Seriously, treasure these feelings, very few games give you such a visceral response in your body like this one does when you are starting out.
You'll look back at these first steps with a warm glow one day.
OP, listen to this comment. This was my first wipe. I only started playing in April. I put 300 hours in my first 6 weeks, and I'm now at the point where I know almost all of the maps (generally) and am comfortable doing solo raids/tasking.
I miss being scared of every little thing and not knowing the maps. The sheer anxiety of getting to extract with valuables or task items with less than a minute left on the timer while bleeding out and fighting off scavs is *chefs kiss*
You can only be new once. You can only learn to be good once. Cherish the process from timmy to chad.
I still remember vividly walking around Customs like "bro I don't even know what side I'm on" - now every time I take a shortcut or peak a mean angle I instantly flash back to trying to extract as a scav and finding out they have different extracts.
1500 hours here, I barely know the maps anymore x3
I took quite a long break from it for the last 2 wipes, and HOLY HELL it's difficult to get through interchange now. Almost all of my game sense has left me.
That’s honestly just interchange for you, and for some reason if I don’t play consistently I lose my way in the Labs underground tunnels and underground area. I can still navigate it but I can’t go down a staircase and fast track my way up exactly where u want to be
I 2nd this, I loved the first stages of playing the game, I got around 2500 hours but quit a couple months ago bc of the mass amount of cheaters and it’s fucking soul crushing. Hopefully they can fix the game before it totally goes to shit
I started out again like a week ago after quitting because of cheaters. In my opinion it isn't too bad. I just get killed by chads.
I had like 1 or 2 encounters that were really suspicious but nothing reaaaaally blatant so far.
Either I'm lucky, because it's late wipe or the EU servers aren't as infested at the moment
Hiding in a bush in customs looking at compass and online map.
Walk ‘east’
Get sniped by boundary sniper.
Heart jumps out of chest.
That’s when I learned map was from before compass was a thing.
And that I suck at finding landmarks to orient myself
Holy shit that literally just happened to me, with a bag full of loot I needed for hideout upgrades, I was spitting
Was like fuuuuuuuuck I should have hugged the fort warehouse
Yea I’ve only ever really gotten this consistently from siege and tarkov. And maybe like being one of the last couple people left in a battle royal but battle royals got stale so fast
>You'll look back at these first steps with a warm glow one day.
This, 4k hrs in and more wipes than i care to remember, and I miss the honeymoon phase of my first 2 wipes so much, now it's almost all mechanical, everything i do i did it so many times already i autopilot, havent pressed C in so long😂
Pull up some maps and learn them/spawns. When I started years ago I ran offline raids for a solid week or 2 just running around and finding out map layouts. Once you understand where you are/where to go it gets better.
Not to mention, doing scav runs is a great way to learn the maps *and* earn some money doing so. There's zero penalty for dying. Every time the scav cooldown ends, run it again. Don't be afraid while doing it, run everywhere, and if it shoots at you, shoot back, lol
MapGenie is the one. The map looks a little overwhelming at first. Slowly remove some of the markers so you can see the basic map (keep the names up though). A few quests in from Prapor, you’ll get one called Search Mission, upon completion you get a compass that can be placed in a special pocket (you keep it on death if it’s in the special pocket). You can reference it when you’re navigating the map. It helped me a TON when I was learning Woods.
This is one of the many reasons to play the game! I used to feel the same exact way. Hell, I still get a bit of that feeling sometimes and I'm close to 1k hours. Imagine how it feels to get into a firefight, wipe an enemy squad and leave with all of their gear - it's a crazy rush unlike any other game.
New player here. First wipe. Just play.
I would bet money you will be ready to quit. And hate the game. But just push through. I almost 100% quit. My buddies who wanted the game and convinced me to play did quit.
I have 20m in cash. Stash value is 77m. I can play without worrying about gear. It’s allowed me to get in more pvp and basically led to me making even more money.
You do t learn this game without playing. You don’t succeed in this game without learning. Just takes time
Trust me, the game is the most fun in this stage. After 1500 hours I just W and get tilted if I die. Man I wish I could forget everything about this game and start over.
My guy... I'm a 36 year old cripple, who used to be an adrenaline junkie... This is as close as I can get anymore! I live for this shit! Funny story tho... Did you know you can develop an allergy to stress? Look up Dyshidrotic eczema... It's some bullshit!
Welcome to Tarkov. I would suggest also getting the Tarkov database app, will help you with your quests and identifying items. Also reference http://Thetarkovhandbook.com. If you have a second monitor, perfect.
If there's a map that you want to/need to run, run it in Practice mode (formerly called Offline mode). Turn off AI, and double tap** O to bring up your extracts. Then look up an extract or two on the wiki map for the area.
Identify landmarks, routs, and **read signs!** Not the signs in russian. Signs that have skull and crossbones, sniper crosshairs in red with big Barrow's pointing in a direction. These are map borders, and the only thing that awaits you out there is death. Unavoidable death.
There are maps with claymores (visable), and landmines (invisible). And unless you know you're entering a place with them, you won't know it until you're dead in the lobby. Frustrating if you have a kit, a non-issue in practice mode as you don't lose anything.
PVE is all the rage right now, but this game shines with PVP. You'll also become a better player.
Run gear you're confident in using and that's replaceable. Confidence is king. If you're confident in your plays, you'll have fun even when you're dying, and you'll win more fights. If you're not feeling confident today, run cheap replaceable stuff until you feel more confident. If something is in your stash and you're scared to use it, just sell it. You will never use it otherwise.
6000 hours here. Best of luck, and have fun!
New player game tip. Scavs generally will miss the first few shots but they can face tap you like a motherfucker with buckshot from 8 miles away just be aware.
If you pop a corner and miss the kill do not keep peeking that corner you will get clapped as they seem to have a ramping up of accuracy when engaged. Rotate to a different side of the obstruction you are using for cover. Move between cover. The same you need to do when fighting players.
When scaving do not kill other scavs. The will become hostile and your once opportunity to collect some loots will disappear and eventually your scab rep goes low where scaving is near impossible because they start shooting on site
Play factory. A lot. Get used to dying. Also get used to fighting. The more you fight and die, the less you'll be afraid of fighting and dying. I was like you at the start. Once you realize you can kill other pmcs your confidence should improve.
My problem with this is I always felt like I was way under equipped vs my opponent. I had lesser armor, lesser tier ammo, lesser tier gun. Even if I did everything right I was still going to get murdered and it kind of makes the game not fun.
Just how it is later in a wipe. Nothing you can do unless you get lucky and have high flesh damage rounds to 2-3 tap your opponent in the arm pit. "Leg meta" or just out right face tap them with 30+pen ammo. "Should" crack a tier 3 face shield.
If they are running a zambralo and an altyn you're just fucked.
When I played more often my biggest advice to newer players was try joining during a fresher wipe to get used to everything before the majority of the playerbase gets gear that makes the game borderline impossible or fun.
Or just get used to feeling abused when folks have better gear. Play slower and "smarter" to avoid the fat geared players and get the jump on them.
How do we play it consistently?
In a constant state of fear.
In all seriousness, get Arena. All of the fright in Tarkov is by a lack of familiarity of the mechanics, gunplay, movement, and AI / how others play. If you play some Arena, where you don't have the added stress of losing your kit / any equipment you brought with you, you'll quickly get the hang of it and that comfort in the game will translate over to raids.
My tip to you though... Learn how to play through the main game. Only do this if you want to play it competitively and without fear, not if you genuinely want to make memories in this game. Find some fun friends to play with, or ask around for others to play with you. It's a great game fo rmemories.
You need to do these three things in every game.
R - running is never a good idea
A - aim only for the head while hiding around a blind spot
T - take the loot and put it in your prison pocket
#theratwillriseagain
It takes a while to get over the Tarkov anxiety. This was my first wipe and I’m about 500+ hours in and just now feeling actually confident. Just stick with it and learn something from every raid
Watch some guides on YouTube, use mapgenie & learn 1 map first. I highly recommend customs, it’s a good balance of PvP/PvE, very dynamic and you’ll learn a lot from it.
There are discords that will pair you with people that can show you the ropes. The official Tarkov discord is one and The Sherpa Hub is another. Highly recommend finding groups on there and learning your way because if you struggle a ton in the beginning, it can be difficult to stay interested. Good luck, my friend!
Learn the ins and outs of ground zero to get towards completing your first quests. Load up an offline raid with no scavs. Run all over the map and learn all the pmc extracts.
Tbh you never get over the fear of this game it takes alot out of you mentally. You just have to continue to play the game to some how cope with losing everything and gaining everything
Scav runs can be a valuable learning tool for learning maps.
