We’ve all been there. You’re out and about in Skyrim and suddenly you struggle to walk and see the dreaded words “overencumbered.” It’s a pain. Not only can you not sprint, you can’t even fast-travel to the nearest shop to unload.
It sucks, but there are a host of clever ways to avoid this problem from ever encumbering you again. So if you’ve ever wanted to know How to increase your carry weight in Skyrim, we’ve got all the best and updated methods to keep you nice and light.
And if you’ve ever wanted to play Skyrim on a handheld, be sure to check out the best handheld emulator consoles for more info on which handhelds are and aren’t able to play Skyrim.
Use Console Commands
If you’re not above cheating, console commands can increase your carrying capacity in Skyrim with just a few clicks. This is, by far, the easiest way for those playing on systems where console commands can be used.
To bring up the console command input line on American English keyboards press the tilde (“~”) key, or if you’re on a British keyboard, hit the apostrophe (“‘”) key.
If you really want to cheat, enter “tgm” and hit enter. This is shorthand for “toggle God mode,” and will make the player character unkillable and remove all carry weight checks, meaning you can fill your inventory with endless goods and never face a penalty.
The downside of TGM is two-fold: First, not being able to die makes the game not fun. Secondly, having too many items in your inventory will either cause the game to crash or it’ll take longer to open and sort through. It’s not ideal in other words.
A better use of console commands is through the “player.modAV carryweight <x>” command, with “<x>” being the amount you wean to increase your capacity by. This allows players to set the rules they feel comfortable with, and so long as you keep the value within a reasonable limit, the game won’t struggle to keep up.
Through Level Up
Each time you level up, you’re presented with the option of putting a point into either Magicka, Health, or Stamina. The latter-most option, Stamina, not only increases how long you can sprint for, it also raises your carry weight by five points per level. If you find yourself getting overencumbered often, be sure to spend some points in Stamina to balance things out.
Change Your Standing Stone
This is the most overlooked tip of the bunch. Standing Stones can upgrade player stats and that includes carry weight. In the snowy mountains, located between Fort Hraggstad and Solitude, is the Steed Stone. This Standing Stone will instantly increase the player’s carry weight by 100 points.
Just keep in mind, this effect isn’t permanent. If you change your Standing Stone to something else, you’ll lose its perk.
Perks to Increase Carry Weight
The “Extra Pockets” perk in the pickpocket skill tree increases player carrying capacity by 100 points. Even in Survival Mode, the “Extra Pockets” perk still offers a decent upgrade at 50 points. In short, it’s a must if you find yourself running out of space often.
Alternatively, “Unhindered,” and “Conditioning,” both of which are found in their respective Light Armor and Heavy Armor skill trees, causes worn armor to weigh nothing and lets the player move quicker.
This only applies to equipped armor, though. Anything else in your inventory will still hold a numerical value.
Through Enchantments and Potions
If you’re in a pickle and not near somewhere to drop your loot, enchantments and potions are always a solid backup option.
The enchantment to keep an eye out for is “Fortify Carry Weight.” This enchantment raises the player’s carry weight depending on the strength of their enchanting or alchemy skills.
There are a few different ways to find this enchantment, but the easiest by far is to head to Sinderion’s Field Laboratory in Blackreach. Inside, you’ll find a set of “leather boots of hauling”. Take those to an enchanting station and you’ll be able to disenchant the perk from them.
If you’re an alchemist, the same enchantment can be used in potion form. The secondary effect from Trama Root, Netch Jelly, and Juvenile Mudcrab all can be used to create the potion.
The third effect from Giant’s Toe, Hawk Beak, Creep Cluster, and the fourth effect from Scaly Pholiota, and River Betty can also be used to the same avail.
Armor Pieces with Fortify Carry Weight
Select unique armor and clothing items can increase the player’s carry weight capacity further. Those include Blackguard’s Armor, Deathbrand armor, Dragon Priest Volsung’s mask, the Guild Master’s Armor, the Locket of Saint Jiub, and Thieves Guild Armor.
Below is each item, how much it increases your carry weight, and where to find them.
- Blackguard’s Armor (plus 50 carry weight) – Found in the basement of Glover Mallory’s House in Solstheim after completing the “Paid in Full” quest
- Deathbrand Boots (plus 10 carry weight for every piece of Deathbrand Armor, up to 40) – West of Tel Mithryn, by a group of Ash Spawn
- Dragon Priest Volsung’s Mask (plus 20 carry weight) – Reward for beating Volsung in the Nordic Ruin of Volskygge.
- Guild Master’s Armor (plus 50 carry weight) – Acquired from Tonilia during “Under New Management” after restoring the Thieves Guild to its former glory
- Locket of Saint Jiub (plus 50 carry weight) – Given by Jiub after completing the “Impatience of a Saint” quest in the Soul Cairn
- Thieves Guild Armor (plus 20 carry weight) – Given to the player upon joining the Thieves Guild
Other Ways to Avoid Being Overencumbered
In a worst-case scenario, you could find yourself out in the field with tons of valuable loot and nowhere to store it. If that happens more than you’d like to admit, there are a few options.
First, always travel with a follower or spouse. Followers have their own inventory, so you can toss items over to them if you’re running low on room. Just don’t forget they’re people too, and can only carry so much (physically, not emotionally).
Also, have you considered becoming a werewolf? Werewolves have their carrying capacity increased by a massive 2000 points. Beating that carry weight is going to be hard. Even if you clear out several dungeons, you’ll still be left with space to fill.
Of course, you’ll need to transform back into a more socially tolerated form before entering populated areas and slowly making your way to a merchant. Still, given werewolves are as fast as horses, you can skip the whole fast travel penalty by running while in werewolf form.
Another easy solution if you’re overencumbered is to get on a horse and ride off into the sunset. Bonus points if you’ve got the summon Arvak spell, as that’ll cut out needing to walk all the way back to wherever you left said horse. Handy right?
