You’ve just finished a brutal boarding action against a Vailian galleon. Your deck is slippery with sea water, and more importantly, your screen is absolutely cluttered with looted sabers, fine leather armors, and about forty pieces of hardtack. Most players at this point just hold their breath and dump everything into the Stash. It’s the "infinite bag of holding" trap. While Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire technically gives you unlimited space, treating your inventory like a literal trash can is the fastest way to ruin your mid-game experience.
Honestly, the "infinite" nature of the Stash is a bit of a lie. It’s infinite in capacity, sure, but it’s a nightmare for your actual sanity. Once you hit Neketaka, you’re looking at a list of hundreds of items. Trying to find that one specific ring or that unique blunderbuss you stashed ten hours ago becomes a chore that kills the pacing of an otherwise incredible RPG.
The Stash vs. Personal Inventory Myth
A lot of folks think the individual character inventory slots matter for encumbrance. They don't. Unlike the first Pillars, or games like Pathfinder: Kingmaker, there is no weight limit that slows you down. You can carry an entire armory's worth of plate mail and your party will still sprint across the map like they're in a track meet.
Personal slots are basically just for "quick access."
If it's in a character's inventory, you can swap it into an active slot without opening the main Stash interface. This is vital during dungeon crawls. Keep your specific elemental resistance potions or specialized weapon swaps on the character. Everything else? Toss it in the Stash. But—and this is a big "but"—you need to use the "Add to Wares" feature religiously. If you aren't marking junk as wares the moment you pick it up, you're doing it wrong. It saves you from the "scroll of death" at vendors later.
Sorting Is Not a Suggestion
The UI in Deadfire is better than the first game, but it still hides stuff.
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Take the filtering icons. They’re small. People miss them. You can filter by weapons, armor, consumables, and quest items. If you’re looking for a specific ingredient for an enchantment, don't just scroll. Click the "Ingredients" tab.
The real pro tip here: use the search bar. Seriously. Most players forget it exists because it’s a tiny text box in a sea of icons. If you know you picked up "Spearcaster," just type "Spear." It saves minutes of your life.
Managing Your Ship’s Supplies
This is where the real inventory management happens, and it’s separate from your personal gear. Your ship has its own storage for food, water, and repair materials.
Do not keep 500 units of water in your personal stash.
Transfer it to the ship's hold. However, keep an eye on morale. If you just dump "Rice" and "Water" into the ship's inventory, your crew will eventually want to mutiny. You need to manage the variety of food items. I usually keep a "high tier" stack of Grog or Rum and some decent meals (like Shark Soup) for when morale dips.
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- Pro Tip: Sell the raw ingredients that don't provide morale bonuses. If it's just "Ingredients" and not "Food," it’s taking up space in your crafting tab.
- The Trap: Avoid hoarding every single fish you find. Unless you are a dedicated crafter using specific recipes, most of that low-level food is just vendor gold waiting to happen.
The Crafting Ingredient Hoarding Problem
We all do it. We pick up every bit of Adra Dust and Agate thinking we’ll need it for a legendary enchantment. The reality? You’ll likely only fully enchant two or three sets of gear for your main party.
If you have 40 pieces of Agate, sell 30.
The economy in Deadfire is actually quite tight early on. Upgrading your ship costs a fortune. That unique hull or those Dyrwoodan long guns are way more important than a stack of common gems you might use in Act 3.
What to Actually Keep
Keep the rare stuff. Any "Legendary" or "Superb" components should stay. Anything with a unique name—stuff dropped by bosses or found in the deep corners of Poko Kohara—keep those. Everything else is basically just currency with a different icon.
Handling the "Bench" Party Members
You’ve got a core team, but you also have those companions sitting on the Defiant doing nothing. One of the biggest mistakes is leaving them naked.
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When you get "Superb" gear that you’ve outgrown, don't sell it immediately.
Pass it down. During ship boarding battles, your inactive party members often show up to fight. If they are wearing the basic rags they joined with, they’re going to get slaughtered. Use your Stash as a "second-hand shop" for your B-team. It keeps them viable for those chaotic deck fights without costing you a dime in new upgrades.
Getting Rid of the Junk
The "Sell All Wares" button is your best friend.
When you’re at a merchant, look for the chest icon in the bottom corner of the trade window. That’s your Stash. You can sell directly from your infinite storage without having to move items to your character’s backpack first. It sounds obvious, but I've watched people spend twenty minutes dragging items back and forth. Don't be that person.
Expert Insights for 2026 Players
If you're playing the console port or using a controller on PC, inventory management is admittedly clunkier. The radial menus are okay, but the "Multi-select" feature is hidden. On a controller, hold the "select" button (usually Square or X) to highlight multiple items. This allows you to bulk-move things to "Wares" or move them between character inventories in seconds.
Also, a word on quest items: they don't count towards anything and can't be sold. Ignore them. They’re in a separate tab for a reason. If you’re feeling cluttered, that tab is rarely the culprit.
Actionable Steps for Better Inventory Management:
- Mark as Wares Immediately: Every time you loot a body, if it isn't a direct upgrade, right-click (or use the sub-menu) and "Add to Wares."
- The 20-Unit Rule: For common crafting materials like iron or basic gems, never keep more than 20. Sell the surplus for ship upgrades.
- Ship vs. Stash: Move all "Drink" and "Food" items to the ship's hold immediately. If it's in your Stash, it's just cluttering your combat consumable view.
- Quarterly Purge: Every time you return to Neketaka, spend 5 minutes in the search bar. Type "Fine," "Exceptional," and "Normal." Sell every weapon or armor piece that shows up under those tags if you're already using "Superb" or better.
- Utilize the Search Bar: Use it for keywords like "Intellect" or "Fire" to find gear for specific builds rather than scrolling through 200 icons.