How to Buy and Equip Personal Gear in Star Citizen

A new helmet or weapon is only useful once it reaches your character. When buying personal equipment in the Persistent Universe, choose its delivery destination before completing the transaction, then collect and equip it. An item sent to local storage will not automatically appear in your backpack.

Find the stock beyond the shop window

Major landing zones bring several specialist shops together; smaller locations can carry niche equipment or different variants. Purchases in the PU use aUEC.

Walk up to a displayed item to bring up its information card. Depending on the item, you can buy it, try it on or inspect it. Hold F and follow the prompts to purchase.

For the wider selection, activate a shop kiosk with F. Its catalogue may include stock absent from the shelves. Use the filters to narrow the list; terminals also support buying consumables such as ammunition in quantity.

Choose where the purchase goes

Check Choose Destination before confirming: Local Inventory or Personal Inventory, where space permits. Completed purchases go to that selection. For gear delivered locally, head to a Storage Access kiosk.

Local storage belongs to that location. Equipment left at Area18 will not be waiting in Orison when you arrive. Take what you need before travelling; our inventory and personal hangars guide covers storing and moving the rest.

Put the gear on

1. Activate a Storage Access kiosk with F and find the purchased item. Filters help when storage is crowded.
2. Drag it onto your character or the appropriate personal inventory slot. Alternatively, right-click and choose EQUIP, or double-click an item that can be equipped.
3. If an option is missing, check what you are wearing. Armour and helmets may require an undersuit; clothing options may be unavailable while wearing one. Weapons → Utility Item may require leg armour.

Armistice restrictions can prevent readying weapons. For later use, stow a weapon in suitable backpack or armour storage if it fits, or in an available ship weapon rack. Do not mistake that restriction for a failed purchase.

Three equipment traps in Alpha 4.10.2

Armour swaps in the loot window: changing from heavier armour to lighter armour while inventory is full can make overflow items vanish instead of falling to the ground. There is no confirmed workaround beyond keeping your inventory tidy.

Dropped attachments: weapon attachments placed on the floor can become impossible to interact with. Keep them in inventory rather than setting them down; Support cannot recover items lost this way.

Unexpected suffocation: check whether you have two helmets, one on your head and another on your hip. Removing the second helmet is the listed workaround for this particular 4.10.2 fault.