Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Big Improvements Needed to Inventory Management

So I'm 30+ hours in, and I have to say one of the biggest chores in this game is inventory management; there's way, way more loot than in any actual D&D game I've seen, which is fine, that's just par for the course for most video game RPGs, but managing the sheer volume takes up a lot of game time.

However, I think there's a solution; gives us more special containers, same as we get for alchemy and camp supplies. Specifically the ones I'd like to see are:

• Ammunition: For all the special arrows and bombs (alchemist's fire etc.).
• Potions: All potions should go into this one.
• Loot: Common items that don't fit one of the other special containers should go into this one; this is for your basic weapons, clutters items etc. Anything placed in here automatically considered wares.

Might make sense to add some gameplay options to control these, so some people might prefer common only, while others are happy to go higher. Also later in the game you might bump up the loot container quality once you start caring only about rare or higher etc.

Also, these special containers need to be made permanent, i.e- each character has one of each at all times, and it can't be dropped, transferred etc. Instead what we need are options like "Send all to camp".

It would also be nice if there were options on stacked items for "split with party" with a choice of "evenly" (everybody gets same number) or "proportionally" (those who can carry the most get more). Add these options to the special containers and it will become a lot easier to divide loot among all characters quickly, so we can spend more time playing and less time sorting and organising.

I fully agree with all of these requests. And more !

I made a similar thread asking for the full suite of inventory containers : potion belt, scroll cases, book cases, ammunition quivers/containers, jewelery pouches. We need all of them. Not just organisers for keys and food. And then it would be also cool to personalise our backpacks, in case we want to sort blades, armours, etc.

It's hard to be too optimistic about the chances of seeing significant improvement in this area, given that inventory management was highlighted as one of the worst things in the game for several years of EA and all the QoL improvements we got out of it have been an autosorting feature that doesn't really work half of the times (not to mention it doesn't refresh in real time either) and "specialized bags" that are messy at best to manage (...and once again forget to work every now and then).

Also, why the hell are items that have no other purpose than being sold not marked automatically as "wares"? That would help a lot.
Why marking something as wares is not extended to everything of the same type (Ii.e. common equipment).
Why are sorting options present in trade mode but hidden in barter mode?
Why the vendor "attitude" doesn't hange no matter what life-saving favor they own us, unless you are gifting them items to boost it?

The entire inventory management feels so undercooked that it becomes a blemish in otherwise exceptionally good game.
Because yes, I've been constantly impressed with what I've seen so fare of all the "extra-EA" content.
But that doesn't make me overlook that Larian seems to be at WAR with quality of life features when it comes to the UI.

IF this game will get a definite edition this (and addressing some of the bad homebrew) should become the focus.

All like DOS2 but with extremely minor improvements.
Basically the same annoying Larian inventory management.
I don't get why they don't get it.

This is my number one annoyance with the game. Camera control being clunky comes at a close second.
All suggestions provided above would be an improvement.
Game is already a masterpiece, UI just needs to *not* get in the way

I use the trick of picking up low weight bags, establishing a stack, and having the joy of all items automatically landing there. Well, until a stack is full. Without that, there's just too much clutter.

Same DOS 2 ISSUE for Baldur's Gate 3:

While trading goods with a merchant we need the chance to open a bag e sell directly from it, while at the moment we must put this goods in the "free inventory" and then sell them to the merchant.

I actually like we can move and remove other characters' specialized bags, I keep 1 bag for food for the entire team, 1 for keys, 1 for alchemical stuff etc (but have the option to add another if I want, which I don't, but options are always great to have).

The one thing I'd 100% agree with and like to see is if I tag something as "wares" every other instance of this item comes marked as wares from then on. Add that and I, personally, am happy I found 2 or 3 pouches lying about in the world (act 1) which I use as my other specialized bags. Sure they don't auto suck in items, but I don't mind so much personally.

It would be nice if the inventory had a tabbed interface (including on controller). Equipable items, Usable/Consumable items, Alchemy components, Wares... Be nice if there was a "bookshelf" section in the Journal in which books we find are collected as well.

