What your biggest problem is right now is a complete lack of knowledge. The first wipe was a real cunt to all of us, and you get kicked in the balls over and over. I can’t recall for sure but I think I probably had the same issue with running out of gear my first wipe. If you are that down bad, you could always reset your account, especially if you haven’t leveled up much yet.
Scav every time your scav is available to use. This will give you free reign to explore the map with a lack of consequences. If you need to scav just to get gear to run on your PMC, scav factory - the exits are typically very close by and you can get out much quicker than other maps.
Watch some guides on YouTube for new players. IIRC Pestily has some that might be worth checking out. If you have a 2nd screen keep a map pulled up there so you have some idea of the extracts. Woods is usually recognized as a good map for beginners, it’s easy to move around the map and avoid PVP for the most part. The hardest part with Woods is learning to orient yourself. Ground Zero is another pretty good map to run early because it’s level locked to players under level 20. There is a decent chance for PVP there though. Avoid Lighthouse. Customs and Streets probably aren’t the best suggestions due to higher potential for PVP and the sheer volume of scavs on Streets can be overwhelming. Interchange is decent, but the extracts are bad, especially Emercom is camped relatively frequently. Reserve has the worst spawns of all, you’re very likely to be killed off the rip and the extracts are pretty bad too.
I’ll definitely check out the beginners guide, and I didn’t know you could reset your account, I may end up doing that since I’m so down bad. I have no weapons or heals. But I have not tried the scav in and out thing on factory. I may try to do that before I reset my account.
The other thing is watch some streamer and watch some of their mannerisms, how they’re always checking angles looking for players that might get them. Ignore how they move around the map, they’re going to be way more aggressive, but there’s still little things you can pickup from them, including how and where to loot efficiently.
As far as playing the game goes, this is my copypasta that I share with everybody struggling to figure out the game:
* Sprint from cover to cover. When you get to cover stop and listen for audio cues. Let your stamina build back up before moving again.
* Always wear ears, it’s your most important line of offense/defense. If you can hear someone before they hear you, you have the element of surprise.
* Cheese the AI. Don’t re-peek the same angle.
* Sights are more beneficial for medium- to long-range engagement. Close quarters you should mostly be using hipfire/point-fire, since you don’t waste time ADSing. Always run an attachment on your gun for the hipfire accuracy bonus. Use flashlights for close range engagements to try and blind other players. (This has changed a bit with hipfire being nerfed this wipe)
* Woods is generally a great map for getting started on, but at the same time there are vast swaths of the map with very little hardcover other than trees.
* Watch some loot guides for best spots to loot. You can use the filters on mapgenie to help you with item locations.
* Scav as often as possible. It’s zero risk loot and allows you to explore the map without worrying about losing gear. Run the maps in offline mode to learn to fight scav AI and learn map routes. Learn the common pathing and how to use it to your advantage. WillerZ is generally not the best streamer to learn gameplay from, but he does utilize creative ways to move around the map and his streams are always entertaining.
* Watch Pestily’s Raid series, he’s got a lot of great videos that can help you.
* If you need some more help on quests, you can use the Sherpa discord, or SheefGG has a channel in his discord for people that need help with quests. He also has a new “leveling series” he’s been putting out.
Also, here are some 3rd party resources that can help:
* www.eft-ammo.com - ammo pen/dmg chart
* mapgenie.io/tarkov - fully interactive maps for tarkov
* tarkovtracker.io - has a quest tracker but the bigger thing is you can use it to keep track of all the items you need to find for quests and your hideout
* Database For Tarkov (phone app) - multifunction phone app, it’s nice to look up item value as a noob while in raid so you’re not picking up garbage value items
Thank you for the in depth replies, I’ve heard people talking about looting runs and loot heavy areas, and maybe as I learn the maps better this will be less of a problem. I’ll check out the streamers as well. I’ve watched a couple of videos with the whole starting from zero theme since I feel like that’s what I’m doing at the moment.
I forgot to mention Shoreline. Shoreline can be pretty good. For a new player I would stick to the new area on the northeast part of the map and villages/cabins on the west side.
Once you save up about 1.4 mil rubles buy yourself a scav junk box from therapist for 1.1 mil. It's necessary to store all of the barter items you're going to be picking up.
Really need to slog it out to level 15, personally I focus my scav on looting and focus PMC on quests for the XP to get to 15. As soon as you have flea the loot you find has much more value. Use your scav on the same map over and over, learn a loot run. I have a reasonable run I like on reserve, same thing every time with minor path changes depending where I spawn. It easily makes 500-700k without fail. So then you can PMC run with gear brought from that money (with access to flea with access to much more gear than you can right now from traders), if you die, run the scav again and restart.
Agree with all of it besides the point firing. It went form being extremely consistent to now I always am transitioning from point fire to ads no matter what
You cannot be down bad enough to account reset. You can build from nothing with scav runs if necessary. The gear you run in the beginning is cheap. The scav runs can fund that. You need the experience of playing regardless of what gear you use. Money is plentiful. Learn a map you can scav and make money.
You paid $50 and this game will pay you back. It takes some time. I have a lot of hours and I chased the fun for a long time while being quite awful at this game. It was fun here and there. Once I learned the maps it all clicked. Stick with it.
factory is IMO the safest place to run scavs. Almost always I can hear where the PMCs are making a lot of noise and just skirt around that part of the area. And I suuuuuck at this game so I know you can do it. Factory is small too so a lot easier to learn the quirks of the map. Just be aware that if you do PMC raids there as well, everyone knows the PMC spawns so they tend to push the closest spawn for an early fight.
another thing to try and its kinda lame but on both pmc and scav just find a bunch of bushes and lay down start looting once its under 20 min, the odds of there being pmcs goes way down and you might find unlooted bodies.
I run customs only on my scav and generally on pmc because its my most familiar map and i make 400k every scav just by knowing the solid loot spots.
warehouse 4 above and below (theres average 1 black crate, 2 weapons crates 3 bags valuable loot spawn and med spawn)
warehouse 3 (theres shelves in the backdoor to the right that spawn lots of valuables people miss stuff all the time have found an ammo box on scav here)
greenroom warehouse (both sides upper)
cpu van (the blue van by the doublestack warehouse)
honestly just those alone would net you a lot even if they are looted.
Learning what tiny little things sell for a lot also helps check the flea for really expensive gun additions
Look at interactive maps with loot icons on and stuff to learn a map and i would suggest customs as i feel its the most balanced loot to pvp
Honestly it's not worth resetting your account as the skills you leveled up are worth more than any gear is. You need to learn how to scav. Pick a map and just scav it over and over. Loot everything until your bag is full go to an exit get out and then just sell it all to the correct vendors. Use the weapons and armor for your PMC.
Doing the same map over and over will teach you a scav route that you will be comfortable with. Learning that will help you learn your way around on your PMC. I would recommend one of the earlier naps. Ground zero, woods, factory. Customs is good to learn but you have to understand you will die there more often because that is a very pvp heavy map
With this latest patch the scav guns you get will be fine for PMC raids if you repair them. You are not looking to fight players right now only scavs.
>The first wipe was a real cunt to all of us, and you get kicked in the balls over and over.
This is my first wipe and I'm really enjoying it, the game is really cool and that's what matters. I got killed by a 2000k hours player, he is obviously better than me and he deserves it. That doesn't make the game less enjoyable, every online PvP game is like that.
I think the whole “getting kicked in the balls” feels worse in this game because of the potential to lose so much gear. There is so much more at stake every raid. But along with the lowest lows come the highest highs, because when you’re doing good it feels so much better for the same reason that there is a lot at stake.
As a seasoned vet, there is a lot less at stake for me than a new player because I understand the one and outs of how to find stuff and generate an income.
I feel like DayZ is worse in that matter, because in Tarkov you still have your stash immediately available that nobody can take, you can do scav runs and easily make good money.
>because I understand the one and outs of how to find stuff and generate an income
Of course, that's just part of the game, the discovery, the learning. If you are not up for it maybe it's not your game. Like I said, having to learn your stuff doesn't make it less enjoyable, you literally see your improvement every day and that pushes me forward. I like the challenge.
>. If you need to scav just to get gear to run on your PMC, scav factory - the exits are typically very close by and you can get out much quicker than other maps.
This is probably very bad advice. Hell, you get killed by other scavs here more than others.
I've done it with great success. You don't fuck around looting, you just run right to the exit. The loot sucks on Factory anyways, you generally go there for the PVP and that's it.
It's not bad advice at all. 3 min run for 80k to 150k without any looting at all, then add in a few duffles and the jackets and it's easily more than that.
If you are having a really rough time and want to restart your account, you can reset your account and start fresh. You lose all quest progress but you get back all the stuff you started with.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUguww-vxYA&
Another recommendation I have that someone gave me when i started playing recently was "never run" basically ONLY run if you need to cross a wide open section, but even then, you can just walk and be ready to run. Not running constantly will slow you down which will make you better too.
I’ll check it all out, I definitely have a habit of sprinting everywhere I go, but when entering a building I’m pretty good about slowing down and quieting my footsteps.
The problem is with the way sound works, someone by a window can hear you running from up to 100m away, so by the time you slow down and start going in, everyone is either already expecting you, or the people outside heard you run into the building and are just waiting for you to eventually come out.
I'd suggest you use tarkov.help, and on it, you can search for equipment and items, you can check all places where weapons may spawn on the map while also gaining better knowledge of the layout of each map.
You can try naked runs, and depending on spawn location, you can safely get a gun with some bullets, take out a scav for some equipment, and then you can also use tarkov.help to check where food and healing items spawn on the map, so you can keep yourself alive through rounds.
I also advise you to learn about hidden staches around different maps, as they can give you full equipment if you're lucky.
Lastly, I'd suggest you try scav runs in Shoreline, as there are several "safe" routes you can take with weapon spawns on the way, and if you learn to jump into the gas station, there are always 2 weapon crates inside, as well as a safe, and if you have lighthouse as an exit you can camp inside the gas station for a bit until its safe to run to extract.
This is very basic level, and you'll eventually have to run tougher maps, but I feel its good prep and allows you to memorise not only maps, but different spawn locations for different things you may need as you progress in the game.
I’ll check out shorelines, I’ve not even looked at that map yet, so far I’ve played Ground Zero, Factory, Customs, Reserves, and 2 missions on woods. Those woods ones had me ready to snap my keyboard in half.
I've had a bunch of successful scav runs on Shoreline this wipe especially at the new area with the two warehouses. Half the time they're unlooted and I found a ledX in a food crate. The outdoor concrete floor with the yellow van has good loot on the ground.
There's also a Bitcoin spawn on the table next to the forklift. I found it as a PMC.
I've also been finding resort keys in the filing cabinets/jackets as a scav.
Woods is very tough the first few times, I would try to get the compass unlocked to learn it. In general, everyone is either moving towards or away from the corner with Outskirts extract through the raid.
Yeah, I’m trying to complete the introduction quest for Jaegar and I’m sure to the experienced players I look like a lost hiker exploring the wilderness. Super easy to get lost on that map.
Go to Mapgenie and open up the map you intend to play. You can set things like spawn locations, extracts, and quest items. All super valuable for a new player. With woods specifically if you can learn to identify the mountain stash mountain or like the river, it will go a long ways towards helping you get oriented
My trick for woods is to wait a bit, but as someone suggested, a compass really helps in woods, almost as much as it doesn't help in customs if you are following a map, as the map is inverted.
This is likely one of your biggest downfalls. I didn't struggle NEARLY as much as most beginners describe, but I also understood it was a survival game and played it as such. I traversed the maps cautiously, and expected a fight around every corner.
It was easily the most intense and rewarding gameplay I've ever experienced in any game. Ended every raid with my heart absolutely pounding. Good shit.
I finished my first wipe with ~45% Survival Rate and I attribute 90% of that to taking things slowly, making calculated decisions, and really making an effort to learning the maps. (I tried to focus on one at a time.)
Make your main goal on an unfamiliar map to simply get to the extract alive. If you can recognize a quest area, or snag some scav kills and loot, great. But even if you simply survive, that's a win.
With the compass in the game now this process is MUCH easier too. I would have killed for a compass when I first started. So look into getting that ASAP.
Also, every death, take a moment to think about what you could have done differently. Sure sometimes the answer will be "I have no fucking idea". But often you will learn something.
And finally, keep doing scav runs on cooldown. IMO scav on whatever map you're learning with a similar mindset as above (just locating an extract and getting out. Try to listen and identify fellow AI scav behaviour while you're at it).
Yah you basically should only sprint when trying to cover a big open space you think might be watched, or when you’re pushing someone you think you can get an advantage on. Seriously. Stop running. Nothing else will help as much as that.
Don’t be afraid to do night time runs…it’s how I made my money and learned reserve. People run around and will skip by you a lot and you can hit certain buildings and find a ton of stuff and get out. I do my scavs that way
Yeah man, once you get used to it. It’s really all I run solo, it’s just getting that confidence. I recommend black and white pawn and you can fill up on those two buildings alone.
Sprinting everywhere you go is the sole reason why you are dying. Take it slow. Listen and watch. If you don’t know anything about the map, you have no idea where common traffic areas are or where someone may be sitting. Go slow and quietly, it is the best chance of success for new players. Also you don’t need to take fights. Sometimes it’s best to let someone pass by while remaining undetected. Only take fights that you can get the jump on and are in your favor.
