Highlights

  • Improve your Covert Movement skill to move silently and avoid enemies in Escape From Tarkov. This skill reduces noise and increases your speed while moving covertly.
  • Increase your Searching skill to quickly loot containers and minimize the risk of being attacked. A higher skill level allows for faster searching and even searching two containers at once.
  • Prioritize raising your Surgery skill to enhance your chances of survival in the brutal world of Tarkov. This skill reduces surgery time and the penalty to your health points, helping you survive combat encounters.

Escape From Tarkov can be a daunting experience for new players starting out in the multiplayer tactical shooter. Honing the skills needed to make a successful raid and escape with as much loot as possible takes time. To help with this there are a number of stats and perks that can be improved. These are found by going to the skill tab within the character menu.

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There are six character skill categories altogether, all of which will help in surviving the unforgiving world of Tarkov. The Practical Skill category includes some of the most important of these to improve early and can be the difference between success or failure within the game.

7 The Covert Movement Skill

Escape From Tarkov aiming a pistol at a man with shotgun

Escape From Tarkov is known for its dark and foreboding maps. Where enemy players can be waiting around any corner to steal the hard-earned loot and end the raid. Stealth is an important part of navigating around the Tarkov landscape and to help with this there is the covert movement skill.

Improving covert movement makes steps quieter on common surfaces and at higher levels on uncommon ones as well. Additionally, improving this skill will lower the noise of weapons and equipment and increase the speed at which the character can move covertly, allowing the player to creep silently throughout the map. To raise the covert movement skill, a player needs to be moving at less than 25% normal speed. As the player progresses slowly, XP will be gained and the skill will improve.

6 The Searching Skill

Searching a cash register In Escape From Tarkov

Any seasoned Tarkov player will talk about how important looting is within the game and how dangerous it can be. The moment a player is busy looting a container they are at risk of being attacked. Especially if playing solo. This means the speed at which a container is searched can make all the difference.

Improving the search skill is the way to increase this speed. From backpacks and chest rigs to bodies or containers, a quicker search time gives a player precious seconds. Improving this skill can take a lot of time. XP is gained by simply searching anything from containers to cabinets. At the elite level of this skill, players gain the ability to search two containers at once. It is also important to note level 9 of this skill is needed to complete the quest Scavenger.

5 The Surgery Skill

A Surv12 Field Surgical Kit from Escape From Tarkov

Escape From Tarkovis a tough game. Its reputation is well-earned with its many complex game mechanics and brutal PvP. The unforgiving combat can see off many new players and surviving these first contacts takes time and patience. If there is one skill to recommend to those new to the world of Tarkov, it is probably the surgery skill.

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Improving this skill will help gamers survive longer each time out and will boost overall confidence in playing the game. Raising the surgery skill requires the use of CMS Surgical Kits or a Surv12 Field Surgical Kit on a limb that is currently black. As the skill increases, improvements are gained in the surgery speed and the surgery HP penalty is reduced, giving players a higher chance of surviving combat encounters.

4 The Weapon Maintenance Skill

Escape from Tarkov weapon repair screen

Escape From Tarkov is not an average shooter. The developers at Battlestate Games have created a truly immersive experience. From the combat to the looting system, down to the wear and tear on weaponry. With overuse, guns will degrade over time and have a higher chance of malfunctioning. Wear can also sometimes occur during weapon repair. To reduce the chance of this happening, raising the weapon maintenance skill is highly recommended.

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XP is gained with this skill by repairing weapons with a repair kit while not in a raid. This means the more weapons successfully looted, the more opportunities to raise the skill to the elite level there are. At the highest levels, the weapon maintenance skill reduces weapon spread and malfunction greatly, and the chance of wear while using repair kits by 50%.

3 The Mag Drills Skill

Checking the mag in Escape From Tarkov

Like all FPS games, combat is at the core of Escape From Tarkov. Becoming an unstoppable killing machine doesn’t happen overnight. Even seasoned FPS players can struggle when first entering the harsh world of Tarkov. To help with this, there are a number of skills that go a long way in helping players survive firefights. One of the most important is mag drills. The mag drills skill governs the speed of unloading and loading the gun's magazine.

When exploring the dark, close-quarters world of Tarkov the speed at which a player can reload can be the difference between a successful raid and a failed one. Raising this skill requires the player to check their magazines for remaining ammo while in a raid, as well as loading and unloading a magazine.

2 The Crafting Skill

The Workbench Menu in Escape From Tarkov

Escape From Tarkov has a very dedicated cult following among gamers and one of the things that sets it apart from the average shooter is the survival element. Crafting has always been a big part of survival games and Escape From Tarkov is no different. Improving the crafting skill will reduce the time it takes to craft items as well as reduce cyclic production time. Additionally, at the elite level, two different items can be crafted at once in-zone.

Raising this skill requires players to craft items, but only in the hideout. Players will also be able to gain experience in crafting through the quests, Booze, The Courier and The Huntsman Path - Relentless.

1 The Hideout Management Skill

Example of The Hideout in Escape From Tarkov

There are few safe places when playing Escape From Tarkov, the hideout was introduced for players to have a personal base of operations that is free from other players’ raids. Properly upgrading and utilizing the hideout will help players advance in the game quickly, as well as giving special bonuses.

To help increase the efficiency of the hideout, the hideout management skill is recommended. By leveling up this skill, players can increase the bonuses received from hideout modules, as well as reduce the consumption of fuel, air, and water filters. There are a few different ways this skill can be raised. One is by completing the quest The Choice. Other methods are all done within the hideout itself. These are done by upgrading modules or crafting items.

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