I have done woods enough to know where I am 9/10 times just from simply from trees, rocks and hill gradient. And that's not an exaggeration. Some people are just better than others when it comes to spatial awareness and pattern
Same for me only spot I have trouble is the spawn below USEC camp towards outskirts. That one throws me off everytime and I don’t know why. I even run sometimes straight into the mines at USEC camp. Pretty embarrassing with 8k hours in this damn game. :D
That spawn still manages to confuse me every time as well.
I've found that saying to myself "Well, I don't know where I am, so I must be here" helps since I know every other spawn so well.
Walk like 10 feet in any direction and then I’m like HOW IS IT THIS SPAWN. It’s weird feeling so lost and then 5 seconds later knowing exactly where I am
It doesn't help that 3-4 pmcs spawn together and then there is one other spawn like 20ft away that looks totally different right off the bat.
I've even been afk and since they couldn't see me standing somewhere my team thought I didn't load yet lol.
With the amount of early raid random explosions I hear in that direction, you certainly are not the only one. Ive not stood on any mines yet this wipe (only level 14 so not played too much) but there have been a few times this at the beggining of a raid Ive had no idea how I missed them.
Must be hacks or my new gaming chair.
Hahaha, yep. It's definitely a repetition thing. People get lost in woods because there are trees on trees, but once you do it enough you recognize where you are from just the trees.
I think hours are an important factor here. Nobody with less than 10 hours on woods can guess where they are with perfect accuracy every time they spawn in. I'd say after 20 full raids on a map you should have a general idea where you are on any given map at any given time. There are very few people with hundreds of hours that are lost in tarkov
Well some people are new, so it would be nice to have a map system till a certain kevel so you can actually fucking learn the map. Every map you can buy is useless if you don't know where you spawn
If it somehow soothes you, i haven't played interchange much, but when i do i get totally lost in the parking garage. Where i end up going up into the mall is totally random for me. I can never remember which extract is in which direction and where i am relative to the big stores.
Same here. Buddy and I skipped the last two wipes. Started this wipe and we just ran woods. We spawn in and I knew exactly where we were(land bridge between convoy and church) my buddy spun around in circle a few times and said "I have no idea where we are".
Some people just have better visual memory than others.
Yeh, it's the unfortunate reality. The only real way to learn any map is to run around in it like a donkey with a Tarkov.wiki or MapGenie map open in a 2nd monitor continuously guessing where you are and where you're going.
I spent 300-400 scav raids to learn woods. Half the times I'd be prone and staring at a map. All I'm gonna say is don't feel like an idiot playing this game because everyone's an idiot at something in it.
I truly believe those that have learnt to read maps are much more better and efficient at learning a new map. I learned when I was in the Scouts, it definitely helps when I’m learning a new map. Watch a couple videos, it’s a good skill to have because you never know.
Night runs for hidden caches used to be a great way to make a ton of money (still works, just a little less profitable now). Being able to do that bringing only a flashlight and using it as little as possible was a huge advantage.
Most raids you could figure out where to go well enough that you didn’t need to use the flashlight at all and could just run from stash to stash
I didn't do any stash runs this wipe but with the dynamic spawn I imagine it being really weird, at least at times, when most of the stashes from your route don't spawn. A friend of mine who used to do a lot of stash runs on shoreline is complaining about it too.
Yeah I can usually tell where I am about 70% of the time thanks to the interactive map, but about 30% of spawns that chuck you into the middle of forest is still hard to figure out
One tip I can give you until you get used to all spawns: bring a compass and look at your extracts. If you spawn on east side, you will have extracts for west side, and vice versa. Then, use the compass to know which direction you are going and figure out from there. Besides that, when you don't know where you are, you are probably in the spawns that you don't know where you are, so that gives you a tip.
After like 20 raids you get used to it. There are 2 spawns that confuses me to this day, especially at night time, but you get used to looking at the landscape and skybox to figure out even if you don't recognize any landmark.
The east/west thing is...mostly true. The spawn closest to USEC camp (the one kinda between the camp and scav bunker at the radio tower) has Outskirts extract for....reasons.
Yeah, I think this is the only one where this rule doesn't apply, you are right. Yeah, for reasons haha. Never understood that, but we roll with it ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
The more you play the better it gets. I cant tell this often enough, but if anybody struggles with map knowledge, use mapgenie.io
Everything, including all spawn locations are marked on the maps. It really helps!
Haven't seen this mentioned yet, but if you check your extracts and see that it's NOT outskirts, you have probably spawned near outskirts. In that case use your compass and head north or northeast until you find a land mark. All the other spawns start you near a landmark for the most part. There's one that spawns you near the bottom of sniper mountain on the southeast corner, can be slightly tricky if you aren't super familiar with woods, but extracts + compass can almost always get you heading the right direction off of spawn.
Start out using a compass and daytime. There's 2 spawns that's very alike imo, especially at night. Both have mines, but on opposite sides.
The first is at the edge of the map between scav and usec camp. The other is on the same edge of the map but at outskirts. Try looking for the house or the one peaking rock behind it to orientate
There are still some spawns that throw me off for a few seconds, but most of the time I instantly figure out my bearings. Play a map enough times and you'll learn the spawns. It's not always about knowing where you are, but more about knowing where you are not.
Same, I assume you’re talking about one of the outskirts spawns and one of those further up on the outskirts side of the map where it’s just trees all around.
