figure, you’ll be over encumbered, and actions like running and jumping will consume more oxygen.

How to increase carrying capacity in Starfield

Increasing your carrying capacity in Starfield is actually refreshingly simple. The most effective method is to head into your Skills menu, and tab all the way to the left, where you’ll be on the 'Physical' section of Skills. One of the Skills on the top tier is called 'Weight Lifting,' and it’s this Skill that can increase your carrying capacity in Starfield.

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Mercifully, this Skill is on the base tier of Skills in the Physical tree, meaning it’s accessible immediately and you don’t need to put multiple Skill Points into the tree to unlock it. Putting points into Weight Lifting permanently increases your carrying capacity in Starfield for good.

However, there’s also other methods of increasing your carrying capacity, if only momentarily. You can eat food and other medical items that will increase your carrying capacity for a predetermined amount of time, for example the Departure Time cocktail will increase your carrying capacity by +4 for five minutes.

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How to increase companions’ carrying capacity in Starfield

If you ever become over encumbered while away from your starship, you can ask your companions to hang onto items for you. Talk to a companion, and you’ll be able to trade gear. On the screen below, you can either take from or give items to your companion, and they’ll hang onto them forever.

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As with you though, these companions also have carrying capacity limits. To increase this limit, you need to put points into the 'Leadership' Skill in the Social Skill Tree in Starfield, but, unlike Weight Lifting, you can only access the Leadership Skill after you’ve put eight Skill Points total into the 'Social' category.

It’s on the second tier of the Leadership Skill that you can increase your companions’ carrying capacity limits for good by 50kg. In other words, you need to put two Skill Points into the Leadership Skill for it to take effect on the carrying limits.

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Use these methods, and you won’t have a problem hauling tonnes of gear back to vendors throughout the galaxy to sell!

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