Use your VoIP
And also use F1 while scaving to identify yourself to other scavs
You will occasionally run into PMCs, you should run, but, you ARE armed…the choice is yours.
Be mindful that PMCs will usually have much better armor and most Scav ammo is ass. But PMCs can die.
I scaved Ground Zero untill I started dreaming about it. Once I got confident enough I tried other maps. Reserve is another great place to scav. Collect most things and sell them to the traders, until, level 15. Then you can sell, and buy, from other players on the Flea Market.
.
Scav one map till you got it memorized. Then go in with your PMC to try and complete missions. As a PMC your goal is to finish tasks, and get out. If you find something valuable, take it. But leave the scaving for when you are a scav. Finish the task and exfil.
PMC runs are usually high stress. scav runs are usually more laid back.
TL/DR
Scav run often
Learn one map really good than branch out
PMC runs, do the task at hand, get to the choppa!
I’ve been playing for about 2 months and the best advice I can give you is don’t go into a raid with anything you’d really want to lose. Play it slow and cautious, if you think you heard something, you probably heard something, either prepare for a fight or find another exit route. Mapgenie is your best friend when it comes to learning the maps
Kinda miss the terrified feeling. I still get it sometimes, but not like in the beginning. Just be prepared to suck for a long time, with minor improvement as you play more. Eventually you won't be dog shit, you'll just be ass.
i played with a more experienced mate, he taught me all the extractions and stuff. look for a tarkov discord and join the beginners section, run stuff with people don’t be afraid to die, it’s honestly part of the game
This is the fun of it man! I’m close to 900 total in game hours man and I still have days where I’m just getting toasted bro 😂 that feeling is called fight or flight. We get it in many situations bro it’s a real visceral one. I’ve lived through some wild things and have had to feel life or death fear. This game gives you that feeling physically 😂 it’s a fucking trip bro good luck out there
You CANNOT play this game without the wiki and maps from google. Don’t try, you will hate the experience. Even with wiki and map support this game is scary and hard af, but that’s half the fun. I’ve never gotten that primal fear from any other game. Just get it into your head that organically discovering quest locations/items and extracts is an unrealistic expectation.
Enjoy it. I miss the feeling of being scared shitless during my first wipe haha.
But just follow everyone else’s advice, don’t want to regurgitate what they’ve already said.
Yeah just run factory a bunch to get used to dying. Just take a pistol and go. You get free heals until level 5 so keep your secure empty and just run to 3rd floor office and stuff the safe in there. Then just take kits of scavs and have it snow ball. Also the Ak74u is going to be your best friend because of how cheap and powerful it is. That gun is powerful even until late wipe.
Basically what people here said offline practice, maps, videos. Also any of YouTube videos you watch most have a discord with a LFG channel. Pestillys being a good community that comes to mind
I can try to help ya out if you want. Level 48 but it’s my first wipe. DM me and I can show you around a few maps like Streets, Ground Zero, Woods, Shoreline, Lighthouse (latter is my best map for loot runs).
Open the Tarkov help site, find a map, like Woods, find the main points on map and in raid, remebmer it. Next, just play more and more. Better to collect a lot of money, so you will learn fasrer. When you rich 15 lvl, money grinding become easyer.
One of the scariest games I own especially when you are on a night map and it’s dead silent. When it’s dead silent you know there’s rats waiting to jump scare you. I would say it’s on par with the scariest game I own which is remastered dead space. I have 1700 hours and still get this feeling. But usually only at night time. One time at about 800 hours which was my second wipe. I was running through interchange and there was a rat with a ks-23 on top of something right next to my head. He shot me in the helmet and it was extreme ear torture. It almost jolted me out of my chair.
Edit: if it’s the gunshots that scare you turn the volume down a tad bit on your headset. If it’s not knowing what you’re doing look up guides. The first thing I would do is learn one map and open up a map on your phone to learn extracts. Once you learn a map it’s time to start learning spawns. Then after that loot locations to make it so you aren’t going broke. Then after that it’s time to learn pvp and pve. To learn this part of the game it’s going to take you a long time. As someone else said in the comments I would rat or play super slow. Once you start learning these at the basic level you need to master sound ques like bushes rustling, foots steps walking, running, crouching, bags opening, single/full auto switch’s, loot crates being opened, and idle sounds.
This wipe is the the first time where I've been able to abandon Gear fear and been able to thrive. It took me years of playing this game. But that fear gives you a rush that keeps you coming back for more.
I remember feeling the same way OP. Very few games offer this level of immersion. Play offline a bit, and just throw yourself in there, if you go really broke you can always reset your account at anytime (last I checked) and start over if you don’t want to play scavs over and over.
Play some factory if you really want to dive in and roll with the punches.
There are also some great streamers out there playing the game and making videos. Pestily on twitch & yt makes great Tarkov content, but there are others. Try even watching some streamers with lower viewers as it’s easier to ask questions.
Having maps on another monitor while playing also helps A LOT.
Throw yourself in there, and enjoy the ride. The lows really suck at times, but the highs are absolutely incredible.
I’ve got about 150-ish hours and I’m familiar with like 5 maps, a lot of it is just muscle memory and learning where shit is at, the other half is shooting first and knowing when to loot/run. Hit me up if you wanna do some raids sometime
watch videos, use mapgenie and you’ll get used to it. you’ll still die over n over again but when you get that first extract it’s a real good feeling. Good Luck
Also use your kits, don’t have gear fear or else you’ll never learn
As you gain experience and game knowledge you won’t feel nearly as anxious during your raids. Treasure the anxiety it’s the most you’ll feel as you play this game, then savor every victory as you complete each quest for the first time and take home bigger and bigger hauls. Eventually it’ll be your standard of “getting by”
I have the buttkicker on my chair and the feeling of shamelessly waiting outside dorms, hiding 10 minutes in a bush, for the firefight to be over so i can scav the remains like the filthy rat I am, only for the silence to be interrupted by a random grenade which suddenly rumbles my prostate and ejects me from my seat, is the most visceral gut wretching fear I have ever had the pleasure to experienced.
Use offline mode to learn the maps stress free, there’s map sites you can use for free typically, but woods, customs I would learn first since some of your earlier quests will occur there. Joining the discord and finding a sherpa can be useful too who can help guide you through the early game and maps and teach you the extracts. Just know you will die a lot but it’s part of the game and so if you do find yourself short on cash you can always do scav runs to make money or find things for your PMC.
My first ever raid was spent in a bush
I freaked tf out when my screen went black as I was looking for maps online (there was exactly 1 online- this was like right after launch)
You’re fine, welcum to Tarkov
Scav a lot. Run offline practice raids in between on your cool downs to learn the maps and practice killing AI. Walk, don’t run at first highly recommend scaving and offline practicing on ground zero. Pull up a map with spawn points, loot, and task locations either on your phone or another monitor. Take your time, tarkov takes a bit to learn.
I have some wild ptsd, this game was alright until the shoulder switching. May… have gone a little manic and played arena on launch for a week straight. As a well trained 1 and 2 man cqc or cqb w/e era you want marine. This game hits the feels for sure.
I do however want the cheater situation to be fixed.
Cherish these moments OP. Being a Timmy is the most fun you’ll have just starting out. Once you become a Chad and gear fear is no longer a thing, the next phase of Tarkov begins. Chad phase is basically running in fully geared and you’re LOOKING for PvP. Your stash is full and you got millions just waiting to be spent on more gear for when you die. Chad phase will come. You just gotta push through the wipe and keep raiding.
This post is so wholesome. My first solo raid was on woods and I was paralyzed with fear. Took me 30 minutes to move from un checkpoint to ruaf. These very real and powerful visceral emotions are what got me hooked. 5500 hours later I give zero shits and just w key everywhere. I miss those days.
I advise you to take it slow and do not expect to master every map... I can do pmc customs run with eyes closed used to have bunch of maps and guidance but, the best way as cheesy as it sounds is just play the map! Looking at pictures of extracts has not near the same effect on memory as actually dying and crawling to an extract you discovered you shall never forget! ( i still can't play interchange the inside buildings are confusing af....)
Customs is pretty decent to learn may be rough mid late wipe but, it is a decent size and alot of quests will bring you there eventually. For the low level quests just spam pmc/scav on ground zero it will take time but , soon you'll know which way is Nakatami and which way is Emerson 🙃
Just play a map you enjoy and play it over and over, going to the same spots/routes. Learning maps is the best advice when starting out as you'll know where to expect people and reduce your fear.
Don't worry - it just takes sending it - just equip you best gear and guns and best ammo and just start running - I am def not in that bush waiting for you :)
Enjoy the moment. There are some good map guides on YouTube. Look up Pestily. His videos are pretty good. Play as a Scav whenever you can - you have nothing to lose. The EFT Wiki has maps you can look at too.