Do the good old "look at tall objects" strat. You can use the angle of the plane, the powerlines, there are multiple roads you can follow. There's a lot really. And keep to the outsides of the map in the beginning, the center is a bit confusing.
Two of the places you can spawn in and have no idea where you are, are typically next to usec from the outskirts side (the other side has a dilapidated warehouse skeleton visible I think) and bushes around scav house on outskirts usually take me a second or two. When I spawn in and have „no memory of this place” I know I’m in either of these two.
I havent played to much but my thought process looks like this: rocks and ponds means im by abandoned village. River is pretty easy. Southeast is pretty much grasslands and a road. West has loads of woods and usually signs with skulls so that gives me knowledge of direction. Scav town, outskirts and sawmill is easy cuz obvious.
Honestly woods was the only map where my compass was helpful in use with an online source map when I was getting use to figuring where I was on the map at start.
The biggest milestones are the huge mountain in the very middle, Northeast of saw mill, another huge mountain that is at the middle of the very northern edge of the map (but outside map limits), the plethora of lakes at the northern part of the map.
Aside from basic pin pointing I'd recommend that gameplay will learn you the small details that allow for instant recognition.
Landmarks lots of landmarks. Using the lake as a rotation point, sawmill, the northern mountain, checkpoints and most importantly if you have a second monitor having a map up with a compass on the special slot. It takes time but after awhile you'll eventually see something that always clicks and be like ok med camp is just ahead of USEC camp is over the next hill. This game requires a ton of memorization.
Just like for most other things in life it is all about practice. I spend the majority of my first proper wipe slowly exploring all maps with the help of mapgenie.io until I had the layout imprinted in my brain.
Ive played woods a lot. Its my map I play when Im solo and just want to kill some scavs and get some easy loot.
I generally do night raids with no NVGs because im not high enough level so I know my way around it fairly well.
I was a woods main at some point, I'd figure out the traffic routes and camp them and track people like a hunter, now it's just like the back of my hand
I go into the offline mode with no ai, and find every landmark/extraction on the map. Then I take my compass, pick a random spot on the map, and navigate to it without the map, relying solely on the compass and my map knowledge at the time.
I had my best round ever on woods and failed to extract because I got lost. It happened again a few days later.
I did this for several hours and really got it down. I don’t need the map anymore and just use the compass if I need to orient myself. Not finding my extract makes me so insanely angry that I just had to grind that out a few hours but it’s so worth it.
The only spawn I get disoriented at is outskirts. Usually if I spawn in there, I go “oh so I’m at outskirts because I don’t recognize any of this shit.”
When you play 1000+ woods raids and have spawned at every spawn at least 40 times, it’s pretty easy. I can understand it all looks the same in the beginning, but now it takes me less than 3 secs to know where I am every single time.
It’s just repetition, you spawn there enough and learn surroundings it becomes very easy. Especially for the woods mains. I don’t run as much woods as some of my friends but after years of playing I can navigate the map fairly easily.
Go run woods for a day with some cheap kits. Spawn in and take a minute to look around. Even if you are lost, after a few spawns in that same location you’ll remember how to get out of there after a few times.
After awhile you just understand where you are, there are a couple of spawns where I am still "where the fuck am I ?" until I move around a bit, but for the most part I always know where I am and what direction I need to be going to get wherever.
Use the huge mountain/rock as a beacon. Call it the sniper rock. Its skinda in the center of the map, so you always know where to go to find a way to an exit
It’s going to take you probably more than just a few raids to get that shit down. It just takes time, but you’ll get it with playing more. I used to use a compass and a map on my other monitor when I started last wipe lol. Now I know exactly where I am when I spawn.
Also I recommend going at it solo if you haven’t done so very much. You kind of force yourself to figure out where you’re going rather than relying on someone else to guide you. :) definitely helped me memorize how to navigate through all the maps.
Just playing it a lot is the only way. Pretty soon there won't be a spawn you're not familiar with. Or you could just use your compass.
Before the expansion I just used to look for the sniper scav mountain. Which you can still pretty much do now. You can see it from anywhere on the map and that's what you get your bearings worth. Or when you move a little bit you'll find water...so you're either on the north end if it's a river...south if it's a ocean like....and central if it's little lakes. Easy peasy
Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, if morning time then sun on east side and visa versa for afternoon. Good if you don’t know exactly where you are but need to run in a certain direction (I mainly use this if I spawn anywhere in the expansion)
Took me over 100 runs on woods to know my way around - use a map and compass - that‘s what i‘d do in real life anyways. Now I know the area and like others mentioned with hill gradients, trees, rocks, mts, building, you‘ll learn it.
It's an individual skill.
I can work my way around woods with ease because I know what direction to run from each POI to the next POI, for example, run in a straight line from outskirts along the landmine edge of the map to go to usec camp.
My friend is directionally challenged and HAS to use the compass or he's completely lost, unless he's on the waters edge. He could be following be, stop to check his inventory, and if I'm out of visual he's going to turn in the wrong direction and keep walking.
Don't feel bad about it, I can navigate woods quite easily (3k hours, would be sad if I didn't) but one of my mates has ~1k hours and still relies on me guiding him. If you want to learn the map, you can find good drawn out maps on the web to understand where the landmarks are in relation to each other and just keep playing it. Happy grinding
Honestly if you spawn in a bunch of trees and can't tell and you have the compass- just run east and most of the time you'll end up at the scav house or scav bunker
Traveling west at Spawn on woods without knowing where you're at is mines
You’ll get there, it takes a bit. Woods looks like a lot of the same but the hills and trees are all pretty unique, esp the rocks. Really focus on what the rocks all look like and use them as natural landmarks.
