I Tarkov Poorly

Haven't played much in the last few weeks, just a few scav runs and offline plays ( see: CALvPT ).  But chatted with Om3ga and he inspired me to keep at it - he's level 38 now and I'm still 13. Maybe I can catch up, no?  Also, I heard that there is going to be an update later tonight, I'm not sure if it's this same update, but an expansion to Factory is rumored along with a new boss. So maybe best to get the Delivery from the Past quest done before that gets complicated.  Destination: Factory Goal:  Delivery package to that little room above Gate 3 exit. Raid 78 Loadout: 6B3TM armored rig (class 4), Suppressed Vityaz PP-19-01 with laser and dot sight, three 30 round mags. First mag is 50/50 AP6.3 and Pst gzh. Others just Pst gzh. Ears, two grenades, backpack.  And, "the package".    Insurance: 23K Spawned into room off breach room. Good spawn. Have to be careful - there's another spawn down the hallway with the forklifts, and another in the glass corri...

I haven't been playing much Tarkov the last couple weeks. That's fine - was doing other things. And I generally don't have a lot of time to play. I know many players put in a couple of hours daily, but I can't keep up with that.  For awhile I was able to carve out a two plus hour time slot about every other or every third day and played then. But lately, my time slots are perhaps more frequent, but shorter. Like 45 minutes or an hour. If I only have 45 minutes to play, this is a problem. The bigger maps (like Shoreline) simply require more time, plus the long raid loading time, and the ex-mortem time. And if I survive, then there is loot to be sold, armor repaired/replaced, ammo replenished, grenades and meds re-purchased. That takes a lot of time.  God forbid I should die, because then a whole loadout needs to be replaced which likely means shopping on the flea market and getting all the minutiae needed ( ears, food, drink, backpack, rig, headwear, eyewear).   So if...

I encountered Jerry today. That did not go well. I was checking if the way was clear when a trio of ex-USECs rolled into view. One of them was Jerry, my old rack-mate. I'd recognize him and his gait anywhere.  "Hey Jerry! It's me." I stood up and waved, weapon slung. Briefly I saw worry flash across his face - but not recognition. He raised his weapon and I dropped to the ground, fast, and rolled down behind the ridge I had been standing on. I hit the bushes and ran as a fireteam's worth of gunfire tore up the location I'd just been in.  (If you never witnessed it, it's a lot - a simple three or four man fireteam can put down a mind-boggling amount of fire). Fortunately they didn't follow. I ran away hurt. Not physically, but upset that Jerry, of all the people in Tarkov, had just tried to kill me.  I really am alone. Jerry and I were never close, but for a year we had bunked together - sharing a small room in the USEC barracks on campus. We had develo...

 Goals: repair last panel and extract improve PvP  have fun kill scavs or players try not worry about dying Destination: Factory Loadout for these raids: SMG (Vityaz PP-19-01) with Pst gzh, Class 3 armor (Zhuk Press typically), meds, ears, backpack with Tools.  I usually salt my magazines with AP6.3, but that takes too much time, so today it was just Pst gzh.  Raid 75 Spawned in the room south of the Silos.  By the time I turned on my aiming laser and made sure the weapon was set to autofire, there was already fighting going on in the stairwell and upper stories. I took cover behind a pillar, in case anyone approached my door. No one did. Allright, time to go. Went forward and dropped into the pit. Heard footsteps coming my way - sounded like a above. Scurried to the side tunnel, made sure it was clear, and backed into it. Footsteps were right on top of me - whoever it is must be above.  Wait a second... I turned around, and a player was right behind me. Od...