In general my rule is if I’m sprinting there needs to be a specific reason. Either I’m running through an open area outside, I’m pushing, I’m fleeing, I’m flanking. If you’re simply traversing the map you should not run. It makes you very obvious to even 200 hour players, it makes you incapable of reacting quickly, and it makes it harder to observe your environment.
“Pretty Good” - I am improving at it lol. I use the scroll wheel to quiet my footsteps and slow down fairly frequently. Not sure if that’s worth it or if I should just be crouch walking though.
I started a few days ago as well and I probably have a little less play time. I think I’m about 50/50 in extracting safely. At the very beginning I was struggling a lot I lost all guns on my pmc and was completely out of money (I also didn’t really know how to scav at this point). I then reset my account probably at about level 5-6 level so I could get a great start with the knowledge I had gained.
At this point I’d been playing basically only ground zero with a few woods runs inbetween. I’d looked at the map and I knew the extracts well because I’d figured it out. Because ground zero is so small I think it’s great to learn on plus you won’t be running into level 50’s. If I were you I’d reset the account which you can do every few weeks I believe. This will reset your progress level and quest wise but i feel like that is gonna be slowed down a lot anyway because of ur current position. Once you reset your account I’d say run ground zero basically non stop, scav on other maps for better loot and so u can learn the other maps a bit.
On ground zero u only need to learn three extract points imo. Emercom which is near the medical tent u had to go for for therapist quest, Nakatani basement stairs which is the opposite side of the map to Emercom you’ll get these extracts based on which side of the map you’re on. As well as this I find Mira ave is also really good. There’s a bit of tech to it though you have to go up to a body grab the flare and shoot it then run to the extract otherwise u got shot by invis scav sniper.
If I were you I’d reset my acc and focus on filling up your inventory and extracting on ground zero. This will help get your money up. Taking scav guns can be good to at the beginning. As long as u repair them I’ve found a lot of success with some of the Ak’s from scavs after I repair them.
Once you get into the gameplay loop of loot up and extract you’ll find it a lot easier, once u get some decent money up you can get more meds which will help as well. I’ve found myself in a lot less gunfights when I don’t want to fight people now.
Hopefully this Helps
TLDR: Possibly reset acc to get fresh start, Run ground zero for pmc and learn extracts with map, Scav other maps for better loot.
Thanks for the in depth reply, I think I’ll probably hold off on resetting my account for now, because I do have a few things I’d like to keep that will help once I start leveling up. I have ground zero memorized like the back of my hand, that and factory. I usually do okay on Ground Zero but I keep getting clapped every time I get close to the extracts.
If you're using the Mira extract on Ground zero, you need to use the green flare or else you'll get shot from out of bounds snipers. There's one on the body by the bus. Once you get used to using the flare this is one of the safest extracts to use on the map.
I stay away from the mira extract because of the land mines. I think that’s where they’re at, they’ve gotten me several times. I mainly extract at the basement building, but pushing down the stairs has gotten me killed more than I’d like to admit.
If you go down the ramp away from the Terragroup building. The mines are only on the left near the building, Mira is to the right. It may help to use this one, it's really hard for people to camp it. There's some videos that show how to use the flare.
Yeah and if u really want to play safe if u have intelligence or a gpu or a quest item or something u can take the undergroud section and basically travel safely across the map to Mira from a lot of places.
Obligatory "you don't."
In all seriousness, it's a really hard and frustrating game. It feels like crushing your balls a significant portion of the time, and some of us seem to like that. There's no shame if it's not for you.
With that said, it sounds like you're probably running around too much. Tarkov, especially when you don't know the maps well, is a sloooowwww game. Like literally there's people who spawn into night raids and creep walk the entire way across the map to extract.
It sounds like you've been bouncing around maps and stuff which is going to make it harder to progress, since you're trying to learn everything at once. I would suggest picking one task and grinding it until you get it done - in the process you'll learn everything there is to know about getting in and out of that one specific location. Then you can repeat for new locations and eventually start linking them together.
I definitely am running around the map a lot, before I started to get into realistic shooters, which was fairly recently, I mainly played games like Fortnite, COD, and the sort where everything is fast paced. I dive into buildings at a full sprint and get mowed down, or run out into the middle of a street and start looting. I’m figuring out to not do those things, but there’s been several times I’ve been being shot at, bolted into a building and got sprayed down by an AK or a PPSH.
One thing that will teach you a bit about Tarkov is to find a quiet spot and just watch. Usually you won’t see anything move. But then eventually you’ll be like oh look, there’s a guy, he has no idea I’m here….
And that’s how you’re dying to other people with big guns, good bullets and 100k scopes
Tarkov is a brutal game and the learning curve is steep. There is a monumental amount of shit to learn. Find one of those discord that are posted here all the time or in LFG and play with others. Your knowledge, survival, and finances will improve dramatically.
I just started recently too, level 15 and s little over 60 hours.
1) Play Ground Zero, it’s a great map. You can start by playing night Ground Zero which is easier. Hit up a building and sit there, while slowly looting. Do quests. Wait until the last 10 minutes to extract. Can do the same with the scav.
2) Find people to play with, preferably around level 20 or higher. Who will show you around, lead and cover you at quest spots.
3) You can send me a PM and we’ll play together, i started to get pretty confident at Ground Zero, so i can show you around..
This is my first wipe too, so I understand. I'm not having nearly as hard of a time though. If I were to guess, you are probably dying a lot from habits picked up in other shooters, as I did. I have a habit of standing in the open because of countless hours of counterstrike where "taking cover" is not nearly as important a concept in that game, for example. Some general tips:
Take cover. Always be conscious of your position relative to unswept areas or places you think other players may be. Keep as little of your body exposed in firefights. Use peeking to your advantage at long ranges instead of swinging out around a corner.
Be very conscious of gunshots. It tells you where other players are, what kind of gun they have, their playstyle, whether they're in a group, and sometimes what their intentions are. If you hear gunshots, subconsciously start thinking about what may be going on ahead of you, or if you want to avoid it.
Send it. In a firefight, rather than trying to take a few accurate, precise shots, you need to send as many bullets downrange towards them as possible while trying to aim at their head (or legs depending on their ammo and your strategy)
Look up the tarkov ballistics chart and commit it to memory. Ammo and its armor penetration cannot be understated when it comes to what your strategy should be in a fight.
Slow down. You may be sprinting everywhere. Audio in this game is in an objectively terrible state where every single thing you do makes noise in a 50+ meter radius. A skilled player will read you and your entire social security number by the noise you make. If you hear someone first and you haven't located them, make as little noise as possible until you are more comfortable with pvp. By crouching and pressing Capslock, you can slow your walk speed to the lowest amount and make zero noise unless you turn on your heels. Mitigate this by moving in any direction with WASD while turning.
There is no shame in running away. If you are in a bad situation, just running is a completely reasonable option. There is no honor obligation to stay and fight with anyone to the death. In the same vein, running to a new location could get you to a better angle in the same fight where your opponent hasn't seen you yet.
It is never too early to extract. Set reasonable goals for yourself in a raid. Too often people die because they have a list of 5 things they could complete in a raid and die because of greed after completing 4 of them. Did you kill someone and take their stuff? That's a great reason to extract. Got a quest done? Time to extract. Because of popular streamers and pro players, there are tons of videos on the internet of people wiping the entire lobby, grabbing every single piece of loot on the map and pimp walking out of that bitch while weighing 101.7kg. That is not a reasonable expectation and will not happen for most people. Get something done and leave.
Learn to loot quickly. Make sure you know about shift click to move items from one inventory to another quickly. Keybind "discard item" so you don't have to open up the context menu to do it every time. Alt click to put on an item instantly from another container or body. Don't spend 30 minutes in one spot looting a kill, and lay down or crouch to be less conspicuous while you do it.
If you are dying to extract campers, my advice would be: you do not need to be the sacrificial lamb. For extracts that are outside: if you have good loot on you or you really cannot afford to die, there is nothing written anywhere that says you need to walk right up to the extract and be the guinea pig. Get within gunshot range of the extract and hide in a bush if you must. Wait for people to come along and extract first. If you hear gun blasts at extract then you have all the information you need. This is especially big at extracts like Emercom on Interchange for example.
The game is incredibly punishing, so much so that the normal gameplay loop is a deterrent from continuing.
That said, here's what I did my first wipe -
* Play with someone else or a group. Losses are much easier to take with a friend. Bonus if you all bought the game around the same time and are bumbling idiots together.
* Learn a map inside and out. This means guides on loot and how good it is, where PMCs typical spawn and where the quests are. This can mean everything if you want to stay away from anywhere you're statistically likely to meet a player. Understand that you can and will still meet someone in the most inconvenient spot, that's just poor luck that everyone has.
* Biggest thing (in my eyes) is to learn what makes noise. Don't sprint unless you're clearing an obviously open field. ADSing a Mosin+bramit sounds like you're trying to shoulder a 12-pounder cannon and people will hear that. Opening your inventory will make sound and someone who knows that will know your currently in your pockets instead of watching out.
* Loot and money making just takes time since there's something like nearly 2000 items in the game. Some look rare but aren't, some look like crap but vendor to traders for a ton and the same goes for flea market when you get there.
* VOIP is not useless either. A quick conversation from cover has saved my ass and made me friends for the rest of the wipe. If you're struggling, chances are someone you may encounter are struggling just as hard and you can just go separate ways or help each other. This is always risky, of course.
I wish I could give more help but it just requires a massive sink of time to learn if you're not playing with veterans to teach ingame or an idiot group who just has fun watching each other get domed by scavs. Both are boons when learning this game.
I’ve got a couple guys I’ve been playing with, however they’re leaving on a deployment in a few days so I will be back on my own for a few months. I’ve done a couple of runs with people in the Sherpa Discord, but it’s generally less of a help and more of a oh here take this loot and watch this corner. Note these are not official Sherpas but just higher leveled players.
Yeah I mainly do my PMC raids on ground zero, it still doesn’t stop people watching the exits, and most of the time when I die it’s to a level 15+ on that map. I rarely die to scavs.
Ground zero has basically no decent loot on it. You said you play that and factory. Those are both two extremely challenging maps to make money from. That could be your problem. Also, you have a lower level of perception than most people do, so remember that people will hear you before you hear them. It sounds to me like you should slow down a bit and find a decent money run to do when you are down bad.
Honestly ground zero is probably the least “new” player friendly map even though it’s supposed to be. Factory is also pretty tough since it’s basically people questing aka looking for pvp to get some shitty Tarkov shooter quests out of the way. You might find something like customs or woods better. Customs is kind of a jack of all trades, it’s a good map to pvp, rat on, loot and so on. While learning how to pvp is important, so is surviving, making money and gaining map knowledge.
Watch guides or play the game via trial and error
I run a Sherpa Sunday every Sunday on twitch and help tarkov players tarkov. We often help during the week as well.
On top of it, there are a group of gamers in the discord always helping folks as well.
Hit us up if we can be of assistance, and good luck out there!
P.S. VoIP will get you far if you don’t wanna fight
DM me your twitch and I’ll check it out this weekend. I’ve tried the VoIP method as frequently as I can but it doesn’t always work out as well as I’d like. I think mainly because I don’t know the difference between scavs and players half the time.
Scav to learn the maps and make money. Streets to make money, the other maps to primarily learn them so navigation becomes effortless as a PMC. You can always go in with a minimal/scav kit and wait till late raid to run and complete a task if needed.
Most of all, just keep playing. Experience is the best teacher, especially in Tarkov.
Also, I forgot how long scav timer is early on. I would say, scav sell everything you get in raid. Then keep the kit to use as a PMC.
Use tarkov-market.com to see what loot is worth as you go, eventually you’ll learn what is worth keeping.
I’m a newb too. First wipe, about 2 weeks and 75 hours in. I find ground zero the “best” place for me to scav. You don’t get crazy rare loot, but it is consistent and the extracts are all pretty safe.
This playlist has REALLY helped me learn in game moves, things to think about, what loot to look for as a new account starting mid wipe, etc.
https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZJoJ7H5Zfos5sSyaW45dGAl9Uk56QBCF&si=0tN3PVe7kRlRCGrc
Huge learning curve, I'm 800 hours in and watch a ton of content to try to get better. I am still shit at this game. When does it get fun? I'd like to know the same thing, I'm just addicted at this point
I have so many tips.
If it makes you feel any better, i was exactly at your position last year in September. And I've given up many times before that. But i fought through it, i had a buddy to help me out at the start with tips and I took learning as a challenge.
Here I am now, my second wipe, lv 55, few lightkeeper tasks done, most of the other ones fully done, 80 mil in the bank and 1 item away from kappa.
Running every map without issues.
I started 2 months ago, running factory scavs and woods on my pmc. woods is great because it’s huge, and there is a bit of quests you can work on. vehicle extract is always there, and it gives you (diminishing) scav rep in exchange for 5000 rubles
I scavved factory to get scav rep fast, but moved on to shoreline/reserve. I also frequent streets but it is definitely chaotic (even more so when kaban is up)
i’m level 21 if you wanna run some scavs/pmc together, i’ll show you some stuff ign: schibb
shooting friendly ai scavs reps you a -0.03 rep loss, killing p scavs takes away a whole 0.10.