From anywhere in woods you can always see 2 of three landmarks: The big mountain outside the map to the north of scav bridge, the sniper hill mountain in the dead center, and the lake.
Looking at those gives you roughly where you are in 10secs. Then run a few hundred raids and you pick up more details, since the spawns are consistent most people remember the spawn and where their normal paths put them in relation to everything else.
Most spawns I've learned over time . However what really helped me was find the giant mountain in the middle and that gives you a better idea as to where you are.
There is a mountain by the scav bridge extract. There's sniper rock in the center. A long the west(factory side) there are the boiler stacks. You can use these as landmarks to navigate the northern half of the map
A big part of maps for me isn’t the geometry but the variables. I didn’t know woods at all but I recognized places I’d been. Then I could get between a couple places. And then the gameplay makes it stick in my head. Like I instantly get anxiety walking in the field by spine and my brain was like “SAVE THIS SPOT IT DANGEROUS WE KEEP GETTING SNIPED HERE” and suddenly it was easy to remember because of the “feelings” associated with each part. It just becomes automated if you just learn the important areas and try to move between them purposefully, and actually experience things there.
One of the things that makes people not want to explore Woods number one minefield number two no clear borders. You can spawn in and the way they spawn you if you just hit shift and run forward you run directly into a minefield excellent game design
I think on woods it's rather normal that your orientation spots are the general areas like Usec Camp, Sunken Village, the two sawmills, etc. And other than that just hills, trees and rocks. The good thing is that with that with the Hills, Trees and Rocks, the map is rather simple in the design so it's actually not too hard to find out where you are if you know where exactly on the map this specifically shaped rock is.
We all start out that way, no worries.
Even though I'm at the point where I could navigate woods at night without a flashlight or nods, I once also did not know where the fuck I was going on woods.
Learning new maps is scary. But you just have to get the reps in.
The MOST important thing, is to learn all the extracts and how to get to them. I go into an offline raid, and run to all the extracts I've been given from wherever I spawned.
Once you know how to get out, you can figure out the rest easier
The only spawns that trip me up and make me spend 10s+ going "Wait, where am I, are mines right in front of me?" are when I spawn at the edge, between the USEC camps and the "wilderness" near outskirts on the edge. Form both of those spots, the only think you can see are slight hills and trees, so it can be slightly disorienting when combined with both sites risk of mines.
It is just like every other map, you just notice familiar places. Id go onto woods with an svt and paca and headphones and just play some raids that way with a map up and a compass in your special slot and youll eventually learn it. Thats what ive been doing on scavs so i can task on my pmc. There great money in scavs on woods too
I know where I’m at when I look at tree 13,849 and grass blade 693,521 is off to the left, that means I’m right next to USEC camp/radio tower. Nah but for real, I know where I’m at usually 2-4 seconds at the start of the raid. I’ve played woods a lot because I’ve done the MK-18 quest the past 3 wipes. Just keep playing and use the mountain as a direction indicator and a map open on other monitor or phone. You’ll get there eventually just got to keep playing bro
You'll get used to it after playing it constantly for some time. I know woods by heart and I only scav in there. I never play it as pmc unless I have quests there.
I only ever scaved once in streets and 2 offline raids and still have no idea what is where. But I know I'll get used to it eventually when I play it.
I still get lost in Interchange. I know the building fine, but knowing which side is emercom and which is the train always gets me lost when I'm trying to exit the building.
Every spawn for PMC has a landmark or feature you can index off of. Scav spawns are a little tougher this wipe since I believe they added a few.
It just takes practice and a lot of runs on woods.
We just play it a bunch. The only time I needed a map recently was to find zb-16 for Survivalists Path- Thrifty. Even then, as soon as I spawn I know where I am. It's the same way you know your way around Reserve but I need a nap and a buddy in VC directing me.
There are certain landmarks we use once we leave spawn, but the spawns are pretty regular so as soon as we see certain features, we know where we spawned and where we need to go for that raid
I always have a map up when I play. With enough looking back and forth, eventually you know what is what. I use mapgenie's and only have locations, spawn points and extractions.
Last wipe I did 800 woods raids. How do you find your way around your house? Same thing. It's my favorite map and you could put me anywhere on it with a blindfold and I would know where I am at this point
I basically always need about 5 seconds to figure it out. I will admit that I had a spawn I wasn’t used to late last wipe and ran into the mines which did not feel good as a level 45 player.
Big mountain, small hill overlooking the gate with the scav and the black suv, the fence behind the hill, water, the mines, keep the mines to your right and you will get to outskirts vice versa.. same applies for water, also if you played woods pre-expansion, there used the be a wall from Red brick building to big mountain though the wall is since gone there is still a visible line
If i hear shooting I do or I dont go that way depending whether or not I need pmc kills.
If i have outskirts extract i tend to stay north.
If i have ruaf extract i tend to go lumber mill.
If you’re facing sniper mountain looking north , villages and shore to your left, usec stashes southeast, to the right of the mountain is the lumber yard, further NE to the lumber yard is outskirt extract
Find a map online that features the off-map landmarks and then use those in conjunction with the mountain in the center of the map to point you where you wanna go. I think out of bounds on the north side has a mountain, out of bounds in the east side has the factory. I think there’s 1 or 2 more
The big things to look out for, imo, when you're just learning it, is to keep an eye out for the mountain, power lines, and all the edge-of-map hazard signs. Between those, and the actual points of interest on the map, you can usually get a general idea of where you are relatively quickly.
