Escape from Tarkov Beginner Maps

While Escape from Tarkov has a simple premise, which is to escape from Tarkov, the complexity comes from the various dangers of each map. Those dangers include other players as well as NPC Scavs. All of them are hostile to you (except your friends). That means you have to be careful and cautious as you go about collecting the Tarkov items you need.

Beginners may be confused and don’t know where to start, so here’s a guide.

Beginner Maps

Players recommend beginners start with the Customs and Interchange maps. Customs is a big map where beginners can (somewhat) control encounters and get a feel for the game.

Generally, in Customs, you spawn on one side of the map and extract on the other. There are extraction points somewhere in the middle of the map if you can find the keys for them. It also has loot hotspots, such as the Marked Room or the Old Gas Station.

That’s why it’s a good map to start with. You can find some of the keys used in this map in the Flea Market.

As for Interchange, it’s a bit harder than Customs but knowing what looting spots are near where you spawn can help immensely. Then once those are looted, go straight to extraction. With a tight route from spawn to extraction, you can get lots of valuable loot and if you’re lucky, some bitcoin Tarkov items. Of course, with their rarity, it’s not going to be frequent at all.

Just watch out for exit campers, as there are only two open extraction points. Being aware that they can be there can save your life right when you can escape.

At any rate, you don’t have to scour the whole map looking for loot. Most players have a route or a specific area they’ll raid, and then they’ll book it to extraction points. All players are on a time limit within the map, so it’s not like you’ll be able to go to all the hotspots in one run. Besides, by the time you get there, it’ll likely be picked clean which wastes time.

So practice with these two maps. What you need is the sense of locations and routes to extraction points. Also, don’t forget to research the map’s NPC Scav bosses. Without the proper gear, you’re going to lose a fight against them, so avoid them as much as possible in the beginning.

Additional Tips

Everybody likes going to the Marked Room, so unless you can get there first, maybe hold off on going there until you’re more confident. Alternatively, if you can, you can try hunting down whoever got there first.

Save up and buy keys from the Flea Market and get a keytool. Stick that into your safe container so it doesn’t drop when you die. They can be used again and again, so they’re worth the rubles.

Search and memorize a map of stashes on Customs. These can increase your profits, but again, don’t go out of the way to check on all of them. Check the ones that are along your route.

Bring a flashlight to the Interchange. There will be areas too dark to see without one. Of course, you’ll also be visible to other players there, but so will they.

Increase your inventory using containers such as the Lucky Scav Junkbox. That lets you keep more items in the limited space of backpacks. In that vein, you can insure your items as well. You get them back after some time, as long as the item was dropped (upon death or purposefully) and not picked up by another. However, items inside a container won’t be returned, unless they were insured in the first place. If you get MIA, say goodbye to your items so make sure you extract.

Conclusions

You can figure out the rest of the game’s mechanics (the Hideout, quests, etc.) while playing. Of course, there are other guides and articles you can refer to for more information. This should be enough for beginners to start getting used to the game.

The most important thing is to enjoy playing! Losing items is hard, but it shouldn’t be a reason to get angry and rage. You’ll get it again, eventually. There are faster ways of getting it again if you care to search. Having fun is a state of mind and sometimes, you have to choose to put yourself in that perspective.

Enjoy your foray into Escape from Tarkov!