Escape From Tarkov Bosses, Ranked By Difficulty & Style

Over the years Escape from Tarkov has gradually implemented a series of charismatic Scav bosses to aggressively defend locations of interest. Destroying dreams and shattering loadouts, these scav bosses roam the lands of Tarkov with a lack of mercy and a vendetta against every PMC with a pulse. Scav bosses come in all shapes, sizes, and numbers, with bosses such as Reshala dominating the Customs Gas Station in the prime of the day, or the Cultist Preist lurking around the damp muck of the sunken town in Shoreline. Despite causing mass inconvenience to players' raids, these AI bosses create excitement and raise the pulse of the player significantly.

Escape from Tarkov now contains eleven separate scav bosses, whether they act alone or in groups, these bosses will attempt to destroy all within their path. Players additionally receive tasks to kill specific scav bosses by Jaeger, therefore this list will include a little bit about the bosses and hopefully aid you in their demise. 

9. Glukhar

Coming in at last place, we have Glukhar the mighty, the reason why Glukhar places last is due to his lack of personality and overpowered reign. Survival chances are low when spawning alongside Glukhar within a Reserve raid, which is perfectly okay with me. Although Glukhar lacks personality other than the fact he's a big guy?

I've faced off against Glukhar over one-hundred times and never felt connected to his backstory or his justification for existence. However, the loot is great and the combat is awesome, just something about him feels boring and out of context with Escape from Tarkov.

To kill Glukhar, attempt to fight him in close-quarter combat, fighting in open locations often ends in an early death. Glukhar and his guards are often supplied with heavy weaponry and will happily one-tap you from one hundred meters away. There are often 5-6 raider guards that accompany Glukhar. 

8. Cultist Priest

Most players are unaware of the Escape from Tarkov cultists, they spawn between 22:00 and 7:00 on Night Factory, Customs, Woods, and Shoreline. These cultists spawn with great loot and often try to stab you to death, infecting you with a poison that will slowly kill you. If you obtain the xTG-12 antidote injector, you'll save yourself from the poison and survive the stabbing. 

Cultists have an incredibly low spawn chance, coming at an average of 10% per night raid, where these bosses give Escape from Tarkov more background, they don't spawn enough to be a prominent part of this list. The cultists remain the reason why many don't enter night raids due to their rat-like behavior and silent steps, these individuals will often play with you before killing you.

Cultists will not return fire until fired upon or killed, making the first couple easy targets. However, you won't see them due to their hiding capabilities, therefore wait for them to reveal themselves and then murder them. The remaining cultists will return heavy fire, stay covered and keep your angles locked down as they will remain hard to see. 

7. Reshala

Reshala is the original gangster, representing and paving the way for all future scav bosses, Reshala died so the others could prosper. Reshala has a special place in every Escape from Tarkov player's heart, but the overfamiliarity of the scav boss makes him less enjoyable to encounter. 

Equipped with a leather jacket, aviators, and a golden TT pistol, Reshala represents with style and reigns death fashionably over Escape from Tarkov. Having over fifty grenades ready per encounter and his oblivious bodyguards to "protect" him, Reshala, unfortunately, goes down without a fight in most situations. Due to the fact most players consistently run Customs, Reshala is a familiar face and isn't particularly hard to kill.

To kill Reshala, simply snipe him from a distance or play incredibly close quarters, the raiders and he typically becomes disoriented by Gas Station's "confusing" layout and become easy targets.

6. Zyrachiy

Zyrachiy has arguably one of the coolest backstories out of all the scav bosses, but due to his concealment and commitment to protecting the unreachable Lighthouse Zyrachiy places rather high on the list. Zyrachiy, being the only 100% spawn chance scav boss snipes his enemies if they attempt to reach the Lighthouse island on Lighthouse, this is due to his commitment to protect the Lightkeeper. 

Zyrachiy only engages his enemies once they attempt to cross the bridge over to the Lighthouse, otherwise, he'll remain vigilant but peaceful. Zryachiy appears as a mythical creature due to the whiteness of his eyes, PMCs speculate Zryachiy's eyes have been trained for the dark, giving his eyes the whiteness side effect.

To kill Zyrachiy, it's recommended that you have two friends join you. Each of you will kill one guard or Zyrachiy with a high-magnification sniper rifle, there will only be two guards but they will respawn if Zyrachiy is not dead. Find them from afar, perched around the Lighthouse location, and take your shot.