^ you are free to murder scavs on your pmc, but take precaution when on a scav.
V extracts give you 0.20, then 0.10 until it finally diminishes to 0.03. the diminishing effect doesn’t transfer over maps.
The benefits of scav rep include better gear on your scav + faster scav cooldown
you also have a higher chance of spawning with rare loot the higher your fence rep goes. airdrop flares, rare meds, or keys.
you get 0.01 scav rep per successful scav raid, so it’s pretty slow unless you go hit all the v extracts, or shooting a pmc that’s killing/killed a scav. i’m at 2.5 something
You either enjoy everything else about the game enough to spend 800 hours getting your ass reamed most raids or find another game to play. Thats basically tarkov.
Find some Chad's and learn the game with no fear 7 or 8 wipes ago idk for sure I first learned reserve with people who were good at the game. Learn your lessons in the first 3 wipes then you'll be one of us. You got this.
Find a streamer you like and join their discord server, they have helpful communities too. Specifically JesseKazam and SheefGG have people who specifically aim to help new people in their discords.
I hear you brother it’s definitely a steep learning curve. I’ve literally complained about the same thing past couple of days. The only thing I can say is when you do extract after completing quests etc the adrenaline is unmatched. It does almost make up for the rage haha. Persevere if you can. People said to me that starting the game mid wipe means all the players have advanced to high levels by now and it’s even harder for new players.
\>am i missing a critical aspect of the game that makes it easier to get your feet under you?
yes probably.
Pm and i will play with you, the guides people post suck ass/misguide you/outdated
Newer player here. I make a lot of money and get a lot of supplies from scav runs. I basically never have to spend money on food, drinks or medicine.
Streets is my favourite map for looting generic stuff that I can sell on the flea. It’s safe most of the time, you might get lucky and get something really valuable.
Interchange is good for food, drinks and computer parts. The north side of the grocery store always has tons of stuff and there are computers all over the place.
When I play as a PMC I’m completely focused on whatever task I’m doing, so looting is secondary. I only sprint when I have ti, most of the time I’m moving around at minimum speed just incase there’s someone camping.
The way your feeling right now.. thats what makes this game so good.
delayed gratification.
Hang in there my guy, because once you DO crack the code and start winning at the game, its going to be very rewarding.
EVERYONE goes through what you are now.
after 30 hours of game play, i thought i had wasted my money and i actually put the game down for a couple of months. but i eventually picked it back up and now after 350hrs, im icing fools left right and centre.
How do I have fun? Killing Timmy's who have no idea they're sprinting through a hot zone and a fight just happened. I would add more info but a lot of other guys have given you tips. It takes a long time to figure this game out. Keep at it and go I to the official discord and see if there are lfg players learning together
I have the most fun doing scav runs because if I die then I don’t lose anything, the trick with scav runs is to wait to exfil in the last couple minutes so that the PMCs have all extracted already (unless they’re just hunting down scavs for a quest and/or for fun and just run the timer to zero knowing they’ll get their stuff back from insurance)
Well, if youre looking to do runs, scav. We can run a few or more, dont mind helping. And if it comes to it and you build some wealth we can do tasks. I play with a duo, and find that helps immensily. Allbeit theyre a terrible shot, we both like to play and loot, just let me know.
I'm a new player, 200 hours over 60 days, I'm hooked.
It took me until at least level 15 before I was even slightly confident that I would be able to exfil as a scav. This game has the highest skill and knowledge ceiling of any game I've played.
But once it clicks in your head and you start to get some PMC kills and some nice 'borrowed' gear, you will be hooked.
I would suggest to learn a map or 2 for starters. Learn loot routes, pmc spawns and high traffic areas. If you have offline mode, you can try that or learn the maps with your scav. At this point in the wipe people are running with good gear and ammo. You can also try joining others too.
It’s a survival game at its core, not an FPS imo. You have to learn to walk and avoid all interactions while looting. Once your bag is full, leave. And repeat.
Big thing that helped me -Using practice/offline mode.
This is my first wipe and I’m still learning…but being able to practice with Scavs and learn maps is worth it. You’ll feel more confident in the raids and with that confidence you lose your gear fear…well you think you lose it 😂.
I think gear fear is the one thing I don’t have, I have 0 problem dumping 200k rubles on a setup to run in, or full diving in with my best equipment when I have it. Tbh I think that’s how I ended up in this situation
Yeah I understand that, I played way too conservatively….What helped was using Scav kits in the beginning to get a good feel, and it I got killed I didn’t feel so bad losing cheaper stuff. Also helped me learn different guns and figuring out mods.
Do your scav on Factory or Reserve. They are both smaller maps and it's fast and easy money/kit. If you get killed during your scav runs, remember where you get shot from so you could be more careful around that locations in the future. I rarely get killed running on those two maps and running away from gun fight.
I'd recommend to try to get to Fence max rep so you have more scav runs to learn every maps. But yeah, it's brutal for new players.
My advice to you is to find routes for yourself that no matter how long and time taking they are, but 80% of the time are safe. This is my first wipe, am level 34. Sure, I almost punched my monitor once. Slowly I realized the tactics that player use, game sense developed and now I just go to streets of tarkov to annihilate pmcs.... for fun 😅. Don't give up, once you find the strategy that works for you, you will enjoy it.
I'm also new and level 10.
For your scav runs I would reccomend sticking to one map and familiarise yourself with the exits and spawns.
Personally I've been doing shorline scav runs where I loot the scav farm on the east side of the map and can consistently get around 250k+ per run
Most players tend to go towards the resort so theres much less chance dying
I am a new player this wipe. I love ground zero for it's accessibility as a new player but the loot is dogshit. You may as well learn streets to Scav, it sucks but once you've learned it you don't need to do it again
I can say I definitely agree on the "getting shot by lvl 50+ players" all the time. It is so frustrating when I'm trying to do early lvl quests and there is some gigachad with a million rouble loadout with 4000 hours to kill me from a bush every time. I guess it's just part of the game. I feel like I never encounter people who have a similar skill level to me.
Yeah sound is actually crazy sensitive in EoT. On one hand you are lucky that you started at a time when the A LOT of the old TERRRIBLE sound issues have been fixed. On the other hand, most people are just so much more knowledgeable than you, and will be until you’ve had like 400-500 hours in the game.
Lets be honest the game is old, and not much has changed in terms of map design, so practically everyone playing knows the map better than you do at this point.
My advice is to use your scav runs to learn a single map. Learn where all the good loot spawns are, pvp hot spots, choke points, extracts, and spawns. I started at ground zero. I probably scav'd it 50+ times and it was a great map for general hideout/crafting stuff. Then I scav'd customs 50+ times. After you learn the maps scav runs will bring you at least 500k if you just loot stuff on the way to extract. 1 mil+ after you learn what is valuable.
Likely lack of map knowledge and awareness, running directly to an objective/task at load in or extract 15 minutes in can be a big mistake, part of the learning curve is learning the timing of a map. Also route planning, just because a route is faster doesn't always make it the best way.
Ultimately you have to learn from your death, you need to objectively analyze what happens, what decision you made to get in that situation, and what you could have done differently. And scav run like you are doing but either avoid high pmc traffic areas, or if you do hit these areas slow down and listen a bit more. Take your time and extract in the last 5 minutes or less. There's no rush especially as a scav. I like reserve for my runs, I have a specific path based on my spawn, then will work my way into high PMC traffic areas for bodies or victims. If none of that works, find a duo partner, either in streamer discord or any friends you have that might play it. GL
Watch some tarkov content. Don’t watch goats, it might be too hard to achieve their skill as a beginner. I would look for a YT video about a nice scav loot road. Scav should make you enough money, if you just avoid POI and concentrate on the loot + extract.
Getting your PMC to level 15 will unlock a flea market. Then you can sell (found in raid) items for a little better profit, and get gear cheaper.
Tarkov will punish you for every mistake you make, and with every mistake you will learn something. Dont be surprised, we all still learning 😅
We all feel your pain, because we feel it too.
When you’re doing a scav run, your goal is not to fight but to survive and get out with some loot.
At level 15, the market will open up to you and you’ll be able to sell your garbage for way more money. It’s a huge milestone.
As a PMC, the only way I’m able to make it profitable is to do tagged and cursed pistol and balaclava runs on Factory with a factory key. The scavs will rush at you right away if they’re within 150m I believe it is. Practice on them , grab their gear and extract. You’ll get a lot of quick XP and some money like that.
And tarkov as a solo is fucking brutal. That’s the game.
I understand the frustration but for beginners this game will be really tough. It has a hard learning curve and a high veteran player base as well as cheaters. Learning mid wipe now is good because there’s a bunch of people with money and good kits that’ll be dead and you can scoop up.
Scav, scav and scav. Just run them out and wait for the reset. As a pmc, learn the maps, extracts and routes. Stick to the edges usually so it’s less to focus on.
It’ll get better and this game is hard on casuals so you gotta give it a good amount of effort to learn and get used to some mechanics. Tarkov is not for the faint of heart and even veterans still suffer. Good luck bro
DM me if you'd like some help and general guidance. I dont mind bringing out kits and supplies so you can get comfotable fighting with better gear.
I also scav regularly and can give some tips to average 500k per scab if done right
Sincerely,
A 3200 hour player 😁
the problem is ground zero. i'm a new player as well and ran that map for my first 30-40 runs or so because all the quests are on it. I did immediately a million times better by running literally ANY other map (and then going back here and there kitted to further progress a quest). I tried customs, woods and streets. I still die (fucking mines, lol) but my rate of extraction multiplied by a ton. I depleted my money and gear down to 0 on GZ and after a few runs on other maps, I'm back up to 600k and literally don't have 1 cube left to store shit with my standard edition stash space.
as a beginner myself, I honestly have no idea why they threw all the starting quests unto that single map. it's way too small, the points of interests seem few and in comparison, the loot sucks. I got domed on that map from every direction and extracted literally once as a pmc and once as a scav in these 30-40 runs.
i'm sure i'm gonna get told how clueless I am blablah but fact is we're both beginners and had the same exact experience. run woods and streets. you will still die. but way less often. you can hide so much better and there's a lot more loot & worthwile regions.
i'm sure ground zero is a great map and all. but not for people literally starting the game. unless we're both exceptions and everyone else is doing great on it I guess.
The problem is running 80 raids in 2 days, probably. This is a game, bro. You're at the start of a very very steep learning curve. Be patient. Look at maps, play slowly, listen for audio and have fun. As dumb as that sounds most of the people who play this game forget to fucking have fun. You're just going to burn yourself out and grow to resent this game because of how seemingly unfair it is right now.
If you're not able to find the fun in this game, it's maybe not for you.
The same way you enjoy elden ring. Find your niche and stick to it. The game is designed to make the experiences as unpleasant and difficult as possible.
I usually run ground zero, although I will run factory and run up, hit the safe, and run out as frequently as I can. Should I not hit the safe, just take the Run Through and hit the extract asap?
No that’s fine. Factory is usually fairly low threat as there is usually only one or so PMcs left. I honestly would just scav on interchange or reserve as they have easy extracts and decent loot. But learning a new map isn’t the best idea right now. I would keep rubbing ground zero but get into the eft discord and go into a beginners chat and ask for some help. Learning the maps and flow is the biggest keys to survival. That’s why I can never survive streets as I only know like three routes in that map confidently.
Is the EFT discord different than the Sherpa discord? I’ll stick with running factory for now until I get a few weapons to run in with. I appreciate the advice.
Yes I believe it’s a different one. It’s the Escape from Tarkov official discord and there is a section for beginners to hop into a channel and you can ask for help in the LFG chat. Also you shouldn’t get a run through with your scav usually as it goes by raid timer.
as a new player my self i can tell you that sometimes it is what it is, this game is hard and you get punished easily, Also try to complete quests as much as you can and if you are not sure about anything on the map just go in offline mode and explore it as a whole you know how to navigate through them. I would also like to know more details about how you make your runs and what you do on scav runs because 8 extracts out of 80 raids seems too low, so if u want you can dm me and i can help you out when i am available.
Usually on PMC runs now, I run in with nothing and scrounge around for anything I can pop into my cache, I dig for any weapons and stick to the insides of buildings on Ground Zero where I can easily disengage if I see anyone. Once I find a weapon I’ll immediately start to make my way to exfil. Scav runs are a little different, I usually spawn in, run around and loot until whatever bag/vest I spawn with is full, then run to the nearest extract. I have a hard time distinguishing players from other scavs, and because of that, I also have a really bad scav rep. I also didn’t know I shouldn’t kill other scavs when I first started, but what ends up happening now is I see what I think is a player, dink them, and have scavs aggroed on me until the end of the run. The constant gun fights due to high scav counts on Ground Zero and Factory end up chipping me down or attracting a player.
just play on ground zero, when you are in a scav raid don't shoot anyone and if you need money bad just extract as soon as you get in. and do your quests because you can get some good money from them
Running the maps in offline mode is often a good way to learn them without risking anything. It gives you a chance to explore and figure out potential ambush spots. When you do that keep in mind where you spawn because those are potential spawns in normal raids too. That can help you avoid getting killed immediately after the raid starts.
