Escape from Tarkov, the tactical FPS/RPG/MMO from Russian developers Battlestate Games, has dropped a massive update just before the new year. Popular with Twitch streamers, the game pits players against each other as Private Military Contractors exploring the war-torn Norvinsk region of Russia. After picking a Faction, players experience Escape from Tarkov through Raids, fighting AI and player Scavs as well as other Factions to secure loot and advance quests.
In order to leave one of Escape from Tarkov's many maps with a good haul, players will need to carry everything they've secured to an Extraction Point. Each map has a variety of Extractions to choose from, but accessing them isn't always simple. Not everyone is an Escape from Tarkov streamer like Summit1g, so here's our guide to everything a player needs to know to extract successfully.
Location, Location, Location
The first step to playing Escape from Tarkov is matching into a Raid. This can take long enough to point out the flaws of Destiny 2, as streamer Shroud recently demonstrated. Whenever a player loads into a Raid, a small pop-up in the upper-right corner of their screen reveals their Extractions. This pop-up can be made to reappear at any time by pressing O twice. The Extractions here are the only ways that that player will be able to exit the map, and will be the same for their team-mates, but different from other Factions.
Some of the Extraction Points may be marked with a ??:??:??, which indicates that there is some special rule associated with that point. Extractions that are blank however can be used at any time. The special rule may be a key that is required to open the Extraction, or that the Extraction only opens or closes after a certain time has elapsed, which is not good for speed-runners.
Learning the Ropes
For a player, knowing the name of their Extraction choices is only the first step. There is no in-game map or marker that can lead to these Extractions, and if they have a special rule it may be difficult to discern. Although most Extractions are clear once they've been found, it is often difficult to find them in the first place. This isn't one of the criticisms that the game has faced however, some of which caused a minor scandal last year.
The best way for players to get a good grasp of the potential Extractions on a map is to play it in offline mode. Turning on offline, and turning off PvE, allows a player to wander the maps freely, discovering each Extraction in turn. This information can then be used in a competitive map, and is definitely the surest way to find an Extraction every time.
Escape from Tarkov is available now for PC only.