How to Play Escape From Tarkov – Beginner’s Guide

Escape from Tarkov is an FPS multiplayer game set in the fictional region of Norvnisk in Russia where two Private Military Companies (PMCs) fight for supremacy. If you’re new to the game or simply wish to learn more, then this is the guide for you.

We’ll provide the basic mechanics of the game, what choices to make, and generally what to expect from this video game. Without wasting any more time, let’s get to it!

The Basics

Starting with the guide, and the game. You will be prompted to choose between a so-called “Scav” and a “PMC”. Scavs have random loadouts, weaker gear, and more often than not are not subject to any rules within the game. As the devs explain, Scavs are:

“A shady group of armed individuals, according to rumors, consisting of retired PMC operators and local residents. They possess great tactical and combat skill.”

Escape from tarkov dev. team

On the other hand, PMCs are subject to certain limitations within the game and your main goal is to escape Tarkov alive. As a PMC, you will be able to equip them with any gear that you have, making them either very weak or very strong operators.

Spawning

At the start of the round, you want to utilize your Scav as much as possible to gather in-game currency and resources which you can use later on. Scavs have something called Scav rep and this is immensely important for new players.

You gain rep by doing the following:

• Car extraction on PMC,
• PMC/Scav coop extract,
• Successful Scan extract,
• Killing “naughty player” Scavs or PMCs that attacked other Scavs,
• Completing fence quests.

On the other hand, you lose rep by doing these:

• Killing AI Scavs/ Neutral player Scavs and Bosses,
• Killing player Scavs that have NOT shot you first.

Please note that killing rogues/raiders will not have any positive or negative effects.

Why is rep important though? Well, the more rep you have, the lower the Scav cooldown time, the better the chances of spawning with rare gear in your backpack, cheaper car extracts, and more. On the opposite side of the spectrum, having negative karma will reverse these effects and even make AI scavs attack you on sight.

Maps to Run

Map selection is hugely important when it comes to Escape from Tarkov as new players will find certain locations easier and more rewarding than others. The maps you wish to start from with your Scav are Lighthouse, Reserve, and Interchange.

Lighthouse and Reserve are mainly used for gear and roubles. The main downside to these is the fact that they are heavily contested. On the other hand, Interchange is used mostly for Tech/Barter Items and generally for easier runs that new players will find more relaxing.

When it comes to your PMC, the maps you wish to play here are Customs and Woods. These maps are vital for your questline and learning them early on will save you a lot of trouble later on in the game.

Woods are used mostly for supplies like food, water, and meds. While Customs are used to learn the game’s mechanics in general.

Questing

Questing is one of the more important things in the game as it will allow you to level up faster (aim up to lvl15 for starters), which will then unlock the flea market where you will be able to buy different items from other players in the game.

A quick tip on gaining more XP for leveling up is to…well…aim for the head. Headshots give more XP and will make you progress faster in the game.

Weapons

The main weapons you wish to focus on using/getting early on in the game are the SKS, VPO-215 “Gornostay” and the AKS-74U. The said weapons are incredibly cheap and easy to get and they will make sure you are well equipped to take on enemies early on in the game.

As you level up, more content will be unlocked and you can move on to more powerful weapons. Depending on the level of your trader.

An important thing to note here is that you can also choose different types of ammo. Player characters have up to 35 HP while Ai characters can have up to 40. Going for ammo that deals this much damage means that you will be able to 1-tap them if you manage to get a headshot, thus making kills far more easier and effective.

Insuring Gear

In the most basic of terms, insuring gear means keeping some of your gear after you die. What we like to do is use the cost-benefit analysis here. This means that if the gear is easy to find again, it is not worth insuring. If the item is rare and hard to obtain, it might be worth it to insure this item for future use.

Making Money in EFT

As aforementioned, if you need quick money, go to the map called the Lighthouse and use your Scav to get roubles.

An alternative to this is to use a method called “zero-to-hero” where you jump in the game without anything whatsoever, find a gun, kill a Scav, and take their items before the extract. Do note that by doing this, the Ai Scavs will mark you and play far more aggressively towards you making it all the more difficult to achieve your goal.

With this, we conclude our guide for Escape from Tarkov for this week.

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