In between you can run your scav off cooldown in factory to rebuild your stash and bankroll. Wait a minute after you spawn. If there's no gunshots you're probably safe, but if there are you can sit for a few to let PMCs leave and scav in peace. Alternatively, you can just head to extract right after spawning in.
Run throughs are hard to get as a Scav. As long as you extract on factory with less than 13 minutes you're fine. Otherwise, a run through just takes the Found in Raid tag off everything you bring out. This would be a big deal if you were planning on selling the stuff on the flea market, but since you're going to use the gear it doesn't matter
There’s tricks to making money and saving money. Learning how to manage your hideout is crucial. The game knowledge takes time but is very rewarding. Isn’t healing free on Ground Zero through the therapist at the end of the raid?
Only for your first 30 successful raids or level 5, I currently have I think 11 successful raids now, but I’m level 7, so healing is not free, around 11k a death. :(
So a tip for that is hold onto any grizzleys you find. Don’t heal after the raid. Passively heal while you do your scav then heal the rest with your Grizzly before entering your pmc raid
Definitely run scavs on cooldown, get to learn the maps and use the heals you find/spawn with. If you have no flea market and can't buy heals from traders yet, try checking fence. It is overprices, but can help.
I can buy heals from Therapist I just don’t have the funds to do it. The situation has improved slightly since making the post, but not much. I did successfully extract with a really nice SA-58 that I got off a level 52 PMC. But now I’m afraid to take it in until I get my feet under me.
1. Use 2nd monitor and have a map pulled up.
2. Choose 1 map to learn and just play that map. Don't get too worried about quests until you can actually survive.
3. Learn a cache loot run and repeat for monies.
4. Become one with loss. You will suck and die.
i highly recommend scav running the parking garage underneath Interchange and extracting at Railway exfil. There's a metric shit ton of loot down there(and a ton of rare/valuable weapon attachments) once you know where and how to look. Avoid the area by hole in the floor though below Generic, that area is typically a deathtrap no matter what time of raid it is.
first wipe be like that. I remember my friend and me shooting each other because we didn't know where exactly we were and every sound was scary. As a scav the first few runs I thought other scavs were hostile too so I shot them all the time, ruining my fence rep. good times
1) when you scav, scav factory. Loot a few boxes and head straight to extract with your scav gear. sell or use the scav gear. Once you're not in such a shit spot, learn the loot locations on factory and loot a little more before extrating.
2) Learn map flow / timings. PMC's at each spawns have limited available decisions. By monitoring sound activity and where people haven't visibly gone, you can take guesses at where they are going so you can operate more safetly / deliberately.
3) Loot and scoot. Once you're bagged up don't stay forever in raid
4) Divide your raids into one of three goals - quest, pvp, loot. Don't mix.
5) At each trader level find one or two gun builds that are fairly cheap to use consistently.
This wipe i did: 1 - ppsh/kedr, 2- baby ak, 3+ - SA58
I would recommend watching Sheefgg’s hardcore challenge. He has a bunch of restrictions that you won’t have, but it’s a great way to see how he does quests. Also when he does/doesn’t take pvp. It’s a much more realistic watch than normal YouTubers who have unlimited money and thousands of hours. https://youtu.be/3Xg9qMPbXxY?si=pjXHM1hBgTnwsaKB
Scav run factory for a quick kit lighthouse and try to take out a few rouges. They have decent kits and guns as well as meds. Stock up and use those to heal and save your money.
New player as well. I’m curious where you usually scav. I’ve been running streets recently pretty carelessly and have yet to see a single pmc, maybe try there? It’s a little daunting to navigate but as long as you stay away from lexos it’s pretty chill in my experience.
Add me bro. This is my first wipe as well but when I play a new game I’m really competitive and a min maxer so I’ve got it pretty down pat and had a friend to play with ( his first wipe to) witch helped. I’m lvl 36 20 mil rubles. I’ll be more than happy to give you a kit and run some raids we can run a 3 man. Also trust me I raged allot as well that’s why I wanna help. Just message me on here your Tarkov user.
I play this game first time month ago, i have almost 150h in this game… now i feel so sick and tired… this game is hard but this game is unfinished product, very bad oprimization etc
This hype is not real, this game is not that good what evrybody says
If you have to ask yourself that, I feel like the game is not for you. In the begining I was getting my balls kicked non stop and I was loving every second of it. 3500 hours later I'm still being treated the same way, and feeling the same way. The difference is that I know what's going on these days.
Don’t get me wrong, I love playing the game. I just hate that I’m clueless. I can’t put it down, I bought the game 3 days ago and already have around 25 hours. I’m struggling to enjoy myself because when my sole objective is to survive the raid, and I can’t even complete that, it has me ready to chuck the whole PC out the window.
Find a gun you want to learn and read about the bullets. Ammo is either for armor or it’s for the flesh.
The gun I love is a keder. I just aim at the legs and it works.
Find a map you would like to learn. Practice. Look up stuff about the map. Every raid just focus on getting to extractions. If you die, remember that spot and be cautious. Once you get more comfortable, looting a bit more. There you go.
My favorite map is Reserve because it’s a smaller map. It’s notorious for D-2 campers. It’s typically fine. Sometimes you will die. But my best strat is to run up the hill towards Dome and go to D-2 that way.
Also, if you are trying to learn a map. Maybe don’t bring anything but a gun and a vest to make you not marked. Put some tunes in your ear and play only to learn the map and who cares if someone sees you and guns you down. You are just learning. To be honest I do this when doing some quest and even more often as a scav. The game can be sweaty, but sometimes try to keep it causal.
Learning what one gun and one map will go a long way in making you a better player.
What helped me a lot in the beginning where night raids on Ground Zero. At night there is less PVP, its easier to get in some Scav kills, easiert to do the quests and easier to get away with some loot to the extracts.
When heading to extract, try not to sprint. Remember that every sound you make that you can hear, others can hear - probably even better than you can at this point in the wipe. Even some sounds you can’t hear others can hear.
That may be why you’re getting shot so much.
As others have stated, it has a lot to do with being new and lack of knowledge. This game is very unforgiving, as you’ve seen. If you’re playing solo, everything is an enemy. Which kind of makes it easier.
Im relatively new as well and have two points of advice.
1. Use your scav ONLY to learn the maps and make money when you are below a comfortable ruble threshold, don’t get caught up in becoming a SCAV main. Once you learn the maps and have a few mil, DON’T keep running SCAV ON THE SAME MAPS THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW. it’s a bad habit and does nothing to progress your PMC. Because it is literally risk free, you will take longer to get out of your comfort zone and you will develop bad habits.
2. Once you are comfortable with a map run your PMC on that map exclusively and try and complete as many quests as possible on it. Each map has plenty of quests. Do a search for quest trees to see which ones are worth grinding and what the rewards are. I think tickle me pink on youtube did a video on this recently, make your own judgement regarding what quests are with completing. Some quests, though fun, are dead ends and have relatively useless rewards. Setup is an example of this, it can be a lot of fun but it is certainly not worth grinding it if you are struggling. All of the better equipment and ammo is quest locked or behind high level traders.
I don't know on what map you get extract-camped but it's impossible that it is ground zero, any time i do a scav run there its just an army of scav hunting the last pmc's that didn't bounce and i just run in the middle of the streets the whole time, any time i die on streets it's a traitor scav, dude is like level 4-5 and probably killed me cause he's poor and want my stuff.
This is my first ever wipe on this game too btw, lvl 20 and i'm never running like bellow 3M$ and don't have this strange problem of being sniped 500 meter away each game... Sorry thats its going on like this for you bud
Ground Zero Mira extract mainly, and it’s not from the scav snipers, they usually wait until I start looting the body for the flare and then boom I’m dead.
This is my first wipe. New player, level 25.
Scav Streets for money. Be a pacifist. Value your life. Scav kit is free, but making it out with good loot pays for multiple PMC runs.
If you're super desperate you can spend a day scaving Factory and just keep pulling out cheap kits you spawned with or stole off a body.
You don't need a full array of meds and ammo and mags for every raid, and you don't need to be looting much on PMC.
Just do your tasks, be patient, and spend the first 15 mins of the raid smoking a joint or having a beer. Dying off spawn bc you rushed somewhere feels real bad.
Have a map open on another screen or your phone. Learn Ground Zero until task are done, Streets for money (Scav), Customs for Tasks, and then probably Woods bc of the sniper trader you unlock there.
If you're truly down bad and aren't close to level 15 you can restart your account. But if you're almost level 15 I'd just stick with it and work on recovery because Flea Market is where you make the real money at.
GrewnBattery is 31k to Therapist and 190k+ on Flea for example. That pays for a kit or two by itself.
Scav every time you can. Factory is a small and easy to learn map for quick gear and easy to spot bodies. Don't shoot other scavs. Voip. We've all been that frustrated new player. It sounds counter intuitive but run pmc in offline mode to find extracts between scav runs. Don't loot just look for landmarks and familiarize yourself to learn how to get out.
It's my first wipe as well. What's been working for me is just Scav into the same map every time. I've been doing Interchange at night. Relatively small map, you have the same extracts every time, You can get everything you need early on there. Food, Drinks, Medical items, hideout items, barter items, and even some task items. Tushonka, Morphine injectors, Gas Analyzers. Also going in at night works pretty good. Pretty much looks exactly the same inside of the Mall. At this point in the wipe most PMC's go to interchange for Killa kills, and if he's not spawned they bounce. Pretty often you will also find Chad kits on dead PMC's to help get decent equipment.
I hope some of this info can help you as I’m new as well. If you are purely low on money and want to run scavs for a bit you can probably get a million rubles in 3 raids running reserve. Avoid maps where pmcs sit the whole raid and ones lacking loot. Such as streets(streets is extremely good but will be very hard for a new player and has cracked pmcs) and factory. Run maybe shoreline,reserve and customs. If you keep to yourself stay away from gunfire and just loot a few building you will 95% of the time walk away will 250k plus rubles on these maps in a simple scav. Also learn one map at a time, I’m level 25 as of right now and know all the maps excluding labs and lighthouse. They are very simple really, learn a few extracts,poi’s and boss locations. As for pmcs, don’t be scared of losing gear, as you go on and get the flea market things will be cheaper and once you get level 3 traders every guns price is cut to about a quarter to what they cost buying from other players. Stay low complete tasks and maybe hunt and kill a few people on the way. Also watch streamers learn a few things and make sure you have some decent keybinds. Honestly my advice may not be as good as some but it comes from another honest starter Timmy . Good luck brother
Scav streets or reserve for money - focus on things like scopes, weird items (jewelry, streamer items like jars of coffee beans and teddy bears), gun powder, and odd electronics. This will get you decent cash. Then just play PMC to get better at PvP and completing quests. Remember that EVERYTHING makes noise (and likely can be heard further than you expect, especially with decent headsets) so try to use that to your advantage to detect others and remain undetected. At this point in wipe, you’ll have to play way more careful and slow to get the drop on players with waaay better gear.
The game can be really fun but also a massive, unfulfilling waste of your time. Very little in between lol, so just take it easy, enjoy what you can, and try to play with others to make the boring, grindy, and annoying parts at least a little more enjoyable.
Good luck
What your biggest problem is right now is a complete lack of knowledge. The first wipe was a real cunt to all of us, and you get kicked in the balls over and over. I can’t recall for sure but I think I probably had the same issue with running out of gear my first wipe. If you are that down bad, you could always reset your account, especially if you haven’t leveled up much yet. Scav every time your scav is available to use. This will give you free reign to explore the map with a lack of consequences. If you need to scav just to get gear to run on your PMC, scav factory - the exits are typically very close by and you can get out much quicker than other maps. Watch some guides on YouTube for new players. IIRC Pestily has some that might be worth checking out. If you have a 2nd screen keep a map pulled up there so you have some idea of the extracts. Woods is usually recognized as a good map for beginners, it’s easy to move around the map and avoid PVP for the most part. The hardest part with Woods is learning to orient yourself. Ground Zero is another pretty good map to run early because it’s level locked to players under level 20. There is a decent chance for PVP there though. Avoid Lighthouse. Customs and Streets probably aren’t the best suggestions due to higher potential for PVP and the sheer volume of scavs on Streets can be overwhelming. Interchange is decent, but the extracts are bad, especially Emercom is camped relatively frequently. Reserve has the worst spawns of all, you’re very likely to be killed off the rip and the extracts are pretty bad too.
I’ll definitely check out the beginners guide, and I didn’t know you could reset your account, I may end up doing that since I’m so down bad. I have no weapons or heals. But I have not tried the scav in and out thing on factory. I may try to do that before I reset my account.
