I Tarkov Poorly

My goal this wipe was to reach Level 10 within 20 raids.  I will not meet that goal. I used to be able to find time to play EFT in the evenings, but lately I can only play at night, and then not for very long.  It's been almost a week since I last ran a PMC raid. So tonight I want to try to finish the BP Depot quest (mark the tanker trucks) and get in some fun fights. Maybe bully some player scavs.  But there is not enough time to warm up offline - so I'm jumping in cold.   Destination: Customs Raid 20 Loadout: AKM that I've modded with four 30 round magazines of 7.62x39mm PS.  Busted up Class 4 armor, one grenade, meds, four markers. A snack for later. I'm wearing ears, a beanie and face covering. Spawned in near RUAF.  Hmm - this is a tricky spawn - not a good place for laying low.  I headed toward the nearest tanker truck in construction.   Both RUAF and construction were quiet. I started to loop around construction, checking for scavs before I approach the truck.  A

I have been practicing Factory a bit offline. I tried using that M870 shotgun again, and the result of that is that I sold it to Mechanic. Time for the show. Raid 18 Destination: Factory Goal: place "delivery from the past" doc case. I spawned into the Factory and looked around - where am I? Wait, this is familiar. I am at the base of the stairs that leads to where this doc case goes. Score!   I ran up the steps - fighting ensued near the far staircase leading to the office. I went prone, deposited the case and extracted.  Amazingly, it was not a run through. Time In Raid: 1 minute, 7 seconds Exp: 825  ( exploration XP for the win) I am glad to have that albatross off my neck. Onward!! Raid 19 - BP Depot and Ammo Destination: Customs Goal: mark the four tanker trucks on the map.  Kill some PMCs and player scavs for some sweet XP Progress: no measurable progress I spawned into one of the buildings in the industrial area.  Looted it.  My plan is to first go to the corner of the

Destination: Customs Plan: Not a great plan. I need to get into the director's office at the customs house, but I don't have the key. So the plan is if I spawn on the industrial side of the river to just slowly make my way there and see if someone leaves the door open. If I spawn on the customs house side, I'll just kill time (and anyone I encounter) and hope someone opens it for me.    Raid 17 - Fun in the Sun It was a bright sunny midafternoon when I spawned into the area near the trailer park. This is the customs house side.  So I found a bush and sat.  After about three minutes I decided to maybe start my way there. As I approached the storage sheds I heard someone speaking Russian and footsteps. Then a player scav stepped into the road and started making his way to the river. He forgot to check his six. I aimed down sight and gently reminded him. I got off a shot (surprisingly not a kill shot) but then my weapon jammed.  He ran. I reloaded, I ran after him, flanking. H

I got the machinery key as a scav.  Now to get the watch. Raid 15 - Fractured Watch Loadout: Well loved Class 4 armor, AK-74N with some mags of 5.45x39mm BP and PS, meds, ears, small rig, backpack, and no grenade.   Spawned along road in front of the customs house.  I got squeezed between two other spawns the last time I caught this spawn. I entered a bush and waited.  Take my time, let's see if anyone comes waltzing along from any of the neighboring spawns.  No one did.  After a few minutes I heard some action in the customs house yard, but the road was quiet. So I headed out.   I crossed the river on the low junk bridge, checking that everything was clear before heading out. I crossed the first span, double checked that everything was clear, and then walked across the second metal span. Just as I finished crossing I saw someone above me. I dove into a bush, leaned out and started firing. My adversary ducked behind a tree and began leaning out to return fire. I don't have hard

One of Prapor's little "boost" packages included two sets of Level 4 armor.  Awesome!! I really need those. I lost them both in less than 5 minutes. Quest: The Bronze Pocketwatch Destination: Customs I don't have much time to play today, so I really want to get this pocketwatch quest done. Raid 13 - Too Fast Loadout: MP5 with three 30 round magazines of mixed ammo (Pst gzh, PSO, and RIP). Level 4 armor. Ears, meds, rig, backpack. No grenades. Spawned into the big vehicle garage in the cul-de-sac of the industrial section. I believe there is loot in this building, but I was eager to get to Dorms to get the key.  I headed out, as I passed the gate of the cul-de-sac I worried about other PMCs that might have spawned in the area.  I went through the hole in the wall to where there may be scavs, but probably no other players. The military checkpoint was empty. I started to cross the road when suddenly a scav shouted at me and began firing. He must have just spawned in.  My

Cheaters I believe I encountered cheaters on my first two raids this wipe. And I'm fairly sure I re-encountered that first one again on a later Reserve scav raid. They were farming Reserve for XP and loot. Not unironically, that's why I was there too ... except I didn't have radars, wall hacks, and lag switches.  Being mugged and killed by cheaters is very discouraging.  The game is hard enough as it is, with many many steep disadvantages for newbies and low levels, but cheaters just rubs salt in wounds. With my regular day-job I often have several minutes of downtime and one of the ways I use that is watching various Tarkov videos on YouTube and Twitch.  Tutorials, streamers, guides, you name it.  There are a number of players/streamers that I watch, it's fun and inspiring watching players that are really good.  But today I got a double dose of discouragement. I was watching a recorded Twitch stream and the streamer was playing, but as he played he kept looking over at

