Is Tarkov’s Loot Finally Better?

(Intro)

Loot in Tarkov has had a tumultuous relationship. It's one of the core pillars of the game; something you should always try to do every raid you enter. It allows you the opportunities of riches, gear, and anything else you deem worthy of space in your backpack. And over the course of EFTs life, loot and everything revolving around it has changed dramatically. Maps that were once goldmines, stripped of all their luxuries; leaving not much but the scraps of better times. Nothing has hurt more playing this game over the years, than watching maps and high traffic locations you love to explore and pillage, slowly but surely, lose those treasures that brought home the rubles. For reasons not directly ever mentioned by BSG, with every new map that has been released it has been a mecha for the most loot on the ground or in containers. And then overtime, those places quietly get nerfed again and again, until the state of the economy is reflected in the prices of keys. When a west 301 key isn’t selling for millions on the flea market, you know something is wrong. But it seems as though the leash is being loosened, at least a little. Last week, there was a mention of making loot around some parts of some maps better. And from both looking online to see what others have been saying, to my own personal experiences playing, loot is better. Not by much, but there are some noticeable outliers that we will go over. But all of this begs a question that is universal across the game as a whole: is the loot finally getting better in EFT? Or is this just some kind of placebo?

(Loot in the past)

Loot in Tarkov has always been rather hit or miss but was definitely more consistent back in the day. I mean if we go really far back, there was barely any loot in the game to be had. But around the time that Labs and Reserve got added into the game, that’s when EFT started adding so many items that were findable out in the wild. The hideout made sure that most items in the game that had no purpose, could now be used for something. Whether it was a module upgrade or craft, the one thing the hideout did for the game was make the barter items have value other than selling them to their respective vendors. There is certainly an argument that Tarkov may have too many items in the game, and we’ve talked about that in the past. But for years, finding loot across all the maps was inherently easier for the most part. There were no items locked behind a specific trader, or behind a quest reward that allowed you to craft it. Those are more recent changes that have been made to dramatically slow down the end game for those who reach it. But looking back at older versions of the game, I cannot think of a time where loot felt as bad as it has in recent memory. I mean people are on Labs in 2025, and there’s no loot behind colored keycard rooms; that’s awful. As a player, and we’ve mentioned this many times, having your time wasted is one of the worst sins a game can inflict on someone. You spend all this time, grinding away to get this ultra rare key that opens a door that supposedly has tons of good loot. You open it and low and behold, there are barely any items in it, and whatever is in there doesn’t have a ton of value. It’s a soul crushing feeling, that could be felt across many different areas of the game. Labs, the resort, and even something like Kiba or ultra med on Interchange. These rooms that are iconic in the game for having crazy loot and tons of players fighting over it, for at least a year now, have felt… hollow. Abandoned. There wasn’t a reason to keep the keys or to investigate the rooms. You’re better off looting Jaeger stashes to find items like a LedX or whatever you might be looking for.

(What has happened to loot recently)

After patch 0.16, there have been smaller changes and within those notes, some lines mentioning that loot across most parts of EFT have been getting better. Comparing anecdotes online with personal experience, I can say that things are different and better in some areas, but in general there is still a lack of items hanging around that feels reminiscent of older times in the game. One example that has been improved is loose money in either jackets or the backpacks of scavs. We’re so used to seeing hundreds to maybe the low thousands in terms of loose money. But recently, I have seen upwards of twenty-plus thousands rubles. Which still doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s at least four times the amount we are used to seeing sometimes, if not more. This feels closer to that event where players needed to accrue a billion or trillion rubles for Lightkeeper during that global event. There were tons of money pretty much everywhere it spawned, and now it feels similar to that event. Which is a good thing; finding loose money in larger quantities can take the sting out of losing a full kit. It happens a lot when fighting Reshala and his goons; they usually have larger amounts of money on them and it’s a nice little boost that you can throw in either a wallet, docs, or sick case. But now, money is more plentiful in-raid which feels good to find. But that was the only major changed I’ve noticed as of late. Loose items on the ground still feel relatively tame, and some containers still spawn with nothing in them. Especially weapon crates; those should always have some goodies in them. Finding a suppressor or optic that is more popular is always a win because that can be directly used and is effective across the entire game. Again, the loot feels better. Not by much, but one step forward is better than nothing.

(Why loot is so important)

I think it’s important to touch on the idea of loot in EFT and why having it be accessible and plentiful is critical to the game's successful gameplay loop. There are really only three things to loot: AI, players, and the world itself. The AI generally provide little that its worth keeping or using. Their gear is weak, the ammo isn’t useful, and sometimes they hide things in their backpacks worth saving. Keys and treasure items being the usual culprits that get people to loot the scavs. Obviously, raiders, bosses, rouges, and the other elite AI have good reasons to fight and loot them. Players are next, and usually people prioritize the gear they were using. Better guns, armor, ammo; all that stuff is important of course. But how many times have you looted their backpack and found something that was either of high value on a market, or valuable to you specifically? Either a found in raid item for a quest or the hideout. Sometimes those moments make the looting worth it. And if items in general are difficult to come by because the loot across the map is stingy at best, it takes away one of the core elements that has been present since the birth of EFT. It’s important; a core pillar of the three that make the game even worth playing, which are looting, exploration/questing, and fighting other entities. Regardless of whether this is done of your PMC, or more likely, your scav. Most people use their scav for the sole purpose of looting. Sure, if they see an opportunity to ambush a PMC and take their gear, so be it. But most of us want to avoid any and all contact with other players and be simply left to our own devices.

Even a recent survey done by BSG showed most players like to use their scav primarily for looting. Eighty-two percent; that’s more than a majority of players. Which makes sense; a scav is a free kit. Allowing you less stress when walking around to try and salvage what hasn’t already been looted by PMCs. Obviously, if you find something you want or need and then perish, it sucks. But most of the time, dying while playing as a scav is kind of par for the course. But looting, man that is so important to the game, which is why it has felt awful loot for a while now. It felt as though there was barely anything worth taking. Hopefully, these changes are a start in bringing some items back to most maps, to a point where it feels worth buy and using keys or going to high traffic locations. We need that risk and reward when it comes to looting. Can’t have one without the other.

(Outro)

Looting is extremely important in EFT. Other than how accurate the weapons and equipment are to their real-life counterparts; we have all come to this game because of what can be taken off the map and other players. There is a visceral level of satisfaction that comes from besting an opponent and knowing you are about to walk out of this raid with their gear. And no other game even comes close to those highs and lows. When you take out an ultra-geared player, it feels like nirvana. And it’s those highs that make players come back and keep playing. But that can only happen if looting feels good. And it hasn’t for so long. While it feels better, it’s still not quite there and I hope BSG continues to push the loot towards a place that feels plentily and rewarding when behind locked rooms, but not so much that finding the rare stuff is easy. It’s a delicate and difficult balance to achieve; but we’ve been there before, so I hope they can capture that magic once more. 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 loot in general across EFT, whether it’s in a good place or not, how you might adjust it and be sure to subscribe for more videos about one of the most important elements of the game feeling lackluster for years and improving sooner rather than later. I hope to see you in future ones.