I Tarkov Poorly

I really like Escape from Tarkov. I like the way it can be a mil-sim game, a survival game. I enjoy its difficulty, its brutality, its complexity. In particular I really like the attention to detail.  It's a very rich immersive game that leverages player interaction to keep the world fresh and gives players many many different avenues to pursue.   I try to play daily, or every other day. But between the two wipes I don't have many hours of gameplay when compared to most. I'm still very much a noob.  My suggestions aren't insights distilled from thousands of hours of gameplay. They are just some ideas I have. Lastly, any new feature of the game can have unintended consequences.  Battlestate Games has a lot of challenges to juggle: Unity, Hackers, Real Money Traders and some idea with which we players might be enamored could have unforeseen results, like skewing the flea market, discouraging beginners, or worse. So, with those disclaimers out of the way, here are some ide

Goal: Kill a PMC and extract successfully. I'll skip the details. Had an AK-105 with 5.45 x 39mm BP rounds.  Went to third-party some combat, and set-up around a corner. A series of battles ensued, I could hear them more than I could see, but didn't want to venture into the firing zone.  Finally heard a PMC coming my way, as planned. I was aiming down sight, ready.  Player stepped into my view and I had him completely by surprised. At no more than 4 meters with auto-fire dumped a half magazine of BP rounds into his head and chest, keeping my reticle square on him - gun did not rise out of control or anything.  He simply turned around and walked back around the corner as if nothing had happened. I wasn't going to wait for him to return, so I threw a grenade and used it to disengage and withdrew from the combat.  I thought about trying to flank him, or whatever, but if all I have in this rifle are blanks, what is the point? Between counting the rounds in the half spent magazi

In the service dog-tags are usually issued in pairs. If a service member is killed in the field and the body can't be immediately retrieved for some reason, then you take one of the tags back to a commanding officer to report the death, but leave the other tag on the body. Or, at least, that's the old system. Honestly, in my service before USEC bodies simply weren't left in the field, so it was a non-issue. Also there were ZAP cards (aka kill cards) in pockets, sewn into the uniform, in the helmet lining, etc.  Plenty of ways of identifying a casualty. If a body had only one dog tag, it wasn't supposed to be taken. It remained with the body to identify it.  There was probably some regulation about it. But, again, not anything I ever dealt with, because we didn't leave bodies behind, ever.  Nobody touched anybody's tags.  When I joined USEC, a private company, they issued us tags. But, like most things USEC, it was just for show - to impress a customer or a prosp

Goal: kill one PMC and extract successfully Map: Customs Progress: ungood Raid 40 Loadout: AKMS with a single 30-round magazine of BP, and four 10-round mags of PS.  One grenade, rig, ears (13K), meds. No backpack or helmet.  Car med-kit in pouch. Spawned above river, near trailer shacks (apparently North and South have been reversed on this map too with the latest update).  Moved downhill and over, taking obscuring cover in bush.  If there is a big firefight above I may try to third-party it. Otherwise, I'll wait so as to not have players come up behind me.  One player ran by, but not close. I peeked but didn't see him.  I waited a bit after he passed and then headed out.   Cover to cover made my way to main bridge and started crossing. Just past the middle I saw the helmet of a player going the opposite direction down on the junk bridge. If I run can I catch him as he comes up the hill?   Not sure, he's already ahead I can't catch him walking and that'll make a lo

I am overjoyed to not be doing Woods. I have still not decided which map to tackle next, but my immediate goals are to seek out more PVP action.  Destination: Customs Goal: kill a player and extract successfully Progress: I extracted successfully.  Raid 39 Loadout: VPO-136. two 10-round magazines of BP, three of PS. Rig, one grenade, meds. Car-kit in container. No backpack.  Insurance: 18K Spawned into the liquid containment section - in the building that just bridges a pipe. Made my way over to the building with the green screen. The side door was shut and I could hear someone moving around in the building.  I went around, hoping to catch the player as they extracted, but it got quiet and no player appeared. Maybe he went out one of the other doors? Or maybe he's sniping from up there? Decided to move on, since the raid has barely started.  Crossed over to the checkpoint building. No scavs. A player was moving across the grass towards the little outbuilding near Gas. I scooted aro