Destination: Factory Goals:  get better at PvP have fun be less afraid of death repair second control panel and survive  Progress:  small progress on one of those four goals.  Guess which one. I didn't have much time to play last night. Warmed up with a scav run on Interchange. But didn't even bother selling the garbage I got as that may use up my time.  Time to go raiding! Raid 74 Loadout: suppressed Kedr SMG, Press armor, meds, and tools for quest.  I don't remember if I was wearing ears or not. (I always do, unless I forget when kitting out hurriedly) Spawned in glass hallway, directly across from the panel I need to repair.  So tempting!  But, I know there are other spawns just down the hallway, and it takes twenty seconds of holding still to repair, so first I better go ensure those are clear.  I briefly peeked, didn't hear or see anyone. Waited, hoping that maybe if there are two PMCs down there that they'll fight each other, and perhap...

Now that I'm Level 12 I have some new quests from Mechanic, one of which takes place in Factory. That's great. I'm planning on running Factory for a while to help improve my PvP and so it's nice to have another reason to be here.    Raid 73 Loadout: Vityaz PP-19-01 SMG with laser, sight and suppressor, several magazines of mostly Pst gzh, but first couple mags are salted with some AP6.3 rounds. One grenade.  Meds, Press Zhuk-3 armor, and one set of tools.  I know I need to make two repairs, but since I'm going to be in Factory for several more raids, there's no sense in pushing it. Spawned into the area next to the Breach room. Turned on laser, made sure auto-fire was set, and left peeked down the hallway towards forklift spawn.  A PMC was already there, peeking back. We traded some fire, neither of us landing shots well. The left peek is hard, because I'm more exposed than he is. I quickly stepped further over to get a better angle on him and then cut him d...

Destination: Factory Goals: improve my PvP farm scavs for exp get better sense of map in a real raid, to prepare for Delivery from the Past second part survive would be great, but not a goal. I like Factory.  I normally play very slowly, methodically, constantly hiding and scurrying, avoiding PMCs, but Factory forces a very different play-style.  Before each raid I write things like this on a piece of paper as reminders, to help push me to action: relax have fun die use cover reload (after every encounter) move Loadout: for all these raids, my loadout is typically some class 3 armor (Zhuk Press), an SMG ( MP5, Kedr), meds, backpack and rig. I often forget to bring a grenade (which I would then forget to use). Raid 70 After spawning, made my way into tunnels, hoping to find scavs.  Found one and killed him.  Shortly after, was in the low area around those three round silos that sit recessed in the ground. Another PMC was there, we played cat and mouse around the silos...

I really need to improve my player-versus-player performance. I'm too poor for Labs, so Factory it is.  Plus I need to finish the "Delivery from the Past" quest, and that'll take me to Factory.  I don't even know where that damn docs case is supposed to be dropped off.   Goals: Run 5 to 10 raids on Factory to improve PVP and prepare for Delivery from the Past Learn that death is not to be feared, but accepted. Pass on the wisdom of that lesson to others. Progress: slow I must confess, gentle reader, that I forgot to take screenshots of the post-mortem screens after these two raids.  I killed a couple scavs, one player ( tommy  - level 14), and was twice killed by other players whose names I failed to capture (sorry guys!).  I used SMGs and both raids were less than three minutes long.  In other news, a couple of my scav interchange runs, combined with the power of the flea market, have begun paying off. I now have more than eight hundred thousand ...

I died in the last three raids and only one weapon (MP9-N) and one armor (Zhuk Press) came back with insurance. That hurts. I very much want to start sporting class 4 and 5 armor, but I simply cannot afford to lose 150K per loadout. Plus, this string of deaths drops my survival rate below 40%.  I've been scavving more, trying to recoup the funds from those failed raids.  Raid 67 - Age of Aquarius Goal: Go to dorms, enter room 206, get out, survive and extract. Loadout: MP9-N submachine gun with many mags of Pst gzh. Press armor, ears, meds, one RGD-5 grenade.  Secure container has IFAK, CMS surgery kit and key 206.  Also, I finally remembered the 7001 rubles for car extract. Insurance: 25.5K  I got the spawn closest to dorms, the one just above the wall.  I hustled down to dorms, switched to autofire, up the outside staircase, opened it - quiet. Ran down the hall, unlocked the door, entered, did a quick circuit of the room, ran back out and ran down the sta...