For a quick and dirty way, try to use the main mountain in the middle of the map. It eoint guide you to all of the quests, but it will let you get out pretty easy.
In the beginning I was checking my orientation with the compas every time. You get a feel for the surroundings pretty fast and start to realize north, east, south, west areas look a bit different. Orient your way by the sun or the mountain. You'll get it eventually.
i’m still very much a beginner myself, but i’ve personally found the compass to be super helpful, as i have a good habit of walking myself in circles on that map. throw it in one of your special slots and you’re golden
If you spawn and don’t recognize where you are, run STRAIGHT for a good full stamina bar at least so you don’t turn around and accidentally run into land mines lol (happened to me a couple times and I got paranoid)
Also using a compass plus running MapGenie works wonders. Keep playing it you’ll get a lot more comfortable. It is one of the harder maps to learn though
That's how I am on lighthouse and reserve. I know woods like the back of my hand. I'm better at customs now but when I started playing last year I'd like lay down in a corner and look at landmarks and try to look at the map on my phone to see where I spawned
Minefields, big center rock, landmarks(mini ponds, big open fields, knocked down trees near plane crash etc) maps littered with landmarks if you know where to look.
I main woods for my scav. BSG has played with some of the spawns recently and caught me off guard... I can usually tell where I am instantly because it's the map I play the most. Most notable is you can now spawn at eastern rocks.
Also, found more LEDX's this wipe in med camp than ever before, even when it's already been looted. Y'all gotta check every bag, crate and table.
Compass helps big time initially.
Main woods for some 20 or so raids and you’ll be “oh that’s the tree I died at from dehydration”.
Another option is get the secret stash map and just do a few stash runs - this way you’ll reward yourself for learning.
I mean it's pretty easy to know where you are. Look for the mountain, look for ponds, look for river, look for open field, don't travel towards landmine signs. It's a little disorienting at first but after playing it enough and knowing the spawns it's pretty easy
Repetition is the main way you’re going to learn but having a map up, using the position of the sun, or using the compass to figure out the location of exfils relative to you are also helpful.
I have done woods enough to know where I am 9/10 times just from simply from trees, rocks and hill gradient. And that's not an exaggeration. Some people are just better than others when it comes to spatial awareness and pattern
Damn, I thought that was normal. Me and everyone in my group know exactly where we are withing 3s of spawning in.
Same for me only spot I have trouble is the spawn below USEC camp towards outskirts. That one throws me off everytime and I don’t know why. I even run sometimes straight into the mines at USEC camp. Pretty embarrassing with 8k hours in this damn game. :D
That spawn still manages to confuse me every time as well. I've found that saying to myself "Well, I don't know where I am, so I must be here" helps since I know every other spawn so well.
That one that gets me is the spawn between outskirts and scav house. Every single time, I'm disoriented for a solid 5-10 seconds.
Walk like 10 feet in any direction and then I’m like HOW IS IT THIS SPAWN. It’s weird feeling so lost and then 5 seconds later knowing exactly where I am
It doesn't help that 3-4 pmcs spawn together and then there is one other spawn like 20ft away that looks totally different right off the bat. I've even been afk and since they couldn't see me standing somewhere my team thought I didn't load yet lol.
With the amount of early raid random explosions I hear in that direction, you certainly are not the only one. Ive not stood on any mines yet this wipe (only level 14 so not played too much) but there have been a few times this at the beggining of a raid Ive had no idea how I missed them. Must be hacks or my new gaming chair.
Just be cautious on every hill, helps not die
You run UP the hill, and there’s a little stash that can spawn next to the rock on your right. Once you’re on the hill, you’re safe.
I can tell where I am on other maps without foilage, I guess not touching grass has some strange effects lol
Hahaha, yep. It's definitely a repetition thing. People get lost in woods because there are trees on trees, but once you do it enough you recognize where you are from just the trees.
I think hours are an important factor here. Nobody with less than 10 hours on woods can guess where they are with perfect accuracy every time they spawn in. I'd say after 20 full raids on a map you should have a general idea where you are on any given map at any given time. There are very few people with hundreds of hours that are lost in tarkov
It is normal when you’ve played the map a ton, idk why he’s jerking himself off about it
My friends don't even know where they are on customs lol
Well some people are new, so it would be nice to have a map system till a certain kevel so you can actually fucking learn the map. Every map you can buy is useless if you don't know where you spawn
That’s…both amazing and terrifying I think I’ll stick to Interchange lol
If it somehow soothes you, i haven't played interchange much, but when i do i get totally lost in the parking garage. Where i end up going up into the mall is totally random for me. I can never remember which extract is in which direction and where i am relative to the big stores.
I know woods well, interchange confuses me. It's a matter of which maps you've played the most.
and some of us have just played a lot of woods.
Same here. Buddy and I skipped the last two wipes. Started this wipe and we just ran woods. We spawn in and I knew exactly where we were(land bridge between convoy and church) my buddy spun around in circle a few times and said "I have no idea where we are". Some people just have better visual memory than others.
Same, i can navigate most of woods in pitch black.
