Escape from Tarkov offers two modes that are useful for learning how to play without risking the gear and money given to us when we start the game:
Practice Mode
Reading the comments from the Escape from Tarkov community, I realized that many overlook Practice Mode, suggesting instead that beginners use the Scav to do raids without risking anything (because the Scav has random but free gear).
While it is correct to suggest using the Scav to learn certain aspects of the game, it is also true that Practice Mode offers greater flexibility and some advantages that the Scav cannot provide.
The Scav is very useful for learning while also scavenging loot and maybe kill some enemy without risk, but in my opinion, it is already one step beyond Practice Mode. If a player is truly a beginner and is approaching EFT for the first time, Practice Mode is a better choice.
What is Practice Mode?
Practice Mode is certainly more useful for beginners, but it can also benefit experienced players.
The most important feature is that it is a provisional, offline practice raid. This means it will not be recorded by the game, and once you leave (by dying, reaching the time limit, or exiting voluntarily), it will be as if nothing happened. Therefore, all your equipment, ammunition, and healing items will be restored to their state before starting the raid. However, everything you collected, quests completed, and experience gained will also be lost.
How to Activate Practice Mode
When you decide to start a raid and select “Escape from Tarkov” from the main menu, you have the option to choose whether to use your PMC or the Scav.
Choose the PMC and, on the next screen, you can select the map for the raid. On the following screen, you will see the option “Enable Practice Mode for this raid.” If you select it, you can click on the “Game Settings” button on the right, allowing you to customize the settings for the raid you are about to undertake.
Game Settings
Co-op Mode:
This enables the possibility of entering Practice Mode with friends. It is extremely useful for training together, experimenting (e.g., testing sounds or damage, positioning), and especially for practicing team play. This is critical in EFT due to the lack of markers distinguishing friends from enemies, making preparation and good communication vital. With the Co-op function, you can also engage in friendly skirmishes to improve your skills and combat strategies without losing gear when you die.
Game Settings:
In theory, this should allow enabling and configuring some very interesting game features. However, currently, it only allows randomizing weather conditions and the time of the raid. If you do not select these options, the weather and time will match those active when you selected the map (on the previous screen).
AI Settings:
Here too, some settings are unavailable at the moment, but the available ones are extremely useful.
AI Amount - (as in online, none, low, medium, high, horde)
AI Difficulty - (as in online, easy, medium, hard, impossible, random)
The ability to decide how many AI to encounter on a map, as well as their difficulty, is crucial for training and improving in EFT.
Want to explore a new map you don't know? Turn off AI completely and move around freely without fear or distractions.
Want to practice aiming? Go to Factory, set AI amount to horde and difficulty to easy.
Enable Bosses: Pretty self-explanatory, but note that this option also enables or disables the spawn of Rogues, Raiders, and Cultists (in PvE, it also controls if AI-controlled PMCs will spawn or not).
Scav War: If activated, Scavs will fight each other.
Tagged and Cursed: All AI know your position and will come after you to try and eliminate you. Great for practicing aiming and getting used to fighting under pressure. It’s the same effect triggered if you enter a raid without at least a pistol and a chest rig. This is done to prevent players from entering raids completely unarmed.
Learning the game
My suggestion is to use Practice Mode initially, when you know nothing about the game. It is excellent for exploring maps and starting to learn them even before trying them with the Scav or PMC in real raids.
Tests and drills
Another use is to test weapons, fire modes, reloading, and filling magazines with ammunition.
It is also great for getting used to healing actions for various conditions (health points, light and heavy bleeding, bone fractures).
In short, it is not only for exploring and learning maps but also for familiarizing yourself with all the operations you will need to perform quickly and instinctively in real raids, especially during combat, where you must act fast and without hesitation.
Combat
Of course, Practice Mode is also an excellent way to learn the basics of combat and get accustomed to defeating AI before introducing the greater difficulty of online PvP raids, which involve other players.
Increasing the number of AI and their difficulty is also excellent training for improving even for experienced players or warming up at the beginning of a gaming session.
Quests
Practice Mode can also be used to try out quests before undertaking them in a real raid. It is true that between the Wiki, YouTube, and various sites, you can find all the necessary information before doing a quest. However, for more complex ones in unfamiliar territories, it can be helpful to try them first in Practice Mode.
Co-op
Finally, Practice Mode, through the Co-op function that allows you to play with friends, offers the opportunity to learn how to move as a team, communicate correctly, and develop tactics and teamwork.
With the Co-op function, you can also engage in friendly skirmishes to improve your skills and combat strategies without losing gear when you die.
Factory map
Which map to select depends on your objective, but remember that Factory is the smallest and fastest to load map, so for some tests it’s the best choice to get in and reset fast if needed.
This is all about Practice Mode. If you have suggestions or comments, let me know!
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