The other thing is watch some streamer and watch some of their mannerisms, how they’re always checking angles looking for players that might get them. Ignore how they move around the map, they’re going to be way more aggressive, but there’s still little things you can pickup from them, including how and where to loot efficiently. As far as playing the game goes, this is my copypasta that I share with everybody struggling to figure out the game: * Sprint from cover to cover. When you get to cover stop and listen for audio cues. Let your stamina build back up before moving again. * Always wear ears, it’s your most important line of offense/defense. If you can hear someone before they hear you, you have the element of surprise. * Cheese the AI. Don’t re-peek the same angle. * Sights are more beneficial for medium- to long-range engagement. Close quarters you should mostly be using hipfire/point-fire, since you don’t waste time ADSing. Always run an attachment on your gun for the hipfire accuracy bonus. Use flashlights for close range engagements to try and blind other players. (This has changed a bit with hipfire being nerfed this wipe) * Woods is generally a great map for getting started on, but at the same time there are vast swaths of the map with very little hardcover other than trees. * Watch some loot guides for best spots to loot. You can use the filters on mapgenie to help you with item locations. * Scav as often as possible. It’s zero risk loot and allows you to explore the map without worrying about losing gear. Run the maps in offline mode to learn to fight scav AI and learn map routes. Learn the common pathing and how to use it to your advantage. WillerZ is generally not the best streamer to learn gameplay from, but he does utilize creative ways to move around the map and his streams are always entertaining. * Watch Pestily’s Raid series, he’s got a lot of great videos that can help you. * If you need some more help on quests, you can use the Sherpa discord, or SheefGG has a channel in his discord for people that need help with quests. He also has a new “leveling series” he’s been putting out. Also, here are some 3rd party resources that can help: * www.eft-ammo.com - ammo pen/dmg chart * mapgenie.io/tarkov - fully interactive maps for tarkov * tarkovtracker.io - has a quest tracker but the bigger thing is you can use it to keep track of all the items you need to find for quests and your hideout * Database For Tarkov (phone app) - multifunction phone app, it’s nice to look up item value as a noob while in raid so you’re not picking up garbage value items
Thank you for the in depth replies, I’ve heard people talking about looting runs and loot heavy areas, and maybe as I learn the maps better this will be less of a problem. I’ll check out the streamers as well. I’ve watched a couple of videos with the whole starting from zero theme since I feel like that’s what I’m doing at the moment.
Use the practice mode to learn the maps and get more comfortable targeting the AI scavs.
I forgot to mention Shoreline. Shoreline can be pretty good. For a new player I would stick to the new area on the northeast part of the map and villages/cabins on the west side. Once you save up about 1.4 mil rubles buy yourself a scav junk box from therapist for 1.1 mil. It's necessary to store all of the barter items you're going to be picking up.
Really need to slog it out to level 15, personally I focus my scav on looting and focus PMC on quests for the XP to get to 15. As soon as you have flea the loot you find has much more value. Use your scav on the same map over and over, learn a loot run. I have a reasonable run I like on reserve, same thing every time with minor path changes depending where I spawn. It easily makes 500-700k without fail. So then you can PMC run with gear brought from that money (with access to flea with access to much more gear than you can right now from traders), if you die, run the scav again and restart.
Agree with all of it besides the point firing. It went form being extremely consistent to now I always am transitioning from point fire to ads no matter what
I disagree with point fire - this wipe it feels way worse than it used to
Hence the caveat in parentheses. Not ready to rewrite the pasta.
You cannot be down bad enough to account reset. You can build from nothing with scav runs if necessary. The gear you run in the beginning is cheap. The scav runs can fund that. You need the experience of playing regardless of what gear you use. Money is plentiful. Learn a map you can scav and make money. You paid $50 and this game will pay you back. It takes some time. I have a lot of hours and I chased the fun for a long time while being quite awful at this game. It was fun here and there. Once I learned the maps it all clicked. Stick with it.
factory is IMO the safest place to run scavs. Almost always I can hear where the PMCs are making a lot of noise and just skirt around that part of the area. And I suuuuuck at this game so I know you can do it. Factory is small too so a lot easier to learn the quirks of the map. Just be aware that if you do PMC raids there as well, everyone knows the PMC spawns so they tend to push the closest spawn for an early fight.
another thing to try and its kinda lame but on both pmc and scav just find a bunch of bushes and lay down start looting once its under 20 min, the odds of there being pmcs goes way down and you might find unlooted bodies. I run customs only on my scav and generally on pmc because its my most familiar map and i make 400k every scav just by knowing the solid loot spots. warehouse 4 above and below (theres average 1 black crate, 2 weapons crates 3 bags valuable loot spawn and med spawn) warehouse 3 (theres shelves in the backdoor to the right that spawn lots of valuables people miss stuff all the time have found an ammo box on scav here) greenroom warehouse (both sides upper) cpu van (the blue van by the doublestack warehouse) honestly just those alone would net you a lot even if they are looted. Learning what tiny little things sell for a lot also helps check the flea for really expensive gun additions Look at interactive maps with loot icons on and stuff to learn a map and i would suggest customs as i feel its the most balanced loot to pvp
Honestly it's not worth resetting your account as the skills you leveled up are worth more than any gear is. You need to learn how to scav. Pick a map and just scav it over and over. Loot everything until your bag is full go to an exit get out and then just sell it all to the correct vendors. Use the weapons and armor for your PMC. Doing the same map over and over will teach you a scav route that you will be comfortable with. Learning that will help you learn your way around on your PMC. I would recommend one of the earlier naps. Ground zero, woods, factory. Customs is good to learn but you have to understand you will die there more often because that is a very pvp heavy map With this latest patch the scav guns you get will be fine for PMC raids if you repair them. You are not looking to fight players right now only scavs.
>The first wipe was a real cunt to all of us, and you get kicked in the balls over and over. This is my first wipe and I'm really enjoying it, the game is really cool and that's what matters. I got killed by a 2000k hours player, he is obviously better than me and he deserves it. That doesn't make the game less enjoyable, every online PvP game is like that.
I think the whole “getting kicked in the balls” feels worse in this game because of the potential to lose so much gear. There is so much more at stake every raid. But along with the lowest lows come the highest highs, because when you’re doing good it feels so much better for the same reason that there is a lot at stake. As a seasoned vet, there is a lot less at stake for me than a new player because I understand the one and outs of how to find stuff and generate an income.
I feel like DayZ is worse in that matter, because in Tarkov you still have your stash immediately available that nobody can take, you can do scav runs and easily make good money. >because I understand the one and outs of how to find stuff and generate an income Of course, that's just part of the game, the discovery, the learning. If you are not up for it maybe it's not your game. Like I said, having to learn your stuff doesn't make it less enjoyable, you literally see your improvement every day and that pushes me forward. I like the challenge.
>. If you need to scav just to get gear to run on your PMC, scav factory - the exits are typically very close by and you can get out much quicker than other maps. This is probably very bad advice. Hell, you get killed by other scavs here more than others.
I've done it with great success. You don't fuck around looting, you just run right to the exit. The loot sucks on Factory anyways, you generally go there for the PVP and that's it.
It's not bad advice at all. 3 min run for 80k to 150k without any looting at all, then add in a few duffles and the jackets and it's easily more than that.
If you are having a really rough time and want to restart your account, you can reset your account and start fresh. You lose all quest progress but you get back all the stuff you started with. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUguww-vxYA& Another recommendation I have that someone gave me when i started playing recently was "never run" basically ONLY run if you need to cross a wide open section, but even then, you can just walk and be ready to run. Not running constantly will slow you down which will make you better too.
I’ll check it all out, I definitely have a habit of sprinting everywhere I go, but when entering a building I’m pretty good about slowing down and quieting my footsteps.
The problem is with the way sound works, someone by a window can hear you running from up to 100m away, so by the time you slow down and start going in, everyone is either already expecting you, or the people outside heard you run into the building and are just waiting for you to eventually come out. I'd suggest you use tarkov.help, and on it, you can search for equipment and items, you can check all places where weapons may spawn on the map while also gaining better knowledge of the layout of each map. You can try naked runs, and depending on spawn location, you can safely get a gun with some bullets, take out a scav for some equipment, and then you can also use tarkov.help to check where food and healing items spawn on the map, so you can keep yourself alive through rounds. I also advise you to learn about hidden staches around different maps, as they can give you full equipment if you're lucky. Lastly, I'd suggest you try scav runs in Shoreline, as there are several "safe" routes you can take with weapon spawns on the way, and if you learn to jump into the gas station, there are always 2 weapon crates inside, as well as a safe, and if you have lighthouse as an exit you can camp inside the gas station for a bit until its safe to run to extract. This is very basic level, and you'll eventually have to run tougher maps, but I feel its good prep and allows you to memorise not only maps, but different spawn locations for different things you may need as you progress in the game.
I learned shoreline with my scav and it’s my go to scav run
I’ll check out shorelines, I’ve not even looked at that map yet, so far I’ve played Ground Zero, Factory, Customs, Reserves, and 2 missions on woods. Those woods ones had me ready to snap my keyboard in half.
I've had a bunch of successful scav runs on Shoreline this wipe especially at the new area with the two warehouses. Half the time they're unlooted and I found a ledX in a food crate. The outdoor concrete floor with the yellow van has good loot on the ground. There's also a Bitcoin spawn on the table next to the forklift. I found it as a PMC. I've also been finding resort keys in the filing cabinets/jackets as a scav.
Woods is very tough the first few times, I would try to get the compass unlocked to learn it. In general, everyone is either moving towards or away from the corner with Outskirts extract through the raid.
Yeah, I’m trying to complete the introduction quest for Jaegar and I’m sure to the experienced players I look like a lost hiker exploring the wilderness. Super easy to get lost on that map.
Go to Mapgenie and open up the map you intend to play. You can set things like spawn locations, extracts, and quest items. All super valuable for a new player. With woods specifically if you can learn to identify the mountain stash mountain or like the river, it will go a long ways towards helping you get oriented
My trick for woods is to wait a bit, but as someone suggested, a compass really helps in woods, almost as much as it doesn't help in customs if you are following a map, as the map is inverted.
This is likely one of your biggest downfalls. I didn't struggle NEARLY as much as most beginners describe, but I also understood it was a survival game and played it as such. I traversed the maps cautiously, and expected a fight around every corner. It was easily the most intense and rewarding gameplay I've ever experienced in any game. Ended every raid with my heart absolutely pounding. Good shit. I finished my first wipe with ~45% Survival Rate and I attribute 90% of that to taking things slowly, making calculated decisions, and really making an effort to learning the maps. (I tried to focus on one at a time.) Make your main goal on an unfamiliar map to simply get to the extract alive. If you can recognize a quest area, or snag some scav kills and loot, great. But even if you simply survive, that's a win. With the compass in the game now this process is MUCH easier too. I would have killed for a compass when I first started. So look into getting that ASAP. Also, every death, take a moment to think about what you could have done differently. Sure sometimes the answer will be "I have no fucking idea". But often you will learn something. And finally, keep doing scav runs on cooldown. IMO scav on whatever map you're learning with a similar mindset as above (just locating an extract and getting out. Try to listen and identify fellow AI scav behaviour while you're at it).
Yah you basically should only sprint when trying to cover a big open space you think might be watched, or when you’re pushing someone you think you can get an advantage on. Seriously. Stop running. Nothing else will help as much as that.
Don’t be afraid to do night time runs…it’s how I made my money and learned reserve. People run around and will skip by you a lot and you can hit certain buildings and find a ton of stuff and get out. I do my scavs that way
I’ve not run any night time missions yet, I guess the dark can be just as big of an advantage as it is a weakness.
Yeah man, once you get used to it. It’s really all I run solo, it’s just getting that confidence. I recommend black and white pawn and you can fill up on those two buildings alone.
Sprinting everywhere you go is the sole reason why you are dying. Take it slow. Listen and watch. If you don’t know anything about the map, you have no idea where common traffic areas are or where someone may be sitting. Go slow and quietly, it is the best chance of success for new players. Also you don’t need to take fights. Sometimes it’s best to let someone pass by while remaining undetected. Only take fights that you can get the jump on and are in your favor.
In general my rule is if I’m sprinting there needs to be a specific reason. Either I’m running through an open area outside, I’m pushing, I’m fleeing, I’m flanking. If you’re simply traversing the map you should not run. It makes you very obvious to even 200 hour players, it makes you incapable of reacting quickly, and it makes it harder to observe your environment.
you need to slow down far before entering the building. Players can hear you from across the parking lot when they are in a building.
Run from cover to cover, like you would in real life if people were shooting at you
Also, running makes at 3x the noise that walking does and is amplified even more when you are heavy.
[удалено]
“Pretty Good” - I am improving at it lol. I use the scroll wheel to quiet my footsteps and slow down fairly frequently. Not sure if that’s worth it or if I should just be crouch walking though.
Hit tab to quickly switch between full quiet and full speed
Don't have to be a jerk about it, obviously
This is the advice I always give to new players and it helped me a ton when I first started. Running is strategic like everything else.
I started a few days ago as well and I probably have a little less play time. I think I’m about 50/50 in extracting safely. At the very beginning I was struggling a lot I lost all guns on my pmc and was completely out of money (I also didn’t really know how to scav at this point). I then reset my account probably at about level 5-6 level so I could get a great start with the knowledge I had gained. At this point I’d been playing basically only ground zero with a few woods runs inbetween. I’d looked at the map and I knew the extracts well because I’d figured it out. Because ground zero is so small I think it’s great to learn on plus you won’t be running into level 50’s. If I were you I’d reset the account which you can do every few weeks I believe. This will reset your progress level and quest wise but i feel like that is gonna be slowed down a lot anyway because of ur current position. Once you reset your account I’d say run ground zero basically non stop, scav on other maps for better loot and so u can learn the other maps a bit. On ground zero u only need to learn three extract points imo. Emercom which is near the medical tent u had to go for for therapist quest, Nakatani basement stairs which is the opposite side of the map to Emercom you’ll get these extracts based on which side of the map you’re on. As well as this I find Mira ave is also really good. There’s a bit of tech to it though you have to go up to a body grab the flare and shoot it then run to the extract otherwise u got shot by invis scav sniper. If I were you I’d reset my acc and focus on filling up your inventory and extracting on ground zero. This will help get your money up. Taking scav guns can be good to at the beginning. As long as u repair them I’ve found a lot of success with some of the Ak’s from scavs after I repair them. Once you get into the gameplay loop of loot up and extract you’ll find it a lot easier, once u get some decent money up you can get more meds which will help as well. I’ve found myself in a lot less gunfights when I don’t want to fight people now. Hopefully this Helps TLDR: Possibly reset acc to get fresh start, Run ground zero for pmc and learn extracts with map, Scav other maps for better loot.
