If you’ve a penchant for collecting things and not stopping, then Arc Raiders is either your best friend or your worst nightmare. Though it’s a shooter through and through, Arc Raiders’ crafting and loot system is rich with stuff to gather and is an essential part of the game. From deflated soccer balls to high-powered weaponry and everything in between, there’s so much junk in this game that it’s easy to trip yourself up in the labyrinthine layout of its various menus.
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So I thought it only natural, from one hoar–collector to another, to help you out by sharing some of my approaches to managing the endless gathering in this otherwise action-packed adrenaline rush of a game.
I’m taking a three-pronged approach here, addressing what I feel are the three most common pain points in inventory management.
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Because here’s the secret: The inventory management and crafting meta game of Arc Raiders is what propels the action out there on the maps. It’s what you’re here to do: find stuff to make stuff. And so an overflowing inventory is actually an opportunity to create a little task list for yourself and thus find yourself out there in the field, possibly getting into some good fights.
Shit, my inventory’s full
Maybe you just got back from a raid, and you can’t accept any new materials from Scrappy because your inventory’s full. Maybe you got something cool from completing a quest and can’t use it because your inventory’s full. Maybe you can’t even use a Free Loadout because, you guessed it, your inventory’s full.
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If this is the case, I’m going to guess that you’re not paying that much attention to the details of your inventory’s contents. But with so many items, the idea of scrolling through that massive grid of icons might seem laborious. Fear not, for with some simple steps, we can sort this mess.
Step one: Manage your inventory stacks
You may not’ve noticed this, but Arc Raiders’ inventory system isn’t the most efficient at clearing space for you. For a game that’s catching flack for its use of AI, your inventory isn’t very artificially intelligent or well automated.
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Take Shotgun ammo. Everything’s arranged in a grid, with some icons representing stacks. You can stack 20 shells in a single icon. If you have more than that, you’ll end up with multiple stacks maxing out at 20 shells each. But it’s not uncommon to have multiple grid spaces taken up by stacks lower than the 20-count max. You might have a single stack of 20, then a stack of 12, then a stack of 2, taking up three spots in your inventory grid. Inefficient!
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All you have to do here is drag the lower-count stacks on top of each other to free up extra grid space. Go through your items and see if there are any excess stacks taking up space and you’ll be surprised how many spaces on your grid you’ll clear.
Step two: Sell valuables and break down recyclables
If your inventory’s overflowing because you have a habit of collecting every damn thing you see, you might have some valuables in your inventory you need to get rid of. Honestly, I’m surprised at how many times a random valuable like a music cassette tape, rubber duck, or set of rosary beads are just chilling in the Misc. category.
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These have got to go–unless you need them to craft something. Once again, the inventory system of Arc Raiders fails us. Not everything that is labeled as either recyclable or sellable is inherently made to be discarded. Pillows, for example, are valuables you can sell. But you also need them to upgrade Scrappy at the Workshop. Be sure to track any crafting projects you’re working on so you don’t accidentally sell the necessary items for it.
Likewise, you should sift through your inventory in the Crafting submenu indicated by the wrench icon to recycle any junk that isn’t immediately useful to you. Like with valuables, some of these are secretly needed for Workshop upgrades, so be mindful of what you’re breaking down. Sometimes clearing out a handful of camera lenses, candle holders, radios, and rusted tools is all you need to free up space.
Step three: Repair and upgrade existing gear
You really shouldn’t have too many duplicates of the same piece of gear in your inventory. Your guns and shields, for example, have durability meters that need to be maintained. And guns can also be upgraded to improve their functionality.
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One way to start clearing up space in your inventory is to tend to these needs. Repair all existing shields, make sure your guns are either at max durability or are on their way to their top upgrade tier. I also recommend crafting weapon mods and slapping them on your weapons as soon as you can.
All of these actions cost crafting supplies, so by tending to your existing arsenal, you very well may shrink your total inventory as craftables get consumed.
Bonus tip plus a cheat sheet: Craft Quick Use items and take them with you
This is similar to the previous tip, but I heartily recommend taking the time to craft things like smoke grenades, noisemakers, door blockers and more. Not only are these items a lot of fun and very useful on the battlefield, but crafting them consumes materials and taking them out with you frees up your inventory.
Arc Raiders has a ton of loot and junk to collect. But thanks to the work of pRoDeeD on Reddit, you can demystify a lot of this material by following along with their handy cheat sheet.
It’s available in both PDF and PNG format.
Happy collecting!