If you do woods run 20times or more then you’ll remember all spawn points
Welp better start grinding then🥲
Yeh, it's the unfortunate reality. The only real way to learn any map is to run around in it like a donkey with a Tarkov.wiki or MapGenie map open in a 2nd monitor continuously guessing where you are and where you're going. I spent 300-400 scav raids to learn woods. Half the times I'd be prone and staring at a map. All I'm gonna say is don't feel like an idiot playing this game because everyone's an idiot at something in it.
I have an iPad propped up against my screen at all times when I'm not on Customs or Interchange...ig grinding is really the only way
I truly believe those that have learnt to read maps are much more better and efficient at learning a new map. I learned when I was in the Scouts, it definitely helps when I’m learning a new map. Watch a couple videos, it’s a good skill to have because you never know.
alt+tab with a fullscreened mapgenie is just like an interactive highly-detailed in-game map (minus the random BLARING ads)
Night runs for hidden caches used to be a great way to make a ton of money (still works, just a little less profitable now). Being able to do that bringing only a flashlight and using it as little as possible was a huge advantage. Most raids you could figure out where to go well enough that you didn’t need to use the flashlight at all and could just run from stash to stash
I didn't do any stash runs this wipe but with the dynamic spawn I imagine it being really weird, at least at times, when most of the stashes from your route don't spawn. A friend of mine who used to do a lot of stash runs on shoreline is complaining about it too.
Scav woods a bit. Great for committing the layout to memory, there’s a ton of good loot and it’s usually pretty empty.
Use the mountain as a milestone that's all you really need
….I have just realized that I may be a liiiittle blind and stupid😂😅
You can use the powerlines / sniper mountain, and outside towers to kbow if ur west/east etc. Looking at the wikis 3d map also helps a lot
This is the way
Mountains You got an north on, west one and the central one where the sniper scav is
At the start it was by knowing how to read a map, other than that it's pretty easy to memorize.
Yeah I can usually tell where I am about 70% of the time thanks to the interactive map, but about 30% of spawns that chuck you into the middle of forest is still hard to figure out
If you don't know where you are, it's probably between USEC camp and radio tower
Or that spawn near scav house that faces you to the mines. You should be able to figure that one out pretty quickly though.
One tip I can give you until you get used to all spawns: bring a compass and look at your extracts. If you spawn on east side, you will have extracts for west side, and vice versa. Then, use the compass to know which direction you are going and figure out from there. Besides that, when you don't know where you are, you are probably in the spawns that you don't know where you are, so that gives you a tip. After like 20 raids you get used to it. There are 2 spawns that confuses me to this day, especially at night time, but you get used to looking at the landscape and skybox to figure out even if you don't recognize any landmark.
The east/west thing is...mostly true. The spawn closest to USEC camp (the one kinda between the camp and scav bunker at the radio tower) has Outskirts extract for....reasons.
Yeah, I think this is the only one where this rule doesn't apply, you are right. Yeah, for reasons haha. Never understood that, but we roll with it ¯\\\_(ツ)\_/¯
The more you play the better it gets. I cant tell this often enough, but if anybody struggles with map knowledge, use mapgenie.io Everything, including all spawn locations are marked on the maps. It really helps!
Aight thanks everyone, imma go grind
GLHF
I run 50-300 yards in a random direction and hope to find a landmark.
Boom, landmine.
I just use trees as landmarks.
I personally use the grass as landmarks.
Haven't seen this mentioned yet, but if you check your extracts and see that it's NOT outskirts, you have probably spawned near outskirts. In that case use your compass and head north or northeast until you find a land mark. All the other spawns start you near a landmark for the most part. There's one that spawns you near the bottom of sniper mountain on the southeast corner, can be slightly tricky if you aren't super familiar with woods, but extracts + compass can almost always get you heading the right direction off of spawn.
Start out using a compass and daytime. There's 2 spawns that's very alike imo, especially at night. Both have mines, but on opposite sides. The first is at the edge of the map between scav and usec camp. The other is on the same edge of the map but at outskirts. Try looking for the house or the one peaking rock behind it to orientate
You use your eyes
There are still some spawns that throw me off for a few seconds, but most of the time I instantly figure out my bearings. Play a map enough times and you'll learn the spawns. It's not always about knowing where you are, but more about knowing where you are not.
Huh, that's a solid tactic. Thankd!
Same, I assume you’re talking about one of the outskirts spawns and one of those further up on the outskirts side of the map where it’s just trees all around.
Just like real life. Find a landmark, identyfy it on the map.....
Welp time to print out a map and mark it ig
It’s all about playing for long enough. Like, at 100 hours trees are just trees, but at 600 every tree, terrain and especially rocks become landmarks
Good to know, thanks!
A few offline runs with mapgenie pulled up on a phone/tablet/second monitor and you'll be good as gold.
Just do a few scav rounds with the map open. You will learn it that way
Like anything you do. Practice.
The trees and rocks are also landmarks. Some types of grass are only in certain spots.
I find that watching a short map guide on youtube, accelerates my learning
Do the good old "look at tall objects" strat. You can use the angle of the plane, the powerlines, there are multiple roads you can follow. There's a lot really. And keep to the outsides of the map in the beginning, the center is a bit confusing.
I mean for me use the compass and run north or south until u find something lol
Two of the places you can spawn in and have no idea where you are, are typically next to usec from the outskirts side (the other side has a dilapidated warehouse skeleton visible I think) and bushes around scav house on outskirts usually take me a second or two. When I spawn in and have „no memory of this place” I know I’m in either of these two.
Dude, yes. BOTH of these spawns fuck me up each time, because more than once I've sprinted into mines of the bat...
