Every trip in this game ends the same way: your hands are full, there is one more item you want, and something has to go.
Crews that decide this in advance never have a problem. Crews that decide it in the moment drop the flashlight.
The slot budget
You have limited space, and scrap competes with everything else you are carrying.
Before you loot anything, reserve the slots that are not scrap:
- One light. Non-negotiable, and the slot you protect first.
- One weapon, if the crew is bringing one and you are the one holding it.
- One utility slot for a walkie-talkie or a radar booster if you own them.
What is left is your haul. That number is usually smaller than crews expect, which is why the “just one more item” habit is so expensive.
The dropping rule
When you are full and something better appears, drop the worst value-per-weight item you are holding.
This is arithmetic, not judgement. A 27-credit yield sign weighing 42 pounds is the worst ratio in the game, and it should be the first thing out of your hands every single time. Light high-ratio items stay; heavy low-ratio items go.
Do not drop the item you like the look of. Drop the item that is costing you the most walking.
What never gets dropped
- The light. Everything else is replaceable, and dropping the light is how a good trip becomes a lost one.
- The walkie-talkie, on a crew. It is 12 credits and it is the only thing keeping the group coordinated.
- The shovel, when you are the one holding it. Somebody in the crew needs a weapon, and on a two-player crew that is you.
The hands problem
Heavy items do not just fill a slot. They slow you down, and a slowed player is a player who cannot run.
That is why the ratio table beats the value table, and it is why the 155-credit gold bar at 77 pounds is a worse pickup than three light items worth a third of the price. The bar costs you speed, and speed is what ends a chase.
When to drop for speed
If something is chasing you, drop the heavy thing immediately.
A heavy item you cannot run with is scrap you lose anyway, and dropping it deliberately buys real distance. The mistake is holding it “just to the corner,” which is how crews get caught at the corner with a full inventory.
Mark where you dropped it and come back when the facility is quiet. Most of the time it will still be there.
Crews need a slot plan too
On a crew, the slot budget is a group decision, not an individual one.
One player should be the hauler with the fullest hands and the fewest utility slots. The player at the back keeps the light and the weapon. If everyone reserves three slots for equipment, nobody has room for the haul, and the trip earns nothing.
Looting order inside a room
When a room has more than you can carry, take in this order:
Light and valuable first. The high-ratio items go in immediately, because they are the ones that fit and the ones that pay.
Heavy and valuable last. A single heavy item is worth considering only when your slots are already full of good loot, and only when the walk out is short.
Everything else not at all. If it does not fit one of the first two categories, it was never going in your hands, and picking it up to look at it costs you the slot you needed.
Crews that loot in this order never have to make a hard decision in the corridor. The decision was already made in the room, where there was time to think.
Related guides
- How to carry heavy scrap — the weight economics behind all of this.
- Best value scrap early — the ratio table to loot by.
- How to escape a chase — what to drop when something is behind you.