Escape From Tarkov Beginner Guide (Patch 1.1.5): Your First 10 Raids, Planned One by One

The short version: do the tutorial raid, spend your next few raids on free runs (Scav and Practice), then take the cheapest kit that can still beat a Scav through the maps in the order the Tour story chapter unlocks them. Don’t lean on insurance unless you’re on the regular PvP Zone or PvE Zone character, because the seasonal character has none. That’s the whole plan. The rest of this guide explains why it works and where it breaks.

Tarkov left early access on November 15, 2025, with a Steam release on the same day. Since then the game has changed in ways most launch-week guides miss. Patch 1.1.0.0 (August 3, 2026) added Seasons, a mode-selection screen, a rebalanced economy and a rebuilt insurance system, and patch 1.1.5.0 (September 2026) reworked Lighthouse and added weekly Leagues. Everything below is checked against patch 1.1.5.1 (September 18, 2026). It’s built from the official patch notes, the community-maintained wiki and Steam’s store data rather than one player’s hot take, and where I’m giving a judgment call instead of a documented fact, I say so.

Quick start: your first 10 raids in 8 steps

1. Check your PC first. Steam lists a Ryzen 5 3600, 16 GB of RAM, a GTX 1660, DirectX 11 and 80 GB of free space as the minimum. Our Escape From Tarkov best PC settings guide covers the FPS side.
2. Choose the PvP Zone character for your main account (the mode table below explains why).
3. Play the tutorial raid on Ground Zero and leave through the Klimov Street extract. The on-screen hints are optional.
4. Run Scav raids whenever the timer allows. Dying costs you nothing from your main stash.
5. Use Practice mode to learn where the extracts are on each new map. No progress is saved, so nothing can go wrong.
6. Take the Tour maps in order (Interchange, Customs, Factory, Woods, Shoreline) with a cheap kit; the table below lays out all 10 raids.
7. Know your exit before you loot. Double-tap O in raid to see the extract list, and leave before the raid timer ends.
8. Insure what you bring on the PvP Zone and PvE Zone characters, and put anything precious in your secure container.

Which game mode should a new player pick?

Start on the PvP Zone character: it’s the only mode where you get insurance, a full-length progression and other real players, without a four-to-six-month countdown on your progress. Since patch 1.1.0.0 the game opens on a mode-selection screen, and that choice matters more than any gun or map.

The takeaway: the Seasons page confirms insurance is unavailable in the seasonal mode, so every death there is a total loss. Seasonal characters also get 25% faster experience and half-length crafts, which makes Season mode a great second character for experienced players, but a punishing first one. The mode rules come from the Game modes page and the official patch notes.

The map order: what the Tour chapter unlocks

Run Interchange, Customs, Factory, Woods and Shoreline in that order, because each one unlocks the next and every raid also advances a task. Tarkov’s maps are initially reachable only by transits (walking from one map into another mid-raid), and the Tour story chapter opens direct access from the location screen. Tour is added to your quest list automatically, and per the wiki’s Tour walkthrough, each map objective reads “survive and extract, or visit the location 3 times.”

The takeaway: Factory is the friendliest lobby on the list, with the shortest raid and the fewest players, and Shoreline is the longest and slowest. Streets of Tarkov has the biggest lobbies at 12-16 PMCs (all figures from the Map of Tarkov page), so I’d treat it as a map for later. The 250,000-rouble handover is the first real money wall, and since the objectives are listed in that order, assume it gates the rest of the chain until you’ve saved up. Ground Zero’s beginner matchmaking, per the wiki, only covers players under level 21, so you’ll age out of the easy version.

Your first 10 raids, one by one

Tarkov doesn’t prescribe a ladder, so this one is mine: four free raids to learn, four cheap-kit raids to progress the Tour, and two Scav raids for loot and money. If a map isn’t selectable yet, the Tour chain hasn’t unlocked it, so do the previous step instead.