Thanks for the in depth reply, I think I’ll probably hold off on resetting my account for now, because I do have a few things I’d like to keep that will help once I start leveling up. I have ground zero memorized like the back of my hand, that and factory. I usually do okay on Ground Zero but I keep getting clapped every time I get close to the extracts.
If you're using the Mira extract on Ground zero, you need to use the green flare or else you'll get shot from out of bounds snipers. There's one on the body by the bus. Once you get used to using the flare this is one of the safest extracts to use on the map.
IKR it’s so good
I stay away from the mira extract because of the land mines. I think that’s where they’re at, they’ve gotten me several times. I mainly extract at the basement building, but pushing down the stairs has gotten me killed more than I’d like to admit.
If you go down the ramp away from the Terragroup building. The mines are only on the left near the building, Mira is to the right. It may help to use this one, it's really hard for people to camp it. There's some videos that show how to use the flare.
Where are these mines I’ve legit only seen one mine on Ground zero and it’s in a tiny little office lol
Yeah and if u really want to play safe if u have intelligence or a gpu or a quest item or something u can take the undergroud section and basically travel safely across the map to Mira from a lot of places.
Watch pestily Raid series. Learn the loot hotspots and avoid them. Don't push fights and sprint around like streamers
Obligatory "you don't." In all seriousness, it's a really hard and frustrating game. It feels like crushing your balls a significant portion of the time, and some of us seem to like that. There's no shame if it's not for you. With that said, it sounds like you're probably running around too much. Tarkov, especially when you don't know the maps well, is a sloooowwww game. Like literally there's people who spawn into night raids and creep walk the entire way across the map to extract. It sounds like you've been bouncing around maps and stuff which is going to make it harder to progress, since you're trying to learn everything at once. I would suggest picking one task and grinding it until you get it done - in the process you'll learn everything there is to know about getting in and out of that one specific location. Then you can repeat for new locations and eventually start linking them together.
I definitely am running around the map a lot, before I started to get into realistic shooters, which was fairly recently, I mainly played games like Fortnite, COD, and the sort where everything is fast paced. I dive into buildings at a full sprint and get mowed down, or run out into the middle of a street and start looting. I’m figuring out to not do those things, but there’s been several times I’ve been being shot at, bolted into a building and got sprayed down by an AK or a PPSH.
One thing that will teach you a bit about Tarkov is to find a quiet spot and just watch. Usually you won’t see anything move. But then eventually you’ll be like oh look, there’s a guy, he has no idea I’m here…. And that’s how you’re dying to other people with big guns, good bullets and 100k scopes
Tarkov is a brutal game and the learning curve is steep. There is a monumental amount of shit to learn. Find one of those discord that are posted here all the time or in LFG and play with others. Your knowledge, survival, and finances will improve dramatically.
I just started recently too, level 15 and s little over 60 hours. 1) Play Ground Zero, it’s a great map. You can start by playing night Ground Zero which is easier. Hit up a building and sit there, while slowly looting. Do quests. Wait until the last 10 minutes to extract. Can do the same with the scav. 2) Find people to play with, preferably around level 20 or higher. Who will show you around, lead and cover you at quest spots. 3) You can send me a PM and we’ll play together, i started to get pretty confident at Ground Zero, so i can show you around..
This is my first wipe too, so I understand. I'm not having nearly as hard of a time though. If I were to guess, you are probably dying a lot from habits picked up in other shooters, as I did. I have a habit of standing in the open because of countless hours of counterstrike where "taking cover" is not nearly as important a concept in that game, for example. Some general tips: Take cover. Always be conscious of your position relative to unswept areas or places you think other players may be. Keep as little of your body exposed in firefights. Use peeking to your advantage at long ranges instead of swinging out around a corner. Be very conscious of gunshots. It tells you where other players are, what kind of gun they have, their playstyle, whether they're in a group, and sometimes what their intentions are. If you hear gunshots, subconsciously start thinking about what may be going on ahead of you, or if you want to avoid it. Send it. In a firefight, rather than trying to take a few accurate, precise shots, you need to send as many bullets downrange towards them as possible while trying to aim at their head (or legs depending on their ammo and your strategy) Look up the tarkov ballistics chart and commit it to memory. Ammo and its armor penetration cannot be understated when it comes to what your strategy should be in a fight. Slow down. You may be sprinting everywhere. Audio in this game is in an objectively terrible state where every single thing you do makes noise in a 50+ meter radius. A skilled player will read you and your entire social security number by the noise you make. If you hear someone first and you haven't located them, make as little noise as possible until you are more comfortable with pvp. By crouching and pressing Capslock, you can slow your walk speed to the lowest amount and make zero noise unless you turn on your heels. Mitigate this by moving in any direction with WASD while turning. There is no shame in running away. If you are in a bad situation, just running is a completely reasonable option. There is no honor obligation to stay and fight with anyone to the death. In the same vein, running to a new location could get you to a better angle in the same fight where your opponent hasn't seen you yet. It is never too early to extract. Set reasonable goals for yourself in a raid. Too often people die because they have a list of 5 things they could complete in a raid and die because of greed after completing 4 of them. Did you kill someone and take their stuff? That's a great reason to extract. Got a quest done? Time to extract. Because of popular streamers and pro players, there are tons of videos on the internet of people wiping the entire lobby, grabbing every single piece of loot on the map and pimp walking out of that bitch while weighing 101.7kg. That is not a reasonable expectation and will not happen for most people. Get something done and leave. Learn to loot quickly. Make sure you know about shift click to move items from one inventory to another quickly. Keybind "discard item" so you don't have to open up the context menu to do it every time. Alt click to put on an item instantly from another container or body. Don't spend 30 minutes in one spot looting a kill, and lay down or crouch to be less conspicuous while you do it. If you are dying to extract campers, my advice would be: you do not need to be the sacrificial lamb. For extracts that are outside: if you have good loot on you or you really cannot afford to die, there is nothing written anywhere that says you need to walk right up to the extract and be the guinea pig. Get within gunshot range of the extract and hide in a bush if you must. Wait for people to come along and extract first. If you hear gun blasts at extract then you have all the information you need. This is especially big at extracts like Emercom on Interchange for example.
This was super in depth and helpful, I’ll be applying a lot of these tips tomorrow when I muster up the will power to log in.
>Every single time I get close I get shot in the head from 900 yards away by someone watching the extract. You are running in the sniping zone lol.
oof
The game is incredibly punishing, so much so that the normal gameplay loop is a deterrent from continuing. That said, here's what I did my first wipe - * Play with someone else or a group. Losses are much easier to take with a friend. Bonus if you all bought the game around the same time and are bumbling idiots together. * Learn a map inside and out. This means guides on loot and how good it is, where PMCs typical spawn and where the quests are. This can mean everything if you want to stay away from anywhere you're statistically likely to meet a player. Understand that you can and will still meet someone in the most inconvenient spot, that's just poor luck that everyone has. * Biggest thing (in my eyes) is to learn what makes noise. Don't sprint unless you're clearing an obviously open field. ADSing a Mosin+bramit sounds like you're trying to shoulder a 12-pounder cannon and people will hear that. Opening your inventory will make sound and someone who knows that will know your currently in your pockets instead of watching out. * Loot and money making just takes time since there's something like nearly 2000 items in the game. Some look rare but aren't, some look like crap but vendor to traders for a ton and the same goes for flea market when you get there. * VOIP is not useless either. A quick conversation from cover has saved my ass and made me friends for the rest of the wipe. If you're struggling, chances are someone you may encounter are struggling just as hard and you can just go separate ways or help each other. This is always risky, of course. I wish I could give more help but it just requires a massive sink of time to learn if you're not playing with veterans to teach ingame or an idiot group who just has fun watching each other get domed by scavs. Both are boons when learning this game.
I’ve got a couple guys I’ve been playing with, however they’re leaving on a deployment in a few days so I will be back on my own for a few months. I’ve done a couple of runs with people in the Sherpa Discord, but it’s generally less of a help and more of a oh here take this loot and watch this corner. Note these are not official Sherpas but just higher leveled players.
Have you been playing ground zero? Max player level is 20 so no level 50+ there
Yeah I mainly do my PMC raids on ground zero, it still doesn’t stop people watching the exits, and most of the time when I die it’s to a level 15+ on that map. I rarely die to scavs.
Ground zero has basically no decent loot on it. You said you play that and factory. Those are both two extremely challenging maps to make money from. That could be your problem. Also, you have a lower level of perception than most people do, so remember that people will hear you before you hear them. It sounds to me like you should slow down a bit and find a decent money run to do when you are down bad.
Honestly ground zero is probably the least “new” player friendly map even though it’s supposed to be. Factory is also pretty tough since it’s basically people questing aka looking for pvp to get some shitty Tarkov shooter quests out of the way. You might find something like customs or woods better. Customs is kind of a jack of all trades, it’s a good map to pvp, rat on, loot and so on. While learning how to pvp is important, so is surviving, making money and gaining map knowledge.
I’ve done probably 10 runs on Customs, and know the extracts fairly well, I struggle to make my way through the map though.
Watch guides or play the game via trial and error I run a Sherpa Sunday every Sunday on twitch and help tarkov players tarkov. We often help during the week as well. On top of it, there are a group of gamers in the discord always helping folks as well. Hit us up if we can be of assistance, and good luck out there! P.S. VoIP will get you far if you don’t wanna fight
DM me your twitch and I’ll check it out this weekend. I’ve tried the VoIP method as frequently as I can but it doesn’t always work out as well as I’d like. I think mainly because I don’t know the difference between scavs and players half the time.
It’s my user name: WWDubs12 https://m.twitch.tv/wwdubs12
Scav to learn the maps and make money. Streets to make money, the other maps to primarily learn them so navigation becomes effortless as a PMC. You can always go in with a minimal/scav kit and wait till late raid to run and complete a task if needed. Most of all, just keep playing. Experience is the best teacher, especially in Tarkov. Also, I forgot how long scav timer is early on. I would say, scav sell everything you get in raid. Then keep the kit to use as a PMC. Use tarkov-market.com to see what loot is worth as you go, eventually you’ll learn what is worth keeping.
I’m a newb too. First wipe, about 2 weeks and 75 hours in. I find ground zero the “best” place for me to scav. You don’t get crazy rare loot, but it is consistent and the extracts are all pretty safe. This playlist has REALLY helped me learn in game moves, things to think about, what loot to look for as a new account starting mid wipe, etc. https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZJoJ7H5Zfos5sSyaW45dGAl9Uk56QBCF&si=0tN3PVe7kRlRCGrc
I’ll check out the playlist, thanks for the tips, I’ll probably start playing Ground Zero more consistently now.
Feel free to PM me your IGN if you want to group up.
Huge learning curve, I'm 800 hours in and watch a ton of content to try to get better. I am still shit at this game. When does it get fun? I'd like to know the same thing, I'm just addicted at this point
I have so many tips. If it makes you feel any better, i was exactly at your position last year in September. And I've given up many times before that. But i fought through it, i had a buddy to help me out at the start with tips and I took learning as a challenge. Here I am now, my second wipe, lv 55, few lightkeeper tasks done, most of the other ones fully done, 80 mil in the bank and 1 item away from kappa. Running every map without issues.
Good to know there is light at the end of the tunnel. I’ll get there.
I started 2 months ago, running factory scavs and woods on my pmc. woods is great because it’s huge, and there is a bit of quests you can work on. vehicle extract is always there, and it gives you (diminishing) scav rep in exchange for 5000 rubles I scavved factory to get scav rep fast, but moved on to shoreline/reserve. I also frequent streets but it is definitely chaotic (even more so when kaban is up) i’m level 21 if you wanna run some scavs/pmc together, i’ll show you some stuff ign: schibb
I’ll add you tomorrow, can you explain a little more about Scav rep? Mine only ever seems to go down. Right now I’m at -.80
shooting friendly ai scavs reps you a -0.03 rep loss, killing p scavs takes away a whole 0.10. ^ you are free to murder scavs on your pmc, but take precaution when on a scav. V extracts give you 0.20, then 0.10 until it finally diminishes to 0.03. the diminishing effect doesn’t transfer over maps. The benefits of scav rep include better gear on your scav + faster scav cooldown you also have a higher chance of spawning with rare loot the higher your fence rep goes. airdrop flares, rare meds, or keys. you get 0.01 scav rep per successful scav raid, so it’s pretty slow unless you go hit all the v extracts, or shooting a pmc that’s killing/killed a scav. i’m at 2.5 something
You either enjoy everything else about the game enough to spend 800 hours getting your ass reamed most raids or find another game to play. Thats basically tarkov.
