Image: Battlestate Games

Here’s everything you’ll want to bring with you

Every time you start a new raid in Escape from Tarkov you can lose everything you take with you from an untimely death. This means that you’ve got to make some careful decisions about which gear you take in with you and what you keep in your stash.

Decisions about what kind of gear is best for each mission should come down to what you hope to accomplish in a given raid. If you’re just trying to grab a few basic supplies, what you take in will be different than if you’re planning to take on as many players as possible and grab their guns.

We’ve put together a few possible situations and the loadouts you might want to bring with you. No matter what loadout you bring when you’re playing as a PMC, you’ll have your Safe Container. Any items you place in the Safe Container will make it out of the raid with you even if you die.

The ‘naked’ loadout

Image: Battlestate Games

The whole idea here is that you’re trying to get the maximum reward for the lowest possible commitment. That means you’re bringing very little with you. Just a melee weapon, and a tactical vest if you’ve got one to spare. This will give you enough room to carry anything exciting you might find, while making sure you don’t lose much if something goes wrong.

The PVP thief loadout

Image: Battlestate Games

You’ll want to pick out a gun you’re pretty comfortable with and bring some ammo. The catch to this loadout is that you’re not taking any armor in with you.

The playstyle on this loadout is probably best described as “the best defense is a good offense.” Your goal is to move quickly and quietly, taking out as many players and SCAVs as you can. This aggressive play should help you get a bag and some armor quickly, while also letting you pick up anything else your unfortunate opponents have looted.

The walking tank loadout

Image: Battlestate Games

As soon as you’re comfortable with the gear you have, and you won’t lose everything in one run, this loadout should be your default. With plenty of armor, weapons and meds on your character, you’ll be a real threat to everyone else in the game. This will make you less enticing to pick a fight with and let you carry more gear as you loot your way through the map.

While taking a full set of armor, guns, bags, and ammo can be intimidating at first, it’s worth remembering that the bonuses from equipment in Tarkov are very significant. If you have armor you’re going to be a lot harder to kill than the folks running around in just a t-shirt. This will make fights easy to win, and extracting a safer proposition. Use these kinds of runs to get as much gear as you can, but you probably don’t want to push your luck too far.

When to do a ‘SCAV’ run

SCAV runs are the lowest possible commitment, but they also have a surprisingly high reward. You don’t get any experience for your character, but you can at least extract with whatever gear you get during your raid.

Another upside to choosing to take a SCAV into a raid is that you can always just play extra safe and extract with what you brought in. Anything you spawn with in a SCAV run can be extracted. While this isn’t the highest quality gear, it can be an easy way to pick up fresh guns, tactical vests, and a few extra bullets.

Choosing the right type of gear can be the difference between life and death in a Tarkov raid. While the challenge of picking a loadout can seem daunting, it’s important to remember that using the gear you have in Tarkov is the whole point of the game. Even though the idea of losing your hard-earned loot can be scary, throw on your best armor and weapons and take the risks every once and awhile. There’s no point in getting more gear if it’s just going to sit in your stash.

Source: Polygon