Anyone who's spent even a few hours in Enshrouded knows the pain of running out of inventory space mid-loot run. You find a rare stack of metal ore, a new weapon, and a bundle of linen, only to realize you can't pick any of it up without ditching something you worked hard to collect. That's exactly why knowing how to get medium backpack in Enshrouded is one of the first quality of life upgrades you should chase as a new player. It adds 12 extra slots to your inventory, which might not sound like a lot at first, but it cuts down the number of trips back to your base by almost half during early and mid-game. I’ve spent dozens of hours testing the fastest routes to unlock this backpack, and I’m breaking down everything you need to know to grab it without wasting time on unnecessary grinding.
What You Need Before Unlocking the Medium Backpack
First off, you can't just craft the medium backpack as soon as you spawn into the world. You need to hit a few key milestones first to unlock the recipe and gather the required materials. I made the mistake of trying to find it as random loot in my first 10 hours of play, and that cost me a ton of time I could have spent working toward the actual unlock.
First, you need to rescue the Hunter NPC from the Ancient Spire in the Revelwood region. You'll find her trapped in a small cell on the lower levels of the spire, and you'll need to clear out a handful of level 15 shrouded enemies to reach her. Don't go into this area if you're below level 12, because the enemies hit hard and you'll run out of healing before you get halfway through.
Once you have the Hunter settled at your base, you'll need to upgrade her workbench to level 2. That requires you to turn in a small set of materials to her, including 20 iron bars, 10 linen cloth, and 5 shimmer stone. If you've been exploring the Revelwood area already, you probably have most of these materials sitting in your chests already. If not, you can farm iron ore from the rocky outcrops north of the starting base, linen from flax plants growing near rivers, and shimmer stone from small glowing nodes inside low-level shroud zones.
You also need to have at least 300 Flux saved up. Flux is the currency you get from deconstructing unwanted gear and items, and you'll use it to purchase the medium backpack recipe from the Hunter once her workbench is upgraded. Don't waste your Flux on random cosmetic skins or low-level recipes before this, because the backpack upgrade will pay for itself ten times over in saved time.
How to Get Medium Backpack in Enshrouded: Exact Crafting and Unlock Steps
Once you've checked off all the pre-requisites we covered earlier, getting the medium backpack is a straightforward process. I tested this route three separate times on new playthroughs, and you can get it done in under two hours if you stick to the steps.
First, head back to the Hunter's workbench at your base and interact with her to open her shop menu. Scroll down to the "Inventory Upgrades" tab, and you'll see the medium backpack recipe listed for 300 Flux. Click to purchase it, and it will automatically be added to your crafting menu for the Hunter's workbench.
Next, you'll need to gather all the required crafting materials to make the backpack. I've listed out exactly what you need, plus the easiest places to farm each item, below:
- 24 thick fur: You can get this from hunting wolves and bears in the northern parts of the Revelwood region. Bears drop 3-4 thick fur each, so I recommend targeting them first if you're comfortable fighting level 16 enemies. Just make sure you have an iron sword or better, because their melee attacks can take out half your health in one hit if you're wearing light armor.
- 18 linen cloth: Linen cloth is crafted from flax plants, which grow in large patches along the river that runs west of the first Ancient Spire. You'll need 2 flax per linen cloth, so gather 36 flax total and craft the cloth at your spinning wheel. If you don't have a spinning wheel yet, you can unlock it by upgrading your Carpenter's workbench to level 1.
- 12 iron bars: Iron bars are smelted from iron ore, which you can find in huge quantities in the abandoned mine south of the starting base. You'll need 2 iron ore per bar, so gather 24 ore total and smelt it at your furnace. If you've already been upgrading your base tools, you probably have a stack of these sitting around already.
- 4 string: String is super easy to get, either from looting enemy corpses or crafting it from plant fiber you collect from cutting down grass and small bushes. You can also buy it from the Hunter for 10 Flux each if you don't feel like gathering it yourself.