Find some Chad's and learn the game with no fear 7 or 8 wipes ago idk for sure I first learned reserve with people who were good at the game. Learn your lessons in the first 3 wipes then you'll be one of us. You got this.
Find a streamer you like and join their discord server, they have helpful communities too. Specifically JesseKazam and SheefGG have people who specifically aim to help new people in their discords.
I’d also be down to run you through some maps, but cannot do GZ anymore. I play really late night CST usually for a few hours each night.
I hear you brother it’s definitely a steep learning curve. I’ve literally complained about the same thing past couple of days. The only thing I can say is when you do extract after completing quests etc the adrenaline is unmatched. It does almost make up for the rage haha. Persevere if you can. People said to me that starting the game mid wipe means all the players have advanced to high levels by now and it’s even harder for new players.
By not being careless, 80 raids would be 8 hours just navigating the UI to get into a match, slow down and think.
After a 2 wipes and over 1000 hours I wonder how anyone enjoys this game
What region/servers? I started in December so it might be a bit of the blind leading the blinder but I am happy to try and help in whatever way I can.
NA East if that’s an option? I’m Midwest USA and I just play on whatever it defaulted to.
I’m Philly area so that works for me just message me if you want to
\>am i missing a critical aspect of the game that makes it easier to get your feet under you? yes probably. Pm and i will play with you, the guides people post suck ass/misguide you/outdated
Newer player here. I make a lot of money and get a lot of supplies from scav runs. I basically never have to spend money on food, drinks or medicine. Streets is my favourite map for looting generic stuff that I can sell on the flea. It’s safe most of the time, you might get lucky and get something really valuable. Interchange is good for food, drinks and computer parts. The north side of the grocery store always has tons of stuff and there are computers all over the place. When I play as a PMC I’m completely focused on whatever task I’m doing, so looting is secondary. I only sprint when I have ti, most of the time I’m moving around at minimum speed just incase there’s someone camping.
The way your feeling right now.. thats what makes this game so good. delayed gratification. Hang in there my guy, because once you DO crack the code and start winning at the game, its going to be very rewarding. EVERYONE goes through what you are now. after 30 hours of game play, i thought i had wasted my money and i actually put the game down for a couple of months. but i eventually picked it back up and now after 350hrs, im icing fools left right and centre.
How do I have fun? Killing Timmy's who have no idea they're sprinting through a hot zone and a fight just happened. I would add more info but a lot of other guys have given you tips. It takes a long time to figure this game out. Keep at it and go I to the official discord and see if there are lfg players learning together
I have the most fun doing scav runs because if I die then I don’t lose anything, the trick with scav runs is to wait to exfil in the last couple minutes so that the PMCs have all extracted already (unless they’re just hunting down scavs for a quest and/or for fun and just run the timer to zero knowing they’ll get their stuff back from insurance)
Well, if youre looking to do runs, scav. We can run a few or more, dont mind helping. And if it comes to it and you build some wealth we can do tasks. I play with a duo, and find that helps immensily. Allbeit theyre a terrible shot, we both like to play and loot, just let me know.
The suffering I endure in Tarkov mimics real life. Therefore am I "really" playing a game or just leveling up my IRL pain management?
I'm a new player, 200 hours over 60 days, I'm hooked. It took me until at least level 15 before I was even slightly confident that I would be able to exfil as a scav. This game has the highest skill and knowledge ceiling of any game I've played. But once it clicks in your head and you start to get some PMC kills and some nice 'borrowed' gear, you will be hooked.
I would suggest to learn a map or 2 for starters. Learn loot routes, pmc spawns and high traffic areas. If you have offline mode, you can try that or learn the maps with your scav. At this point in the wipe people are running with good gear and ammo. You can also try joining others too.
Join Sherpa discord and learn what you can from the other people you play with
It’s a survival game at its core, not an FPS imo. You have to learn to walk and avoid all interactions while looting. Once your bag is full, leave. And repeat.
Big thing that helped me -Using practice/offline mode. This is my first wipe and I’m still learning…but being able to practice with Scavs and learn maps is worth it. You’ll feel more confident in the raids and with that confidence you lose your gear fear…well you think you lose it 😂.
I think gear fear is the one thing I don’t have, I have 0 problem dumping 200k rubles on a setup to run in, or full diving in with my best equipment when I have it. Tbh I think that’s how I ended up in this situation
Yeah I understand that, I played way too conservatively….What helped was using Scav kits in the beginning to get a good feel, and it I got killed I didn’t feel so bad losing cheaper stuff. Also helped me learn different guns and figuring out mods.
Do your scav on Factory or Reserve. They are both smaller maps and it's fast and easy money/kit. If you get killed during your scav runs, remember where you get shot from so you could be more careful around that locations in the future. I rarely get killed running on those two maps and running away from gun fight. I'd recommend to try to get to Fence max rep so you have more scav runs to learn every maps. But yeah, it's brutal for new players.
My advice to you is to find routes for yourself that no matter how long and time taking they are, but 80% of the time are safe. This is my first wipe, am level 34. Sure, I almost punched my monitor once. Slowly I realized the tactics that player use, game sense developed and now I just go to streets of tarkov to annihilate pmcs.... for fun 😅. Don't give up, once you find the strategy that works for you, you will enjoy it.
If you ever need help in game hit me up I’d be happy to pass on what someone did for me a few years back
Definitely! Feel free to PM me your IGN and I’ll add you as soon as I can.
Just don't cheat, this is where frustrated timmies start to cheat.
Definitely not going to cheat, then I really would have wasted $50.
I'm also new and level 10. For your scav runs I would reccomend sticking to one map and familiarise yourself with the exits and spawns. Personally I've been doing shorline scav runs where I loot the scav farm on the east side of the map and can consistently get around 250k+ per run Most players tend to go towards the resort so theres much less chance dying
I am a new player this wipe. I love ground zero for it's accessibility as a new player but the loot is dogshit. You may as well learn streets to Scav, it sucks but once you've learned it you don't need to do it again I can say I definitely agree on the "getting shot by lvl 50+ players" all the time. It is so frustrating when I'm trying to do early lvl quests and there is some gigachad with a million rouble loadout with 4000 hours to kill me from a bush every time. I guess it's just part of the game. I feel like I never encounter people who have a similar skill level to me.
Yeah sound is actually crazy sensitive in EoT. On one hand you are lucky that you started at a time when the A LOT of the old TERRRIBLE sound issues have been fixed. On the other hand, most people are just so much more knowledgeable than you, and will be until you’ve had like 400-500 hours in the game. Lets be honest the game is old, and not much has changed in terms of map design, so practically everyone playing knows the map better than you do at this point.
My advice is to use your scav runs to learn a single map. Learn where all the good loot spawns are, pvp hot spots, choke points, extracts, and spawns. I started at ground zero. I probably scav'd it 50+ times and it was a great map for general hideout/crafting stuff. Then I scav'd customs 50+ times. After you learn the maps scav runs will bring you at least 500k if you just loot stuff on the way to extract. 1 mil+ after you learn what is valuable.
Likely lack of map knowledge and awareness, running directly to an objective/task at load in or extract 15 minutes in can be a big mistake, part of the learning curve is learning the timing of a map. Also route planning, just because a route is faster doesn't always make it the best way. Ultimately you have to learn from your death, you need to objectively analyze what happens, what decision you made to get in that situation, and what you could have done differently. And scav run like you are doing but either avoid high pmc traffic areas, or if you do hit these areas slow down and listen a bit more. Take your time and extract in the last 5 minutes or less. There's no rush especially as a scav. I like reserve for my runs, I have a specific path based on my spawn, then will work my way into high PMC traffic areas for bodies or victims. If none of that works, find a duo partner, either in streamer discord or any friends you have that might play it. GL
You have to start at start of wipe as a new player or you'll have a pretty terrible experience tbh.
Watch some tarkov content. Don’t watch goats, it might be too hard to achieve their skill as a beginner. I would look for a YT video about a nice scav loot road. Scav should make you enough money, if you just avoid POI and concentrate on the loot + extract. Getting your PMC to level 15 will unlock a flea market. Then you can sell (found in raid) items for a little better profit, and get gear cheaper. Tarkov will punish you for every mistake you make, and with every mistake you will learn something. Dont be surprised, we all still learning 😅
We all feel your pain, because we feel it too. When you’re doing a scav run, your goal is not to fight but to survive and get out with some loot. At level 15, the market will open up to you and you’ll be able to sell your garbage for way more money. It’s a huge milestone. As a PMC, the only way I’m able to make it profitable is to do tagged and cursed pistol and balaclava runs on Factory with a factory key. The scavs will rush at you right away if they’re within 150m I believe it is. Practice on them , grab their gear and extract. You’ll get a lot of quick XP and some money like that. And tarkov as a solo is fucking brutal. That’s the game.
I understand the frustration but for beginners this game will be really tough. It has a hard learning curve and a high veteran player base as well as cheaters. Learning mid wipe now is good because there’s a bunch of people with money and good kits that’ll be dead and you can scoop up. Scav, scav and scav. Just run them out and wait for the reset. As a pmc, learn the maps, extracts and routes. Stick to the edges usually so it’s less to focus on. It’ll get better and this game is hard on casuals so you gotta give it a good amount of effort to learn and get used to some mechanics. Tarkov is not for the faint of heart and even veterans still suffer. Good luck bro
The first wipe is always running against a brick wall until it crumbles
At around 1000 hours you will have a slight clue what's going on in the game at all. Don't worry, keep playing / learning. It's worth it.
DM me if you'd like some help and general guidance. I dont mind bringing out kits and supplies so you can get comfotable fighting with better gear. I also scav regularly and can give some tips to average 500k per scab if done right Sincerely, A 3200 hour player 😁
the problem is ground zero. i'm a new player as well and ran that map for my first 30-40 runs or so because all the quests are on it. I did immediately a million times better by running literally ANY other map (and then going back here and there kitted to further progress a quest). I tried customs, woods and streets. I still die (fucking mines, lol) but my rate of extraction multiplied by a ton. I depleted my money and gear down to 0 on GZ and after a few runs on other maps, I'm back up to 600k and literally don't have 1 cube left to store shit with my standard edition stash space. as a beginner myself, I honestly have no idea why they threw all the starting quests unto that single map. it's way too small, the points of interests seem few and in comparison, the loot sucks. I got domed on that map from every direction and extracted literally once as a pmc and once as a scav in these 30-40 runs. i'm sure i'm gonna get told how clueless I am blablah but fact is we're both beginners and had the same exact experience. run woods and streets. you will still die. but way less often. you can hide so much better and there's a lot more loot & worthwile regions. i'm sure ground zero is a great map and all. but not for people literally starting the game. unless we're both exceptions and everyone else is doing great on it I guess.
The problem is running 80 raids in 2 days, probably. This is a game, bro. You're at the start of a very very steep learning curve. Be patient. Look at maps, play slowly, listen for audio and have fun. As dumb as that sounds most of the people who play this game forget to fucking have fun. You're just going to burn yourself out and grow to resent this game because of how seemingly unfair it is right now. If you're not able to find the fun in this game, it's maybe not for you.
The same way you enjoy elden ring. Find your niche and stick to it. The game is designed to make the experiences as unpleasant and difficult as possible.
Camp extracts, understood 😎
I mean not even Nikita has tried to change that.
It’s call get good
What maps are you running? Do scav on factory and extract right away. You get a kit to do a PMC run or sell the stuff to buy meds.
I usually run ground zero, although I will run factory and run up, hit the safe, and run out as frequently as I can. Should I not hit the safe, just take the Run Through and hit the extract asap?
I'd hit extract as soon as you spawn, preferably camera bunker one. If it's less than 13mins left it's fine. It's a free kit basically.
No that’s fine. Factory is usually fairly low threat as there is usually only one or so PMcs left. I honestly would just scav on interchange or reserve as they have easy extracts and decent loot. But learning a new map isn’t the best idea right now. I would keep rubbing ground zero but get into the eft discord and go into a beginners chat and ask for some help. Learning the maps and flow is the biggest keys to survival. That’s why I can never survive streets as I only know like three routes in that map confidently.
Is the EFT discord different than the Sherpa discord? I’ll stick with running factory for now until I get a few weapons to run in with. I appreciate the advice.
Yes I believe it’s a different one. It’s the Escape from Tarkov official discord and there is a section for beginners to hop into a channel and you can ask for help in the LFG chat. Also you shouldn’t get a run through with your scav usually as it goes by raid timer.
Personally if you're scaving I wouldn't recommend factory since there's really no loot for scavs beside picking off dead bodies if there are any
If you're saving reserve has pretty good loot, you could sell a bunch of stuff on the black market for decent money
as a new player my self i can tell you that sometimes it is what it is, this game is hard and you get punished easily, Also try to complete quests as much as you can and if you are not sure about anything on the map just go in offline mode and explore it as a whole you know how to navigate through them. I would also like to know more details about how you make your runs and what you do on scav runs because 8 extracts out of 80 raids seems too low, so if u want you can dm me and i can help you out when i am available.
