EFT Tutorial and Guide
THE TARKOV CENTRAL
Know Your Enemies
During raids in Escape from Tarkov, you will encounter various types of enemies with different health pools, equipment and abilities. It's important to know them in order to be aware of the dangers you're going to face.
There are 2 main categories: players and AIs.
Players can be PMCs or Scav players.
AIs can be Scavs, Scav Raiders, Rouges, Cultists, Bosses and their Guards.
Players
Every player can join a raid as a PMC or a Scav player.
PMCs:
It's the players' main character. It has the standard health pool (Head 35hp/Thorax 85p/Stomach 70hp/Arms 60hp each/Legs 65hp each for a total of 440hp). It's the most dangerous threat you will encounter as the PMC can be equipped with the best gear of the game and players employ the biggest array of combat techniques and tricks to defeat you.
Scav players:
Players that join the raid as Scavs. They spawn with randomized free gear, but it's usually quite poor, in bad conditions and with poor ammo. They also spawn with randomized loot already in their inventory, which can range from nothing, to useless stuff, to extremely valuable items. Usually players use Scavs to scavenge for loot and being under-geared they tend to avoid combat. However, if engaged in combat, Scav players can be dangerous because if they didn't loot anything valuable they have nothing to lose, their gear being given to them for free.
Usually Scav players also worry about Scav Karma, thus try to avoid killing other Scavs. For this reason they are at a disadvantage compared to PMC because they need to identify their potential target before shooting and will hesitate before opening fire.
Scav players usually join raids much later than PMC, but this depends on the map chosen and other factors that vary with time. For example in Streets of Tarkov they usually join raids with more than 30 mins left of time.
Read more about Scav players on the EFT Wiki.
AIs
Scavs:
They are the most commonly encountered and easiest kind of AI present in the game.
Their combat capabilities are usually limited and they have the worst gear. Nonetheless, they can be very dangerous and sometimes the RNG aspect of EFT let them land deadly (head)shots.
They usually roam specific areas, but they can be attracted by gunshots and can catch players unprepared if they station in an area for too long after a fight for looting or healing/repacking mags/etc.
Scavs can also be Snipers positioned on higher grounds such as on top of buildings, terraces, towers and are armed with sniper rifles. They usually miss the first few shots and give you the time to get to cover and shoot them from there. But don't make the mistake to underestimate them. If they chose you as a target and you don't break line of sight they can be very dangerous.
Read more about Scavs on the EFT Wiki.
Scavs Raiders:
They are part of the Scavs faction, but they are a more powerful version of Scavs, they have more hp, much better geared and more dangerous. They have a bigger health pool and are usually armored. They can spawn only in The Lab and in the Reserve maps.
Note: If you kill them as a Scav player, you won't lose Scav Karma (but the other Scav Raiders will attack you).
Read more about Scav Raiders on the EFT Wiki
Rogues:
Rogues are a faction of ex-USEC operatives in Escape from Tarkov. They are led and commanded by the Goons (a group of 3 bosses that roam some maps together). They can be found only on the Lighthouse map.
They are dangerous, well geared and armored and have more hp than the normal PMC. They can be a good source of decent ammo and gear, especially early in the wipe.
They have different behaviours against Scavs, Bear PMCs and USEC PMCs. To know more about this and more details about them, visit the Rouges page on the EFT Wiki.
Cultists:
Cultists are a faction that appear only at night (between 22:00 and 7:00) and only in some locations. They are very dangerous because their footsteps make no noise and they are usualy very aggressive. Also, their blood is cold so they are almost invisible to thermal vision devices.
Fighting them is similar to a boss encounter as they usually spawn as a group, with a Priest Cultist (which is considered a Boss) and 2 to 4 Warrior Cultits as his bodyguards. Also, they are difficult to find as bosses, as they have a low chance of spawn.
To learn more, visit the Cultists page on the EFT Wiki.
Bosses
Bosses are the most powerful AIs in Escape from Tarkov.
They have a low chance to spawn on selected maps and they have each very different stats and abilities. Some are more easy to defeat but all of them pose a serious threat as they usually have a very large health pool associated with a lot of firepower and great aggressiveness.
To learn about each of them, their location, behaviour and strategies to eliminate them, visit the Bosses page on the EFT Wiki.
Or check the EFT Tutorial Index