ARC Raiders is fundamentally about risk and reward—venturing Topside to scavenge valuable loot, then making it back to Speranza alive. But as your raiding success rate improves and you start hauling back more materials, crafting components, and equipment, you’ll quickly discover a limiting factor: storage space.
Whether it’s your stash filling up in Speranza or your backpack maxing out mid-raid just as you spot that epic item, storage limitations can seriously hamper your progression. This guide explains exactly how to expand both your permanent stash storage and your raid-by-raid backpack capacity, ensuring you never have to leave valuable loot behind.
Why Storage Management Is Crucial in Arc Raiders
Storage isn’t just about convenience—it directly impacts your ability to progress efficiently in ARC Raiders. Here’s why expanding your storage should be a priority:
Crafting flexibility: More stash space means you can stockpile diverse materials, letting you craft whatever equipment you need without scrambling for specific components.
Economic opportunity: Holding onto items until you need coins versus recycling them for components gives you financial flexibility. Limited storage forces premature decisions.
Backpack efficiency: Larger inventory during raids means fewer trips back to extraction points and the ability to capitalize on lucky loot spawns without abandoning existing items.
Future-proofing: As you unlock higher-tier workshops and recipes, you’ll need increasingly diverse material collections. Adequate storage prevents bottlenecks.
Let’s break down both storage systems and how to maximize them.
Arc Raiders Starting Storage – What You Begin With
When you first arrive in Speranza, your storage situation looks like this:
Stash capacity: 64 slots This is your permanent storage in the safe haven of Speranza. Everything you successfully extract gets deposited here until you sell, recycle, or use it.
Backpack capacity: Base amount (varies by loadout) This is your raid inventory—what you can carry during a single expedition Topside. It determines how much loot you can extract per run.
Both systems have expansion options, though they work differently. Your stash expands through coin investments, while your backpack capacity increases through equipped Looting Augments.
How to Upgrade and Expand Your Stash Capacity
Sixty-four slots sounds generous initially, but after a few successful farming runs—especially if you’re using our coin farming method at Old Battleground—you’ll find your stash bursting at the seams. Here’s how to increase your permanent storage capacity:
Step-by-Step Stash Expansion Process
Navigate to your inventory:
- From the main menu in Speranza, open your inventory screen
- This is your central hub for managing all stored items
Locate the expansion option:
- Look at the top of your item slots display
- You’ll see an “Expand” button positioned between the “Loadout” and “Stash” labels
- This button becomes available once you have sufficient coins
Purchase the upgrade:
- Click “Expand” to see the cost and benefit of the next storage tier
- Confirm the purchase if you have enough coins
Stash Expansion Costs and Progression
The stash expansion system uses a straightforward tiered pricing model:
First upgrade: 5,000 coins
- Adds 24 additional slots
- New total capacity: 88 slots
- This is your most cost-effective expansion per slot
Second upgrade: 10,000 coins
- Adds another 24 slots
- New total capacity: 112 slots
Third upgrade: 15,000 coins
- Continues the pattern with 24 more slots
- New total capacity: 136 slots
Subsequent upgrades: Each upgrade increases in cost by 5,000 coins while providing the same 24-slot increase. The pattern continues progressively:
- Fourth: 20,000 coins
- Fifth: 25,000 coins
- And so on…
Maximum stash capacity: 200 slots
That’s the ultimate ceiling for stash storage in ARC Raiders’ current version. Reaching maximum capacity requires significant coin investment, making it a long-term goal rather than an immediate achievement.
Cost-Benefit Analysis: When to Upgrade
You don’t need to rush to maximum stash capacity immediately. Here’s a practical approach to stash upgrades:
Early game (first 10 hours): The base 64 slots usually suffice while you’re learning systems and building your initial equipment pool. Focus coins on Workshop upgrades and essential gear first.
Mid game (establishing farming routes): Once you’re running consistent farming routes and extracting regularly, invest in your first 1-2 stash expansions. This prevents inventory management from interrupting your momentum.
Late game (min-maxing): As you accumulate wealth and start collecting multiple weapon variants, armor sets, and crafting material stockpiles, progressively expand toward the 200-slot maximum.
The key is balancing stash investments against other coin sinks like equipment upgrades and Workshop improvements. Don’t bankrupt yourself expanding storage if you don’t have the items to fill it yet.
Increasing Backpack Space During Raids – Step-by-Step
Your backpack capacity determines how much loot you can extract per raid. Unlike the stash, you can’t simply buy more space with coins. Instead, you need to equip Looting Augments—specialized equipment that increases your carrying capacity.
Understanding Looting Augments
Looting Augments are equippable items that expand your raid inventory in several ways:
Additional inventory slots: Straightforward extra space for more items
Safe pockets: Special slots that protect certain items even if you die, allowing you to retain some loot despite failing to extract
Augmented slots for Trinkets: Specialized spaces for specific item types, helping organize your inventory during hectic raids
These augments are essential for serious farmers who want to maximize profit per successful extraction.
