Random Loot Containers in Tarkov are Interesting

So, one of the newest features to come alongside patch 13.5, was the introduction of containers in the game having potential “random” spawns across the map. Basically, the idea behind it was trying to break the monotony of always knowing exactly where loot spawns on a given map and giving that idea a shakeup. I suppose BSG wasn’t a fan of the Jaeger stash running meta, and that was ultimately the catalyst for this change to not only those stashes, but all loot containers in the game. With a few exceptions. Initially, I was very indifferent about containers spawns being chalked up to some more RNG in Tarkov, but after some more time just playing the game and experiencing the moments, both where you find no containers where there normally are, and times when there are more than what’s normally there, I think it’s a net positive as a whole, but other than to just ruin stash runs, I suppose my main question is still, why?

I’m going to read straight from the patch notes where it talks about the change to containers. It reads quote:

“Containers will now spawn at random points. The number of spawn points for containers has been increased on all locations. Large wooden crates, some TerraGroup crates, large cash registers and file cabinets will now always spawn at their respective locations.”

When you look at the patch notes and read the change out loud, it’s a little vague about what it’s doing. It gets the point across concisely, of course, but the first question I asked myself when I read that change was, what containers is this going to effect? Whether or not that vagueness was intentional, we don’t know, but after playing for some time, I have noticed the addition and removal of certain containers across a handful of maps in the game. Obviously, Customs, where for the most part, I find more boxes to loot than not. Which is a good thing. Plenty of places have two boxes most of the time instead of one or even none. It’s certainly a breath of fresh air to see more loot in the game that can be found by looking in crates. But it also goes beyond just weapon crates.

I’ve also noticed a ton of extra duffle bags around which is awesome. Interchange has a lot of sneaky ones hidden away on shelves. OLI was fun to look around on a scav; I managed to about three different duffle bags that I don’t think were there previously. I could certainly be wrong but being in OLI enough times for early Interchange quests, that’s the part of the mall I feel I’m the most familiar with. But some other highlights I have noticed are two gray weapon containers in the building adjacent to the power switch building on Customs. Most of the time I can loot two containers. And have only had one raid so far where there was nothing there at all. So again, it feels like it was an overall net positive where most of the time you will be getting the same if not more loot than you would previously. You can still come across rooms with no containers; it’s going to happen. But perhaps BSG leaned into giving the maps more loot instead of less most of the time.

The most interesting part of this change was how it affected Jaeger stashes. Now this might be a bug, but it seems like for a short spell there were no stashes spawning on Woods and Interchange. But again, this might’ve been a bug that has been fixed because when I initially heard that, Customs stashes were not only working, but were always in the same spots and always up. Sometimes they didn’t spawn so it’s working as intended on BSG’s end. So, this might be some new patch growing pains that BSG is cleaning up behind the scenes. But apparently, the stashes were the initial idea to adjust how most loot containers work in the game. Initially, my opinion was kind of... nonexistent. If that even makes sense. On one hand I thought, okay cool; we can sometimes get more loot. That’ll make for a pleasant experience looting both on your PMC and your scav. You might be able to find some containers others missed and get some dope loot. And on the other hand, my brain went, why would you need to randomize the containers in the game? There’s enough of them across the maps so it feels redundant so make the looting opportunities less on maps. I initially compared it to dynamic loot where stuff can just kind of be laying around minding its own business. But it has gotten better over time and items spawning in the world more often just makes sense. And having containers move around and sometimes be there and not is interesting. The one thing BSG wanted to directly address with this change has been hit. You can run your stash and loot routes on maps, but whether they yield any results is down to more Tarkov RNG. Which I mean, there is an argument to be made for RNG elements in a game already littered with them, but hey, if this is how they want to handle loot from boxes, who am I to complain?

Either way, we are still only a little over a week into the wipe. I’m sure BSG is paying attention to how people are engaging and talking about random containers in the game. This is something I feel as though they will be trying to constantly improve. And I personally have only scratched the surface with certain locations where there is a high concentration of loot. Shoreline, Reserve, even Lighthouse; these maps might vastly improve from random loot so we will have to play more and see for ourselves. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. If you have any thoughts on random loot containers in Tarkov being a good or bad thing, be sure to leave comment down below, and subscribe for more videos about the subtle changes that we will discover across Tarkov as a whole. I hope to see you in future ones.