Woods. Goal s kill scav or die trying Raid 38 Loadout: AK-74M with one 30-round magazine of SP (low pen, high damage) and 2 magazines of PRS (similar).  Meds, one grenade, rig, no backpack.    Spawned same location as last raid - across pond from Abandoned Village. As before, went tree-to-tree, looking for scavs.  None.  Looted a bit, and then headed towards Scav Radio Tower, switching to automatic fire as I made the ascent.  First section quiet - no scavs. Crossed road heading towards second section (with the underground bunker) when I spotted a scav crossing the lower road.  I raised my gun and fired, forgetting both that it was set to automatic fire, and that my current location wasn't secure.   My first shot hit the scav, but not enough to kill him, and the others all went into the sky as the weapon rose from the recoil.  Worse, this alerted a nearby scav who shouted and shot me with his shotgun.  My ability to move was nearly nil. I started PK-ing, and the scav shot at me agai

Low on funds, I have been doing scav runs lately. Also, when reviewing my outstanding tasks, I noticed that I have not encountered any salewa's lately.  That's odd. I used to encounter them semi-regularly. How is it that since I accepted that task 15 raids ago that I have only found one salewa?   So I made a mental note to try and hit USEC Camp and/or the Enercom base to look for those.   And, I've died four raids in a row, so I really really need to survive.   Destination: Woods Goals Survive Kill the last scav needed to complete Shootout Picnic Quest and end my Woods purgatory Find Salewas  Progress: Would be funny if it weren't so sad. Raid 36 Loadout: AK-105 with three 30-round magazines of 5.45x39mm. Maybe 8 rounds of PS in first magazine, PRS for the rest (thanks Prapor).  Rig, T-Bag backpack, meds, sip of water, one grenade. 3001K Rubles for extract. Car med-kit in Pouch.  Insurance: 22K Spawned in near USEC Camp, raining heavily.  Made my way to the camp and loo

 Prapor is right, I need two Scav kills to finish this quest, not one.  Goals Kill 2 or more Scavs on Woods to finish Shootout Picnic Quest Survive Progress: Meh. Raid 35 All my usual raiding loadouts are gone, pending insurance returns.  I debated reverting to the SKS again, since I have two, or christening the VSS Vintorez Sniper Rifle I picked up on a Scav raid.   The Vintorez is nice because it has  both single and auto-fire, is suppressed, and has crazy wood furniture -- which I'm hoping will increase the odds of it returning on insurance. (Did I just give away the ending to todays raid?). On the minus side, it takes 9x39mm rounds, which is an ammunition I can't even buy. So once I burn through the 50 rounds I have, I'll have to shelve or sell it. Loadout: VSS Vintorez with a dot-sight and five 10-round magazines filled with SP-5.  Ears (13K), PACA armor (23K), meds, one grenade. A sip of water and car kit in my pouch. Forgot money for extract.   Spawned in at 6 AM bet

Quest (ongoing): Shootout Picnic in Woods Goals:  Find and Kill 7 more Scavs Survive Progress: killing Raid 32 - M61 FTW Loadout: class 3 armor (6k to repair), AK-74M (5.45 x 39mm) and three 30-round magazines loaded with a mish-mash of BP, PS, HP (hollow point) and PRS that I've scraped together. This is the first time I've taken an auto-fire capable weapon since starting this quest.  Ears, meds, food, 3001 rubles for extract, 2 grenades. Water and car med-kit are in my little alpha container pouch. Insurance: 8K Spawned in against west wall, near construction vehicles. 11:28 AM mostly sunny.  Worked my way down to Scav house.  There was a scav there, killed him with single fire at range. I myself was unhurt. That's one.   Circled round fully behind house near outskirts hoping to catch any player scavs coming in from west minefield area. But no one.  Approached house flipping gun to auto-fire.  There was a scav there. He fired and missed and I gunned him down.  That's