5. Sanitar

A former doctor and scientist who once led operations in The Lab now roaming the lands of Shoreline, searching his places of interest such as the hospital. Arguably one of the hardest bosses to kill due to his healing capabilities, Sanitar is able to take an absurd amount of damage and quickly repair bodily damage.

Thankfully, only two-three raiders support his interests at one time, making him an easier target. His character is incredibly unique, he is seen with a bandage on his head and a blue medical coat, making him different from his boss comrades. 

To kill Sanitar, attempt to fight him at close quarters, otherwise, he'll run away and heal himself. You want to attempt to box him into an area, cutting him off and squeezing him out. Attempting to engage Sanitar at long distances will provide you with an early grave. 

4. Tagilla

Brother of Killa, Tagilla emits feelings of despair and fear whilst he chases you through the halls of Factory with a sledgehammer. His outfit and aesthetic perfectly suit the Factory environment making him a fitting scav boss, destroying players both mentally and physically.

Tagilla bursts into action with the help of his SAIGA-12 semi-automatic shotgun, taking heads and crushing skulls within minutes, having players either extract or hide within the office location. Tagilla provides the Escape from Tarkov experience, literally chasing his opponents around the map and kicking them back to the menus.

To kill Tagilla, it's recommended you aim for leg shots and use a fully-automatic weapon or trustworthy shotgun. You won't be able to gain many advantages over Tagilla due to his surprise attacks, therefore it's better to have the equipment ready and let him come to you, considering he roams the map freely. 

3. Killa

The man responsible for the most painful task within Escape from Tarkov "The Stylish One" and the most aggressive playstyle, Killa provides an iconic Tarkov experience. Spawning on Interchange, Killa resides confidently within the depths of the car park or the center of the shopping mall. 

With extreme intimidation, Killa rushes his enemies at maximum speeds and empties his 95-round magazine RPK-16 into those that defy him. Killa essentially created the "Chad" mentality, encouraging players to ignore cover and run towards their enemy valiantly in the desire to kill and conquer. In most cases, this playing style works, and people succeed in replicating it making it a lot harder to Escape from Tarkov. 

Killing Killa is rather difficult, especially when you're impatient. Due to Killa's aggressive nature, he will most likely come and attack you, therefore meaning you can essentially hold an angle and wait for the magic moment. Please don't use aggression on Killa, he will act accordingly and slaughter you as he does everyone else. 

2. Shturman

Nobody rocks the SVDS sniper rifle better than Shturman, his iconic dress sense, and his secretive nature is what rank Shturman as one of the highest scav bosses. Shturman effortlessly camouflages himself in the grassy environment despite wearing a thick-black coat, taking out players from long distances and protecting the Sawmil on Woods.

Shturman always has two followers, each with high-caliber weapons and deadeye. Whether you think you're hidden or not, Shturman and his followers are watching you closely, waiting for the perfect moment to hit the kill shot. Shturman proudly remains the hardest sole scav boss to kill, ironically enough dressing as the grim reaper, his seith being an SVDS.

To kill Shturman you're going to have to locate him, he usually roams the center of the Sawmill or the three cabins on the outskirts of it. He'll fire warning shots once he sees you, the next burst will hit you and you'll need to rapidly find cover. Once locating him, spend minuscule time lining up a shot, otherwise, he'll shoot and hit first.   

1. Birdeye, Big Pipe, and Knight

Featuring the most iconic trio in gaming history, these three warriors operate within Lighthouse, Shoreline, Woods, and Customs alongside the potential of other scav bosses. These three spawn more than 25% of the time and dominate every raid they attend. 

Operating at an extremely professional level, these scav bosses are incredibly agile and hard to kill, often engaging in immediate suppressing fire when spotting enemies, these bosses will move into position and submit a rapid killing shot. As already obvious, these scav bosses' synergize to produce an effortless outcome; your death. 

To kill these bosses operate cautiously, each boss is optimized to different skills and they all confidently hit their goals. With marksmanship, agility, confidence, and close-quarters combat, these bosses will have you begging for mercy before the fight even starts. It's highly recommended you avoid these bosses when carrying out tasks or obtain good loot, otherwise remain in cover and play with a strong team to defeat these bosses. 

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