Tarkov Getting Started Guide

Best first map for new players because early quests start there and it teaches basic extracts, movement, looting, and PvP pressure.

Customs is important for early questing, while Woods is useful if you want slower raids, looting, and more room to avoid fights.

These maps introduce larger loot routes, more questing, and more specialized POIs once you are comfortable surviving early raids.

These are better learned later because they can be more complex, more dangerous, more performance-heavy, or require stronger map knowledge.

Do not stand upright over bodies or containers in the open. If possible, loot from cover or go prone so you are harder to hit while your inventory is open.

Jog most of the time and save sprint stamina for crossing open areas, escaping shots, flanking, or closing distance during a fight.

When crossing exposed areas, vary your movement, scan angles, and avoid predictable straight paths that make you easy to track.

Before eating, drinking, healing, using surgery, or going AFK, move into cover, concealment, or a location with fewer open angles.

A junk box from Therapist is one of the best early purchases because it stores barter items for quests, hideout upgrades, and later selling.

If you can buy an item easily from traders, you usually do not need five copies taking up stash space.

Some rigs and backpacks hold more slots than they take up. Use them to stretch stash space or carry extra loot out of raids.

Pin containers you do not want moved, use auto-sort, and use the sorting table when reorganizing big sections of your stash.

A headset is one of the most important early purchases because sound gives away movement, looting, healing, and enemy positioning.

Use a cheap weapon you can replace, but make sure it has the correct ammo loaded. Ammo matters more than expensive attachments.

Put magazines in your rig, not your backpack. If your mags are in your backpack, you cannot reload from them during combat.

Bring basic armor and a rig with enough space for magazines, meds, and small loot. Even low-level armor can help against Scavs.

Bring healing, bleed control, painkillers, and a splint. Upgrade to surgery kits once you can afford them.

A small backpack is enough for early raids. You do not need to fill a huge bag every time.

Bring supplies for longer raids, especially if using painkillers or if your stomach gets damaged.

Save keys until you know which ones are valuable. Many unlock quest rooms or high-tier loot areas, while duplicates are usually safer to sell.

Each trader has loyalty requirements for PMC level, reputation, and money spent. Try to progress all of them over time.

If you are short on reputation with a trader, prioritize that trader’s tasks until you reach the next loyalty level.

Buying, selling, and bartering all contribute to trader money spent. Sometimes it is worth taking a small loss to progress a trader.

Most actions give XP, but surviving gives a multiplier. Searching, looting, healing, eating, drinking, and fighting all add up.

Double-tap binds can add input delay to actions like reload or fire-mode switching. Consider rebinding combat reload and full-auto selection to separate keys.

You can bind a heavy bleed item on key press and a med kit on key release, letting one key stop a heavy bleed first or heal normally if no heavy bleed is active.

Weapon inspect and clear malfunction can be set up with press/release logic so jams are easier to fix under pressure.

Some players prefer jump on press and vault on a separate key because it can make movement timing feel more responsive.

Check extracts and raid time at the start of every raid. Many players rebind the extract/time key so the list appears quickly with one press.

Find a quest-specific item, pick it up, and usually survive with it. These are often stressful because dying can reset the item objective.

Visit a specific location until the task updates. Some require extraction afterward, while others only require reaching the spot.

Kill Scavs, PMCs, bosses, or enemies under specific conditions. These are easier once you understand spawns and common routes.

Turn in items like meds, magazines, food, or barter goods. Many found-in-raid items can also be crafted in the hideout.

Turn on wishlist settings for hideout upgrades and favorite recipes so needed items are easier to spot in raid.

If you favorite crafts like Salewas or other quest items, the required ingredients can become easier to track while looting.

Once your bag is full, compare loot by slot value. Smaller items can sometimes be worth more than large bulky items.

If you find several quest or hideout items you need, it is often smarter to extract instead of trying to min-max the rest of the raid.

Good gear does not help much if you do not know the map, extracts, or basic mechanics yet. Use gear you are comfortable losing.

Footsteps, bushes, metal, wood, doors, looting, healing, and reloading can all give away player positions.

Many ordinary-looking items are needed later. Check items before selling if you are unsure.

You do not have to fight everyone. Avoiding a bad fight and extracting is often the smarter play.

Looting bodies and containers makes noise and locks your attention. Clear the area, listen first, and avoid looting exposed bodies too quickly.

Shooting AI Scavs or player Scavs during Scav runs lowers Fence reputation and can make future Scav runs much worse.

If you use all your stamina while traveling, you may not have enough left to dodge shots, cross open ground, or escape a bad fight.

Trader loyalty levels require PMC level, reputation, and money spent. If one requirement is short, focus on that trader’s tasks or spending progress.

Insurance can return gear if nobody takes it. It will not save ammo or meds, but it can soften losses on budget kits.

Magazines should go in your rig or pockets. If your extra mags are in your backpack, you cannot reload from them during combat.

Not every extract is open every raid. Some require rubles, power, keys, or special conditions, so beginners should learn reliable extracts first.

Most deaths have something to teach: bad pathing, poor cover, bad timing, greed, missed audio, or a risky loot decision.

If you shoot and the enemy sees where you are, reposition instead of repeeking the same angle.

Practice mode is useful for learning extracts, jump routes, angles, boss areas, and safer paths without risking gear.

Recording the last 30–60 seconds can help you catch missed sound cues, bad positioning, or angles you did not notice in the moment.