The Elder Scrolls V – Skyrim: How to Increase Carrying Capacity

In The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, it can be pretty frustrating when you’re crawling through a dungeon, and then you hit your carrying capacity and can’t carry out any more of that precious loot to use or sell.

You can make multiple trips to town and back, but this is time consuming and no one wants to do that.

Here are some tips to help fellow loot horders like myself get the most bang for your buck when it comes to carrying capacity.

Get a Follower to Carry Your Goods

Followers are great at helping you take down enemies, but they’re great at being pack mules as well. Most followers can carry just about as much as you can by default, so this nearly doubles your carrying capacity immediately.

You can have a follower as early as Riverwood. Faendal wants you to deliver a note to Camilla Valerius in Riverwood Traders slandering another man named Sven. If you encounter Sven first, he will ask the same against Faendal, and either one will follow you if you complete the quest for them. They were both archers, however Faendal seems to have higher moral standings, and will criticize you for breaking into houses.

There are also several followers in Whiterun. There is a Nord named Lydia that will join you for free once you finish the Dragonsreach quest line in Whiterun. Lydia is a fighter type primarily, and tends to run headlong into battle, and can tend to die quite easily.

There is Nord named Uthgerd the Unbroken in The Bannered Mare in Whiterun that will follow you for free if you can manage to beat her in a hand to hand brawl, which is fairly easy. Uthgerd is a pretty hefty tank, which can be really handy if you’re a mage or other ranged or light armor type.

There is a Dark Elf mercenary named Jenassa in The Drunken Huntsman in Whiterun that will follow you for 500 gold. Jenassa is more of a light armored archer / rogue type if that’s the type of companion you need.

Aela the Huntress can be found in The Companions area in Whiterun (the Jorrvaskr building), and she will follow you after you finish the Glory of the Dead quest for The Companions. Aela is an archer type.

Njada Stonearm can also be found in The Companions area, and has the same criteria as Aela, but she is more of a fighter type.

Ria is another of The Companions that will follow you after the Glory of the Dead quest, and is also a fighter type.

Increase Carrying Capacity with Potions

They removed the Feather spell from Oblivion, so now the only temporary solution to your weight limit is through potions. Creep Clusters, Giants Toes, Hawk Beaks, River Betty, Scaly Pholiota, and Wisp Wrappings all have the Fortify Carry Weight stat for potions.

Increase Carrying Capacity with Perks, Stones, Stats, and Enchantments

Luckily there are other more permanent solutions to your carrying capacity problems.

When you level up, increasing your Stamina stat will also increase your carrying capacity, plus you’ll be able to perform more melee swings as well.

You can enchant your armor with the Fortify Carry Weight stat to increase your carrying capacity. This enchantment can be added to Rings, Amulets, Gloves, and Boots.

You can increase your carrying capacity by 100 in the Pickpocketing tree with the Extra Pockets perk, however you’ll have to level your Pickpocketing up to 50.

Visiting the Steed Stone can also increase your carrying capacity by 100, but you can only have one active stone at once.

Tricks to Carry More

One handy trick I’ve used is to put all of your extra goods onto a dead body, use a spell or power to raise them back to life temporarily, and then fast travel back to town. They will probably die by the time you arrive, but the corpse will be there in town with all of your goods, so you can bring it back to life again, or just loot it and carry your items to the store to sell them.

You can’t fast travel while you’re encumbered, but no matter what weight you’re at, you can always fast travel on your horse. Gather up all of your loot, and walk out (slowly of course) to your horse, then you can fast travel to town and sell all of your goods.

Buy a House to Store Your Stuff

I also suggest purchasing the House in Whiterun as early as possible to store your extra loot you’re not always using so you can carry more. I always store the majority of my ingredients for potions at my house, as well as any extra potions, because they may be light, but they add up fast.