For me, and I suspect others still learning the game, the biggest issue is separating the alchemy components from the wares. I don't want to risk selling components I might end up needing, yet I [feel like I] need all the GP I can get early game so I generally pick-up everything that isn't nailed down.

Unfortunately, the icons are so incredibly tiny that it's difficult to visually differentiate a lot of these items from one another without checking the tool-tip. For the amount of time I'm spending sorting inventory or trying to setup radial menus (character movement and the immersive interface is too nice for me to prefer M&K 100% of the time), I feel like I could be twice as far into the story (and onto a second playthru) as I am now.

We should try to redact a clear list of the issues with the current inventory and maybe suggest some REALISTIC fixes that wouldn't involve a complete re-do (which is not going to happen, let's be real).

For instance:

- "Category filters" being a drop down menu rather than a series of buttons/shortcut is BAD.
- Some categories are obviously missing.
- "stacking items" seem to come in variations that do not stack properly for no sensible reason (i.e. Javelins that pile up on a single tile vs the ones that don't). Same thing happen for a whole variety of items.
- The "category bags" should not move around when you change the sorting criteria of your inventory...
- ...And sorting criteria should "auto-refresh" rather than ask you to re-select the filter over and over.
- "Category bags" should also WORK PROPERLY. Why it is that if take items from the ground they get sorted in the appropriate bags, but if I pass them around between companions they don't?
- Why don't we have "category bags" for books and for magic scrolls? two of the most common items in the game.
- EVERYTHING that has no other purpose rather than being a sellable (aka "vendor trash") should be automatically flagged at "Wares" for the vendor interface. Vaguely "metagame-y" maybe, but in a game where inventory management is a CHORE it would be a godsend.
- The disparity of filtering options between the Trade and Barter windows make no sense.
- Since the game FINALLY started to use the highest attitude score for the entire party when interacting with a vendor, there are even less reasons than before for forcing the player to reset their bartering offer when switching characters.


Personally if it was up to me I'd be in favor of an UNIFIED inventory for the entire party (or in case of multiplayer for all characters controlled by a specific player) and then having a limited number of slots "ready for use" in the character's "utility belt" that become the only thing they can use in combat (at least at higher difficulties, you could remove the restriction for Story mode)... But since this is far more subjective and an extensive change in how things work, I'm adding it here as a footnote rather than as part of the list of objective flaws.

Some what I consider realistic things as per Tuco's suggestion. Some overlap with Tuco

- auto sorting as you place items in your bag based on your existing sort
- click and drag the camp chest inventory to expand horizontally and not just vertically (wtf were they thinking with that one???)
- some indication of items that actually have a use in crafting, or are complete trash. (ancient forge material, that icy staff, etc)
- an indication of books that have been read, and are safe to sell
- 'sell trash' as Tuco suggested as well

Those 5 things would drastically improve my experience with inventory management.

I would like it that, if I picked up a bag to serve as a container for a certain item, that future pickups of said item would go directly towards the stack in said bag.
Oh and if I do drag an item to some bag I'm carrying, I want the item to appear as high up in the bag as possible, not some 10 squares down from the rest of the items for whatever reason.

- Sell items from the bag without putting them into the inventory.
- Rename Bags and color them.
- Add a specific icon to bags like in DOS 2 GIFT.

It's a problem exacerbated by the overflow of various kinds of consumables, food items, and notes/books. I could happily have consumables halved or more, food items gone directly to camp storage, and all things written stashed in a miniature giant pocket-bookshelf. I have a bad habit of never using consumables though, so it quickly stacks up to frankly ridiculous proportions. I'm at the end of act 1 and I have enough consumables to start a wizards schoold and equip an army.

Using color to indicate the type of the item would go a huge way towards making it easier to navigate the cluttered inventory view. Change either the background color or the border color to indicate the type of the item, please.

The auto-sort while handy is frustratingly underdone. Items of the same subtype will be separated because they don't seem to be sorting on as many properties as they could be.