The decision flow for each raid

• Broke or nervous? Queue as a Scav. Your main stash is untouched whatever happens.
• New map? One Practice raid first, and find the extracts before you look for loot.
• Need the next map unlocked? Take a cheap PMC kit in and extract. The wiki also lists “visit the location 3 times” as an alternative but doesn’t define a visit (probably a transit through the map), so extracting is the reliable route.
• Need found-in-raid items for Skier or Mechanic? Stay in for at least 7 minutes (see below) and pick up the required item types.
• Raid timer under five minutes and no extract in sight? Stop looting and head for the nearest exit now.

The Run-Through trap

Leaving a raid in under 7 minutes with less than 200 combat and looting EXP earns the “Run-Through” extraction status, which still counts for the Tour map objectives but strips the found-in-raid tag from everything you carry out. The Found in raid page lists Run-Through, Left the Action, KIA and MIA as the states that remove that condition. That matters because two of the Tour handovers (building materials for Skier, weapons for Mechanic) demand found-in-raid items. A raid where you sprint to the extract is fine for unlocking the map; it won’t give you items that turn in.

The five mistakes that end first raids

Five habits account for most early deaths and rage-quits: carrying kit you can’t afford to lose, trusting insurance too much, skipping the free raids, making noise, and missing the extract. This ranking is my judgment from the mechanics, not a measured statistic, but each one is a documented rule you can check.

1. Bringing a kit you can’t afford to lose

Gear fear is the real reason new players quit, and patch 1.1.0.0 made the maths tighter. Trader prices rose by about 25% on average, traders pay about 20% less for what you sell, and the Flea Market fee went from 3% to 5% (patch 1.1.0.0 notes). You can’t list your own offers on the Flea Market until PMC level 15, per the trading page, so a lost kit isn’t quickly replaced by selling loot. My rule of thumb: run the cheapest kit that can still win a fight against a Scav. Never go in unarmed, though. The wiki’s how-to-play guide warns that an unarmed PMC gets the Tagged and Cursed effect, which makes Scavs hunt you.

2. Treating insurance as protection

Insurance is a delayed refund for items nobody looted, not a shield. The next section has the full rules.

3. Skipping the free raids

Scav and Practice raids are the cheapest teachers in the game. A Scav raid carries no risk to your PMC’s gear, and your Scav levels and skills carry over between raids, per the Scavs page. AI Scavs are neutral to you as a player Scav, but attacking one makes you a traitor and turns nearby Scavs hostile. Practice raids save no progress at all, so a disconnect carries no penalty.

4. Making noise and peeking badly

Sprinting is the loudest way to move and slow walking is the quietest; footsteps are the main way other players find you. Two details beginners rarely hear: AI Scavs aim at whichever body part you expose (show only your head at a window and they shoot at your head, so peek with your whole body), and minefields and border snipers are real. Border snipers can’t be killed and shoot through objects, so the Map of Tarkov page says to retreat the moment one targets you, because cover is useless.

5. Missing the extract

Raids last 20 to 45 minutes depending on the map, and failing to leave before the timer expires gives you the Missing in Action status, which voids insurance on what you carried. Double-tap O to list the extracts, and note which ones need a condition or a key. Don’t wait until the last two minutes to start moving.

Insurance and gear fear: what’s actually protected

Insurance returns only what nobody looted, so on the PvP Zone it’s a bonus, not a safety net. The Insurance page lists three insurers after the 1.1.0.0 rework, and the official notes say Prapor and Therapist are “much faster” than before.

The takeaway: Therapist is the forgiving default for beginners, and Jaeger only makes sense if you’ll be back online within a day. Higher trader loyalty gives a small discount, and the Hideout’s Intelligence Center level 2 cuts return time by 20%. Check the figures on the in-game insurance screen, since Battlestate rebalances them often.