7 Scav kills are all I need to finish the Shootout Picnic Quest. Hopefully I can get that done in a raid or two.   Goals Survive Kill 7 Scavs Progress:  Utterly Discouraging. Hopes dashed. Raid 30 Loadout: VPO-209 with 5 mags of .336 TKM FMJ, Eotech-HHS-1 variable sight and 3x scope, two grenades, meds, class 5 armored rig, ears, 3001 rubles for extract, food, sling, water and car med-kit in pouch Insurance:  12K I have written down "move, cover, aim, breathe, fire" on a piece of paper as a reminder. Spawned on spine.  Circled sniper rock heading to village - went around it a little too far and so the ridge I followed down ended up north of the car exfil bridge, instead of south near the old sawmill.  No matter - likely less players here anyway.  As I made my way south along river towards Village heard shooting in Village.  Used gunplay to cover my sound as I hurried my approach - maybe I can catch something.  When I arrived, things were quiet again. Quietly approached inters

Embarking to Woods Goals Survive Kill Scavs ( 7 more to complete quest ) Find USEC camp and Convoy, if convenient Raid 29 Loadout: VPO-136 with two 10-round magazines of BP, and three of PS. Extra PS rounds. Two grenades. Class 5 armored Rig, meds, ears, 3001 Rubles for extract, food. No backpack. Water and Car med-kit in pouch.   Insurance: 0 - (previously insured) Spawned on west side, near construction equipment and USEC checkpoint. First headed south along wall to Scav house  - when I play offline scavs often spawn along this wall, so maybe I'll find some. But nothing. No one at Scav house either. This isn't a safe place to hang out, because players who want to snipe scavs will be looking exactly where I'm standing. Allright, let's head up to USEC and Convoy and then Scav Bunker.   As I walked north, heard fighting dead ahead  - probably at Scav bunker.   Arrived at USEC - it's already been looted. Grabbed a bit of garbage and headed over to convoy. Also looted.

Destination Woods Goals survive kill scavs (approx 10 more to finish quest) locate convoy and usec camp (if convenient) Progress: Interminable Grind Raid 26 - Boring Loadout: VPO-206 with .366 TKM FMJ and variable dot/scope sight, extra magazines, rig, sling, ears, class 3 armor. 3001 rubles for car extract.  Water and Medkit in pouch.  Insurance: 0K (previous insurance).  Most of my recent Woods raids have been in the morning, but this one was in the early evening. Spawned near spine, which I didn't realize was an option.  Don't really have a plan for this spawn. Exfil is at Outskirts, so maybe just go to Scav house and see if I can ring up better numbers than I have so far.  Headed out, but shortly after encountered another player.  Not sure if he saw me and hid. He passed. But once I started moving again, heard him coming up again behind me.  Turned, crossed a ridge. Put some distance between us.  Tromped through woods. Lost.  Used the sun position to guide me, and here I ma

I have very little communication with anyone. But I notice that in the tiny trickle of chatter on my old USEC comm device that everyone refers to the Tarkov residents as "Scavs".  I've adopted this terminology myself.  "Scavs", short for "scavengers".  Prapor had me kill a bunch of them that were hanging out in the Customs area. "Like flies" is how described them to me on one occasion, and "cockroaches" on another.   But is that right? Because, if I am completely honest, you know who goes scurrying around out of sight, lifting anything that's not nailed down? This guy.  I scavenge all the time. Even when I'm trying to get a job done, if I see some sugar left out on a table it's in my pocket before you can blink. And you know who doesn't scavenge and steal everything in sight?  These guys I keep killing for Prapor. Most of them aren't filling their pockets with half eaten crusts of bread - they are patrolling area

Woods. Goals: Kill Scavs (12 more to complete quest) Locate Convoy and USEC camp if convenient Survive (should be goal #1) Progress: Slow Raid 25 Loadout: VPO-209 with Eotech-HHS-1 variable sight scope ( I will miss this scope once I am killed and it is looted ).  5 10 round mags of .336 TKM FMJ, two grenades, rig, helmet, class 3 armor, meds in pocket. Water and Car Kit in Pouch.  Insurance: 0K (previously insured) Spawned in near UN Roadblock.  Damn. I made a plan for this eventuality, but it's not a good one. Supposedly scavs spawn in the the old train station, and in ZB-014, and a location between. So the plan is go there, follow that arc up into the woods, kill all the scavs, then maybe hit Emercom Camp. And the plan sucks.  No scavs.  Just trees. And cowardly me slow-walking the forest, stopping at every bush, constantly looking over my shoulder at sniper rock, and jumping at every twig I step on.  For nothing.  After 20 minutes (!!) of no scavs or ewoks I finally arrived beh