Once you have all the materials gathered, head back to the Hunter's level 2 workbench, select the medium backpack from the crafting menu, and hit craft. It only takes about 10 seconds to make, and it will automatically be added to your inventory as soon as it's done. To equip it, open your inventory, drag the backpack to the dedicated backpack slot on the right side of the screen, and you'll immediately see your extra inventory slots pop up. I recommend sorting your inventory right after equipping it so you can assign the new slots to the materials you pick up most often, like ore and wood. That makes looting far faster when you're out exploring.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Going for the Medium Backpack
I've seen a ton of new players waste hours trying to get this backpack because they skip key steps or don't plan ahead. These are the most common mistakes I noticed, and how you can avoid them.
First, don't try to fight your way to the Hunter before you're properly geared. I tried this on my first playthrough at level 10, and I died six times before I finally gave up and went back to grind for better armor and weapons. Wait until you're at least level 12 and have a full set of iron armor before you head to the Ancient Spire in Revelwood. That will make fighting the shrouded enemies inside trivial, and you won't have to waste time running back from your spawn point over and over.
Another mistake a lot of players make is wasting their Flux on low-value upgrades before they buy the backpack recipe. Flux is pretty easy to come by in the mid-game, but when you're first starting out, you only get a small amount from deconstructing gear. Avoid buying any cosmetic skins or low-level weapon recipes from NPCs until you have the 300 Flux saved for the backpack. You can always go back and buy those later, but the extra inventory space will make every other part of the game easier.
You also don't need to farm all the materials for the backpack in one go. I like to gather thick fur while I'm out hunting for other crafting materials, collect flax when I'm near a river for other recipes, and save all the iron ore I mine for both base upgrades and the backpack. If you spread out the farming across your regular play sessions, you won't even notice you're working toward the backpack until you suddenly have all the materials you need.
One last mistake: don't forget to upgrade the Hunter's workbench before you try to craft the backpack. Even if you have the recipe and all the materials, you can't make it on a level 1 workbench. Upgrading it only takes a few minutes if you have the required materials, so do that as soon as you rescue the Hunter to save yourself the headache later.
Is the Medium Backpack Worth the Grind? Let's Compare It to Other Inventory Upgrades
If you're on the fence about putting time into getting the medium backpack, let's break down exactly how it stacks up against other inventory options in the game.
First, the starting small backpack only gives you 24 inventory slots. That's enough for the first few hours of play, but once you start exploring larger shroud zones and running longer loot runs, you'll run out of space constantly. The medium backpack bumps that up to 36 slots, which is enough to carry all your tools, healing items, and a full load of loot before you have to head back to base. For most players, that cuts down return trips to base by roughly 40%, which adds up to hours of saved time across a full playthrough.
The only other inventory upgrade you can get in the early to mid-game is the pocket upgrade from the Carpenter, which adds 4 extra slots for 150 Flux. That's a decent temporary upgrade, but it's far less cost-effective than the medium backpack. You get three times as many extra slots for only twice the Flux cost, plus the materials for the medium backpack are far easier to farm in bulk.
If you're playing with friends, the medium backpack is even more valuable. You can carry extra healing items and building materials for your team, and you don't have to stop mid-dungeon run to head back and drop off loot. I play co-op with two of my friends, and we all got the medium backpack as soon as we possibly could, and our dungeon runs went from taking two hours with multiple returns to base to taking 45 minutes straight with no breaks.
Of course, the medium backpack isn't the end of the line for inventory upgrades. You can unlock the large backpack later in the game once you reach the Kindlewastes region, which adds another 12 slots on top of the medium one. But you can't unlock the large backpack until you're at least level 25, so the medium one will be your main inventory upgrade for 10 to 15 hours of play at minimum. That makes it more than worth the small amount of time and resources you put into getting it.
At the end of the day, few early-game upgrades in Enshrouded make as big of a difference to your quality of life as the medium backpack. It eliminates the constant frustration of running out of inventory space mid-loot, lets you stay out exploring for longer, and makes every other part of the game feel far less grindy. If you follow the steps we laid out here, you'll have no problem figuring out how to get medium backpack in Enshrouded within your first 15 hours of play, even if you're a total beginner. Don't put off this upgrade for later – grab it as soon as you can, and you'll wonder how you ever played the game without it.