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As you explore the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone in Stalker 2, you’re more or less guaranteed to be overburdened sooner rather than later. Every point of interest is home to loot – weapons, attachments, masks, medkits, ammo, food, and plenty more – and it’s hard not to want to haul it back to the nearest camp to sell it for coupons.
While Stalker 2 has no levelling system or perk tree to unlock extra carry capacity, there are ways to slightly boost how much you can carry at any given time. It’s not much, but every little helps when you’re trying to survive a post-apocalyptic nuclear disaster site.
The Flytrap artifact increase carry weight by a moderate amount. Captured by VideoGamer
The Goldfish artifact increase carry weight by a small amount. Captured by VideoGamer
Equip artifacts that boost carry capacity
To increase carry capacity, you’ll need to find and equip artifacts that boost carry weight. Here’s a list of artifacts that boost weight capacity:
- Flytrap – medium weight increase
- Goldfish – weak weight increase
- Gravi – weak weight increase
- Stone Blood – weak weight increase
- Flaw – weight weight increase
We’ll update the list if we come across any more. Alone, the benefits of each artifact are marginal. But, if you equip several artifacts that improve carry capacity, you’ll get a small, but meaningful boost. It’s enough to make a tangible difference when you’re want to lug back loot after a successful bout of exploration. If you’re having trouble tracking these down, check out all the artifact locations.
Get the Weird Water artifact
Though other artifacts provide a boost to carry capacity, none are quite as useful as the Weird Water, which grants a huge 40 kg boost to carry weigh when equipped. You can find it at night in the Wandering Lights anomaly in the northeast of the Zaton region. For all the details, check out our dedicated guide.
Upgrade suits to boosts carry weight
Certain suit upgrades increase your carry capacity. Visit a Technician at a major stalker camp and look for upgrades that increase weight capacity. Not all suits offer them and late-game suits will require Technicians in camps that are further afield. You can also find upgrades that increase the number of artifacts you can slot in at any given time, such as the Additional Artifact Container upgrade.
Upgrade weapons to lower their weight
Weapons are heavy and are likely the most cumbersome part of your inventory, playing a major role towards you reaching the carry limit. However, you can install upgrades at a Technician that reduce their weight. For example, the Milled Parts Replaced with Stamped Parts reduce the weight of weapons by 30%. Do this for all weapons and you’ll be carrying around much less weight, leaving room for other guns, gear, and other loot.
Use suits that increases carry weight
You can also increase your carry capacity by equipping suits that have innate carry weight bonuses. Among them are the Wanderer’s Suit, the Cuirass Exoskeleton, and the OZK Explorer’s Suit, all of which boost carry weight by 8 kg, and the Bulwark Exosuit that offers a +12 kg bonus.
Alongside, you can find certain wearable gear that increases the number of artifacts you can equip at any given time. More slots mean more artifacts that increase carry capacity, effectively allowing you to stack the bonus.
The first of these that you can grab is in the Garbage region, the second major zone you’ll reach as part of the main story. Progress until you reach the Slag Heap stalker camp in the centre of the region. From there head northwest to a point of interest called the Maze, which you’ll visit as part of The Price Goes Up main mission. It’s teeming with mutant rats so be ready for some vermin extermination. When the coast is clear, head to the spot marked on the image above where you’ll find a Journalist’s Stash. It will be marked on your map if you started the Seek, and You Shall Find side mission back in Zalissya.
The stash is behind the tank truck. Captured by VideoGamer
Use the rubble on the right to reach the roof of the truck and jump down on the other side. Captured by VideoGamer
The golden Tourist Suit gives you four artifact slots. Captured by VideoGamer
The spot is roughly in the southeast of the Maze near a old rusty tank truck. Use the rubble on the right to get to the roof of the truck, then hop down on the other side to find the stash. Open it up to find a golden Tourist Suit. Per the description, the former owner had a handle on weight distribution and fashioned in extra pockets and a backpack to increase carry weight. Equipping the suit grants you four Artifact slots. From there, slot in the Flytrap and Goldfish artifacts to increase how much loot you can carry.
Use Hercules drugs to increase carry weight temporarily
You can also use the Hercules consumable to temporarily increase your carry weight. One dose will increase your maximum weight by 20 kg for 300 seconds, or 5 minutes. Not too shabby, especially if you on the last leg of a massive looting run and are over-encumbered hauling back loads of gear and weapons. Hercules pills are extremely rare out the wild from what we’ve seen, but if you visit a medic in any of the major stalker camps, a few of them will trade Hercules.
About the Author
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
- Platform(s): PC, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series S/X, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s): Action, Adventure, RPG, Shooter, Survival Horror
