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How to increase carrying capacity in Stalker 2

Key art for Stalker 2. A character in a lit-up gas mask and a gun on their back.
GSC Game World

Every decision you make in Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl has weight to it, including what you fill your backpack with. Not only are you limited based on how big your inventory is but every item you put in it has an associated weight that adds to your total. Try to carry too much and you will become encumbered and have a difficult time moving. The last thing you want is to find a valuable stash with a great new gun or piece of gear and not be able to carry it all back to a town. There are no skill trees or levels in Stalker 2, so you might think that the weight limit you start with is what you’re stuck with for the whole game, but we can show you how to increase your carrying capacity. If you’re exploring the Zone, check out our other Stalker 2 tips and tricks.

How to increase carrying capacity

The upgrade screen in Stalker 2.
GSC Game World

There are a few ways to upgrade your carrying capacity, and both revolve around upgrading your body armor. At any upgrade vendor, select your armor from the list of upgrades and select the top upgrade slot. Here, you can find the Swen-on Pockets upgrade at the end of the upgrade list. This will increase your capacity by 10%, which isn’t much, but the most we’ve found you can get. Unlocking this upgrade will require you to first get the previous upgrades, so start investing in this tree early.

The equipment screen in Stalker 2.
GSC Game World

While it won’t directly increase how much you can carry, the Fastening System upgrade on armor reduces its weight by 2, thus freeing up that weight for other things. Again, it is small, but Stalker 2 isn’t going to make things easy on you, so we have to take whatever minor edges we can get.

Jesse Lennox
Jesse Lennox has been a writer at Digital Trends for over four years and has no plans of stopping. He covers all things…
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