BP Depot - Raid 20 - Level 7

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.  As I went along the outer wall I heard someone moving alongside me on the other side.  Probably a PMC on the bronze watch quest.  He'll be heading for the opening up ahead.  I hurried over to the truck, keeping it between me and from where the player will most likely enter. I marked it. 

It did not even occur to me to try and ambush the player. I moved on. I'm not moving well, I can feel it. I'm not moving smoothly cover to cover - I'm just sort of moving. Need to be smarter or I'll end up dead.

My next destination was old gas. That's a choke zone. I want to move through it as quick as possible, but have to be on my toes. Everything was quiet. I entered the green space immediately behind the gas station, ignoring the stash and other loot there. I could hear an AI scav on the other side of the fence. That's interesting - no players through here?  

I went to a small gap in the fence and tried the fancy alt-lean things to see if I could see that scav, but I couldn't get eyes on him.  Forward and jumped through a gap in the fence. There was a scav on the other side, inches away, aiming his rifle directly at me. All he had to do was pull the trigger and I'd be dead, but fortunately for me his AI programming requires him to "chirp", to say something before firing. As luck would have it he didn't just shout кепка! instead he started on some long soliloquy. Does he think this is a debate?  I gunned him down, awkwardly. Despite the fact that he was mere inches away and my aiming laser already on, I aimed down sight first before firing. Lucky for me he was determined to discuss 19th century economic theories or I'd be dead.

Should I clear the area?  No, the truck provides good cover.  I hopped over to the tanker truck and marked it.  I stepped around the truck, saw a scav standing over by the gas pumps - I stood in the open, raised my weapon and killed him. I am not moving well. I should have walked to the end of the truck, aimed down sight and leaned first and then rounded the corner of the truck to find and kill any enemies. This sort of laziness is going to get me killed.

I moved on, heading into the industrial cul-de-sac. I hid in a bush to settle down, to focus. Where is my extract? I had been assuming that since I started on this side of the river it would be Crossroads and Trailer Park. I checked my list - no, it's ZB-011 and the others.  Hmm, well, that complicates matters. After I finish marking the tanker at New Gas do I need to cross the river and then cross back again?  Well, I can always extract and get it on the next raid. But first, I need to mark the tanker at New Gas.

There are three ways to reach the central road from this cul-de-sac, but I have never once successfully managed the car to outhouse jump in the corner, so that leaves just two.  For whatever reason I forgot about the dumpster, I bore to the hole in the wall. Fighting started somewhere behind me, near the railroad tracks and old gas.  Finally! It's been so deathly quiet this raid.  

I wonder if there are player scavs on the map?  I stepped into cover and and switched out my beanie cap for a pompon.  Pompon is my helmet.  I have no intention of "wiggling" at player scavs and then shooting them, that would be uncool. But if the pompon hat buys me a couple of seconds of uncertainty, I'm not above exploiting that.  Though, the ruse isn't great. With the lace up boots, knee pads, shoulder patches and exposed forearms I am clearly a BEAR PMC. The pompon looks silly. 

I made my way to the hole in the wall - all quiet and clear on my side. I scanned the right side first. I aimed down sight and swung around to the left - there was a scav there, I took him down. Now that is how the game is played.  There will certainly be scavs at the checkpoint. I pushed through the hole in the wall and took cover quickly behind a small tree. Not great, but usable for now. I leaned out and aimed at the checkpoint tower - there was a scav atop it, he was aiming back at me.  I centered the reticle on his little head and pulled the trigger. And nothing. I repeated the procedure again, and again and again. I started putting rounds into his thorax. Why isn't he dying?  I've been staying here too long, this is not good cover - need to move. But I was determined. I leaned left, recentered and placed a shot squarely on his face ... to no effect. What the hell?  Suddenly there were footsteps on the grass to my immediate left. What? Shotgun fire and I was dead.

On the post-mortem screen I can see that I killed that last scav in the tower. Somehow the game was not updating, maybe? And the scav that killed me was _close_ and on my side of the wall coming from an area that I had just cleared seconds before (where I killed the previous scav).  I suspect he had just spawned to my left.

Time In Raid: 12 minutes, 18 seconds.
Exp: 610
Kills (all scavs): Ilnur Borov, Kostyl Solomon, Denya Kastryulya, Kot Protokol.  Godspeed gentlemen.
Killed By: Ivasik Gruzchik with exactly two 12 gauge shotgun pellets to the head.
Ammo Used: 43, Hits: 17, Accuracy: 0.26, Damage to Body: 747, Damage to Armor: 3

Mistakes

• staying too long in one not-well covered place. 
• not being aware of surroundings. Should have displaced earlier - I knew it and Tarkov knew it too.
• Excepting the third kill, poor conduct of combat. By rights, Ilnur should have killed me at old gas.
• Died
• Died to an AI Scav

Successes

• Conducted combat against last two scavs fairly well, modulo whatever update issue was occurring on the last kill. 
• Marked two of the tanker trucks.

Postscript

I really wanted to jump into Customs again and finish this quest, but by the time I kitted out my real world available time was too short. I almost joined a raid with no markers. I can't believe I died to a scav. And I still don't understand what happened with that last kill - he never moved, he certainly did not fall over and die. I wonder how long I was shooting at nothing? Do player scavs spawn up in that tower? If so, maybe it was a player scav under the spell of the spawn protection timer? But I don't believe they do. It was probably just some form of desync.