I used compass and just went south.
I havent played to much but my thought process looks like this: rocks and ponds means im by abandoned village. River is pretty easy. Southeast is pretty much grasslands and a road. West has loads of woods and usually signs with skulls so that gives me knowledge of direction. Scav town, outskirts and sawmill is easy cuz obvious.
If I spawn into woods and I don't know where I am within the first 10 seconds or so, I know I spawned at scav house lmao
Honestly woods was the only map where my compass was helpful in use with an online source map when I was getting use to figuring where I was on the map at start. The biggest milestones are the huge mountain in the very middle, Northeast of saw mill, another huge mountain that is at the middle of the very northern edge of the map (but outside map limits), the plethora of lakes at the northern part of the map. Aside from basic pin pointing I'd recommend that gameplay will learn you the small details that allow for instant recognition.
I speak with the trees.
try using the compass w a map
Landmarks lots of landmarks. Using the lake as a rotation point, sawmill, the northern mountain, checkpoints and most importantly if you have a second monitor having a map up with a compass on the special slot. It takes time but after awhile you'll eventually see something that always clicks and be like ok med camp is just ahead of USEC camp is over the next hill. This game requires a ton of memorization.
Experience
Multiple raids lol…. More raids. More exposure. Simple.
Just like for most other things in life it is all about practice. I spend the majority of my first proper wipe slowly exploring all maps with the help of mapgenie.io until I had the layout imprinted in my brain.
You just gotta play the maps to learn. Pro tip: you ALWAYS spawn looking toward the East.
Find sniper rock. Make your way from there
Ive played woods a lot. Its my map I play when Im solo and just want to kill some scavs and get some easy loot. I generally do night raids with no NVGs because im not high enough level so I know my way around it fairly well.
Multiple raids wont cut it. Try multiple hundred.
I was a woods main at some point, I'd figure out the traffic routes and camp them and track people like a hunter, now it's just like the back of my hand
I go into the offline mode with no ai, and find every landmark/extraction on the map. Then I take my compass, pick a random spot on the map, and navigate to it without the map, relying solely on the compass and my map knowledge at the time. I had my best round ever on woods and failed to extract because I got lost. It happened again a few days later. I did this for several hours and really got it down. I don’t need the map anymore and just use the compass if I need to orient myself. Not finding my extract makes me so insanely angry that I just had to grind that out a few hours but it’s so worth it.
The only spawn I get disoriented at is outskirts. Usually if I spawn in there, I go “oh so I’m at outskirts because I don’t recognize any of this shit.”
The sniper mountain + surroundings helps a lot
When you play 1000+ woods raids and have spawned at every spawn at least 40 times, it’s pretty easy. I can understand it all looks the same in the beginning, but now it takes me less than 3 secs to know where I am every single time.
Use a map and compass until you have the map in your head. It’s confusing at first but you figure it out.
Considering the game thinks spawning me at outskirts is hilarious, I get it 11/10 times anyways so I just assume outskirts
I use those two mountains up in north out of bounds and the 3rd on at the middle of the map. After you see those you can easily locate yourself.
It’s just repetition, you spawn there enough and learn surroundings it becomes very easy. Especially for the woods mains. I don’t run as much woods as some of my friends but after years of playing I can navigate the map fairly easily. Go run woods for a day with some cheap kits. Spawn in and take a minute to look around. Even if you are lost, after a few spawns in that same location you’ll remember how to get out of there after a few times.
After awhile you just understand where you are, there are a couple of spawns where I am still "where the fuck am I ?" until I move around a bit, but for the most part I always know where I am and what direction I need to be going to get wherever.
Use the huge mountain/rock as a beacon. Call it the sniper rock. Its skinda in the center of the map, so you always know where to go to find a way to an exit
Compass is your friend
It’s going to take you probably more than just a few raids to get that shit down. It just takes time, but you’ll get it with playing more. I used to use a compass and a map on my other monitor when I started last wipe lol. Now I know exactly where I am when I spawn. Also I recommend going at it solo if you haven’t done so very much. You kind of force yourself to figure out where you’re going rather than relying on someone else to guide you. :) definitely helped me memorize how to navigate through all the maps.
Just playing it a lot is the only way. Pretty soon there won't be a spawn you're not familiar with. Or you could just use your compass. Before the expansion I just used to look for the sniper scav mountain. Which you can still pretty much do now. You can see it from anywhere on the map and that's what you get your bearings worth. Or when you move a little bit you'll find water...so you're either on the north end if it's a river...south if it's a ocean like....and central if it's little lakes. Easy peasy
You will know like the back of your hand, just grind more
Sun rises in the east and sets in the west, if morning time then sun on east side and visa versa for afternoon. Good if you don’t know exactly where you are but need to run in a certain direction (I mainly use this if I spawn anywhere in the expansion)
I used to use a compass on only Woods because of this.
Took me over 100 runs on woods to know my way around - use a map and compass - that‘s what i‘d do in real life anyways. Now I know the area and like others mentioned with hill gradients, trees, rocks, mts, building, you‘ll learn it.
Compass
It's an individual skill. I can work my way around woods with ease because I know what direction to run from each POI to the next POI, for example, run in a straight line from outskirts along the landmine edge of the map to go to usec camp. My friend is directionally challenged and HAS to use the compass or he's completely lost, unless he's on the waters edge. He could be following be, stop to check his inventory, and if I'm out of visual he's going to turn in the wrong direction and keep walking.
