Escape From Tarkov Hitbox Guide/Armor Explained

Escape From Tarkov was released a while back. However, it is still popular nowadays with the game being updated and maintained regularly.

Recently, a new update was launched that changed how armors work and how the hitbox mechanics behave. That is to say, the developers decided to add more realism to the game.

This in turn meant that a lot of old players became confused as to how they were getting killed and how the hitbox parameters worked after the update.

In today’s guide, we’ll give you a brief overview of new hitbox mechanics and explain how armor works after the most recent update in Escape From Tarkov. So, without wasting any more time, let’s get to it!

What is this New Update?

Before we delve into the hitbox mechanics themselves, let us first cover what this new update means for players. That said, it is important to mention that the new update added multiple new hitboxes to your character which determine how much damage you take.

Before the update, armor protected your whole body, regardless of the shape and size of that particular armor. For example, even the smallest of armor, covered your entire hitbox making you take less damage from each bullet.

This is no longer the case. Say for example that your shoulders are not covered by the armor you are wearing. In the old system, you would take less damage as the hitbox would not differentiate between covered and uncovered parts of your body. Now, we flip this logic on its head and add more realism to it. This means that any uncovered part of your body will now take the full blow of the bullet.

Additionally, armor now has different durability scales. Take plates for example. What previously was an armor with durability valued at 50, is now valued at 100 with 4 separate hitboxes. The front plate (40), the back plate (40), and the side plates (each valued at 10).

Buying Armor

A quick note regarding buying new armors from the shop. Always make sure the plates of the armor (front and back plate) are included in what you are buying. Often, the level 3 armor, for example, the 6B23 will not come with the back plate so it makes little sense to buy it like this.

Due to the game featuring this new mechanic of removable plates, you always need to make sure that what you’re buying is indeed covered with all plates. 

If you do buy armor without the front and back plates, what used to be a level 3 armor, will now act as a level 2 armor. So just something to keep in mind.

Damage Output

Another new mechanic added to the game is how much damage carries over to your character if you get hit in the plate. We will try and simplify this as much as possible now to make it easier to understand. So, remember that there are removable plates and permanent plates in your armor. Removable plates are the ballistic armor pieces.

In this new system, if you get hit in the removable plate, the plate stops the bullet. Only that plate will take damage. No damage will be carried over to your character. There is no carry-thru anymore.

Another thing to consider is how damaged plates work now. This is to say that the durability mechanics have changed as well. For example, in the old system, when the durability of a plate decreased, so did its level of protection. This is no longer the case. As long as you have that plate, the level of protection stays the same.

Some players argue that this change was not intentional and that it is a bug. So make sure to keep this in mind and be on the lookout for future updates.

To put all this into perspective, in the old system, it took players only 3 shots with the 7.62x39mm ammo to kill a player wearing level 3 body armor. After the update, this can go up to 12 shots.

Bullet Penetration

Higher level ammo, more advanced ammo, has more penetrating power. However, if you are using for example level 3 body armor and you hit the plate. This penetrating power is greatly reduced. So if you even get through the removable plate, the bullet will be significantly weakened and the inside plate will be able to stop a bullet which it normally would stand no chance against.

Do note that you will take blunt damage, but that’s about it.

Weak Points

Weak points are now a thing in Escape From Tarkov. This is due to the new mechanic and added realism. In the simplest of terms, the areas not covered by the armor are considered weak points and will take full damage from a single shot. These for example are the sides where you do not have body armor and the damage is transferred to the chest.

In addition to this, 4 new hitboxes have been added. The front neck, throat, back neck, and your face. These are just some of the major weak points on many armors as they are not covered by plates. This means that well-placed shots can and will kill you much faster.

To mitigate this, you can use Trooper masks which provide level 2 protection. Not a lot, but it can save you.

Other areas players find annoying to die in are the armpits. Even if you ADS on your opponent, your armpits stay uncovered and can be hit easily due to the positioning of your character. This means that you will take full damage from a bullet and die more easily.

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