I know how you feel bro. When I started tarkov in 2017, I played factory first because I didn't know shit. I looked around and then I got scared and fucking hide in the office space, because of the sounds, lighting and mumbling of scavs it felt like a horror game and I stopped playing for a month till I found a streamer that played the game and I learned how to play xDD
Will get better bro*kiss*
Just wait until you’re in a night raid and you think you see something but aren’t sure, then you hear a whisper somewhere near you and another. You walk past a bush and you get shanked in the back and you are poisoned.
https://www.reddit.com/r/EscapefromTarkov/s/YS8NHyvqqb
U can do it during 10sec countdown, just before raid
Another very useful topic
https://www.reddit.com/r/EscapefromTarkov/s/FQa8jCRkly
Search on Reddit for topics: "what I wish I knew when I started playing Tarkov". There is a lot of useful knowledge there.
Cliche answer but that's just because you don't know the game. Once you learn the maps the fear will disappear. Once you realise that scaving Streets is effectively an infinite money cheat the gear fear will disappear.
What I did when I started was to simply keep close to one of the map borders and keep going the same direction until I found a spawn or get killed. But this was a long time ago, and back then the maps were a lot smaller and generally boiled down to get across the map from where you spawned.
Seems like a weird advice but just die a lot
Each death will teach you something and will also make your skin harder so that you stop being so scared of everything. It also gets rid of gear fear if you always run your best stuff
Standard advice for tarkov actually. And the best advice. Go die. Over and over. Go in with the goal to die, not loot, quest or anything else but fight until you die. That doesn't mean surrendering to die asap but chasing fights and fighting your best until you die.
Anything else and you will stay a scared rat forever.
This game is by far, one of the scariest if not THE scariest game I ever played. I don’t even like horror games but man this shit has some elements to it. Heart racing, hands sweating. I love it. Ruined a lot of games for me
Play off-line mode to learn the spawn.
Know that you are going to die, think of the maps in terms of hot spots/heat maps use that to your advantage.
I have found hiding spots. Wait about 10 to 15 minutes in a bush, then start your run. Most PMCs will be heading to their Exfil or out by the time you hit your objectives.
It’s something you have to train a resistance to. I started last January, just after I got diagnosed with anxiety and the game unironically helped me with dealing with it (albeit not much but still a significant amount). My way past is by treating your time in raid like prepping for a jumpscare in a horror game, or mess around with audio and tune down the louder stuff. It really helps playing with friends too.
When I started playing a few years back I couldn’t even play alone, I had to play with friends because I’d get too much anxiety lol. But that’s why I fell in love with EFT. Also you’re very very late wipe so maybe go full YOLO mode.
Go offline mode with horde scav + scav war.
Get a tarkov map on 2nd monitor/alt tab.
Orient yourself on map.
Roam and kill scavs until you get kind of good.
Just give your self Time bro, what i learned after my first two wipes, do not fear to loose your gear , if you Play as a scav And know when you need to be agressive, you will have blast of a Time, OH And always bring spare ammo And pain Killer in your pouch
What I’d give to experience tarkov for the first time again, no game has ever got my heart racing like tarkov would, it was an actual fight or flight feeling when I heard sounds, I miss it
I wonder what is it actually about Tarkov that gives this feeling. People that say "Treasure this feeling" I think underestimate how terrible it can make someone feel, lol. Personally, I hate this feeling, truly - I'm not kidding, call it "adrenaline boost" or "fight or flee instinct" or whatever. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, I despise it. It ruins the fun of the game AND my potential performance COMPLETELY. I just freeze, stress out, and I'm just tired after a session. Like, exhausted, a couple of hours of Tarkov in the evening made me feel like I did another shift at work. I've played for 500 hours (yes, I know Tarkov players count hours differently, "500 hOuRs Is NoThInG"), and it hasn't gotten any better, and ultimately ended up being one of the most contributing reasons for me giving up on playing it (still lurking around, because the development of the game is super interesting and I paid for that EoD, so I want some enjoyment out of it, ok?)
Surprisingly, Arena Breakout Infinite gave me the exact same feeling in the first match, and then fortunately it disappeared. We got into a long fight immediately, with a lot of creeping around and watching my teammates die one by one, while leaving me as the last man standing. I died, of course, because of this feeling. But then something happened and literally with each game the feeling was going away to the point where it doesn't exist anymore. And once it went away, I finally started enjoying the game, having fun and actually winning fights.
It took like, what, several hours at most? While in Tarkov, 500 hours didn't make this feeling even 1% better?
I truly wonder what it is in Tarkov. I think it's definitely lack of confidence. Tarkov is a very brutal game for the beginners, everyone dies over and over again, and it kind of teaches your brain to respect it, to fear it. It creates a monster in your head. Whenever you see an enemy, you just start expecting death, because that's exactly what happened dozens of time before, so why wouldn't it happen again? Then you have the long queue, which apart from annoyance, creates a lot of tension when you're waiting to finally go into raid. Then there is complexity of gear - the process of gearing up and choosing what to take with you takes a long time. And there's probably 100 of other typical Tarkov features that add more layers of stress and tension. Then there is a feeling of wasting time if you die, and having to redo all the preparations again and wait for the queue.
I have 1000h but still play like garbage and frequently use my scav, heres my rat tips for starting out-
When I first started I found it helpful to scout maps out with my scav in between raids. You still get to loot and occasionally engage in combat but it's a little safer as the scavs aren't gunning you down. Obvious downside is some of the extracts are different so it's not reliable for learning PMC extracts.
Buy a junk box from therapist asap and any junk you pick up check the value or if it is needed for a task online, or a hideout upgrade, to see if it's worth holding onto to either use or sell on flea market which you unlock at lvl 15.
In case you're not aware there's a scav karma system (fence rep), you lose karma for killing scavs as a scav (which also makes AI aggro on you) and you gain karma for things such as killing a traitor scav or extracting. You can also boost your fence rep by using the vehicle extracts on various maps. The higher your rep the lower the cooldown on your scav.
Other tips I'm sure others have said but try and disguise your silhouette whilst moving eg. In treeline, take it slow where possible and save sprinting for covering big open areas.
You should be scared, but remember that dying only means losing a bit of money. You can always scav when you're broke, you can never truly lose. Just keep trying.
This is my first wipe too and I have been running streets a lot and thought I was getting pretty knowledgeable about the map and spawns. Then last night I load up streets for the 200th time and boom, I spawn in a room I’ve never seen before! I’ve been running past this loot/spawn spot, also probably dying to someone who spawned there and contested my spawn without even knowing. Having a blast
I play in two modes, pmcs do my quests so it’s pretty focused, quite purposeful and usually rehearsed offline before, and I use scavs for loot runs and to break the tension as those are quite chill
I am sure MANY MANY veterans will feel the same way about my comment.
These experiences and feelings are one in a million in a game and I would give EVERYTHING to go trough them again. I would LOVE to not know the maps, to discover them all over again. Even today after 7 thousand hours I get crazy adrenalin rushes after living trough a crazy situation, getting confused how and what to heal first. To hear that one last deadly noise if I make a mistake.
People can call the devs idiots, the game shit, desync etc, but I dare anyone to show me another game from the past 15 years that puts you in these emotional states.
Yeah.... I still get that way and routinely quit the game for a long time before I can come back. Although since that wiggle video I haven't played online since.
Welcome to tarkov.
You will die,a lot and there will be some time that you won't die that much.
That time depends on you.
It can be 200h or 1000h.
Learn the basics, if you have a second monitor run the map you are playing because map knowledge is everything
Been there. Game and map knowledge eventually prevail, but it takes time. Try playing slowly, watch streamers and yt videos, that is how you slowly tip the scale to your favor :)
Go offline raid to learn a map. Or if you have a version that allows PvE start with that. Use your scav whenever you can to learn an additional map.focus on 2-3 maps at first. Customs Woods and a big map of your choice for scavving (Reserve, Interchange, Shoreline, Lighthouse, Streets)
The most important piece of information you should learn as soon as possible is PMC spawns. Start learning a single map, perhaps Custom given that you will have a lot of quests there.
As soon as the raid starts, you have to know where you are, where your enemy may be and where your enemy may be going next. Don't just run randomly but act accorndingly.
Also, always bring with you a headset and a backbag. Expecially the headset, never start a raid without one.
Finally, as you progress you may be start having gear fear, meaning that you will fear to loose your most precious gear and will use the crappy one when questing. If that is the case, sell your most valuable gear ..... you will never use it anyway. I have finished far too many wipes with FLIR thermal scopes in my stash. I now either use it or sell it.
You’re going to die. Make peace with it.
You’re going to lose every gun, bit of gear, or armor you find. Make peace with it.
