Overview
As of November 15th, 2025, Escape From Tarkov has, well, escaped from years beta status and officially launched its 1.0 version. Being on Steam now means there are a lot of new players flooding into the world of Tarkov and hitting similar walls that veteran players did when they first began. We've got a super condensed guide on everything you need to know before you begin.
As long as you know all of these things, you should be able to give the game a run:
Load into a map, loot stuff, fight enemies, find an extraction point and return to your hideout
This is the basic gameplay loop. You could theoretically ignore every single quest and just load into maps and fight.
You lose all of your gear outside of your Secure Container upon death
You will fight a mixture of Player PMCs, AI-Controlled Scavs, and Player-Controlled Scavs
As you progress in the game, you will find other AI-type enemies like Raiders and Bosses
Tutorial Tips
Once you create your character, you will be thrown into a Tutorial. Your immediate area is safe -- you should take the time to look around and loot whatever items you can find. Check bodies, suitcases, bags, tabletops -- anything you can find!
There's a nice gun sitting next to a dead body on the left side of the first long hallway you see (which leads to the parking garage)
There's a class-4 USEC armor in the small winding corridor after you go down the stairs
There's a LEDX under the tarp with bodies (video below)
You cannot die in this tutorial -- even if you stand point-blank and let them shoot you. Try not to fret!
It may not be immediately clear where you are supposed to go, but everywhere you're not supposed to go is cleverly blocked off. If you find enemies, you are going in the right direction.
Be careful using a gun you find on an enemy -- they can jam mid-fight once their durability is low (Press Left Shift + T to unjam).
Here's a Found-in-Raid LEDX you can find in the tutorial:
General Game Tips
Doubletapping "O" as in Oxen will show you where you are able to extract, but as the game does not have a minimap, you don't know where that is. It's useful to have a map open on a second screen.
Learning the map is arguably the hardest part of this game -- knowing where you are when you load in and where you need to go. It's a steep curve that you can mitigate by trying a map out on a Scav first (or using offline mode).
A bullet to the head is the great equalizer until people start running face shields.
Armor can completely negate some bullets if they don't have high enough penetration. It's better to run a bad gun with good bullets than vice versa. Bullets make all the difference!
It can feel very naked to not have a scope on your guns, but you'll want to get used to aiming using iron sights. Hipfire is also strong in this game if you're using an automatic weapon.
This is not Call of Duty! You do not have to go rambo just because your streamer does! Just take your time and slowly clear your way through the map while listening for where action is happening.
Scavs vs. PMC
Scavs are a way for you to load into a raid with pre-determined gear. You may then proceed normally to loot normally. Other Scavs will not aggro onto you -- you can freely walk by them, but note that Player-Controlled Scavs can choose to betray you. You may also do the same, but upon betrayal, you will be marked and all other Scavs will treat you as a hostile.
In general, you should avoid shooting first as a Scav. Betraying people lowers your Loyalty with Fence.
For the most part, Scav runs are pretty friendly and cooperative. You should see a much higher survival rate here, especially if you wait until there is less than 10 or 15 minutes in the raid before moving about.
You can collect required quest items while on your Scav but you cannot complete PMC objectives that require you to visit locations for example.
PMCs are the player character -- split into Bear (Russian) and USEC (American)
There are minor differences between the two - you should just pick the one you like more, though note all Scavs are Russian, so it's harder to pretend to be a Scav on a USEC
You should pretty much always shoot others on sight. Trust is fickle in this game!
Traders
There are 9 traders in the game who will buy things from you, sell things, and offer quests. As you gain loyalty with them (by completing quests), you will unlock better items in their shop.
Flea Market
This unlocks at Level 15 and allows you to offer up items and buy items from other players.
Hideout
You can use it from the overview mode or physically enter it (Enter button at the top of the Hideout screen)
Along with quests, this is one of the primary progression systems in Tarkov. Find items in raid to upgrade your hideout. Upgrading your hideout will give you access to crafting stations, shooting ranges, and many other useful features for your playthrough!
