The Most Powerful Location in Tarkov Right Now

(Intro)

Customs is currently home to arguably the most powerful location to hang around in the entire game. With the release of the small expansion earlier this year, it allows players to cut through the railroad tracks that overlook the new gas station and opens a brand-new building with multiple levels, tons of vantage points, and places to provide overwatch for your teammates should the situation dictate that style of play. It has become quite a popular location for all players because since it has released, most of my engagements with other players has been in or around this new building, which has been dubbed by some, the PvP building. On top of that, it’s generally center location across the map means that noise anywhere else can be rotated to with ease, making it a popular choke point for those that want to be in a dominate position to third party other fights going on across Customs. It’s just an awesome spot on the map that’s both new so people want to check it out, but with lots of different sight lines and angles that are beneficial if you take advantage of them. Of course, all of this has come at quite a cost: the performance across most areas of the map have taken a significant hit, and Customs is now probably one of the worst performing maps in the game. Either way, it feels like we haven’t had this powerful of a spot in the game since maybe D-2 being introduced. So, let’s go over what makes this new spot so strong, what the pros and cons to being there are, and the unfortunate sacrifice some players had to make for this location.

(You can see almost everything)

The new PvP building is essentially a three-story building with a small garage attached to it, a scaffolding outside of it, and multiple windows with angles across many popular and high traffic spots on Customs. If you are a little creative, some of the angles you can get are nasty and can be difficult to spot if you aren’t paying really close attention. There is a reason why I try to spend so much time in and around this new building. Well, there’s a few reasons. As someone who enjoys the long-range aspect of EFT, these kinds of spots just make sense to take advantage of when the circumstances call for it. It’s part of the reason why I always try to bring a weapon with some form of range on it; these spots across not only Customs but the entire game can be powerful if you have attachments that support the playstyle. It also sits nicely in the middle of the map; meaning there is a high likelihood you will see other players at some point during the raid. Combined with the fact that at this point in the wipe getting long range is both easy and cheap, and there is pretty much no reason not to sit on the blue and red scaffolding, or to sit in any of the windows inside this building and just listen to what’s going on around you.

You can see so much of this map when you are on even just the second floor, that spotting players running from point to point because almost trivial with how easy it is to catch them. Of course, there are some downsides to these spots. The most obvious one is that players know how good this location can be, so they will be checking it constantly. Which means if you get complacent and don’t reposition occasionally, or just get caught sleeping at the wheel, they will take you down before you even had a chance to retaliate. You’re not the only one who wants to be up in that building. Second, most of the spots you will most likely see other players is far away, relative to the distances you normally fight on Customs. So sometimes, hitting the shot on a running or even standing target can be tricky. From the new building, most places you will be glassing like new gas or stronghold are at least one hundred meters away, so zero up accordingly. But this is a small price to pay when you have so much of the map available to you, and how easy it can be to rotate to another fight somewhere else on the map.

(The biggest downside)

While this whole section of the map is awesome and allows for smoother maneuvering and being able to completely bypass the new gas chokepoint, it has come at a cost. A huge one, at that. The performance of Customs has become generally awful for many players, myself included. Which is a terrible feeling because Customs for almost the entirety of playing EFT has been my favorite map in the game. From the general layout and design of the map, to how it flowed as you navigated your way through it, to how often you would fight players, be at the expected locations or randomly across quieter parts of the map. I love this map and if I had to choose only one to play forever, it would be this one. It feels almost perfect in terms of design and balance. But now, the performance hits this map has taken makes me seriously frustrated. I can’t play this map anymore without major framerate drops across most parts of the map. What makes this even worse is that this new section of Customs performs the worst by far. Dipping into the thirties for framerate whenever I zoom in with a scope. It’s such a shame, and to be brutally honest, if I could revert the expansion and have Customs performing the way it was before the update (which was good), I’d do it in a heartbeat.

Don’t get me wrong; the new area is fun and interesting, and because we’re talking about it, powerful when used correctly. But if it comes at the cost of pretty much every other area on the map feeling worse, I’d rather just have the map run smoother. Performance in this game is a tough ask, and anytime something just works correctly, it’s hard to ask for anything else that could jeopardize that. Even with my settings lowered slightly, and begrudgingly turning on DLSS, it still feels rough. It makes me sad; my favorite map performing like crap. It feels no better than Streets sometimes, which is saying something because that map is never going to be optimized. And that is essentially BSG’s flagship map for Tarkov. It was supposed to be the magnum opus; the crowning achievement. The culmination of everything that had learned up until that map got released. But sadly, it was too ambitious of a map that had to be cut short after only one expansion because it was too big. I remember also hearing a rumor that Streets was going to be split into two different maps as well to help with performance, but I think that was just a rumor and nothing more. It truly is a shame; most new maps that had been added into EFT’s lineup were marred with performance issues but would get resolved overtime. But now, taking an old map that ran well and making it worse with a small expansion feels somehow even more insulting than getting a poorly optimized new map. I can only hope it gets resolved before 1.0, but considering on the new roadmap the Interchange expansion has mysteriously disappeared, my hopes are nothing but dashed.

(Outro)

Customs got expanded earlier this year and with it came the current most powerful spot to occupy in EFT. With tons of different angles on a variety of POIs and chokepoints, to having it just be a mecha for fighting other players, the PvP building has cemented itself as a popular, potent, and powerful location across the whole game that sees tons of activity no matter the time of day you enter a raid, or how long it's been since the raid start. For those who have experience in that new area of the map, you know what I mean when is say it might be the best; there isn’t anything I can think off the top of my head that fills all the roles this building currently does. It's fun, engaging, and rewards those who can take advantage of what the building has to offer. But it comes at the cost of the map running much than it did before the expansion. Which is a shame because as a Customs enthusiast, this will always be my favorite map. I just wish it would run better, and I would be willing to remove the recent expansion if it meant getting my frames back. Here’s to hopefully seeing an improvement in the future. 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 new PvP building on Customs, if you think it’s powerful or not, would you remove it for more frames and be sure to subscribe for more videos about additions to maps in EFT that had significant impacts on how players engage with it and also how it they could’ve potentially ruined a map we know and love. I hope to see you in future ones.