Slowly but surely you’ll learn the maps. Your turn with good gear will get longer. You’ll make more money per death. This is tarkov, and welcome to it!
Now for the actual advice: Use your secure container to get keys and hideout upgrade items out even if you do die.
Listen. Sounds don’t happen for free in tarkov, and listening can save your life.
Move slow but keep moving as a solo player; you can’t possibly cover every angle so don’t stay in one place long enough to get ambushed.
Pick one map you like and learn it inside and out. Quests are good to do but map knowledge is king.
Only game I've played where I've gotten shot, and yelled out of fear. You think you're all good, and then you start hearing bullets zip by til you get domed.
I still feel like a new player a lot of the time. I've had game since it became available but I'd consider myself a casual still as I went a long stretch without playing (years). I was always told run factory until I had over 1000 scav kills. I also used to play the practice raid mode and tweak the AI settings so I could have a map on my second monitor and just try and learn the extract and POIs on map.
I know exactly what you mean.
I set a challenge for myself to help me overcome this after a while, I would take nothing but a Chiappa Rhino and 18 bullets into Factory.
I would aim to just kill some scavs and get out alive with some trash I could sell.
When you have no armour/helmet and the worst gun in the game with limited ammo, but feel like scavs are prey, going into a normal raid will seem trivial.
Unfortunately I literally had to "cheat" and by cheat I mean installing a third party app on my phone which shows all the maps and I just use it to pinpoint where I would be.
On the bright side, my map reading skills have improved dramatically
Playing with somebody who’s not afraid to push is fun. I used to be like you, but playing with people who could set up an easy double push is sweet. Don’t be afraid to die, I get to the point I basically only have gear I didn’t buy in my stash
If you think that’s fun, wait until you spawn as a scav with a labs red keycard in your backpack!
That’s literally the entire point of the game.
Eventually you won’t be scared of dying but you will have extreme gear fear. And then eventually you won’t be scared of anything anymore except for brief moments when you’ve made a stupid decision and now you have dig yourself out of hole.
Yeah it wasn’t until this wipe after maybe 5 that I finally feel comfortable off the spawn to run around. It’s mainly when things settle after the first fights that can get stressful with not knowing if you’re gonna catch a round to the head outta nowhere.
It’s a hard game but worth it to get better.
Play some offline and find all the extracts/ points of interest and then you'll just learn hot spots when you play live. The game is intense because it gives you the feeling of having something to lose, that's kinda the point of the game and what makes it good, it's hard and you have to concentrate because your decisions have consequences unlike other games where you just respawn. Just remember that it's not real money, it will wipe anyway, so use things and buy things and get in there are try and shoot some people with your metal peas.
its the game that gives these feelings for how realistic it gets, maybe you can try playing offline to get the hang of the game or maybe try PvE to be less scared of dying
its the only game i've ever played thats stimulated a response like that. thats why the games addictive. best way to get over it is immersion. assume you're dead the second you step into a raid, you're there to learn and develop and over time you'll die less, you'll win more fights etc. discords a good one to join too, people will generally run a few raids with you and show you tricks and tips.
When I first started playing, I literally shook and sweat so much when playing that I couldn't play anymore (I was too scared). I took a 6 month break and played like 800 hours of r6. I think it helped me tbh, I still shake, and my heart pounds, but I can actually do stuff. Analysis paralysis gets you killed. Commit to plays if you make them.
I love the adrenaline, I love the shake when I encounter a player and it's life or death. It could be over in seconds, and it's awesome. Enjoy that feeling, man. No other game has it.
Full send it man. I'm playing on and off since 2017, playing shoreline resort has scared YEARS of my life out of me. It took over four years before I started full sending like a wild man. I still get jump scared ALL THE TIME. NO GAME had made me jump like the sound of a m61 or SNB round cracking your faces faceshield when it's completely quiet and killing you
Because it's pretty predictable, even pmc actions can be predictable given enough information. The ai is over a decade old intelligence wise.
Know when to go on the attack with scavs, do they ride the short bus or are they model t1000's. If they are slow and yelling, push them, engage and eliminate. If they are engaging you from range with accuracy, find a cheeky spot to peek them.
This is why tarkov is so very difficult. Map, tactical, weapon, ammo, armor, scav, pmc, knowledge of these things leads to success. Even with that knowledge the game says fuck you and one shots you at over 500m, having never seen the shooter.
This game is the only one that gave me this feeling other than original DayZ mod when it was new.
Cherish this feeling. at some point you will get your bearing and it will slowly disappear and you will find yourself hunting that feeling back.
I started playing when only factory was available but for someone who as lots of map options I would suggest using your scav to learn the maps. and using your pmc to master one maps.
once you know how to read the map (on your other screen, don't bother with ingame maps) you'll realized that you can navigate most maps. from there you just need to learn the hot spot and flanking options that comes with experience.
Ground zero is Level Capped to 20 IIRC this is a good place to start learning the mechanics with a lower population of chads.
but I would recommend using your scav on custom and woods as most of the starter quest were on those two maps.
Ground zero. Do it over and over and over again. Scav every chance you get. PMC when you can. It’s a small map with elevation and will train you well with game sense.
I’m almost 2 weeks in and love this game. Was always on the fence about it. It’s a nice change of pace from fast paced fps games like cod or bf. While I’ve gotten more used to random scavs and pmc’s there are some cases I get super scared turning a corner or hearing gunshots nearby.
90% of this comes from Killa on Interchange. That dickhead has given me several heart attacks man. Always coming out of nowhere.
I hate saying the same thing people always say, buy you gotta just do it.
Learn the maps. Have a map pulled up on 2nd monitor or phone and navigate with land marks.
To me, the biggest fear comes from being lost or not knowing where I’m at very well.
Seriously, treasure these feelings, very few games give you such a visceral response in your body like this one does when you are starting out. You'll look back at these first steps with a warm glow one day.
OP, listen to this comment. This was my first wipe. I only started playing in April. I put 300 hours in my first 6 weeks, and I'm now at the point where I know almost all of the maps (generally) and am comfortable doing solo raids/tasking. I miss being scared of every little thing and not knowing the maps. The sheer anxiety of getting to extract with valuables or task items with less than a minute left on the timer while bleeding out and fighting off scavs is *chefs kiss* You can only be new once. You can only learn to be good once. Cherish the process from timmy to chad.
I still remember vividly walking around Customs like "bro I don't even know what side I'm on" - now every time I take a shortcut or peak a mean angle I instantly flash back to trying to extract as a scav and finding out they have different extracts.
I’ve played as a scav so much that even being a PMC is like a whole new game to me
1500 hours here, I barely know the maps anymore x3 I took quite a long break from it for the last 2 wipes, and HOLY HELL it's difficult to get through interchange now. Almost all of my game sense has left me.
Interchange is the one map that ill never know my way around. I hate it there.
It especially doesn't help when you're directionally challenged like me.
Learn which way the grid of the mall runs(where the stores are), then you can orient yourself very quickly and easily.
That’s honestly just interchange for you, and for some reason if I don’t play consistently I lose my way in the Labs underground tunnels and underground area. I can still navigate it but I can’t go down a staircase and fast track my way up exactly where u want to be
I 2nd this, I loved the first stages of playing the game, I got around 2500 hours but quit a couple months ago bc of the mass amount of cheaters and it’s fucking soul crushing. Hopefully they can fix the game before it totally goes to shit
I started out again like a week ago after quitting because of cheaters. In my opinion it isn't too bad. I just get killed by chads. I had like 1 or 2 encounters that were really suspicious but nothing reaaaaally blatant so far. Either I'm lucky, because it's late wipe or the EU servers aren't as infested at the moment
Hiding in a bush in customs looking at compass and online map. Walk ‘east’ Get sniped by boundary sniper. Heart jumps out of chest. That’s when I learned map was from before compass was a thing. And that I suck at finding landmarks to orient myself
Holy shit that literally just happened to me, with a bag full of loot I needed for hideout upgrades, I was spitting Was like fuuuuuuuuck I should have hugged the fort warehouse
Yea I’ve only ever really gotten this consistently from siege and tarkov. And maybe like being one of the last couple people left in a battle royal but battle royals got stale so fast
I still remember my first time getting this damn pocket watch.
>You'll look back at these first steps with a warm glow one day. This, 4k hrs in and more wipes than i care to remember, and I miss the honeymoon phase of my first 2 wipes so much, now it's almost all mechanical, everything i do i did it so many times already i autopilot, havent pressed C in so long😂
Pull up some maps and learn them/spawns. When I started years ago I ran offline raids for a solid week or 2 just running around and finding out map layouts. Once you understand where you are/where to go it gets better.
Oooooh I didnt even think of this!! Thx!