Available Looting Augments and Their Benefits
Currently, two main Looting Augment tiers are available:
Looting Augment MK. 1
- Bonus capacity: 8 additional inventory slots
- Special feature: 1 Safe Pocket
- How to obtain:
- Craft it at your Workbench (available early in progression)
- Purchase from Lance at the Clinic for 1,920 coins
This is your entry-level capacity upgrade. The relatively low cost makes it accessible early, and that single Safe Pocket can save valuable finds if you get eliminated before extracting.
Looting Augment MK. 2
- Bonus capacity: 12 additional inventory slots
- Special features: 3 Augmented Slots for Trinkets, 2 Safe Pockets
- How to obtain:
- Craft it after finding the blueprint (found via exploration or specific loot sources)
- Purchase from Lance at the Clinic for 6,000 coins
The MK. 2 represents a significant upgrade over MK. 1, offering 50% more standard inventory space and doubling the Safe Pocket count. Those extra Safe Pockets are particularly valuable during high-risk farming runs where death is a real possibility.
Which Augment Should You Use?
For casual raiding: The MK. 1 provides solid value at a reasonable price. If you’re just doing occasional runs or farming lower-risk areas, this is sufficient.
For serious farming: The MK. 2 is essential. When you’re running Old Battleground coin farms or other high-value routes, those extra slots directly translate to thousands of additional coins per successful extraction.
Budget consideration: If you’re just starting out and coins are tight, craft or buy the MK. 1 first. Save up for the MK. 2 once you’ve established consistent income through farming runs.
The 6,000-coin price tag for MK. 2 sounds steep, but a single successful Old Battleground run can net you 15,000-40,000 coins, making it a worthwhile investment that pays for itself quickly.
Practical Tips for Smarter Storage Management
Even with expanded storage, good habits prevent inventory chaos:
Regular maintenance sessions: Dedicate time every few raids to organize your stash—sell valuables, recycle unnecessary duplicates, and consolidate materials.
Prioritize epic items: Diamond-marked epic recyclables should either be sold immediately for coins or stored temporarily if you’re saving up for a big purchase. Don’t let them clutter your stash indefinitely.
Component stockpiling: Keep a reasonable buffer of common crafting materials (50-100 units), but don’t hoard thousands of basic components. Recycle or sell excess to free space.
Loadout organization: Use your expanded stash to maintain multiple pre-built loadouts for different playstyles—stealth runs, aggressive farming, PvP-focused gear, etc.
Safe Pocket strategy: When using Looting Augments with Safe Pockets, immediately place your most valuable finds there during raids. If you get eliminated, at least you’ll retain those premium items.
The Storage Farming Loop – Gather, Upgrade, Repeat
Here’s how storage upgrades and efficient farming create a positive progression cycle:
- Run farming routes with basic storage capacity
- Extract valuable loot and sell for coins
- Invest in stash expansion to store more materials
- Purchase Looting Augments to increase per-raid extraction capacity
- Farm more efficiently with expanded inventory, generating more coins per hour
- Fund further upgrades and equipment improvements
This loop accelerates your progression, letting you tackle harder content and accumulate wealth faster. Storage upgrades might seem like background improvements, but they’re fundamental to efficient play.
Long-Term Goals for Maximizing Storage Space
As you progress through ARC Raiders, aim for these storage milestones:
Week 1-2: Purchase first stash expansion (88 total slots), acquire Looting MK. 1
Week 3-4: Expand stash to 112-136 slots, upgrade to Looting MK. 2
Month 1+: Progressively expand toward 200-slot maximum as coin income stabilizes
These timelines assume moderate play frequency (10-15 hours per week). Hardcore players can achieve these milestones faster, while casual players might take longer—and that’s perfectly fine. Progress at your own pace.
Optimizing Your Arc Raiders Experience Through Better Storage
Storage is just one piece of the ARC Raiders puzzle. For maximum efficiency, combine storage upgrades with:
- Performance optimization: Make sure your game runs smoothly with our PC settings guide
- Team coordination: Farm more safely and efficiently by playing with friends across platforms
- Free rewards: Grab cosmetics without spending coins through Twitch Drops
Final Thoughts
Storage expansion in ARC Raiders isn’t flashy, but it’s essential. Every additional slot in your stash or backpack translates directly to more efficient progression, better economic flexibility, and fewer frustrating moments where you have to abandon valuable loot.
Prioritize at least the first stash expansion and a Looting Augment MK. 1 within your first week of play. These foundational upgrades set you up for long-term success and make the grind significantly more enjoyable.
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Expand your storage, maximize your hauls, and dominate the extraction game!Retry