Three buckets are worth memorising before every raid:

• Always safe on death: the contents of your secure container (Standard Edition owners start with the Alpha, a 2×2 container with 4 slots), plus your melee weapon, armband and special slots.
• Refunded only if nobody takes it: insured gear slots. If an AI kills you, the wiki says there’s a high chance everything comes back, but a player who loots you takes your gear with them.
• Gone for good: ammo, meds, food, grenades and keys (none can be insured), anything in an uninsured container, and everything if you go MIA. Insurers also won’t return items lost in The Lab, The Labyrinth or on Icebreaker.

A magazine you insure comes back empty of bullets, and a backpack comes back without its medkit. Budget as if every kit is gone and treat any return as a bonus. If you do die broke, patch 1.1.0.0 added a support message with a container holding enough gear for a fully equipped raid. You can receive it once every 18 hours and must claim it within 18 hours.

Which advice is for you?

Group-shared task progress arrived in 1.1.0.0, meaning a squadmate can advance eligible objectives for you even if they don’t have the task active. A few tasks, such as The Punisher and The Tarkov Shooter chains, stay solo on purpose.

Is Tarkov the right extraction shooter for you?

If the idea of losing a kit makes your stomach drop and you love it, yes. That tension is the entire design, and our breakdown of why extraction shooters create tension battle royales can’t replicate explains why it hooks people. If it only sounds stressful, our ARC Raiders beginner guide covers the friendlier extraction game, and our ranked best extraction shooters list puts the rest side by side. Tarkov’s Standard Edition lists at $49.99 on Steam (it was $37.49 at 25% off when I checked on October 5, 2026; discounts come and go).

FAQ

Is Escape from Tarkov still worth buying as a beginner in 2026?

Yes, if you can stomach losing runs. Patch 1.1.0.0 expanded the beginner support package for players who die broke, and the economy changes make careful play more important, not less. If the thought of repeated total losses puts you off, wait for a sale and start with free raids.

Should I play PvE or PvP first?

PvP Zone is the default recommendation, but PvE has a real advantage: no player ambushes. It needs The Unheard or Edge of Darkness edition or the PvE expansion, so Standard Edition owners can’t use it without paying more. If you own it, it’s a gentler way to learn maps and tasks.

Should I insure everything I bring?

Insure gear slots on the PvP Zone and PvE Zone characters. The wiki’s own advice is to insure even at low level, because your killer may not loot you or may leave your gear behind. Don’t count on it, though: ammo and meds can’t be insured, MIA voids it, and a looting player takes your gear before the insurer can.

How long should I stay in a raid?

Stay at least 7 minutes unless you’re only unlocking a map, because leaving earlier risks Run-Through and strips the found-in-raid tag. After that, extract when you’ve got something worth saving, not when you’ve cleared the map.

Where to go next

This hub covers the mode choice, the map order, the five mistakes and the insurance rules. Dedicated map and trader guides will go deeper from here, so treat this page as the plan and those as the detail.

For a complete step-by-step walkthrough, see the first 48 hours of a Kord Breach seasonal character.

Once you know the maps, the next layer is task priority: which Prapor and Therapist tasks to rush first for trader Level 2, and why the Flea is a level gate and not a quest reward.

Sources

1. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Changelog: patch notes 1.0.0.0 to 1.1.5.1. Fandom (verified at patch 1.1.5.1, September 18, 2026)
2. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Insurance. Fandom
3. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Seasons. Fandom
4. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Tour (story chapter). Fandom
5. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Game modes. Fandom
6. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Found in raid. Fandom
7. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Experience: Run-Through definition. Fandom
8. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Map of Tarkov. Fandom
9. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Ground Zero. Fandom
10. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Scavs. Fandom
11. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Secure containers. Fandom
12. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. How to Play Guide for Escape from Tarkov. Fandom
13. The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Trading (Flea Market). Fandom
14. Battlestate Games. Escape from Tarkov, Steam store page (release date, editions, system requirements). Valve

Illustrations and diagrams in this guide were created for editorial purposes and are not in-game screenshots. Escape from Tarkov is the property of Battlestate Games.

Michael R.

I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.