The Armor Hitbox Changes Did Nothing for Tarkov

(Intro)

Tarkov’s armor hitbox rework that occurred late last year feels as though it didn’t have the impact BSG wanted it to. Previously before the change, armor was a relatively straight forward system in regards to the areas of the body it protected. If you have armor on, at the very least your entire front and back were covered. Some armors had extra protection including the arms, but for the most part at the very least most of your vitals were covered even if you just had a humble paca armor equipped. But at the end of the 2023, BSG showed off some videos showcasing a completely reworked armor hitbox system that put protection value only where the armor’s protective plates actually covered. So, armor went from this all-encompassing shield into something players would need to seriously think about. Gone be the days of the slick and hex grids being the top two armors for their level six protection. In addition, being able to swap out the physical plates of an armor and have extra modularity in that regard was probably the best thing about this entire rework, and while we spoke about the plate system shortly after release, a year later, and the armor hitboxes don’t feel like they had the substantial impact we all thought they would. So, what changed from the old system to the new one? What were some of the growing pains that plagued the system to this day? And was the system overhaul even worth it in the first place?

(Intent versus implementation)

The primary goal of the armor hitbox rework was to give more agency to the armors you select before going out on your raids. Having armors look different but protect the exact same areas while simple, isn’t what Tarkov would’ve wanted to do in the long run. Every aspect of the game is about strengths and weaknesses and the armor should be no different. So, something like a slick was the best armor in the game before the change because of the level six plates and that even though the actual armor only covered a small area, the games logic meant that it protected your entire torso and back. However, post the rework, something like the slick isn’t as enticing because now armor only covers where there is either a physical plate or soft armor behind it. Meaning, the slick and hex grid have fallen out of popularity in favor of other more bulky armors that have multiple layers of protection. Something like the AVS or M1/M2 rigs have been personal favorites of mine for their internal size, but also generally large protection zones. And considering now you can swap out the plates of armors while in your stash and in raid, it means that the materials of armors play less of a factor into what’s popular. Titan being a sturdy material, but not repairing well, can now be swapped out for the more powerful ultra polyethylene; arguably the best material in the game. Granted, depending on the armor, certain plates will or will not work with that specific armor. So, you need to make sure you buy the right ones, lest you waste some rubles on something you can’t immediately use. Either way, the goal was to diversify not only the armors used throughout the game, but the weapons people used too.

(Variety is the spice of life)

The best thing for Tarkov is to have players using as many of the options available in the game as possible that work. Obviously, things will never be truly balanced and there will always be one option that’s better than the other. But to have as many weapons, ammo types and armors in the game get used by the player base at large is the main goal. And one of those goals for the armor rework was to not only increase variety in armor’s players use, but also the weapons and ammos they might select too. Before the change, going for ammos with the highest level of penetration was almost priority number one. And while even after the armor hitbox changes that should still be your goal if you are trying to play it safe as a beginner, for more experienced players there are alternative ammo types you can consider. Ammos with higher-than-average flesh damage can be viable depending on the weapon, location and how deep we are into a wipe. Again, these are very specific circumstances, and flesh damage ammo still isn’t as viable or popular as it maybe should be. But, when compared to what it was like before the update, the odds of you landing a successful hit on a body part that is no longer covered by armor, is higher. It’s still not the ideal way of facing tougher and more equipped PMCs, but to say that it won’t ever work is a lie. Shotguns and SMGs benefiting the most from this change because of their abilities to spray copious amounts of lead or buckshot in the general direction of an opponent.

(Why the hitbox changes didn’t land)

We know the goals and intentions behind all the changes BSG ended up making with patch 0.14. It makes sense as to why they changed the system so drastically. But sadly, a year after it was implemented, it feels as though the changes have had little to no real impact on the game. Or at the very least, any large positive changes to the game. In fact, for quite some time, several of the new hitboxes on the character model felt too large and easily hittable. The throat, armpit, and even nape zones felt much larger than they should be, and BSG reduced their size several times and adjusted the hit boxes around these areas to make it not as exploitable by primarily the AI. So many different clips of players getting dropped by some very generic rifle and pistol rounds used by the scavs that just so happened to hit a spot with no protection and killing people outright in a single shot. It was a very negative feedback loop with the game, that spelled some level of disdain from the community for quite some time. Even to this day, people can still sometimes die in those problem spots, but it certainly has gotten better than when it was released. In general, the impact the armor hitbox change had wasn’t as intense as many thought it would be. We all still die to head eyes more often than not. And while the swappable plates being in the game is also really cool and interesting from a variety perspective, armor nowadays either feels like it’s too powerful and tanks all the damage all the time, or it does absolutely nothing and you die in one hit. I guess the best way to explain this is when was the last time you had an armor plate you were wearing get zeroed out in a raid and you had to leave the raid to replace it? From personal experience, that has never happened a single time. The plates either take barely any damage and now repair to almost 100% regardless of the material, or they don’t tank the round and I die. But they still won’t be at zero hit points even in that situation. It’s kind of strange. I guess I was just so used to the old system where having you armor actually hit zero durability, I was expecting it to happen a little more often than it does now. Especially for the plates made out of ceramic. I’m glad the system is in the game because of the variety and how modular armors have become because of it. But I guess I would’ve like it to be impactful enough to the point where bringing in an extra plate or two was the meta because there was a high likelihood of your armor taking significant damage.

(Outro)

The armor hitbox rework combined with the new plate system was a two-pronged attack on how Tarkov’s defenses worked. Armor was incredibly powerful before, especially if you could consistently get your hands on level five and six armors. But now, the power is directly in the plates themselves, now the armor you wear. So, while you can do sneaky things like putting level six plates into a traditionally level three body armor, even that isn’t enough to say the systems had a profound positive impact on the game, at least for me personally. Maybe others’ experience might say otherwise, but with some tuning and adjusting to durability and how some plates can last what feels like for a dozen raids, these systems can be brought to a place where these are the most important decisions you make before entering a raid. Maybe it will come with the 1.0 release, maybe not. We’ll just have to wait and see. 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 armor hitbox rework, the new plate system, there integration and be sure to subscribe for more videos about ideas that sound amazing on paper, but when implemented don’t land as we all would’ve hoped. I hope to see you in future ones.