If you’ve spent even a few hours grinding missions in The First Descendant, you’ve almost certainly run into that infuriating pop-up warning you your inventory is full right as you pick up a legendary boss drop. I’ve been there mid-Void battle, fumbling through cluttered menus while my team yells for help, trying to dump random items fast enough to save the rare core I just earned. That’s why learning how to clear inventory the first descendant the right way can save you so much unnecessary frustration and keep your progression from grinding to a halt. Too many new players randomly delete items without realizing they’re tossing materials they’ll need for high-tier upgrades later, so this guide breaks down all the best methods to free up space without wasting resources you’ve worked hard to earn.
How to Clear Inventory in The First Descendant: Start With a Quick Sort of Unused Gear
The first step to a clean inventory is to sort your items properly before you delete or dismantle anything. Start by filtering your gear by grade, from lowest to highest, so you can easily spot all the common and uncommon gear you won’t ever use. Past the first 10 hours of gameplay, white and gray grade gear is almost entirely obsolete, even for leveling up new descendants, so you can safely mark all of it for removal first. Never delete unique or ancestral grade gear unless you have an exact duplicate with worse stats, as these items have exclusive perks you can’t get from random loot drops. If you’re still not sure how to clear inventory the first descendant without losing valuable items, this sorting step is the easiest way to avoid mistakes. I once deleted a perfect roll ancestral sniper because I forgot to mark it as a favorite before bulk cleaning my inventory, and I didn’t get another one with the same stats for three weeks, so don’t make that same mistake. Take 30 seconds to mark all your frequently used gear and high-value items as favorites before you start cleaning, and you won’t risk losing something important.
Dismantle Unwanted Items Instead of Deleting Them for Extra Resources
A huge mistake new players make is deleting unwanted items instead of dismantling them, which robs them of hundreds of valuable upgrade materials every week. Deleting items removes them permanently with no reward, but dismantling breaks them down into materials you need for crafting, upgrading weapons and mods, and transcending your descendants to higher power levels. You get different resources based on the grade and type of item you dismantle:
- Common (white) and uncommon (gray) gear: Basic alloy, low-grade enhancement cores, and small amounts of credit you can use for minor upgrades
- Rare (blue) and epic (purple) gear: Mid-tier alloy, skill enhancement modules, and rare crafting materials required for level 40+ gear upgrades
- Legendary (orange) duplicates: Exotic alloy, transcendence cores, and a chance to get exclusive mod shards you can’t earn from any other in-game activity
This is one of the most underrated tips for anyone learning how to clear inventory the first descendant, because it lets you get value from items you would otherwise just throw away. Dismantling is always better than deleting unless you need space immediately mid-mission. If you’re in the middle of a run and your inventory fills up, it’s fine to delete one or two common items to make space for a rare drop, but as soon as you get back to your base, make sure to dismantle all the other unwanted items you have. The game has a bulk dismantle option for filtered items, so you don’t have to click each individual item to process it, which cuts down cleaning time to just a couple of minutes.
Use Your Storage Vault to Hold Items You Plan to Use Later
Many new players don’t realize there’s a shared storage vault in the main base that has way more space than your personal carry inventory. You can access the vault from any fast travel point in the base, and it’s the perfect place to store gear for descendants you haven’t unlocked yet, duplicate legendary mods, and crafting materials you don’t need right away. You can upgrade your vault space for free using in-game credits, so don’t hesitate to expand it when you hit the initial limit. The first few vault upgrades cost less than 100,000 credits total, which is a tiny investment for the extra space you get. I keep all my duplicate legendary weapon mods in the vault, so I can swap them between different descendants without having to craft new ones every time I change my build. That trick alone saves me hundreds of thousands of credits every week, and keeps my personal inventory free for mission loot. Just make sure to sort your vault by item type every few weeks, so you don’t end up with pages of random gear you forgot you had.
Sell Low-Value Consumables You Never Actually Use
A lot of players overlook consumables when they’re cleaning their inventory, but hoarding low-tier health kits, ammo refills, and buff potions can take up dozens of slots you could use for rare loot. Most players stop using basic consumables once they hit level 30, because higher tier options give way better buffs and healing, so those old common consumables are just taking up space for no reason. Consumables that are 10+ levels below your current player level are almost never worth keeping, even if you’re saving them for new characters, because you’ll earn higher tier ones as soon as you start running missions with that new descendant. Keep a maximum of 20 of each high-tier consumable, and sell the rest to free up space fast. You don’t need 100 ultimate charge potions unless you’re running back-to-back raids every single day, and even then 20 is more than enough for a full week of play. Selling extra consumables also gives you a nice little credit boost, which you can put toward vault upgrades or gear crafting.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to clear inventory the first descendant doesn’t have to be a complicated, time-consuming chore. If you follow these simple tips, you’ll never have to miss out on a rare drop again because your bags are full, and you’ll end up with extra resources and credits to speed up your progression too. I used to spend 20 minutes every time I logged in panicking about my full inventory, but now it takes me 5 minutes max to sort through my items and get ready for my next mission. It’s a small habit that makes a huge difference in how much you enjoy the game, especially if you’re grinding for endgame gear or new descendants.