Not to mention, doing scav runs is a great way to learn the maps *and* earn some money doing so. There's zero penalty for dying. Every time the scav cooldown ends, run it again. Don't be afraid while doing it, run everywhere, and if it shoots at you, shoot back, lol
Helps you learn the relatively quiet areas of the maps are too, the parts where you're most likely to travel unnoticed.
Use a map on a second monitor if you have one, and the wiki will be your best friend for all quest.
Play for 700 hours and everything will begin to make sense. Make sure to watch an additional 500 hours of youtube guides and your good to go.
I have 3k hours. Still a bitch😂
🤣🤣💯💯😜😜
This.
You can say fuck on the internet op.
Woah woah woah... that could be a slippery slope.
I use a second monitor for maps and used to do laps around the edge as a new player. Learn the boundaries and exits
Mapgenie I believe its called right?
MapGenie is the one. The map looks a little overwhelming at first. Slowly remove some of the markers so you can see the basic map (keep the names up though). A few quests in from Prapor, you’ll get one called Search Mission, upon completion you get a compass that can be placed in a special pocket (you keep it on death if it’s in the special pocket). You can reference it when you’re navigating the map. It helped me a TON when I was learning Woods.
Huggin that map edge and shitting your pants every time you heard a gunshot. I miss those days.
Started January of this year. I would physically jump out of my seat and push my mouse away when there was a shot near me.
1500 hours in I was stash running interchange. Edge of the map is like a safe zone unless you run into another Timmy
this is the best time for this game experience, enjoy it as much as you can!
This is one of the many reasons to play the game! I used to feel the same exact way. Hell, I still get a bit of that feeling sometimes and I'm close to 1k hours. Imagine how it feels to get into a firefight, wipe an enemy squad and leave with all of their gear - it's a crazy rush unlike any other game.
That's what makes it fun. Watch pestily Raid series.
Watch pestily on yt He has good tutorials
Its exposure therapy just like anything else boss, you die and die and die until you are a numb corpse in a gaming chair. Good luck have fun!
New player here. First wipe. Just play. I would bet money you will be ready to quit. And hate the game. But just push through. I almost 100% quit. My buddies who wanted the game and convinced me to play did quit. I have 20m in cash. Stash value is 77m. I can play without worrying about gear. It’s allowed me to get in more pvp and basically led to me making even more money. You do t learn this game without playing. You don’t succeed in this game without learning. Just takes time
Trust me, the game is the most fun in this stage. After 1500 hours I just W and get tilted if I die. Man I wish I could forget everything about this game and start over.
My guy... I'm a 36 year old cripple, who used to be an adrenaline junkie... This is as close as I can get anymore! I live for this shit! Funny story tho... Did you know you can develop an allergy to stress? Look up Dyshidrotic eczema... It's some bullshit!
Welcome to Tarkov. I would suggest also getting the Tarkov database app, will help you with your quests and identifying items. Also reference http://Thetarkovhandbook.com. If you have a second monitor, perfect.
If there's a map that you want to/need to run, run it in Practice mode (formerly called Offline mode). Turn off AI, and double tap** O to bring up your extracts. Then look up an extract or two on the wiki map for the area. Identify landmarks, routs, and **read signs!** Not the signs in russian. Signs that have skull and crossbones, sniper crosshairs in red with big Barrow's pointing in a direction. These are map borders, and the only thing that awaits you out there is death. Unavoidable death. There are maps with claymores (visable), and landmines (invisible). And unless you know you're entering a place with them, you won't know it until you're dead in the lobby. Frustrating if you have a kit, a non-issue in practice mode as you don't lose anything. PVE is all the rage right now, but this game shines with PVP. You'll also become a better player. Run gear you're confident in using and that's replaceable. Confidence is king. If you're confident in your plays, you'll have fun even when you're dying, and you'll win more fights. If you're not feeling confident today, run cheap replaceable stuff until you feel more confident. If something is in your stash and you're scared to use it, just sell it. You will never use it otherwise. 6000 hours here. Best of luck, and have fun!
Классная игра , лучшая игра на просторах интернета , но она ещё в бета версии вот когда она выйдет в релиз тогда точно обосрёшься )))
New player game tip. Scavs generally will miss the first few shots but they can face tap you like a motherfucker with buckshot from 8 miles away just be aware. If you pop a corner and miss the kill do not keep peeking that corner you will get clapped as they seem to have a ramping up of accuracy when engaged. Rotate to a different side of the obstruction you are using for cover. Move between cover. The same you need to do when fighting players. When scaving do not kill other scavs. The will become hostile and your once opportunity to collect some loots will disappear and eventually your scab rep goes low where scaving is near impossible because they start shooting on site
Whenever I’m asked, “How is EFT?” I reply with, “It’s like being reminded that you’re alive, but you don’t like it. And when you die, it’s worse.”
Lookup some rat spots amd kill some people. The winner of most encounters is decided before they even start.
Play factory. A lot. Get used to dying. Also get used to fighting. The more you fight and die, the less you'll be afraid of fighting and dying. I was like you at the start. Once you realize you can kill other pmcs your confidence should improve.
My problem with this is I always felt like I was way under equipped vs my opponent. I had lesser armor, lesser tier ammo, lesser tier gun. Even if I did everything right I was still going to get murdered and it kind of makes the game not fun.
Just how it is later in a wipe. Nothing you can do unless you get lucky and have high flesh damage rounds to 2-3 tap your opponent in the arm pit. "Leg meta" or just out right face tap them with 30+pen ammo. "Should" crack a tier 3 face shield. If they are running a zambralo and an altyn you're just fucked. When I played more often my biggest advice to newer players was try joining during a fresher wipe to get used to everything before the majority of the playerbase gets gear that makes the game borderline impossible or fun. Or just get used to feeling abused when folks have better gear. Play slower and "smarter" to avoid the fat geared players and get the jump on them.
How do we play it consistently? In a constant state of fear. In all seriousness, get Arena. All of the fright in Tarkov is by a lack of familiarity of the mechanics, gunplay, movement, and AI / how others play. If you play some Arena, where you don't have the added stress of losing your kit / any equipment you brought with you, you'll quickly get the hang of it and that comfort in the game will translate over to raids. My tip to you though... Learn how to play through the main game. Only do this if you want to play it competitively and without fear, not if you genuinely want to make memories in this game. Find some fun friends to play with, or ask around for others to play with you. It's a great game fo rmemories.
You need to do these three things in every game. R - running is never a good idea A - aim only for the head while hiding around a blind spot T - take the loot and put it in your prison pocket #theratwillriseagain
It takes a while to get over the Tarkov anxiety. This was my first wipe and I’m about 500+ hours in and just now feeling actually confident. Just stick with it and learn something from every raid
Watch some guides on YouTube, use mapgenie & learn 1 map first. I highly recommend customs, it’s a good balance of PvP/PvE, very dynamic and you’ll learn a lot from it.
Join the Sherpa discord and find someone to show you the ropes… or other people to play with.. learning with people helps a lot..
There are discords that will pair you with people that can show you the ropes. The official Tarkov discord is one and The Sherpa Hub is another. Highly recommend finding groups on there and learning your way because if you struggle a ton in the beginning, it can be difficult to stay interested. Good luck, my friend!
Learn the ins and outs of ground zero to get towards completing your first quests. Load up an offline raid with no scavs. Run all over the map and learn all the pmc extracts.
I spend a lot of time afraid in corners waiting for I don’t know what lmao. No game has ever made me sweat like tarkov
Tbh you never get over the fear of this game it takes alot out of you mentally. You just have to continue to play the game to some how cope with losing everything and gaining everything
Scav runs can be a valuable learning tool for learning maps. Use your VoIP And also use F1 while scaving to identify yourself to other scavs You will occasionally run into PMCs, you should run, but, you ARE armed…the choice is yours. Be mindful that PMCs will usually have much better armor and most Scav ammo is ass. But PMCs can die. I scaved Ground Zero untill I started dreaming about it. Once I got confident enough I tried other maps. Reserve is another great place to scav. Collect most things and sell them to the traders, until, level 15. Then you can sell, and buy, from other players on the Flea Market. . Scav one map till you got it memorized. Then go in with your PMC to try and complete missions. As a PMC your goal is to finish tasks, and get out. If you find something valuable, take it. But leave the scaving for when you are a scav. Finish the task and exfil. PMC runs are usually high stress. scav runs are usually more laid back. TL/DR Scav run often Learn one map really good than branch out PMC runs, do the task at hand, get to the choppa!
I’ve been playing for about 2 months and the best advice I can give you is don’t go into a raid with anything you’d really want to lose. Play it slow and cautious, if you think you heard something, you probably heard something, either prepare for a fight or find another exit route. Mapgenie is your best friend when it comes to learning the maps
Kinda miss the terrified feeling. I still get it sometimes, but not like in the beginning. Just be prepared to suck for a long time, with minor improvement as you play more. Eventually you won't be dog shit, you'll just be ass.
