A bag upgrade in ESO refers to increasing your accessory bag capacity by one rank, which raises the number of passive effects you can equip from that bag. Each higher rank requires progressively more durable crafting materials, including hides, tannins, and simple components, with tier 5 and above often sourced from trial rewards, dungeons, world bosses, and PvP achievements. This guide explains how bag upgrades function across gear types, which professions interact with them, where to farm reliable materials over time, and how to plan your progression so your bags complement your build and playstyle without wasting labor or gold.
What Is a Bag Upgrade in ESO
In Elder Scrolls Online, a bag upgrade raises the rank of an accessory bag, increasing its capacity for passive effects. Bags are slot items that appear in the Accessories bag slot in your inventory, and each rank allows one additional passive line compared to the previous rank. The base rank at level 1 is rank 1, and the game supports ranks up to rank 5 for most players under standard progression. Higher ranks demand rarer materials, consistent crafting investment, and often participation in endgame content, making each upgrade a deliberate choice about long-term inventory and build flexibility.
How Bag Upgrades Work with Gear Stats
Passive Effects and Accessory Slots
Accessories can have multiple passive lines, and your bag rank determines how many of those lines you can keep active at once. More lines mean more sustained healing, stronger resistances, or greater resource regeneration, depending on the traits and traits combinations you choose. When you upgrade a bag, you do not lose existing passives unless you rearrange or overwrite them, but you do gain the option to add or swap one line to optimize your build. This makes bag upgrades particularly valuable for characters who rely on sustain, survivability, or precise resource control.
Interaction with Sets and Traits
Bag passives interact with the same set bonuses and trait system as other accessories, so upgrading a bag does not lock you into a specific style. You can still pair Nordrazor with Witchstone, apply sharpening or sharpening+ traits, and benefit from sets like Harrowing Vestments or Divines while using a higher-rank bag. The primary benefit of a bag upgrade is flexibility, giving you room to experiment with trait combinations, set pieces, and role-specific adjustments without sacrificing a needed passive slot.
Materials Needed for Each Bag Rank
Every bag rank requires a fixed pool of materials, including leatherworking hides, alchemy tannins, and provisioning components, with tier 1–4 attainable through standard crafting writs and daily crafting chests. Tier 5 and above often require special tokens awarded by trials, dungeons, world bosses, and structured PvP, making them less about gold grinding and more about consistent participation and time investment. The table below summarizes the general material structure across ranks for planning your farming routes and guild storage contributions.
| Rank | Leatherworking Materials | Alchemy Materials | Provisioning Materials | Typical Source Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Basic Animal Hides | Base Tannins | Basic Ingredients | Crafting Writs, Vendors |
| 2 | Standard Animal Hides | Standard Tannins | Standard Ingredients | Crafting Writs, Daily Crafting Chests |
| 3 | Dense Animal Hides | Dense Tannins | Simple Ingredients | Crafting Writs, Daily Crafting Chests |
| 4 | Dense Leather Strips | Intricate Tannins | Salted and Smoked Ingredients | Crafting Writs, Daily Crafting Chests |
| 5 | Thick Leather Strips | Potent Tannins | Hearty Ingredients | Trials, Dungeons, World Bosses |
| 6 | Hardened Leather Strips | Powerful Tannins | Fine Ingredients | Trials, Dungeons, World Bosses, PvP Achievements |
Where to Source Bag Upgrade Materials Over Time
Early Game and Crafting Writs
For ranks 1 through 4, the most consistent sources are daily crafting writs and crafting guild daily chests, which award hides, tannins, and simple components on a predictable schedule. This approach lets you steadily advance without relying on rare drops or complex group content, making it ideal of players who prefer solo or small-group play. If you complete multiple guild writs each day and turn in extra materials to vendors, you can often cover several bag upgrades with minimal friction.
Mid Game and Endgame Content
Ranks 5 and 6 typically require materials awarded by endgame systems, such as trials, dungeons, world bosses, and structured PvP achievements. Raiding groups, dungeon finder queues, and alliance rotations can supply these tokens on a recurring basis, especially when you rotate through content that matches your play schedule. Joining a farming-friendly guild or a casual run group can reduce queue times and provide access to higher-tier bags more reliably than random world drops. Keep in mind that some tokens are account-bound or guild-shared, so coordination helps avoid material hoarding across characters.
Leatherworking and Provisioning Interaction
Leatherworking’s Role in Bag Crafting
Leatherworking creates the bag items themselves, and each rank requires specific leatherworking materials as listed in the table. You do not need to be a tailor or technologist to upgrade a bag, but you do need access to the correct hides and strips, which either come from daily writs or from other players selling them on the market. Understanding the material cost per rank helps you decide whether to farm yourself, buy materials, or join group runs that reward shared tokens.
Provisioning’s Supporting Role
Provisioning supplies the food and drinks that give group members temporary buffs, and its components also appear as bag upgrade materials at higher tiers. While you do not need a full provisioning setup to upgrade bags, having at least one character who can farm or purchase provisioning ingredients can lower overall costs. This is especially helpful when you factor in simple ingredients, salted components, and fine items that would otherwise compete with other crafting professions in your guild bank.
Strategic Planning for Bag Progression
Rather than upgrading bags on demand, treat bag progression as part of your broader gear plan, aligning it with your role, set choices, and character power curve. If you rely on frequent healing or shielding passives, moving to rank 4 or 5 as soon as feasible can dramatically improve survivability without changing your trait lines. Conversely, if you mostly use accessories for resistances or resource regeneration, you might prioritize one high-quality line over an extra slot, depending on your build priorities.
- Track which passives you actually use instead of chasing every extra line.
- Plan material farming into your daily routine to avoid sudden bottlenecks.
- Coordinate with guildmates to share tokens and reduce duplicate efforts.
- Consider set bonuses and trait synergy when choosing which bag to upgrade next.
Common Misconceptions and Troubleshooting
Will I Lose My Current Passives Upgrading?
No, upgrading a bag does not remove existing passive effects unless you intentionally replace them. You keep all current lines and gain an additional slot, which you can then assign a new passive or use to duplicate a useful effect for consistency. This makes upgrades low-risk from a power perspective, with the main cost being materials and opportunity cost in your crafting schedule.
Do Bag Upgrades Affect Champion Points or Skills?
Bag rank is independent of Champion Points and does not directly interact with skill mechanics. However, passives housed in higher-rank bags can support playstyles that rely on specific Champion Point constellations, such as healing-focused or sustain builds. Evaluate your point allocation separately, but recognize that a better bag can complement a well-built constellation by reducing the need to pick less optimal passives due to slot limitations.
Bag upgrades in ESO are a long-term progression tool that reward consistent play, careful planning, and coordination with other players. By understanding material requirements, sourcing strategies, and build synergies, you can integrate higher-rank bags into your routine without disrupting your existing power curve. Treat each upgrade as a small improvement in flexibility, and over time those extra lines can meaningfully enhance your survivability, utility, and overall performance across all content types.
Quick Summary: Bag Upgrade Essentials
- Purpose: Increase the number of active passive lines on accessories by raising bag rank.
- Rank Limit: Typically up to rank 5 under standard progression, with rank 6 available through endgame tokens.
- Materials: Tied to leatherworking hides, alchemy tannins, and provisioning components, with higher ranks requiring trial, dungeon, and PvP rewards.
- Source Strategy: Combine daily crafting writs for early ranks with endgame content tokens for later ranks.
- Build Fit: Use extra slots to stabilize survivability, optimize traits, or experiment with set combinations without losing key passives.