There are no jetpacks or particle cannons inEscape from Tarkov.There are no blizzard spells or magical cloaks. What separates this game from every other in the genre is its obsessive devotion to realism. It is a hardcore military sim that makes no concessions.
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Because of the game’s brutal authenticity, there are no shortcuts and many pitfalls. An unprepared player can sabotage themselves, lose items, and hamper their progress. Knowing what dangers to avoid won’t spare one from death, but it can make the sting of defeat a little less painful. By avoiding these mistakes,Escape From Tarkovplayers can fill their stash with roubles and loot while watching their survival rate creep higher.
10Bringing Too Much Gear
When new players see their stash full of automatic weapons, magazines, grenades, medical supplies, and armor, some instinctively load their character up with everything they can carry. After all, in almost every other FPS that would be the right decision. In Escape from Tarkov, though bringing too much gear into a raid is a bad idea.
Inexperienced players will die a lotas they learn the ropes, and with the exception of insured items and those kept in the PMC’s secure container, everything is lost upon death.Experienced players never bring more than they need,thereby never risking more than necessary and leaving plenty of open space for fresh loot.
9Underestimating Scavs
While the PMC’s controlled by other players may be the most cunning, unpredictable, and dangerous enemy during a raid, they are not the only threat. AI-controlled scavengers lurk around the map, and while they may not be as well-equipped or intelligent as humans, they’re lethal in their own right.
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Sniper scavs can shoot a player dead before they’re even seen, and scav bosses can obliterate unprepared PMCs.Even regular scavs can overwhelm a player who allows themselves to be flanked or pushed out of position.Learning where scavs, snipers, and bosses spawn is a vital part of survival. Players who fail to do so or who underestimate the AI may find themselves with a bullet in their character’s chest a minute into the raid.
8Tanking Scav Karma
Whereas PMCs are at odds with every other character (except any friends with whom they entered the raid), scavs can work together. One of the benefits of doing a scav run with good karma is that it allows players to loot with relative immunity from the AI, assuming the player doesn’t start any trouble.
If the player kills scavs during a scav raid, however, their karma will fall, andAI scavs will begin to aggro them.Given how much more difficult this change makes scav runs, it’s best avoided, especially early on whenplayers are still struggling to build their stashand can’t afford anything that hampers that process.
7Valuing Weapons Over Ammo
Players accustomed to wielding the BFG fromDoomor the Kraber fromApex Legendsmay find themselves looking for the biggest, most modded, most expensive gun, expecting killer results.While the tendency to equate better guns with better results is understandable, it’s misleading here.
Escape from Tarkovvalues ammunition more than the gun into which it’s loaded, anda cheap pistol with the right ammo can outperform a lavish weapon packed with duds.Thanks to the depth and complexity of the market, it’s hard at first to know what ammo is best, but once the lesson is learned, ammo will win its share of gunfights by itself.
6Forgetting About Exfil Campers
No one is safe until they’ve escaped the raid through one of the exfil points scattered across the map, and some players use this knowledge to their advantage. Whether tucking themselves into a doorway with a shotgun or lying prone in a bush with a sniper rifle, their strategy is the same:wait for prey and then pounce.
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Most of the time, exfil campers can be killed or avoided through a combination of map knowledge and careful attention to one’s surroundings. Rarely are they the biggest threat in a raid, but because they strike only when players are attempting an anxious escape with a backpack laden with loot, their ambushes can become the stuff of nightmares.Check corners. Check bushes. Check trees. Live.
5Ignoring Audio Cues
The clatter of footsteps across broken bathroom tile, the swish of a uniform through the bushes, the heart-stopping click and rattle of an incoming grenade: audio cues floodEscape from Tarkov.Players that ignore them will die.Enemy PMCs and scavs will often be heard before they are seen,and the ability to track nearby dangers by the sounds they make is vital.
This guidance extends to the sounds one’s own character makes. Regulating one’s noise by changing posture and speed can mean the difference between a successful ambush and a swift return to the loading screen to lick one’s wounds.
4Not Utilizing Scav Raids
Unlike PMC raids where the player risks almost everything in their loadout, scav raids fit the player with new, randomized gear every time.Nothing in the player’s stash is jeopardized; therefore, these runs are pure profit.Even dashing straightfrom the spawn point to exfilwithout looting a single item can make sense if the scav’s random gear in itself happens to be worth saving.
While some players may prefer using their PMC and the custom loadout that entails, not using scav raids when they come off of cooldown is a missed opportunity.
3Not Understanding Maps
Map knowledge influences one’s ability to survive more than almost any other factor inEscape from Tarkov.Unlike most shooters, which provide the player with both a primary map and minimap,Tarkovprovides neither.As a result, raid navigation is difficult in the beginning.
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Players with deep map knowledge know where PMCs and scavs spawn, where valuable loot drops, where exfil points appear, and where to reposition themselves in a tense gunfight to eliminate the enemy. Almost nothing will doom a player inEscape from Tarkovlike an unwillingness to study and master each environment.
2Running & Gunning
Many other shooters encourage a run-and-gun mentality: kicking in doors, sprinting down hallways, andcharging into every fight guns blazing.And for experiencedEscape from Tarkovplayers, this can be a successful method. However,playing that way without first learning the strategic nuances that separate it from other FPSswill likely lead to death and frustration.
Gamers should play in whatever fashion they find most enjoyable, but the best way to learn the ropes and grow as aTarkovplayer demands a more restrained, refined approach, at least at first.
1Impatience
Escape from Tarkovasks a great deal from its players. Memorizing maps, learning the market, coping with common PMC and scav strategies, and mastering realistic mechanics all take time. It’s a game that can be played cautiously or aggressively, alone or with friends, creeping on one’s belly in the moonlight or sprinting through parking lots at noon. Whatever the playstyle, though,patience is the most important virtue a player can possess.
This game is hard. Those expecting to strut into Factory for their first-ever raid and leave with a dozen kills will be disappointed. Practice makes perfect, and the impatient are weeded out until only the most determined remain. InEscape from Tarkov,it could be no other way.