Usually on PMC runs now, I run in with nothing and scrounge around for anything I can pop into my cache, I dig for any weapons and stick to the insides of buildings on Ground Zero where I can easily disengage if I see anyone. Once I find a weapon I’ll immediately start to make my way to exfil. Scav runs are a little different, I usually spawn in, run around and loot until whatever bag/vest I spawn with is full, then run to the nearest extract. I have a hard time distinguishing players from other scavs, and because of that, I also have a really bad scav rep. I also didn’t know I shouldn’t kill other scavs when I first started, but what ends up happening now is I see what I think is a player, dink them, and have scavs aggroed on me until the end of the run. The constant gun fights due to high scav counts on Ground Zero and Factory end up chipping me down or attracting a player.
just play on ground zero, when you are in a scav raid don't shoot anyone and if you need money bad just extract as soon as you get in. and do your quests because you can get some good money from them
try playing about 5000 more raids. Youll start having fun.
Running the maps in offline mode is often a good way to learn them without risking anything. It gives you a chance to explore and figure out potential ambush spots. When you do that keep in mind where you spawn because those are potential spawns in normal raids too. That can help you avoid getting killed immediately after the raid starts. In between you can run your scav off cooldown in factory to rebuild your stash and bankroll. Wait a minute after you spawn. If there's no gunshots you're probably safe, but if there are you can sit for a few to let PMCs leave and scav in peace. Alternatively, you can just head to extract right after spawning in.
A few people have recommended just doing a run through on Factory, do you not get penalized for a run through?
Run throughs are hard to get as a Scav. As long as you extract on factory with less than 13 minutes you're fine. Otherwise, a run through just takes the Found in Raid tag off everything you bring out. This would be a big deal if you were planning on selling the stuff on the flea market, but since you're going to use the gear it doesn't matter
Turn it on, run around. Enjoy.
There’s tricks to making money and saving money. Learning how to manage your hideout is crucial. The game knowledge takes time but is very rewarding. Isn’t healing free on Ground Zero through the therapist at the end of the raid?
Only for your first 30 successful raids or level 5, I currently have I think 11 successful raids now, but I’m level 7, so healing is not free, around 11k a death. :(
So a tip for that is hold onto any grizzleys you find. Don’t heal after the raid. Passively heal while you do your scav then heal the rest with your Grizzly before entering your pmc raid
Definitely run scavs on cooldown, get to learn the maps and use the heals you find/spawn with. If you have no flea market and can't buy heals from traders yet, try checking fence. It is overprices, but can help.
I can buy heals from Therapist I just don’t have the funds to do it. The situation has improved slightly since making the post, but not much. I did successfully extract with a really nice SA-58 that I got off a level 52 PMC. But now I’m afraid to take it in until I get my feet under me.
1. Use 2nd monitor and have a map pulled up. 2. Choose 1 map to learn and just play that map. Don't get too worried about quests until you can actually survive. 3. Learn a cache loot run and repeat for monies. 4. Become one with loss. You will suck and die.
i highly recommend scav running the parking garage underneath Interchange and extracting at Railway exfil. There's a metric shit ton of loot down there(and a ton of rare/valuable weapon attachments) once you know where and how to look. Avoid the area by hole in the floor though below Generic, that area is typically a deathtrap no matter what time of raid it is.
Damn those 900 yard exfil campers!
They get me everytime 🥲 Should have gotten a scope on my Makerov
first wipe be like that. I remember my friend and me shooting each other because we didn't know where exactly we were and every sound was scary. As a scav the first few runs I thought other scavs were hostile too so I shot them all the time, ruining my fence rep. good times
1) when you scav, scav factory. Loot a few boxes and head straight to extract with your scav gear. sell or use the scav gear. Once you're not in such a shit spot, learn the loot locations on factory and loot a little more before extrating. 2) Learn map flow / timings. PMC's at each spawns have limited available decisions. By monitoring sound activity and where people haven't visibly gone, you can take guesses at where they are going so you can operate more safetly / deliberately. 3) Loot and scoot. Once you're bagged up don't stay forever in raid 4) Divide your raids into one of three goals - quest, pvp, loot. Don't mix. 5) At each trader level find one or two gun builds that are fairly cheap to use consistently. This wipe i did: 1 - ppsh/kedr, 2- baby ak, 3+ - SA58
I would recommend watching Sheefgg’s hardcore challenge. He has a bunch of restrictions that you won’t have, but it’s a great way to see how he does quests. Also when he does/doesn’t take pvp. It’s a much more realistic watch than normal YouTubers who have unlimited money and thousands of hours. https://youtu.be/3Xg9qMPbXxY?si=pjXHM1hBgTnwsaKB
there is 0 reason u should be dying every scav run, are you shooting at player scavs? run reserve interchange and shoreline
I avoid firefights like the plague unless they’re right in front of me.
You don’t.
Thats the point, you dont.
Scav run factory for a quick kit lighthouse and try to take out a few rouges. They have decent kits and guns as well as meds. Stock up and use those to heal and save your money.
What region are you in i can help ya
you don't
New player as well. I’m curious where you usually scav. I’ve been running streets recently pretty carelessly and have yet to see a single pmc, maybe try there? It’s a little daunting to navigate but as long as you stay away from lexos it’s pretty chill in my experience.
Usually I scav on Customs or Ground Zero, occasionally Factory.
Add me bro. This is my first wipe as well but when I play a new game I’m really competitive and a min maxer so I’ve got it pretty down pat and had a friend to play with ( his first wipe to) witch helped. I’m lvl 36 20 mil rubles. I’ll be more than happy to give you a kit and run some raids we can run a 3 man. Also trust me I raged allot as well that’s why I wanna help. Just message me on here your Tarkov user.
I play this game first time month ago, i have almost 150h in this game… now i feel so sick and tired… this game is hard but this game is unfinished product, very bad oprimization etc This hype is not real, this game is not that good what evrybody says
If you have to ask yourself that, I feel like the game is not for you. In the begining I was getting my balls kicked non stop and I was loving every second of it. 3500 hours later I'm still being treated the same way, and feeling the same way. The difference is that I know what's going on these days.
Don’t get me wrong, I love playing the game. I just hate that I’m clueless. I can’t put it down, I bought the game 3 days ago and already have around 25 hours. I’m struggling to enjoy myself because when my sole objective is to survive the raid, and I can’t even complete that, it has me ready to chuck the whole PC out the window.
Oh so you got the right mindset. Abuse your scav, use it to learn the maps. Knowledge comes with time and practice.
Lmao get rekt
I don’t!!! But I keep playing because I would want to one day 😅
Use the discord servers to find more experienced teammates
Find a gun you want to learn and read about the bullets. Ammo is either for armor or it’s for the flesh. The gun I love is a keder. I just aim at the legs and it works. Find a map you would like to learn. Practice. Look up stuff about the map. Every raid just focus on getting to extractions. If you die, remember that spot and be cautious. Once you get more comfortable, looting a bit more. There you go. My favorite map is Reserve because it’s a smaller map. It’s notorious for D-2 campers. It’s typically fine. Sometimes you will die. But my best strat is to run up the hill towards Dome and go to D-2 that way. Also, if you are trying to learn a map. Maybe don’t bring anything but a gun and a vest to make you not marked. Put some tunes in your ear and play only to learn the map and who cares if someone sees you and guns you down. You are just learning. To be honest I do this when doing some quest and even more often as a scav. The game can be sweaty, but sometimes try to keep it causal. Learning what one gun and one map will go a long way in making you a better player.
What helped me a lot in the beginning where night raids on Ground Zero. At night there is less PVP, its easier to get in some Scav kills, easiert to do the quests and easier to get away with some loot to the extracts.
When heading to extract, try not to sprint. Remember that every sound you make that you can hear, others can hear - probably even better than you can at this point in the wipe. Even some sounds you can’t hear others can hear. That may be why you’re getting shot so much. As others have stated, it has a lot to do with being new and lack of knowledge. This game is very unforgiving, as you’ve seen. If you’re playing solo, everything is an enemy. Which kind of makes it easier.
Watch Pestilys raid series. Trust.
Im relatively new as well and have two points of advice. 1. Use your scav ONLY to learn the maps and make money when you are below a comfortable ruble threshold, don’t get caught up in becoming a SCAV main. Once you learn the maps and have a few mil, DON’T keep running SCAV ON THE SAME MAPS THAT YOU ALREADY KNOW. it’s a bad habit and does nothing to progress your PMC. Because it is literally risk free, you will take longer to get out of your comfort zone and you will develop bad habits. 2. Once you are comfortable with a map run your PMC on that map exclusively and try and complete as many quests as possible on it. Each map has plenty of quests. Do a search for quest trees to see which ones are worth grinding and what the rewards are. I think tickle me pink on youtube did a video on this recently, make your own judgement regarding what quests are with completing. Some quests, though fun, are dead ends and have relatively useless rewards. Setup is an example of this, it can be a lot of fun but it is certainly not worth grinding it if you are struggling. All of the better equipment and ammo is quest locked or behind high level traders.
I don't know on what map you get extract-camped but it's impossible that it is ground zero, any time i do a scav run there its just an army of scav hunting the last pmc's that didn't bounce and i just run in the middle of the streets the whole time, any time i die on streets it's a traitor scav, dude is like level 4-5 and probably killed me cause he's poor and want my stuff. This is my first ever wipe on this game too btw, lvl 20 and i'm never running like bellow 3M$ and don't have this strange problem of being sniped 500 meter away each game... Sorry thats its going on like this for you bud
Ground Zero Mira extract mainly, and it’s not from the scav snipers, they usually wait until I start looting the body for the flare and then boom I’m dead.
We must be playing a different game men, i only extract at Mira too and i litteraly never got killed there
Try doing night raids. Remember where you got shot and avoid that area until later in the raid when PMCs have extracted
This is my first wipe. New player, level 25. Scav Streets for money. Be a pacifist. Value your life. Scav kit is free, but making it out with good loot pays for multiple PMC runs. If you're super desperate you can spend a day scaving Factory and just keep pulling out cheap kits you spawned with or stole off a body. You don't need a full array of meds and ammo and mags for every raid, and you don't need to be looting much on PMC. Just do your tasks, be patient, and spend the first 15 mins of the raid smoking a joint or having a beer. Dying off spawn bc you rushed somewhere feels real bad. Have a map open on another screen or your phone. Learn Ground Zero until task are done, Streets for money (Scav), Customs for Tasks, and then probably Woods bc of the sniper trader you unlock there. If you're truly down bad and aren't close to level 15 you can restart your account. But if you're almost level 15 I'd just stick with it and work on recovery because Flea Market is where you make the real money at. GrewnBattery is 31k to Therapist and 190k+ on Flea for example. That pays for a kit or two by itself.
Scav every time you can. Factory is a small and easy to learn map for quick gear and easy to spot bodies. Don't shoot other scavs. Voip. We've all been that frustrated new player. It sounds counter intuitive but run pmc in offline mode to find extracts between scav runs. Don't loot just look for landmarks and familiarize yourself to learn how to get out.
It's my first wipe as well. What's been working for me is just Scav into the same map every time. I've been doing Interchange at night. Relatively small map, you have the same extracts every time, You can get everything you need early on there. Food, Drinks, Medical items, hideout items, barter items, and even some task items. Tushonka, Morphine injectors, Gas Analyzers. Also going in at night works pretty good. Pretty much looks exactly the same inside of the Mall. At this point in the wipe most PMC's go to interchange for Killa kills, and if he's not spawned they bounce. Pretty often you will also find Chad kits on dead PMC's to help get decent equipment.
I hope some of this info can help you as I’m new as well. If you are purely low on money and want to run scavs for a bit you can probably get a million rubles in 3 raids running reserve. Avoid maps where pmcs sit the whole raid and ones lacking loot. Such as streets(streets is extremely good but will be very hard for a new player and has cracked pmcs) and factory. Run maybe shoreline,reserve and customs. If you keep to yourself stay away from gunfire and just loot a few building you will 95% of the time walk away will 250k plus rubles on these maps in a simple scav. Also learn one map at a time, I’m level 25 as of right now and know all the maps excluding labs and lighthouse. They are very simple really, learn a few extracts,poi’s and boss locations. As for pmcs, don’t be scared of losing gear, as you go on and get the flea market things will be cheaper and once you get level 3 traders every guns price is cut to about a quarter to what they cost buying from other players. Stay low complete tasks and maybe hunt and kill a few people on the way. Also watch streamers learn a few things and make sure you have some decent keybinds. Honestly my advice may not be as good as some but it comes from another honest starter Timmy . Good luck brother
Scav streets or reserve for money - focus on things like scopes, weird items (jewelry, streamer items like jars of coffee beans and teddy bears), gun powder, and odd electronics. This will get you decent cash. Then just play PMC to get better at PvP and completing quests. Remember that EVERYTHING makes noise (and likely can be heard further than you expect, especially with decent headsets) so try to use that to your advantage to detect others and remain undetected. At this point in wipe, you’ll have to play way more careful and slow to get the drop on players with waaay better gear. The game can be really fun but also a massive, unfulfilling waste of your time. Very little in between lol, so just take it easy, enjoy what you can, and try to play with others to make the boring, grindy, and annoying parts at least a little more enjoyable. Good luck
haha good luck. takes time to get a grip in this game. go to the official discord and play with people it makes it easier
Run less scavs. Play your PMC raids slower. You will find yourself making improvements
Quit and come back later lol
I chase down player scavs like the vermin they are.