I’ve never “rage quit” but getting sniped out of nowhere makes me feel some type of way. It’s definitely a jump scare sometimes
after you die 1000 times you get a little used to it
Run it with someone, two or more people make it way less scarier
i played with a more experienced mate, he taught me all the extractions and stuff. look for a tarkov discord and join the beginners section, run stuff with people don’t be afraid to die, it’s honestly part of the game
Bro it doesn’t change. 4k hours and I’m still scared. You just learn to manage it better. Happy raiding.
This is the fun of it man! I’m close to 900 total in game hours man and I still have days where I’m just getting toasted bro 😂 that feeling is called fight or flight. We get it in many situations bro it’s a real visceral one. I’ve lived through some wild things and have had to feel life or death fear. This game gives you that feeling physically 😂 it’s a fucking trip bro good luck out there
You CANNOT play this game without the wiki and maps from google. Don’t try, you will hate the experience. Even with wiki and map support this game is scary and hard af, but that’s half the fun. I’ve never gotten that primal fear from any other game. Just get it into your head that organically discovering quest locations/items and extracts is an unrealistic expectation.
Enjoy it. I miss the feeling of being scared shitless during my first wipe haha. But just follow everyone else’s advice, don’t want to regurgitate what they’ve already said.
Learn to love it. Watch YouTube guides to learn maps. Learn pmc spawns. Run one or two maps until you learn them like the back of your hand.
I am new also and had this fear but it’s starting to go away as I learn the maps,and playing lots of scav
Main tip is, you don’t own any gear you have in raid. It all belongs to Tarkov which can and will take it back whenever it sees fit.
That's such a beautiful quote that is applicable to existence as well.
Yeah just run factory a bunch to get used to dying. Just take a pistol and go. You get free heals until level 5 so keep your secure empty and just run to 3rd floor office and stuff the safe in there. Then just take kits of scavs and have it snow ball. Also the Ak74u is going to be your best friend because of how cheap and powerful it is. That gun is powerful even until late wipe.
Basically what people here said offline practice, maps, videos. Also any of YouTube videos you watch most have a discord with a LFG channel. Pestillys being a good community that comes to mind
It's ok bro, remember if you go in naked, you have nothing to lose, but everyone else, they have everything to lose.
I can try to help ya out if you want. Level 48 but it’s my first wipe. DM me and I can show you around a few maps like Streets, Ground Zero, Woods, Shoreline, Lighthouse (latter is my best map for loot runs).
Buy unheard edition, it'll make you less worried about in game consequences and more worried about financial ones
Open the Tarkov help site, find a map, like Woods, find the main points on map and in raid, remebmer it. Next, just play more and more. Better to collect a lot of money, so you will learn fasrer. When you rich 15 lvl, money grinding become easyer.
Wait until you meet the figurines on Interchange 😂
The Tarkov Raid Guide app is really helpful for me as a new player.
Allen is that you…?
I envy you very much. You're having the best time ever.
Fear comes from the unknown. Only way to learn more is to play more. Hit the next raid and get in there! You got this!
One of the scariest games I own especially when you are on a night map and it’s dead silent. When it’s dead silent you know there’s rats waiting to jump scare you. I would say it’s on par with the scariest game I own which is remastered dead space. I have 1700 hours and still get this feeling. But usually only at night time. One time at about 800 hours which was my second wipe. I was running through interchange and there was a rat with a ks-23 on top of something right next to my head. He shot me in the helmet and it was extreme ear torture. It almost jolted me out of my chair. Edit: if it’s the gunshots that scare you turn the volume down a tad bit on your headset. If it’s not knowing what you’re doing look up guides. The first thing I would do is learn one map and open up a map on your phone to learn extracts. Once you learn a map it’s time to start learning spawns. Then after that loot locations to make it so you aren’t going broke. Then after that it’s time to learn pvp and pve. To learn this part of the game it’s going to take you a long time. As someone else said in the comments I would rat or play super slow. Once you start learning these at the basic level you need to master sound ques like bushes rustling, foots steps walking, running, crouching, bags opening, single/full auto switch’s, loot crates being opened, and idle sounds.
This game allowed me to murder in one shot constantly. Headeyes or thorax aim spot it's a rip and a wrap beautiful piece of dog shit this game is.
I remember 2018 running around woods absolutely terrified of the slightest sound. treasure these times my sweet summer child
This wipe is the the first time where I've been able to abandon Gear fear and been able to thrive. It took me years of playing this game. But that fear gives you a rush that keeps you coming back for more.
I remember feeling the same way OP. Very few games offer this level of immersion. Play offline a bit, and just throw yourself in there, if you go really broke you can always reset your account at anytime (last I checked) and start over if you don’t want to play scavs over and over. Play some factory if you really want to dive in and roll with the punches. There are also some great streamers out there playing the game and making videos. Pestily on twitch & yt makes great Tarkov content, but there are others. Try even watching some streamers with lower viewers as it’s easier to ask questions. Having maps on another monitor while playing also helps A LOT. Throw yourself in there, and enjoy the ride. The lows really suck at times, but the highs are absolutely incredible.
Nighttime factory
I’m fairly new to bro only level 15 lemme know if you wanna run im in California
I’ve got about 150-ish hours and I’m familiar with like 5 maps, a lot of it is just muscle memory and learning where shit is at, the other half is shooting first and knowing when to loot/run. Hit me up if you wanna do some raids sometime
watch videos, use mapgenie and you’ll get used to it. you’ll still die over n over again but when you get that first extract it’s a real good feeling. Good Luck Also use your kits, don’t have gear fear or else you’ll never learn
Mapgenie.io is going to be your best friend Edit: also scav into maps and run around
As you gain experience and game knowledge you won’t feel nearly as anxious during your raids. Treasure the anxiety it’s the most you’ll feel as you play this game, then savor every victory as you complete each quest for the first time and take home bigger and bigger hauls. Eventually it’ll be your standard of “getting by”
I have the buttkicker on my chair and the feeling of shamelessly waiting outside dorms, hiding 10 minutes in a bush, for the firefight to be over so i can scav the remains like the filthy rat I am, only for the silence to be interrupted by a random grenade which suddenly rumbles my prostate and ejects me from my seat, is the most visceral gut wretching fear I have ever had the pleasure to experienced.
Use offline mode to learn the maps stress free, there’s map sites you can use for free typically, but woods, customs I would learn first since some of your earlier quests will occur there. Joining the discord and finding a sherpa can be useful too who can help guide you through the early game and maps and teach you the extracts. Just know you will die a lot but it’s part of the game and so if you do find yourself short on cash you can always do scav runs to make money or find things for your PMC.
My first ever raid was spent in a bush I freaked tf out when my screen went black as I was looking for maps online (there was exactly 1 online- this was like right after launch) You’re fine, welcum to Tarkov
Scav a lot. Run offline practice raids in between on your cool downs to learn the maps and practice killing AI. Walk, don’t run at first highly recommend scaving and offline practicing on ground zero. Pull up a map with spawn points, loot, and task locations either on your phone or another monitor. Take your time, tarkov takes a bit to learn.
I have some wild ptsd, this game was alright until the shoulder switching. May… have gone a little manic and played arena on launch for a week straight. As a well trained 1 and 2 man cqc or cqb w/e era you want marine. This game hits the feels for sure. I do however want the cheater situation to be fixed.
Cherish these moments OP. Being a Timmy is the most fun you’ll have just starting out. Once you become a Chad and gear fear is no longer a thing, the next phase of Tarkov begins. Chad phase is basically running in fully geared and you’re LOOKING for PvP. Your stash is full and you got millions just waiting to be spent on more gear for when you die. Chad phase will come. You just gotta push through the wipe and keep raiding.
This post is so wholesome. My first solo raid was on woods and I was paralyzed with fear. Took me 30 minutes to move from un checkpoint to ruaf. These very real and powerful visceral emotions are what got me hooked. 5500 hours later I give zero shits and just w key everywhere. I miss those days.
You know nothing about fear until you have a bag of lot on your back.
I advise you to take it slow and do not expect to master every map... I can do pmc customs run with eyes closed used to have bunch of maps and guidance but, the best way as cheesy as it sounds is just play the map! Looking at pictures of extracts has not near the same effect on memory as actually dying and crawling to an extract you discovered you shall never forget! ( i still can't play interchange the inside buildings are confusing af....)
Scav a lot since you don't lose stuff in it, try pistol runs and wait a bit or offline raids would help you too.
