Escape from Tarkov Beginners Guide: Tips To Get Started

During the last seven years, players have been doing everything but trying to Escape from Tarkov. Whether their downfall is to loot in dangerous places, building weapons that malfunction in the heat of battle, or simply walking into a minefield and obliterating friendlies; most players are struggling to wrap their head around Tarkov’s unforgiving nature.

Congratulations – you’ve just stumbled upon your first LEDX in shoreline, time to extract and sell that gem on the flea market! Nope, not if the squad of four level 60’s and Sanitar has anything to do with it. Undoubtedly, many players have experienced the frustration of losing millions in loot and progress on quests – maybe even breaking a monitor or two?

Thankfully, we're here to share our in-depth knowledge, refined for years through trial and error, glory and despair. This article aims to provide insights, tips, and advice for players of all skill levels in Tarkov – chads, rats, beginners, veterans, and those who kill their own comrades during scav runs.

Beginners Tips - Weapon Training

One of the most exciting aspects of Escape from Tarkov is the vast array of possibilities when it comes to creating weapons – want four flashlights and a grenade launcher, sure! Maybe a Leupold VX8 Scope mounted on a HK MP5, have at it. Surely, there must be one memorable weapon that unfortunately did not reap rewards despite costing you fifteen minutes to build and ₽250,000.

Players are often blown away by fancy builds and high-powered rifles, but what’s the point in defending your life with a weapon you are yet to understand? Many players make easy targets running around with poorly optimised weapons, giving scavs or low-level players an easy way to make an example out of those who lack understanding.

For example, you are an M4A1 warrior, and you’ve just taken down a pesky extract camper wielding a scoped and silenced SA-58. You are dazzled by the beauty and pristine aesthetic of the SA-58 and decide to backpack the M4. A shotgun handling scav engages you and instead of the 50 recoil M4, you’re stuck with an SA-58 with 108 recoil and a Vudu scope. Whoops, that was a mistake! Now, you’re dead without all your gear, loot, and pride. All because someone couldn’t resist using a weapon that wasn’t optimised for the job.

Moral of the story: you are going to die if you don’t resist those urges in Tarkov. Use a weapon you fully understand, enjoy using, and can confidently wield in times of doubt. Your weapon is the light at the end of the tunnel and once you begin using weapons you don’t understand or aren’t optimised for the requirement, you will perish. Instead, learn the weapon in offline mode or the hideout’s firing range, and don’t use stupid attachments.

Beginners Tip - Always Carry Grenades

Some might challenge, excuse or be confused at this remark but it is vital that every player enters raid with at least a singular grenade. Escape from Tarkov is simple, you have those that want to kill you and those that just want loot. The difference being, one doesn’t stop hunting you until you are dead and the other only hunts you once you’re dead. In order for the chads to lay-off, the sound of a pin drop often scares them, buying you some time.

Grenades are just as excellent at killing foes as disbursing them, and if you need to make a quick exit, they are often the go-to for more experienced players. At the sound of a grenade, players often run, bury themselves, wait for the explosion and then wait a few more seconds in-case of more grenades. Therefore, if you and your buddies are pinned down within a building, grenades are always helpful to force fear into your enemies, making them lose focus on your position and brace themselves. This allows time for you to either make your escape or burst out of your position guns blazing in hopes you can gun down the now delirious enemy.

Map Planning - Learn Where Your Extracts Are

Being similar to the dynamic of a horror game, Escape from Tarkov delivers haunting maps with unforgiving environments. Whether it be minefields or boss AI territory, players often find themselves within the hunting grounds of a larger and more powerful entity.

This is why it is crucial that players develop an extended understanding of the maps they are playing – extracts, boss locations, high-value loot locations, raider hot spots, scav spawns, quest locations. These typically are the high-traffic areas, drawing the attention of all players and therefore raising the threat of engagement.

You need to have the ability to identify when something doesn’t seem right, for example, if there is an unlooted chad laying lifeless in the middle of a street – you bet someone’s crosshair is already waiting patiently for someone to come along. Or, if your extract has been compromised – how are you going to extract, where are you going to go and how are you going to get there?

It would be of great importance that players can create and execute appropriate planning for potential scenarios. That is why it is often helpful if you delegate yourself or a member of the team to be the geographer – the individual that has the map open on a second monitor that actively plans the team’s future and current movements, advising them of threats and potentials. This allows sudden changes to be made with confidence, lowering the chances of brain fog when it hits the fan.

Patience – the Hunters Mindset

Once you master patience, you master Escape from Tarkov; this comes under knowing when to engage enemies, loot, and leaving safe positions. Players are often dazzled by the thought of having a fully kitted player in their crosshair and too often are people taking the shot without fully analysing the situation they insert themselves into.

Before engaging players, follow the ELEVATE acronym:

• Everybody – are you aware of all the enemies you are engaging?
• Location – are you in a secure location to engage the enemy with minimal risk?
• Execute – are you going to be able to confidently make the opening shot a kill shot?
• Vacate – are you going to be able to escape in the worst-case scenario?
• Ammo – can your ammo swiftly pierce enemy armor?
• Takeout – If passes all checks, kill your enemy.
• Establish – make sure the location is safe, loot your enemy, and flee the location.

Following the ELEVATE acronym has allowed many warriors to decide whether it is within their best interest to engage targets. It takes out emotion within decision-making and allows you to analyse quickly if either you or your enemy will die. Of course, if you are engaged first this acronym becomes invalid... So hit ‘em with the rat attack and scurry away!

Understand How to Make Money, Quickly

Understanding how to rake in the fat stacks is one thing, but knowing how to do it quickly is a completely different skill. Players often find themselves entering a scav raid with the ambition to pick up every malfunctioning, half-built AK-47 in hopes of selling them to Mechanic. But what if there was a better solution?

Here are some easy solutions to make quick money:

Pistol runs – entering a raid with a pistol, backpack, and a dream. Either run to the highest-value loot locations at the start of raid, camp high-value locations in the hopes to shoot someone in the back of the head, or simply enter raid and lurk in the shadows, picking up all the missed loot and dead scav weapons. Essentially, rat it out.

Scav runs – entering a scav run and keeping a high-level scav reputation is everything. This allows you to often spawn in with well-maintained weapons and potentially some rare loot. Additionally, if you treat a scav run again like a rat-run, you will most definitely make a lot of money. You’re spawning into a half-complete raid, there will be dead players, missed loot, and an abundance of friendly scavs. Remain in the shadows, don’t befriend anyone, and don’t walk toward gunshots until five minutes have passed.

Loot buckets – around every map on Tarkov - excluding labs and factory - there are loot buckets. These buckets contain loot varying between cheap to priceless and the important aspect is there are upwards of twelve buckets per map; all hidden. To find them, simply use a search engine to find “Tarkov customs loot bucket locations” on images and behold all the locations. Whack the locations on a second monitor or phone, grab a backpack and pistol, and the world will be yours by the end of the raid.

Escape from Tarkov Beginners Guide: Tips To Get Started FAQ

Is Escape from Tarkov hard?

Escape from Tarkov is an incredibly challenging game, and some areas in the game are even more difficult to clear than others. Escape From Tarkov is, at its heart, one of the most challenging games ever made. It's a borderline milsim title, boasting intense PvPvE combat that's designed to push a player to their limits.

Why is Tarkov so hard for beginners?

Escape From Tarkov may not be the easiest game to start with due to its incredibly steep learning curve. The game's mechanics are quite complex, and often require great dexterity when playing on keyboard.

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