Beginner Friendly Tips and Kits for Early Game Tarkov

My hope for this video as it’s aptly titled, is to try and give some information about what kind of weapons and kits players should be running in Escape From Tarkov if they are either new to the game, or down on their luck regarding how much money they have. This game is overwhelming with how much information it’s going to throw at you, and because of that, you can very easily forget what gear you should be using, what ammos are the best, or where the extractions are. My goal today is to hopefully provide some insight into what I normally find myself doing with early game kits, budget weapons, and my general attitude towards playing raids in Tarkov. When it comes to early game Tarkov, level one/two vendors, and trying to scrounge up materials to build a cohesive kit, there are a handful of elements that should be considered so that you have at least the bare minimum before going into a raid. I have a list of bullet points that we’ll be going through, and we’re going to try and navigate it quickly so I don’t take up too much of your time, so you can get back to raiding in Tarkov. So, if you like this style of video and would like to see more on other topics in the game, be sure to leave a comment down below, and subscribe to be notified about future videos.

The loadouts you run in the early game of Tarkov, for the most part, are going to be made up of weapons, armor, rigs, and backpacks that you find in the world and not so much bought from vendors because your options in the early game are very limited, and you only start with so much money. Level 1 vendors do sell everything you would need to build a kit, however a handful of those items either have personal limits that you can max out on quickly or have global limits that sell out almost immediately after a trader reset. For myself, my go-to weapon for the early, mid, and even late game is still the ADAR; A 5.56 assault carbine that doesn’t take much to become effective. It can be purchased at Skier level one for 45k rubles. For close and mid-range, at level one and two vendors you have three options for optics. The Kobra reflex sight with the shade, the Valday reflex sight (not the 1-6x scope), and the 2.5x short prism scope with its mount adapter. Any of these options are solid choices that are all reasonably priced. My personal favorite is the prism scope. That has been my workhorse for over four years now, and it has never really let me down. It can be built up with any M4 parts you find in the world, however the ADAR with the stock wood parts is just fine. Grab a couple of magazines because it’s a single shot and you really only need two or three and your weapon is good to go. Ammo changed quite a lot this patch, but of course you should always try to use ammo with the most penetration possible. When we are early in the game, however, don’t worry too much and just make sure you have enough ammo to get you to the extraction. But it’s not the only gun option you have in the early game.

With just the level one workbench, there are two weapon crafts you should be taking advantage of. An AK-74N craft, which takes one red screwdriver, one pair of pliers both being auxiliary items, one weapons parts, one AK wood handguard and buttstock. After a little over an hour, you have a fresh AK ready for use. Auxiliary items always are given back to you after a craft, so when you find them, you keep them forever. So, it’s just the weapons parts you need because the handguard and stock can be bought at Prapor level 1. After the craft is done, in reality if we want to keep the build as simple and cheap as possible, just put a PSO on the gun. You now have an AK with ranged capabilities that can still rely on point-firing should things get up close and personal. Otherwise, grab a Bastion dust cover from Skier level 1, and whatever red dot or optic you can get your hands on. Again, we don’t have much to work with level 1 traders. So, the simpler the better. Weapons parts can also be crafted, as well as the second weapon available, the AKM. Requiring the auxiliary items of a master tool set, a multi-tool, and then just a Vepr and a 7.62 muzzle break. Skier level 1 sells the gun, and either Prapor or Mechanic sell the muzzle break. Sadly, this version of the AKM doesn’t have a dovetail mount, so you’ll need the Bastion again here for fitting any optics you decide to use. Or if you find it in your raids, these are things to look out for so that way you can always have a fallback weapon should you run out. Of course, weapons aren’t the only part of a kit. You need armor if you want to survive.

For armor, if you watched my recent video about my feelings on the new armor system, I would honestly just say go with whatever you can afford that has the highest armor class already built into it. The 6B23 floral seems to be a very popular choice for this wipe, and it’s a solid option. Either that or the NP KIASS armor is also another solid choice because of the level 3 soft armor it comes with. But again, your options are going to be limited even with level 2 vendors, so it should come down to what you can afford, and what has the highest level of armor. There are some crafts for armor in the hideout at the Lavatory, but you won’t start seeing them until you get that upgraded to level 2. Ultimately, armor is wishy washy right now, so again, use whatever you can find and repair. Same goes for helmets of course, but an easy choice is the SSh helmet at Ragman level 1.

Medication in Tarkov is entirely up to you and what you feel like bringing with you. Take too little and you won’t be prepared for every situation thrown at you. Take too much and you risk wasting money on items that won’t come back with insurance. For myself, an AI-2, army bandage, and two Esmarch's are the bare minimum I take almost every single raid. If you want more HP healing potential, take a second AI-2, or perhaps a CAR med kit for the early game. Salewa’s are an awesome 400 total hp healing items, but are expensive to run early on, and you need them for quests anyway. The CAR med kit barter for one can of humpback is also an excellent way to keep your meds topped up. Keep splints in your secure container, and bring a pack of painkillers or stims also in your container. Any meds you don’t want to lose early on should be in your secure container, because medication costs add up fast if you die even just a couple times in a row. Be sensible, but also be realistic with what you actually need.

This is a much smaller tip, but it has absolutely been useful when on scav runs or you’re unsure what to do on your PMC, which is to use the in-game notes feature. For those who may not know, Tarkov has a built-in notes feature that allows you to write up to 50 notes for yourself that you have access to at any time. It sounds stupid, but typing out some items you might need for a quest or for the hideout can be helpful. Or even using them to write down points of interest across the maps so you have an idea as to where you are. I bet some of you didn’t know this was in the game, and if that’s the case I hope you end up using it for whatever purpose you might find it useful. I find myself taking advantage of this at the start of a wipe, to remind myself what I need for the hideout. That seems to be the best use for it. Later in the wipe, it doesn’t do you a whole lot of good, but the fact it’s already built into the game makes it easier to use. And it’s been there for years. At least this way you don’t need to open something like Microsoft Word to keep track of what you need to find or what you need to complete.

And probably the final small tip I would give to anyone new and starting out, and if you’ve been around for a while, you’ve heard me say this before. Take your time; this game is about survival by any means necessary. There’s no race to be had. Whatever pace you are going on that’s comfortable for you is the right one. Everyone enjoys and experiences Tarkov in different ways. And people want to get different things out of their raids. So don’t let others get in the way of what you want to accomplish and experience while playing the game.

Hopefully these tips and ideas for basic loadouts can be useful for you as you figure out your game plan before you enter your next raid. I know these tips aren’t sometimes what everyone wants; it’s not how to get better at PvP, or what map to play for the best loot, and while those things can certainly be useful, I have always thought that establishing the building blocks for Tarkov and working up to having the confidence to run raids consistently to be more important. Those are skills you will hone as you play the game, so whilst you work on those, let’s get everything else in order too. So, thank you for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Hopefully you learned something here or found it to be useful, and if you did be sure to leave a comment down below and subscribe for more videos about trying to help people in the community with loadout ideas and tips that they might not know about. I hope to see you in future ones.