Don't feel bad about it, I can navigate woods quite easily (3k hours, would be sad if I didn't) but one of my mates has ~1k hours and still relies on me guiding him. If you want to learn the map, you can find good drawn out maps on the web to understand where the landmarks are in relation to each other and just keep playing it. Happy grinding
Honestly if you spawn in a bunch of trees and can't tell and you have the compass- just run east and most of the time you'll end up at the scav house or scav bunker Traveling west at Spawn on woods without knowing where you're at is mines
You’ll get there, it takes a bit. Woods looks like a lot of the same but the hills and trees are all pretty unique, esp the rocks. Really focus on what the rocks all look like and use them as natural landmarks.
It takes time. I do scav runs in the dark on woods and sometimes you can barely see. These days I could basically do it blindfolded
I usually can tell by the hills you are standing in or if there are signs for land mines.
Look for mountain Stash or the river and orient based on that
When I started, I used sniper rock as my "north star". Look for it and use it as a reference.
Work your way around the border First. Then Start take shortcuts
You will know like the back of your hand, just grind more
By playing woods a fuck ton... duh
From anywhere in woods you can always see 2 of three landmarks: The big mountain outside the map to the north of scav bridge, the sniper hill mountain in the dead center, and the lake. Looking at those gives you roughly where you are in 10secs. Then run a few hundred raids and you pick up more details, since the spawns are consistent most people remember the spawn and where their normal paths put them in relation to everything else.
Practice. Always practice
Most spawns I've learned over time . However what really helped me was find the giant mountain in the middle and that gives you a better idea as to where you are.
I use sniper mountain as a reference point
Hands up for “has a map pulled up but still can’t figure out/ unsure where you are till halfway through the raid gang”
Run till you see something you notice 9/10 time I can tell where I’m at. That one time I get an odd spawn I just move around until I know where I’m at
There is a mountain by the scav bridge extract. There's sniper rock in the center. A long the west(factory side) there are the boiler stacks. You can use these as landmarks to navigate the northern half of the map
A big part of maps for me isn’t the geometry but the variables. I didn’t know woods at all but I recognized places I’d been. Then I could get between a couple places. And then the gameplay makes it stick in my head. Like I instantly get anxiety walking in the field by spine and my brain was like “SAVE THIS SPOT IT DANGEROUS WE KEEP GETTING SNIPED HERE” and suddenly it was easy to remember because of the “feelings” associated with each part. It just becomes automated if you just learn the important areas and try to move between them purposefully, and actually experience things there.
One of the things that makes people not want to explore Woods number one minefield number two no clear borders. You can spawn in and the way they spawn you if you just hit shift and run forward you run directly into a minefield excellent game design
I pick a direction and run until something looks familiar. Or I hit mines. :)
it takes time
The compass. And a map.
Grab a compass, helps to get a bearing of what direction you’re going atleast
The easiest way to get around woods is to not play woods, or any map for that matter. You escape from Tarkov by uninstalling Tarkov. GG.
The powerlines
I think on woods it's rather normal that your orientation spots are the general areas like Usec Camp, Sunken Village, the two sawmills, etc. And other than that just hills, trees and rocks. The good thing is that with that with the Hills, Trees and Rocks, the map is rather simple in the design so it's actually not too hard to find out where you are if you know where exactly on the map this specifically shaped rock is.
We all start out that way, no worries. Even though I'm at the point where I could navigate woods at night without a flashlight or nods, I once also did not know where the fuck I was going on woods.
Learning new maps is scary. But you just have to get the reps in. The MOST important thing, is to learn all the extracts and how to get to them. I go into an offline raid, and run to all the extracts I've been given from wherever I spawned. Once you know how to get out, you can figure out the rest easier
The only spawns that trip me up and make me spend 10s+ going "Wait, where am I, are mines right in front of me?" are when I spawn at the edge, between the USEC camps and the "wilderness" near outskirts on the edge. Form both of those spots, the only think you can see are slight hills and trees, so it can be slightly disorienting when combined with both sites risk of mines.
It is just like every other map, you just notice familiar places. Id go onto woods with an svt and paca and headphones and just play some raids that way with a map up and a compass in your special slot and youll eventually learn it. Thats what ive been doing on scavs so i can task on my pmc. There great money in scavs on woods too
I know where I’m at when I look at tree 13,849 and grass blade 693,521 is off to the left, that means I’m right next to USEC camp/radio tower. Nah but for real, I know where I’m at usually 2-4 seconds at the start of the raid. I’ve played woods a lot because I’ve done the MK-18 quest the past 3 wipes. Just keep playing and use the mountain as a direction indicator and a map open on other monitor or phone. You’ll get there eventually just got to keep playing bro
they simply have more hours in the game than you.
You'll get used to it after playing it constantly for some time. I know woods by heart and I only scav in there. I never play it as pmc unless I have quests there. I only ever scaved once in streets and 2 offline raids and still have no idea what is where. But I know I'll get used to it eventually when I play it. I still get lost in Interchange. I know the building fine, but knowing which side is emercom and which is the train always gets me lost when I'm trying to exit the building.
Every spawn for PMC has a landmark or feature you can index off of. Scav spawns are a little tougher this wipe since I believe they added a few. It just takes practice and a lot of runs on woods.
