Every now and then you hear about this game, Escape from Tarkov, but you never got to read more upon it, until now. We are here to answer some of the questions about Tarkov you might have.
Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore FPS developed by the Russian company Battlestate Games. The game is set in the fictional Russian city Tarkov and its surrounding areas in modern times, somewhere between 2015 and 2026.
The players in Tarkov go in raids, which means they are deployed on a map along with other players and A.I. enemies in order to loot, kill and extract, with the focus on looting and surviving.
Tarkov is quite unique as there are very few visual indicators in the game. There is no dynamic map, no visual UI, no objective direction, and no player marking of any kind. So even if you are running in a squad, you will often shoot your teammates if they go astray without communicating first.
That makes Tarkov quite realistic and unique.
You also have one life per raid. There are medical supplies that can heal any number of wounds, however, there is no revive in Tarkov. When you, you die for good. And lose all the equipment you went into the raid with. Tarkov is very harsh on gear because acquiring good gear is difficult, especially in the beginning.
Which edition to get
Currently, there are 4 editions of Escape from Tarkov to choose from. They are priced vastly different and offer players different starting points. Possibilities are following:
Standard edition 34.99€
Left behind edition 57.99€
Prepare for escape edition 79.99€
Edge of Darkness edition 109.99€
The prices are fairly consistent as the game is on sale only a couple of times during the year. Mostly, the differences between Editions can be found in the starting gear, stash size, secure container size, and starting Trader rep.
Stash is the space you use when not in the raid to store everything you own. As there are a lot of collector's quests, stash can get filled up pretty quickly, so having a larger stash size eases off leveling up.
Secure containers are containers in which you can put items that get saved even if you get killed during the raid.
Traders are basically shops where you buy your gear. Each trader has multiple levels of reputation, and with higher levels, you have access to better equipment.
- Standard edition players start with a small stash (10x28), basic loadout, and an alpha container (2x2). They start with 500k rubles in their pockets, without any dollars or euros. Starting loadout is good enough to get you started but not more as you can empty your stash with a couple of consecutive unsuccessful raids.
- Left behind edition is very similar to standard but features a bit larger starting stash (10x38), better medical equipment, and 500$ dollars in the pocket. Even though most of the transactions in Tarkov are done with rubles, there is one Trader who works exclusively with dollars, so having a 500$ head start can be useful.
- Prepare for escape edition starts you with a greater stash size compared to LBE (10x48), with better gear including medical injectors and positive standings with all traders, which makes purchases of good weapons available sooner. You also start with a Beta container, (3x3) instead of alpha, and a 250€. in your pocket. You also get a fuel container which makes starting Hideout (used for crafting and upgrading) much easier
- Edge of darkness edition is the ultimate edition that brings huge stash size (10x68), a gamma container (3x3) compared to beta & alpha, vastly better starting gear especially medical, good trader reputation across the board, and free access to all subsequent DLCs. You also get a unique user ID that is reserved for you, unlike in other editions where the names can be changed across wipes meaning someone can take your username.
Which one you buy is up to you, and probably your wallet. Non-standard editions do offer a more gentle playing curve but also cost more.
If you are unsure whether you'll like the game in the first place, start with the Standard edition and upgrade to other editions later, as that is possible by paying the price difference between editions.
As for the non-standard editions, we would recommend getting the Edge of darkness edition, as its cost/perk value is better than the two that precede it.