Woods is the destination. Goal: Survive Locate USEC base and convoy (if convenient) Kill Scavs (need 14) Raid 23 As much as I like the SKS, its recoil limits the rate of shots I can effectively fire, and that top-loading is a real problem.  It almost got me killed last raid (where I died to dehydration). I have all this good BP ammo. Might as well use it. Bought a VPO-136 from Fence for 40K. Loadout: VPO-136 (40K) with two 10 round magazines of BP. One magazine of PS. And 40 rounds of PS in pocket.  Class 3 armor, rig, ears, meds, sling.  3001 rubles for extract.  One flash grenade. Car med kit and water in pouch.   Insurance: 19K. Spawned near water on west side, near scope shack.  Was hoping to get a scav kill in scope shack, but no scav present.  Went through it and looted everything.  Headed up to Scav house.  Reached one of the last big rocks before the outskirts minefield, looking across the road to Scav house.  Got cover, peeked out, waiting for a scav.  One started running acro

Heading to Woods.  Goals survive kill scavs locate prapor convoy and usec encampment, if convenient Raid 22 Loadout: SKS-OP with BP.  30 rounds PS in pocket. Helmet, armored rig, ears. Spawned god-only know where. I don't recognize anything.  Went in one direction, saw a sign for a minefield.  Turned around, went in other direction. Another sign for a minefield.  Where the hell am I? The weather is overcast, so can't use shadows to mark a bearing.  Am I really between two minefields, or am I turning in circles?   Wandered, hoping to catch sight of some power lines or something. Stop. There's a body, leaning against a tree. Seems dead. Went to check it for loot and BOOM - walked onto a mine. Goddamnit - I must be near the USEC camp. Medded. Looked around and saw the fringes of the encampment - made my way there praying to not step on another mine.  Arrived safely. The place seems empty. Grabbed some loot - which was surprisingly poor. I got a Salewa, but mostly weapon parts

 After the double debacle of entering the wrong raid type on the wrong map I thought it might be good to reflect on some of my greatest hits.  A lot of these mistakes were made before I started the blog, when I was first beginning to play Tarkov. forgetting to bring spare magazines into raid bringing the wrong magazines into a raid bringing the wrong ammunition into a raid (Pro Tip: not all "PS" ammo is the same) looting a body for its weapon and looting the wrong magazines not scrolling down when looting a body - completely missing the backpack and pockets not seeing the "Search" button when looting, leaving rig, pockets, etc. unsearched. not using the "walk speed", and so making too much noise when wanting to be quiet being too timid (I do this a lot) conducting a gunfight while standing, still, without any cover (I continue to do this) not moving enough when fighting not aiming (which may require kneeling, being still, holding breath, patience and brave

 After the double debacle that was my last raid, I really want to survive and, if possible, get that damn watch.  I have died the last four raids and really do not want to go five deaths in a row.  Raid 20 - Time to Celebrate Loadout: SKS (23K) with BP, PS in pocket, ears (13K), repaired armor, rig, sling, meds.  Pouch has car med kit, machine key and one grenade. Insurance: 18K If I spawn close the plan is to push in as fast as possible to see if I can get that watch and then get to safety and work my way out.  And ... I spawn in the furthest corner, trailer park across river. Oh well.  Worked my way up towards crossroads, and then to bridge. Proceeding fairly quietly because there seemed to be some activity in the storage units.  How to cross river? Junk bridge or main bridge?  Decided main bridge because it has lots of hard cover, and junk bridge has not been kind to me lately.  While crossing could hear a hell of a lot of fighting somewhere ahead (construction?) but couldn't pl