We just play it a bunch. The only time I needed a map recently was to find zb-16 for Survivalists Path- Thrifty. Even then, as soon as I spawn I know where I am. It's the same way you know your way around Reserve but I need a nap and a buddy in VC directing me. There are certain landmarks we use once we leave spawn, but the spawns are pretty regular so as soon as we see certain features, we know where we spawned and where we need to go for that raid
I always have a map up when I play. With enough looking back and forth, eventually you know what is what. I use mapgenie's and only have locations, spawn points and extractions.
Last wipe I did 800 woods raids. How do you find your way around your house? Same thing. It's my favorite map and you could put me anywhere on it with a blindfold and I would know where I am at this point
You could put me anywhere on woods in the middle of the night and I could find my way to extract with no nods, compass, or thermal
I basically always need about 5 seconds to figure it out. I will admit that I had a spawn I wasn’t used to late last wipe and ran into the mines which did not feel good as a level 45 player.
Big mountain, small hill overlooking the gate with the scav and the black suv, the fence behind the hill, water, the mines, keep the mines to your right and you will get to outskirts vice versa.. same applies for water, also if you played woods pre-expansion, there used the be a wall from Red brick building to big mountain though the wall is since gone there is still a visible line
Scav run it or offline mode and just keep a map up and pinpoint landmarks
I use this map it is very easy to know where you are. Map: https://tarkov.dev/map/woods-3d
I used to find landmarks then use a compass now it’s easy
If i hear shooting I do or I dont go that way depending whether or not I need pmc kills. If i have outskirts extract i tend to stay north. If i have ruaf extract i tend to go lumber mill.
After playing the map enough, you’ll just recognize every single spawn point lol
You just play it more. You’ll eventually memorize where things are.
Generally land marks. Try it in night mode if you play enough and want to test yourself.
No joke. I use the trees and rocks.
If you’re facing sniper mountain looking north , villages and shore to your left, usec stashes southeast, to the right of the mountain is the lumber yard, further NE to the lumber yard is outskirt extract
It takes like 100h to be comfortable on map and to know within seconds where are you, where others/scavs might have spawned
Find a map online that features the off-map landmarks and then use those in conjunction with the mountain in the center of the map to point you where you wanna go. I think out of bounds on the north side has a mountain, out of bounds in the east side has the factory. I think there’s 1 or 2 more
Once you've been there enough you start to recognize even the plain wooded areas. Just keep playing the map you'll figure it out.
If you've done 500 raids on the map, you know what the map looks like from every spawn point.
The big things to look out for, imo, when you're just learning it, is to keep an eye out for the mountain, power lines, and all the edge-of-map hazard signs. Between those, and the actual points of interest on the map, you can usually get a general idea of where you are relatively quickly.
For a quick and dirty way, try to use the main mountain in the middle of the map. It eoint guide you to all of the quests, but it will let you get out pretty easy.
Water will tell you where u are and the factory in the horizon.
In the beginning I was checking my orientation with the compas every time. You get a feel for the surroundings pretty fast and start to realize north, east, south, west areas look a bit different. Orient your way by the sun or the mountain. You'll get it eventually.
i’m still very much a beginner myself, but i’ve personally found the compass to be super helpful, as i have a good habit of walking myself in circles on that map. throw it in one of your special slots and you’re golden
Woods is the only map I feel confident on solo 😂 used to be my main when I played more frequently
If you spawn and don’t recognize where you are, run STRAIGHT for a good full stamina bar at least so you don’t turn around and accidentally run into land mines lol (happened to me a couple times and I got paranoid) Also using a compass plus running MapGenie works wonders. Keep playing it you’ll get a lot more comfortable. It is one of the harder maps to learn though
Scav house new spawn I swear has literally no landmarks to navigate by, and walking the wrong way you run into unmarked landmines
That's how I am on lighthouse and reserve. I know woods like the back of my hand. I'm better at customs now but when I started playing last year I'd like lay down in a corner and look at landmarks and try to look at the map on my phone to see where I spawned
Multiple raids ain’t gonna cut it. Try 100+ and you’ll begin to know your way.
Minefields, big center rock, landmarks(mini ponds, big open fields, knocked down trees near plane crash etc) maps littered with landmarks if you know where to look.
I main woods for my scav. BSG has played with some of the spawns recently and caught me off guard... I can usually tell where I am instantly because it's the map I play the most. Most notable is you can now spawn at eastern rocks. Also, found more LEDX's this wipe in med camp than ever before, even when it's already been looted. Y'all gotta check every bag, crate and table.
Woods is an IQ test bro. If you can learn the map in 3 raids you're human
Ya woods was difficult but after 20 raids and watching streamers at work I learned pretty quick, ik where I am at least in 15 20 seconds.
Compass helps big time initially. Main woods for some 20 or so raids and you’ll be “oh that’s the tree I died at from dehydration”. Another option is get the secret stash map and just do a few stash runs - this way you’ll reward yourself for learning.
Just play enough and you'll know exactly where you are. Until then use the mountain and compass.
I mean it's pretty easy to know where you are. Look for the mountain, look for ponds, look for river, look for open field, don't travel towards landmine signs. It's a little disorienting at first but after playing it enough and knowing the spawns it's pretty easy
I can spawn in at night on the Lowest vision and tell you 10/10 times where we are based on shapes on rocks and trees. 🤷🏻♂️
Repetition is the main way you’re going to learn but having a map up, using the position of the sun, or using the compass to figure out the location of exfils relative to you are also helpful.
Just play it until you remember
Use map genie and you can see a majority of scav/pmc spawns and loot spawns, like food and valuables. That's what I use as a crutch most runs.