Raid 11 - Scav Hunt on Customs Loadout: Class 4 armor and Remington M780 Shotgun with magnum buckshot, ears, meds. IFAK, hemostat, and extra splint in secure container. Goal: I need two more scav kills for the Debut quest.  I spawned into one of the buildings in the industrial liquid storage area. Not much loot in mine and no scav sounds - they probably haven't spawned yet. I went over one building and looted it - got some pretty good loot, a lot of stuff I need for my hideout. I put some in my secure container.  Then I went up the railroad embankment and began to bear towards Old Gas. The next building over I heard a scav in the parking lot. I ran down, aimed, leaned out of cover and took him down with some effort, but came away unharmed. Guess I'm getting used to the shotgun.  Looted him. Went into his building hoping for more scavs, but it was quiet. But I got more loot. Now my bag is overflowing with mostly good stuff. No weapon parts or any of that useless stuff. The next

I have named my Vityaz SMGs "Svetlana" and "Natalia".  I took Natalia with me to Interchange where I got those three kills. But I feel bad about dying and leaving her there.  Hopefully she'll come back to me. Svetlana has served me well too, with two PMC kills on Reserve, and she came back like a true love. I am not wasting her on some stupid stash run. I'm taking her out to show her off. We are heading to Reserve! Raid 7 - The Streamer Loadout: Class 4 armor, Svetlana, meds, ears, a flash grenade and a Vog.   Svetlana and I spawned above the spiral staircase that leads to D2.  Awesome.  I headed down to the bunker, looting lightly. As we approached the staircase that ascends to the underground bunker area I heard the sound of quite a bit of combat.  Damnit - we are late to the party.  But Svetlana felt that we were fashionably late and that I shouldn't stress. She's always right.  I heard a PMC panting at the top of the stairs. Turned off the flashl

One of my "zig when everyone else zags" plans was to just do stash runs on Interchange and build up some money. I decided against this because, while profitable, these types of runs are usually pretty quiet and boring.  But now my funds are getting low. I want to try a few more passes at Reserve to kill raiders - but between the price of insurance and meds, I won't be viable for much longer. Need funds.  I could maybe just do this as a Scav, but I might as well get some XP out of it.   Raid 6 - the Milk Run Loadout: Class 2 PACA armor, a Vityaz PP-19, meds, ears, backpack, rig. No grenades. Spawned behind the mall, near one of the tanker trucks.  Made my way north towards the power station. Looted a stash and some small out buildings.  As I circled I encountered a freshly spawned Scav, facing away. A quick headshot took him down. Another Scav yelled and ran.  Using cover I ducked around until I got eyes on the second scav, then approached him behind cover, leaned out, and

 I don't have much time, so only one raid today and I want to make it a good one.  Heading to Reserve to kill raiders in the underground.  I got my Vityaz PP-19 back with insurance, so I reloaded it, got my meds and a flash grenade and headed out. Raid 5 Spawned above the spiral stairs that lead down to D2 and the underground. Awesome!  I can head straight there without encountering any disruptions.  I made my way there, looting only lightly because I don't want to waste time. But I did allow myself the distraction of hitting the safe in that side control room. As I went, I closed any door I opened so as to not alert any player of my presence. When I finally reached the last staircase before the underground I could hear someone running, but no sounds of combat. Probably a scav? From here I have two choices: go to the bunker via the White Pawn entrance, or down the ramp by the King entrance. I don't like fighting on that ramp - no good cover. So I took the side passage and c

 I woke up this morning with some affirmations. "Don't give up!" , "You can do this!"  So it's back to Reserve.   Plan: Go to Reserve, kill the Raiders for some fat XP and loot them for their wicked great armor and weapons.  Also, never forget, third time is the charm! Raid 4 - The Crowded Bus Loadout: Vityaz PP-19 with flashlight. No armor. Ears, meds. One grenade.   I spawned into the building next to the scav land extract.  Immediately started heading up toward white bishop.   I was sprinting the last open leg when I started to catch fire and took a hit. I dove into the shipping container, flipped the Vityaz to auto-fire. Footsteps were approaching.  I was bleeding, but nothing to be done about it now. I hid until I heard the footsteps get just a little closer then I step/leaned out and fired, stepping back to cover as I did so.  That seemed like a good shot, but I think the player dove for cover. Stepped into the building. Used my esmarch to stop the hea

Escape from Tarkov wiped a few days ago. I didn't have time to play until today.  Yesterday I got the update, and examined a bunch of items and achieved Level 2 just for that.  After todays raids I am wishing there were more items for me to examine. Plan: I have the standard set of beginner quests (Debut, Shortage, Gunsmith 1, The Introduction) but I'm thinking to be crafty - I'll zig when everyone else zags. My plan is to go to Reserve, kill some raiders, and equip myself with their stuff.  I have played a bit offline before the wipe and was getting better at handling Raiders, especially down in the underground area.  I even played two offline raids to test this out, and I got 4800 and 5300 XP respectively and came away from one raid with a set of Class 5 and Class 4 armors.  Of course, telling you about offline raids is like someone belaboring you with their fantasy football league.  Boring and doesn't count for shit. Raid 1 Loadout: the starter BEAR AK-74M with three