New patch notes! Escape from Tarkov gets some much needed love!
New patch notes! Escape from Tarkov gets some much needed love!
The announcement came today via Battlestate games official twitter that coming on this
Wednesday 8/11 will we be getting a large patch that looks to address some of the games
current issues. According to Battlestate Games Twitter Escape from Tarkov will be down for
approximately 4 hours but that time could be extended if any issues happen to occur.
The last major update that required the servers to be shut down was patch 12.11.
Though it brought a new boss, expansion to the “Factory” map and the introduction of Scav
Karma it hasn’t gone as smooth as Battlestate Games would have hoped. Firstly it invited
issues that hadn’t been experienced before. For instance players discovered no matter what
voice lines they chose they were given the default one without an option to change it. Other
bugs like Shoreline map extracts being bugged, an issue that has since been fixed, also popped
up. No doubt the biggest grievance players have had is regarding the Scav Karma system.
There was little understanding on how exactly it worked when the patch came out. Battlestate
Games specifically delayed releasing patch notes until players had a chance to discover this
patch more for themselves. The idea in itself was pretty cool but the lack of knowledge on how
Scav Karma worked caused a number of players to hurt their rating without even knowing what
it was they had done wrong. It thankfully seems that a number of these issues have been
worked through. If you want to see the patch notes in full head over to ***EFT Newsticker *** –
Page 34 – Project news – Escape from Tarkov Forum. Let’s go over some of the most
noteworthy changes.
First is all the changes made to Scav Karma and there were a few meaningful ones. The
big one is player Scavs no longer get positive rep from killing other players Scvas that have
attacked Scavs. Beforehand if a player Scav attacked another Scav, boss or bodyguard they
would become marked. Once marked, another player Scav could kill them and gain positive
reputation points for it. This needlessly caused confusion and those that tried to farm reputation
would often instigate firefights instead of working with other Scavs as the system intended. Now
players will receive positive Karma for extracting from any map so long as they are playing a
Scav. This is a nice bonus and encourages Scavs to work together to get everyone out so they
can all enjoy a positive karma boost. Also all the co-op extracts that require a PMC and Scav
will be available at all times. Meaning no matter how many times it is used as long as the
conditions are met players can continue to extract. This is nice because not only does it grant a
reward from the trader Fence it also is a source of positive karma for the player Scav and PMC.
A nice quality of life addition is the inclusion of the “sorting table” at the end of Scav runs. This
quality of life improvement was initially offered when patch 12.11 went live. Though it was only
used for PMC sorting, basically creating a temporary storage space to allow you to sort items
when your stash has become full. Many players wanted this option after a Scav run where
organizing a tight stash can be even harder as you have to remove all gear from your Scav
before you can move back to the lobby and your actual stash in the hideout.
Shoreline has had an issue with sound since the beginning of 12.11. Focused mostly in
the east wing of the resort. The sound has been awful as reported by a number of large
streamers like Dr. Lupo, Darkness429 and QueenFPS.s. It has been hard to pinpoint the direction
or elevation of sound. Even to the point where players would hear outdoor sounds as if they
were right next to them. While sound being an issue in Tarkov isn’t anything new Shoreline has
been particularly bad. The latest patch says “Sounds are now correctly overlapped in some of
the rooms on the “Shoreline” location”. Obviously this is a bit dubious as to what exactly was
changed or how it will come off in actual play. At least Battlestate Games has begun addressing
the sound issue.
The patch notes did confirm that players will be able to select a voice line of their
choosing in the game’s setting. So for all those players missing out on having the soothing tones
of FourtyOne yelling in their ears again, don’t worry it’s coming!
The notes mention a fix to loot spawn in the lockers in the “Interchange” map. Now as to
exactly what kind of change is unknown. It is possibly a nerf as this had become a hot spot for
high end loot items like lions and gold watches.
Battlestate Games has also addressed an exploit that allowed players to look through
walls in the underground area of the “Reserve” map. This particular exploit allowed players to
see if anyone was near the D2 extract. A great trick if you want to avoid extract camping but
clearly not in the spirit of the game. There wasn’t a mention if there was a fix that allowed
players to loot the “Marked Room” on the “Customs” map from the room below it.
The patch notes also include two other small items worth mentioning. First is the ability
for players under level 20 to use the “Flea Market” to search and buy items from traders. This
just makes getting what you need much quicker and easier. Great quality of life improvement.
The other is the addition of a quest for high level players. There’s no other information about
what the quest is, likely Battlestate games wants players to experience it for themselves before
releasing information on it. This is great as with the Kappa level being set to 71 having
additional questions will go a long way in easing that pain of a climb.
Battlestate Games clearly did it’s homework and focused on a number of issues players
have been dying for them to get to. The balance on Scav karma should make getting positive
karma easier to get and feel more rewarding. The quality of life improvements will definitely
make players much happier. With bug and sound fixes being implemented as well this is a great
patch leading to many more to come.