Loot Guide - Escape From Tarkov Guide - IGN (2024)

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Looting is an essential mechanic in Escape from Tarkov. This is the action that you’ll be doing the most, apart from shooting other players and trying to survive Raids. Items come in all shapes and forms, and you should get as much as you can — even if you won't use them.

There are a few things to consider while looting in the game, so this guide will explain how to loot and how to organize your inventory.

Below you can find some shortcuts to those topics:

  • How to Loot in Escape From Tarkov
  • Organizing Your Inventory

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How to Loot in Escape From Tarkov

Looting is the action of picking up items from basically anywhere you can. While in a Raid, you can pick up items from the floor, from objects like tables, inspect jumpers, desks, med cases, and bags, and you can also check other players’ (or bots’) corpses. Simply aim close to them until the option appears and press F. They’ll be saved in a free space in your in-game inventory.

If you want to automatically equip something like a weapon or a helmet, hold ALT while you press F.

When looting some places like desks or other players’ dead bodies, you’ll notice that the items might appear hidden. This is because you need to press “Searching” on the top menu and your character will start identifying the items.

However, when you start playing you’ll notice that most items appear obscured, with the legend "Unknown Item". This is because you need to examine them. Then they will become part of your personal encyclopedia of known items. To examine them, you can press right-click, then select “Examine”, or just press the wheel button on your mouse. This also happens when buying from Traders.

You’ll always receive experience points for looting some objects and even bonus points for examining unidentified items.

One thing you should know when starting to learn the maps is that the spawn points for loot are always the same. Objects like med cases, bags, and clothes will always spawn in the same spot. The items inside them will always change, and they can also be empty.

Items on tables, desks, shelves, or on the floor are different because they can spawn or not. However, you should start learning their spots anyway, so you can get better at looting while playing.

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How well you loot in Escape from Tarkov is important because you’ll always lose everything you have with you when you die (your stash will remain unaltered, though). Looting, especially as a Scav, will be your preferred way to gain new valuable items and re-stock your main inventory. When playing as one, you won’t have to worry about anything that moves as if you were a PMC (more about this in our Scav Guide).

Always try to gather as much loot as you can. While certain items might affect your total weight and how you move, you should always try to return with as much as possible. Not because you’ll end up using everything (you probably won’t use even half at first), but you will always need things to sell, which will allow you to start making money. That being said, try not to discard items, only when you need to make space.

Organizing Your Inventory

While the action of picking up a single object is simple enough, making sure everything fits in your inventory and your personal stash is another story. This is when Escape from Tarkov becomes a bit of Tetris, asking you to move items around and utilizing your limited space to the fullest.

When in-game, you can basically add any object to any part of your equipment or pockets as long as there’s enough space. The only thing you should keep in mind is that some rigs have two-square spaces, which means that you can add large items there. For instance, you can’t add a large magazine in your pockets, because they are single square spaces.

After completing a Raid, you’ll return to base and be asked to decide which items to send to your stash and which ones to discard. The idea, as already mentioned, is that you don’t discard anything — it’s always better to sell anything you won’t use, as money is pretty important in the game.

However, this is easier said than done, so let’s check a few tips that will help you with your stash:

  • Use your backpacks’ and rigs’ spaces. You can put backpacks inside backpacks endlessly and then just leave the first one in your inventory, saving a lot of space. Also, don’t leave your rigs empty as they can be used to keep anything (but keep in mind the comment about small and large spaces a few lines above).
  • Automatic order. If you check the bottom left corner of your stash, you’ll notice a small icon with two blue arrows. If you press it, the game will automatically order your inventory following some hidden criteria (like putting together the bullets first, the weapons’ mags later, then the guns, etc.). This can’t be used always and its utility is up to your preference, but it’s pretty useful during your first hours.
  • You can rotate objects. Whether when ordering your character’s equipment or moving things around your stash, you can rotate them from a vertical position to a horizontal one and vice versa. This is a key feature to use and you should experiment with it as much as possible. To rotate an object, hold your left click and press R.

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  • Insert your accessories. Sometimes you might have several gun accessories taking up valuable slots. A way of making space is to just insert them into a compatible weapon. To check if you can do that, simply drag the accessory to the weapon of your choice.
  • Fold and unfold weapons. A good amount of large weapons, like the M4A1, can be folded. This means that the weapon will become a bit smaller by changing how its grip or other parts are located, giving you some free squares.
  • Upgrade your Hideout and get cases. Your Hideout is your personal base, one in which you can build certain parts and get permanent upgrades for your character (like some extra spaces for your inventory). On the other hand, cases work like big boxes that have a ton of squares for you to save things. Some of them, like the Lucky Scav Junkbox (sold by the Therapist) and the Ammunition Case (sold by the Mechanic) can be purchased, while others need to be gained doing quests.

