I Tarkov Poorly

During wipe 12.11 I had a number of very suspicious encounters that I found very discouraging. I strongly suspected cheating. I even wrote a bit about it and ways to possibly estimate the numbers of cheaters:  knowing   But so far in wipe 12.12 I've only had one that strongly struck me as cheating at the time, and another occurrence that seemed coincidental, where I was pretty sure there was a cheater on the map but didn't necessarily think that my killer was the same.  Overall, a much better wipe than 12.11.  I read on Reddit at the beginning of the month that there had been a ban wave (  ban_wave_today  ). I didn't think much about it at the time, except "good riddance".  But today I started thinking about something. When you search for a tarkov username you can see their current level - but if they no longer exist in the system, there is no match.  Now the question is "why might someone not be in the system anymore?"  There are a couple possible answe

I really like the Scar-L, though I wish I could get some decent ammo for it. FMJ is fine for scavs, and it has the advantage that it's quite a fast round, so it works well at long range.  Regardless, the problem with the Scar-L is the same problem I always have: rubles.  The Scar-L costs about 60K, plus 20k for foregrip and a laser, plus another 30K for the suppressor and another 30K for the Monstrum 2x scope I love.  Oh - and I really prefer the 14" barrel, so there's that too (though I have a trick for getting that barrel for super cheap).   But for scav hunting, do I really need the Scar-L ?  I do not. I know I promised myself no more low-level weapons now that I've reached the flea, but I do like the ADAR and haven't run it at all this wipe. So I switched to that.  I still have to pay for the suppressor and the scope, but with some trades and tricks I can keep the cost of everything else pretty low.  I tried it out offline (as I still don't have a shooting

I need to kill five more scavs on Shoreline with an AKM to complete Punisher 1. Raid 71 - Quest Completed Loadout: I can buy HP from Jaeger again. Go figure. So I have an AKMSN with PSO scope, canted sight, and several mags of HP. One kill mag of PS/BP. I spawned in the village, close to the map edge. I set out immediately, encountering nobody in the village itself. Ascended to the bus station, which was empty. Listened for sounds above, but the resort was quiet. Made my way down to the power station.  I killed two scavs at the power station - but it was a struggle. Normally, the HP ammo just drops these guys, but today a) they had armor and b) the AKMSN was jumping all over the place. At one point I stopped and checked to make sure my SRVV muzzle brake and my foregrip were attached - I couldn't understand what was going on with the recoil.  The second scav messed me up badly. As he died I heard a third scav on the west side of the building - but I was in no position to fight him.

Goal: Upgrade my little four slot alpha secure container to an epsilon! And that means finishing the Punisher questline. The first quest in that series, kill 15 scavs on Shoreline with an AKM, is now available to me.  I've been collecting the knives and the lower-half masks since the start of the wipe in anticipation of this questline. Destination: Shoreline Raid 67 - The Haul Loadout: Suppressed AKMSN, Class 4 armor, meds, ears backpack Most of my magazines are packed with HP ammo. I figure since I'm mostly killing scavs, might as well bring something to kill them quicker.  But I have one magazine that is half PS and BP, plus extra rounds of PS.   Spawned at the guard tower on the road to customs.  I don't have a good plan for this area. I guess there is likely a scav in the blue fenced construction area, and then after that I can hit the pier and then go northward?  But there were no scavs in the construction and, surprisingly, no one at pier either.  I looted the safes a

I have a friend Om3ga who I met through this blog. We don't play together very often mostly due to schedules and time zones.  But we were able to get things aligned this weekend and ran some raids, it was a lot of fun. Raid 62 - Solo on Customs - Chemical Part 1 I ran this quiet raid earlier in the week by myself. The quest completion pushed me to Level 17. Raid 63 - Duo on Lighthouse - Corporate Secrets Being Level 17 opens up several things, including the Corporate Secrets quest, which is the first quest on Lighthouse. I've never done a real raid on Lighthouse yet - though I've run it many many times offline and couple times as a scav.  Om3ga is higher level and has several pending Lighthouse quests, including this one.  Loadout: 5.56 Scar-L, suppressed, with FMJ (though my mags have a few rounds of M855A1 at the top).  Class 4 armor, meds, ears, etc. I forgot to pack snacks and to change my scope - it's still the Monstrum 2x I was using on Customs. We spawned in the

I reached Level 15 and finally have access to the flea market. This also means that I try to keep my limited stash area dedicated to quest items and things I'll use immediately. I sold off some of the trash, and purchased some of the last items I needed for some hideout improvements. And, I've vowed to not use an AK or any low level weapon any more. It's a new game. Until I start on the Punisher Quest line.  Raid 54 - Loot Run on Shoreline. I can't afford anything on the flea market. I need funds. Time In Raid: 35 minutes, 36 seconds Exp: 1168 Ammo Used: 21, Hits: 6, Accuracy: 0.29, Damage to body: 282 Kills: Vitya Koryaga (AI Scav). Godspeed Vitya. Sorry our paths crossed. Raid 55 - Triple Questing on Customs I can't start the Punisher Quests until after I finish the Shaking Up Teller quest and until I reach Level 17. But with my new flea market access I was able to buy a bunch of keys. So now I'm hoping to tackle Operation Aquarius Part 1, Golden Swag and Shak

Goal: I need around 4000 XP to make Level 15. After that the flea market will be open to me. It'll be easier to make money, I can buy whatever weapons I want (or can afford).  I'll probably still die all the time, but it's something.  Also, I need funds.  Raid 48 - Dumbness Destination: Customs Goal: kill things for XP Loadout: AK-105 (suppressed), class 4 armored rig, ears, meds, etc. I spawned inside one of the industrial section buildings. Looted a stash and, hello what is this? A class 6 armored slick.  Holy shit - I've never seen one before in a real raid. I ditched my rig, put on the slick, and moved my magazines to my backpack. I need to kill a scav for their rig. Fortunately, Old Gas is right here, and there are usually scavs there. I started up the railroad embankment - there's a bit of wall between me and the tracks, and footsteps on the other side of that wall. BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM. What the? Someone else was blasting the guy I was just about to kill. I st

Destination: Customs Goal: Pick up package for Mechanic. Reach level 15 ASAP Raid 43 - Easy Go Last raid I scored a nice 5.56 MDR with a vudu scope and suppressor from a PMC I killed, along with some Korund armor. Let's go! I spawned in the industrial section in the little pass-between. Made my way to the building in the north west corner, the one with the collapsed roof. Started looting.  There were footsteps on the metal stairs, a scav was coming up. I leaned out the door to blast him but where was he?  I couldn't see him.  He shouted, instinctively I ran - just down the catwalk a spell, he fired. I must have run right by him. I spun around - there's no one here. I ran back into the little computer room - he shouted and fired again. I quickly healed and went to the other exit of the computer room. Around the other catwalk - I could hear him moving but he's invisible - I even turned on my flashlight - but there's no one here but me - this is not a big building. I r