Escape from Tarkov Tips: Everything you need to know to survive

Tarkov is unforgiving, but if you're unlucky, Scav running is a great way to turn your fortunes around. Scavs are secondary characters you can play as – they're basically local raiders with randomly assigned gear and weapons. Unlike your PMC, Scav has nothing to do with your overall progress, and you don't lose anything if you die. They also won't activate other AI Scavs unless provoked, meaning you can move around most players without immediately drawing fire, giving you more time and space to loot.

Since Scavs are relatively risk-free, they are a powerful tool to have in your Tarkov arsenal, especially when your PMC gear is near bottom. Each successful extraction returns all the items the Scav is carrying back to the PMC's stash, giving you a wealth of items to use, sell, and exchange.

Like PMCs, you can upgrade Scavs by shooting them and escaping safely. By increasing your Scav Karma, you'll gain access to better gear, better AI interactions, and shorter Scav cooldowns – things you'll want to do if you're just starting out. But be warned: shooting other Scavs will cause you to lose karma and turn the entire lobby against you. It's more fun to increase your Scav reputation and use close chat to hunt down PMC players.