Looking for more tips and guides for your time with Escape from Tarkov? Please check the following pages:

  • Beginner's Guide: Basics and Features
  • Scav Guide
  • Combat Guide and Tips

Up Next: Trading Guide

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Top Guide Sections

  • Beginner's Guide: Basics and Features
  • Scav Guide
  • Combat Guide and Tips
  • Loot Guide

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Loot Guide - Escape From Tarkov Guide - IGN (1)

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OverviewBeginner's Guide: Basics and FeaturesScav GuideCombat Guide and Tips

Loot Guide - Escape From Tarkov Guide - IGN (2024)

FAQs

Why is Tarkov so hard? ›

Let's Break Down Why Escape From Tarkov is So Hard

There are no minimaps, no guidance markers, no arrows, and no navigational assistance. You're told nothing about the maps, you don't know where your exits are, and you don't really know where your quest objectives can be found.

How to get good loot in Tarkov? ›

Check safes and cash registers - Safes and cash registers contain some of the most sought-after loot in Tarkov. Hit these whenever you have keys or see them unopened for items like cash, bitcoin, roler watches, and rare barter items.

What Tarkov map has the best loot? ›

Lighthouse. Lighthouse is a huge map on the seafront, boasting luxury villas, chalets, and some of the toughest enemies in Tarkov. It's one of the best Tarkov maps for loot runs because of some of these enemies, though – so it's worth the fight. It features a lot of mid-game tasks, so you'll need to go there often.

Are people cheating in Tarkov? ›

I write about esports, competitive games and the creator economy. Tarkov just owned a lot of cheaters. Escape From Tarkov, like most online shooters, has a problem with cheaters.

What is the most valuable item in tarkov? ›

Valuables
  • Physical Bitcoin.
  • Bronze lion figurine.
  • Roler Submariner gold wrist watch.
  • Antique vase.

Where is the best place to aim in tarkov? ›

Learning to aim at the head is one of the best things to do, you'd be dropping enemies really quickly and a lot of ammo becomes viable.

What to hold money in tarkov? ›

The Money case is a container with the purpose of saving space within the player's inventory. It provides 49 inventory slots in a 7x7 grid and only takes up 6 inventory slots itself.

What is the most noob friendly map in Tarkov? ›

  • Asog9999. • 3y ago. I'd suggest shoreline is the best map for new players to survive because it's big and most players rush the resort. ...
  • cookiemikester. • 3y ago. This is my first wipe. ...
  • Baljit147. • 3y ago. I would recommend Customs because that's where a lot of the early quests are.
Apr 10, 2021

What is the hardest map to run in Tarkov? ›

The Lab is pound for pound, the toughest map in Escape From Tarkov. It's difficult to even get into, requiring a keycard that'll give a player access just once - and then they'll need to track down or purchase another keycard.

How do you get rich fast in Tarkov? ›

Here is the list of the Tarkov money farming methods you want to use to stuff your pockets with Roubles:
  1. Looting;
  2. Scav Runs;
  3. Farming Scav Bosses;
  4. Trading;
  5. Crafting & Hideout;
  6. Questing;
  7. Hatchet Runs;
  8. Weapon & Armor Trading;
Feb 20, 2024

Is solo Tarkov worth it? ›

Why Play Solo in Escape from Tarkov? Although joining Escape from Tarkov with a team can give you an advantage of having more firepower, playing solo can still be reasonably rewarding. For one, you are not limited by the availability of others, and you can enjoy the game as much as you want.

Is Tarkov hard for beginners? ›

Escape from Tarkov is not a beginner-friendly game, it is not a friendly game at all, in fact. After watching some videos and reading a few articles, you might expect a rough start, but you most likely don't realize HOW rough.

Is it hard to get good at Tarkov? ›

For the last 250 hours, I've had two main goals: learn maps and not die. And you'd be surprised how hard it is to do either of those things in the absence of the other. Then if you ask a veteran of Escape from Tarkov what it takes to get better, the answer is liable to be “die a lot,” with several qualifications.

Did Tarkov get easier? ›

Today, Battlestate Games pushed a series of changes into the Escape From Tarkov platform that has, essentially, made the game relatively easier.

Which Tarkov map is the hardest? ›

The Lab is pound for pound, the toughest map in Escape From Tarkov. It's difficult to even get into, requiring a keycard that'll give a player access just once - and then they'll need to track down or purchase another keycard.

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