Does Tarkov’s BTR Bring Any Value into the Game?

(Intro)

The BTR is one of Tarkov’s most ambitious mechanics to ever be added into the game. Released with patch 0.14 which dropped in December of 2023, the BTR is a self-driving armored vehicle that moves around certain locations that you can enter to either take cover, pay to have items sent to your stash, move you to another part of the map, or to provide covering fire. This whole thing feels like something the modding community for this game would do. And while they have added some impressive mechanics into that version of EFT, for now, we just have the BTR. It’s size imposing for a single soldier, the ability to basically one-shot you with its turret means being in the wrong place at the wrong time can spell immediate doom for your raid. And while the mechanic itself is incredibly interesting, and I can’t imagine how challenging it was to get it added into the game, it also leaves a lot to be desired when you look at it a little deeper. The inaccessibility of it across the entire game, combined with how players can usually just walk past without really acknowledging it, the novelty of the BTR being in the game quickly goes away after seeing it the first couple of times. So today, I wanted to go over the BTR, the mechanics and services it provides, how they could maybe be either improved upon or expanded to see if this mechanic brings any real value into the game. And more importantly, will BSG ever expand on the BTR to give it more functionality.

(What it does, and doesn’t do)

The BTR was originally added to only Streets at the start of its life. What it does is simple; it will travel across the map stopping at designated points which allows players both PMC and Scav to interact with it and engage with a few different mechanics. You can either ask it to take you to another point on the map where the BTR stops, haul out items you have found in the current raid to be sent to your stash for a price, or provide covering fire for you as you navigate around the map. All of these costing money for you to engage with. With the most recent patch adding brand new quests from the driver himself. I do appreciate that they added a driver with personality. It’s small, but it does bring a little bit more life into the world. For years, all we’ve ever engaged with were the PNGs of the traders, who have us do their dirty work for them. And then Lightkeeper got added, if you can even get to him in the first place. But now, on occasion, you can just run into this guy who got his armored vehicle working right as the collapse of Tarkov happened after the EMP dropped. And you are more than welcome to climb inside, have a chat, and ask for some favors. Again, it’ll cost you some rubles, but he is more than willing to help. So long as you don’t shoot his vehicle. Because the BTR driver is neutral to all players, and if you shoot him, he will return that favor back ten-fold. Essentially, he is a sherpa; someone willing to haul you around, and take items off your person and get them safe. But that’s all he does. The worst part about him is that he doesn’t have a one-hundred percent spawn chance on either of the only two maps he is present. His current spawn rates right now are seventy percent on Streets, and eighty percent on Woods. I guess the first question I would ask is simple: why isn’t his spawn rate one-hundred percent on these maps? In fact, why wouldn’t his spawn rate be anything but one-hundred. I get it, his services can be powerful, but he’s not a boss that drops powerful loot. He moves you around, and takes loot off your hands. What makes this more obvious is that he requires you to have money on your person. If you don’t, he won’t provide any service to you. I hope that in the future, the BTR is given some more functionality and is added to almost all the maps in the game. Streets was ambitious as a whole; adding the BTR only gave that map more credence as BSG’s magnum opus. And even though Streets is still a technical nightmare, the BTR has proven to be an interesting, effective, and liked tool that players can use. I just want to be able to use it more often.

(The BTR is technical nightmare sometimes)

One of the major issues with the BTR that’s give players pause for thought before using him is that the vehicle and it’s mechanic have had numerous issues across the board. From the vehicle itself being invisible and running players other when they don’t know it was there, to loot being lost during the process of trying to get it sent to your stash. Also having the driver not take money that was in your secure container when a patch before it was working perfectly fine. Just a lot of little issues that have crept up either by themselves or in tandem with one another. Which makes the mechanic BSG wants us to use so frustrating and annoying to try and be active with. It’s cool, I want to use it. But when it isn’t functioning as intended, like any other mechanic in the game, it just makes me want to use it as little as possible. And even if we see it get resolved in patch notes, did it really? Or even worse, is there just going to be a new bug that prevents it from being used. Stuff like this is unavoidable; I get it. Especially with something as new and complex to BSG as the BTR is. I can’t imagine what the code vomit looks like on the backend. But at this point, I’m also not surprised when things just don’t work. It’s such a shame, but it can’t be helped. All we can do is put our hands up say oh well and help it gets fixed sooner rather than later.

(The novelty is gone, sadly)

The idea on paper is awesome. But when it’s marred by tons of technically problems that never seem to end and not being able to use the mechanic consistently due to spawn rates that arguably shouldn’t exist for it, the BTR is kind of a novel concept at this point on the life of EFT. It’s cool; I’m glad it’s in the game. I try to use it whenever I can. But those opportunities are maybe one in every… I don’t know. Fifty raids? Maybe less. It’s only on two maps, and doesn’t have full spawn rates for every raid. Which again, is something if I had a say, would be changed. But when I see it or hear approaching from behind at this point, I go oh hey the BTR that’s cool. And that’s it. I’m sure other players make it a point to always try to engage with it whenever they come across the BTR, in which case more power to you. But the inconsistency of it is truly what prevents me personally from using it more. If they didn’t want to make the BTR spawn every raid, then at least putting it on more maps would be a solid alternative. Of course that would be challenging given the current maps and how they may or may not have roads and destinations laid out for the vehicle to get around properly. But with a little reworking of some of the terrain and objects I can’t imagine that it would be impossible for the BTR to exist on maps like Customs, Reserve or even Shoreline. Imagine that; having a way to get around these maps that have been in the game for years. It would breathe so much new life into them. Shoreline especially; the BTR would become such a highly contested objective because it can get you around so efficiently. Or if you go into the resort and find some really good loot. Now, that found in raid LEDX you just got lucky finding can get out with relative safety and you can continue your raid with confidence. Which is another point that makes the BTR cool in theory, which is the idea of sending loot off while you stay in the raid and continue doing whatever you want to do. Infills I believe the community has called them previously. A place that allows you to dump loot and gear back to your stash without ever having to leave the raid. I’m going to mention this briefly here, because this is a great conversation for another video. But imagine this idea in Tarkov but more fleshed out? It would be amazing.

(Outro)

The BTR in Tarkov is an ambitious idea that only recently saw some additional features added to it. Brand new quests from the driver himself are cool. It's like a mini version of Lightkeeper for those who can’t be bothered to work all the way to his quests. And while I personally don’t have his quests unlocked, looking at the wiki, his rewards are kind of insane, actually. At least in the experience department. But even that might not be enough to rally everyone playing the game to seek him out. He’s not guaranteed in your raids; he’s had problems since he was added into the game. And he’s only on two maps right now. If BSG wants us to use him more and for the BTR to not feel like a novelty, having him appear more often on more maps is step number one to solving the problem. Other than that, it’s really up to them to add what other mechanics they want to give him, if any. But until then, I’m glad the BTR is in the game, but man... it could be so much better. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know down in the comment section below your thoughts on the BTR, is it a cool mechanic, do you personally engage with it and be sure to subscribe for more videos about the many different ideas that BSG has added into the game, only for them to sadly fall flat on their face not too long after release. I hope to see you in future ones.