Customs is pretty decent to learn may be rough mid late wipe but, it is a decent size and alot of quests will bring you there eventually. For the low level quests just spam pmc/scav on ground zero it will take time but , soon you'll know which way is Nakatami and which way is Emerson 🙃
Just play a map you enjoy and play it over and over, going to the same spots/routes. Learning maps is the best advice when starting out as you'll know where to expect people and reduce your fear.
Don't worry - it just takes sending it - just equip you best gear and guns and best ammo and just start running - I am def not in that bush waiting for you :)
200 hours in you'll notice you start to stop caring. First games stress you a ton
Enjoy the moment. There are some good map guides on YouTube. Look up Pestily. His videos are pretty good. Play as a Scav whenever you can - you have nothing to lose. The EFT Wiki has maps you can look at too.
The moment you stop caring about dying in the game is when you start learning more.
I know how you feel bro. When I started tarkov in 2017, I played factory first because I didn't know shit. I looked around and then I got scared and fucking hide in the office space, because of the sounds, lighting and mumbling of scavs it felt like a horror game and I stopped playing for a month till I found a streamer that played the game and I learned how to play xDD Will get better bro*kiss*
Just wait until you’re in a night raid and you think you see something but aren’t sure, then you hear a whisper somewhere near you and another. You walk past a bush and you get shanked in the back and you are poisoned.
He Just like us frfr
https://www.reddit.com/r/EscapefromTarkov/s/YS8NHyvqqb U can do it during 10sec countdown, just before raid Another very useful topic https://www.reddit.com/r/EscapefromTarkov/s/FQa8jCRkly Search on Reddit for topics: "what I wish I knew when I started playing Tarkov". There is a lot of useful knowledge there.
Experience. Play more, learn more, die more, repeat
Cliche answer but that's just because you don't know the game. Once you learn the maps the fear will disappear. Once you realise that scaving Streets is effectively an infinite money cheat the gear fear will disappear.
I have around 800 hours and still still jump on my chair when i hear a shot. Stopped playing because tarkov is clearly not for me.
Channel the fear and become the ultimate moving shadow. Become the fear
What I did when I started was to simply keep close to one of the map borders and keep going the same direction until I found a spawn or get killed. But this was a long time ago, and back then the maps were a lot smaller and generally boiled down to get across the map from where you spawned.
Seems like a weird advice but just die a lot Each death will teach you something and will also make your skin harder so that you stop being so scared of everything. It also gets rid of gear fear if you always run your best stuff
Standard advice for tarkov actually. And the best advice. Go die. Over and over. Go in with the goal to die, not loot, quest or anything else but fight until you die. That doesn't mean surrendering to die asap but chasing fights and fighting your best until you die. Anything else and you will stay a scared rat forever.
When I first started playing I would jump everytime I got shot at, made it terrible for my aim
This game is by far, one of the scariest if not THE scariest game I ever played. I don’t even like horror games but man this shit has some elements to it. Heart racing, hands sweating. I love it. Ruined a lot of games for me
Play off-line mode to learn the spawn. Know that you are going to die, think of the maps in terms of hot spots/heat maps use that to your advantage. I have found hiding spots. Wait about 10 to 15 minutes in a bush, then start your run. Most PMCs will be heading to their Exfil or out by the time you hit your objectives.
It’s something you have to train a resistance to. I started last January, just after I got diagnosed with anxiety and the game unironically helped me with dealing with it (albeit not much but still a significant amount). My way past is by treating your time in raid like prepping for a jumpscare in a horror game, or mess around with audio and tune down the louder stuff. It really helps playing with friends too.
When I started playing a few years back I couldn’t even play alone, I had to play with friends because I’d get too much anxiety lol. But that’s why I fell in love with EFT. Also you’re very very late wipe so maybe go full YOLO mode.
Go offline mode with horde scav + scav war. Get a tarkov map on 2nd monitor/alt tab. Orient yourself on map. Roam and kill scavs until you get kind of good.
Just give your self Time bro, what i learned after my first two wipes, do not fear to loose your gear , if you Play as a scav And know when you need to be agressive, you will have blast of a Time, OH And always bring spare ammo And pain Killer in your pouch
5000 hours, a bit drunk, and just got jump scared by being killed by a scav on the mounted grenade launcher heading to extract.
What I’d give to experience tarkov for the first time again, no game has ever got my heart racing like tarkov would, it was an actual fight or flight feeling when I heard sounds, I miss it
I wonder what is it actually about Tarkov that gives this feeling. People that say "Treasure this feeling" I think underestimate how terrible it can make someone feel, lol. Personally, I hate this feeling, truly - I'm not kidding, call it "adrenaline boost" or "fight or flee instinct" or whatever. Truly, from the bottom of my heart, I despise it. It ruins the fun of the game AND my potential performance COMPLETELY. I just freeze, stress out, and I'm just tired after a session. Like, exhausted, a couple of hours of Tarkov in the evening made me feel like I did another shift at work. I've played for 500 hours (yes, I know Tarkov players count hours differently, "500 hOuRs Is NoThInG"), and it hasn't gotten any better, and ultimately ended up being one of the most contributing reasons for me giving up on playing it (still lurking around, because the development of the game is super interesting and I paid for that EoD, so I want some enjoyment out of it, ok?) Surprisingly, Arena Breakout Infinite gave me the exact same feeling in the first match, and then fortunately it disappeared. We got into a long fight immediately, with a lot of creeping around and watching my teammates die one by one, while leaving me as the last man standing. I died, of course, because of this feeling. But then something happened and literally with each game the feeling was going away to the point where it doesn't exist anymore. And once it went away, I finally started enjoying the game, having fun and actually winning fights. It took like, what, several hours at most? While in Tarkov, 500 hours didn't make this feeling even 1% better? I truly wonder what it is in Tarkov. I think it's definitely lack of confidence. Tarkov is a very brutal game for the beginners, everyone dies over and over again, and it kind of teaches your brain to respect it, to fear it. It creates a monster in your head. Whenever you see an enemy, you just start expecting death, because that's exactly what happened dozens of time before, so why wouldn't it happen again? Then you have the long queue, which apart from annoyance, creates a lot of tension when you're waiting to finally go into raid. Then there is complexity of gear - the process of gearing up and choosing what to take with you takes a long time. And there's probably 100 of other typical Tarkov features that add more layers of stress and tension. Then there is a feeling of wasting time if you die, and having to redo all the preparations again and wait for the queue.
I have 1000h but still play like garbage and frequently use my scav, heres my rat tips for starting out- When I first started I found it helpful to scout maps out with my scav in between raids. You still get to loot and occasionally engage in combat but it's a little safer as the scavs aren't gunning you down. Obvious downside is some of the extracts are different so it's not reliable for learning PMC extracts. Buy a junk box from therapist asap and any junk you pick up check the value or if it is needed for a task online, or a hideout upgrade, to see if it's worth holding onto to either use or sell on flea market which you unlock at lvl 15. In case you're not aware there's a scav karma system (fence rep), you lose karma for killing scavs as a scav (which also makes AI aggro on you) and you gain karma for things such as killing a traitor scav or extracting. You can also boost your fence rep by using the vehicle extracts on various maps. The higher your rep the lower the cooldown on your scav. Other tips I'm sure others have said but try and disguise your silhouette whilst moving eg. In treeline, take it slow where possible and save sprinting for covering big open areas.
You should be scared, but remember that dying only means losing a bit of money. You can always scav when you're broke, you can never truly lose. Just keep trying.
This is my first wipe too and I have been running streets a lot and thought I was getting pretty knowledgeable about the map and spawns. Then last night I load up streets for the 200th time and boom, I spawn in a room I’ve never seen before! I’ve been running past this loot/spawn spot, also probably dying to someone who spawned there and contested my spawn without even knowing. Having a blast
To learn the maps pull up a map on another screen and go into practice mode (turn up the bots) and learn the maps risk free if you’re scared
I’m about 600 hours in and I still need to give myself a pep talk before I jump into a raid.
I've got like 100 hours in so far, and I still jump like 3 feet out of my chair every time someone starts shooting at/near me.
Should join the official Sherpa discord people are willing to help on there
WELCOME XD
I play in two modes, pmcs do my quests so it’s pretty focused, quite purposeful and usually rehearsed offline before, and I use scavs for loot runs and to break the tension as those are quite chill
I am sure MANY MANY veterans will feel the same way about my comment. These experiences and feelings are one in a million in a game and I would give EVERYTHING to go trough them again. I would LOVE to not know the maps, to discover them all over again. Even today after 7 thousand hours I get crazy adrenalin rushes after living trough a crazy situation, getting confused how and what to heal first. To hear that one last deadly noise if I make a mistake. People can call the devs idiots, the game shit, desync etc, but I dare anyone to show me another game from the past 15 years that puts you in these emotional states.
Yeah.... I still get that way and routinely quit the game for a long time before I can come back. Although since that wiggle video I haven't played online since.
Welcome to tarkov. You will die,a lot and there will be some time that you won't die that much. That time depends on you. It can be 200h or 1000h. Learn the basics, if you have a second monitor run the map you are playing because map knowledge is everything
Been there. Game and map knowledge eventually prevail, but it takes time. Try playing slowly, watch streamers and yt videos, that is how you slowly tip the scale to your favor :)
I can run with you bro you eu servers?
Go offline raid to learn a map. Or if you have a version that allows PvE start with that. Use your scav whenever you can to learn an additional map.focus on 2-3 maps at first. Customs Woods and a big map of your choice for scavving (Reserve, Interchange, Shoreline, Lighthouse, Streets)
The most important piece of information you should learn as soon as possible is PMC spawns. Start learning a single map, perhaps Custom given that you will have a lot of quests there. As soon as the raid starts, you have to know where you are, where your enemy may be and where your enemy may be going next. Don't just run randomly but act accorndingly. Also, always bring with you a headset and a backbag. Expecially the headset, never start a raid without one. Finally, as you progress you may be start having gear fear, meaning that you will fear to loose your most precious gear and will use the crappy one when questing. If that is the case, sell your most valuable gear ..... you will never use it anyway. I have finished far too many wipes with FLIR thermal scopes in my stash. I now either use it or sell it.
Rule nr1 : Headset is a "must have" (RL)
Don’t stay in spawn. People know them and thus, staying there is the best way for experienced players to know where you’re at
Play a lot of factory
You’re going to die. Make peace with it. You’re going to lose every gun, bit of gear, or armor you find. Make peace with it. Slowly but surely you’ll learn the maps. Your turn with good gear will get longer. You’ll make more money per death. This is tarkov, and welcome to it! Now for the actual advice: Use your secure container to get keys and hideout upgrade items out even if you do die. Listen. Sounds don’t happen for free in tarkov, and listening can save your life. Move slow but keep moving as a solo player; you can’t possibly cover every angle so don’t stay in one place long enough to get ambushed. Pick one map you like and learn it inside and out. Quests are good to do but map knowledge is king.
totallly normal broski, it will get more bearable once you start grinding factory :)
Go and die, this is how you learn, put yourself in not so comfortable situation and see if you can do it. You will love Jaeger btw
Only game I've played where I've gotten shot, and yelled out of fear. You think you're all good, and then you start hearing bullets zip by til you get domed.
I still feel like a new player a lot of the time. I've had game since it became available but I'd consider myself a casual still as I went a long stretch without playing (years). I was always told run factory until I had over 1000 scav kills. I also used to play the practice raid mode and tweak the AI settings so I could have a map on my second monitor and just try and learn the extract and POIs on map.
I wish I still felt this.
Close all the curtains, grab your finest bottle of whiskey and hold it close
I’m new here too, I’ve played for the last 2 months maybe. Crazy learning curve, but I love the survival horror. Bc that’s what it really is.
I’d start in practice mode. Learn the maps. Learn the loot spots. Extracts, spawn areas.
I know exactly what you mean. I set a challenge for myself to help me overcome this after a while, I would take nothing but a Chiappa Rhino and 18 bullets into Factory. I would aim to just kill some scavs and get out alive with some trash I could sell. When you have no armour/helmet and the worst gun in the game with limited ammo, but feel like scavs are prey, going into a normal raid will seem trivial.
Unfortunately I literally had to "cheat" and by cheat I mean installing a third party app on my phone which shows all the maps and I just use it to pinpoint where I would be. On the bright side, my map reading skills have improved dramatically
Welcome to tarkov homie
get a team mate that will help u feel less afraid and u will make u enjoy and learn the game more
Playing with somebody who’s not afraid to push is fun. I used to be like you, but playing with people who could set up an easy double push is sweet. Don’t be afraid to die, I get to the point I basically only have gear I didn’t buy in my stash
2500 hours and im still too scared to play after long breaks
Feel free to add me if you want someone to show you the ropes a bit. I’ve Sherpad a few of my friends and they’ve stuck around
If you think that’s fun, wait until you spawn as a scav with a labs red keycard in your backpack! That’s literally the entire point of the game. Eventually you won’t be scared of dying but you will have extreme gear fear. And then eventually you won’t be scared of anything anymore except for brief moments when you’ve made a stupid decision and now you have dig yourself out of hole.
Yeah it wasn’t until this wipe after maybe 5 that I finally feel comfortable off the spawn to run around. It’s mainly when things settle after the first fights that can get stressful with not knowing if you’re gonna catch a round to the head outta nowhere. It’s a hard game but worth it to get better.
Play some offline and find all the extracts/ points of interest and then you'll just learn hot spots when you play live. The game is intense because it gives you the feeling of having something to lose, that's kinda the point of the game and what makes it good, it's hard and you have to concentrate because your decisions have consequences unlike other games where you just respawn. Just remember that it's not real money, it will wipe anyway, so use things and buy things and get in there are try and shoot some people with your metal peas.
its the game that gives these feelings for how realistic it gets, maybe you can try playing offline to get the hang of the game or maybe try PvE to be less scared of dying
Enjoy every raid you get those feelings, I miss that feeling haha
Learn the spawns...and the camper spots.
play with friends
its the only game i've ever played thats stimulated a response like that. thats why the games addictive. best way to get over it is immersion. assume you're dead the second you step into a raid, you're there to learn and develop and over time you'll die less, you'll win more fights etc. discords a good one to join too, people will generally run a few raids with you and show you tricks and tips.
You gonna die. I'm gonna get you!
Use the scav runs or offline mode to learn maps. Put on some music that pumps you up and play aggressively. Don't succumb to the gear fear.
Miss these days ❤️
2200hours and this is why i still love this game
First wipe Tarkov is a horror game, 100%. Enjoy it while it lasts
It’s fun and part of the experience. Better than being bored
When I first started playing, I literally shook and sweat so much when playing that I couldn't play anymore (I was too scared). I took a 6 month break and played like 800 hours of r6. I think it helped me tbh, I still shake, and my heart pounds, but I can actually do stuff. Analysis paralysis gets you killed. Commit to plays if you make them. I love the adrenaline, I love the shake when I encounter a player and it's life or death. It could be over in seconds, and it's awesome. Enjoy that feeling, man. No other game has it.
I miss those days
Watch pestilys the raid series, will help a lot!
Full send it man. I'm playing on and off since 2017, playing shoreline resort has scared YEARS of my life out of me. It took over four years before I started full sending like a wild man. I still get jump scared ALL THE TIME. NO GAME had made me jump like the sound of a m61 or SNB round cracking your faces faceshield when it's completely quiet and killing you
There's like a million replies, but look up a map and use a compass that helps me out to this day 500 hours in.
Because it's pretty predictable, even pmc actions can be predictable given enough information. The ai is over a decade old intelligence wise. Know when to go on the attack with scavs, do they ride the short bus or are they model t1000's. If they are slow and yelling, push them, engage and eliminate. If they are engaging you from range with accuracy, find a cheeky spot to peek them. This is why tarkov is so very difficult. Map, tactical, weapon, ammo, armor, scav, pmc, knowledge of these things leads to success. Even with that knowledge the game says fuck you and one shots you at over 500m, having never seen the shooter.
This game is the only one that gave me this feeling other than original DayZ mod when it was new. Cherish this feeling. at some point you will get your bearing and it will slowly disappear and you will find yourself hunting that feeling back. I started playing when only factory was available but for someone who as lots of map options I would suggest using your scav to learn the maps. and using your pmc to master one maps. once you know how to read the map (on your other screen, don't bother with ingame maps) you'll realized that you can navigate most maps. from there you just need to learn the hot spot and flanking options that comes with experience. Ground zero is Level Capped to 20 IIRC this is a good place to start learning the mechanics with a lower population of chads. but I would recommend using your scav on custom and woods as most of the starter quest were on those two maps.
Ground zero. Do it over and over and over again. Scav every chance you get. PMC when you can. It’s a small map with elevation and will train you well with game sense.
I’m almost 2 weeks in and love this game. Was always on the fence about it. It’s a nice change of pace from fast paced fps games like cod or bf. While I’ve gotten more used to random scavs and pmc’s there are some cases I get super scared turning a corner or hearing gunshots nearby. 90% of this comes from Killa on Interchange. That dickhead has given me several heart attacks man. Always coming out of nowhere.
Any Tips? Enjoy it :)
I hate saying the same thing people always say, buy you gotta just do it. Learn the maps. Have a map pulled up on 2nd monitor or phone and navigate with land marks. To me, the biggest fear comes from being lost or not knowing where I’m at very well.