A Tarkov wipe no longer touches your main account. Since Update 1.1.0.0 on 3 August 2026 the reset is a seasonal character: a separate profile on separate servers, independent of your PvP Zone and PvE Zone characters, whose progress resets every four to six months, according to Battlestate Games’ own patch notes. This checklist is for that character. The live season, Kord Breach, shows an in-game countdown to about 7 December, so a character started today has roughly nine weeks if that date holds.
Verified against: the 1.1.0.0 patch notes (read in their Russian-language forum post, since the English news page would not load for me) the community-maintained Tarkov wiki’s Seasons page and community pages updated between 19 August and 26 September 2026. I have not played the season myself, and I did not read the 1.1.5.x hotfix notes, so check them for rule changes; per our Tarkov beginner guide, patch 1.1.5.0 reworked Lighthouse and added weekly Leagues. Where sources disagree, I say so instead of picking quietly.
Quick Start: Eight Steps for a Fresh Seasonal Character
- Treat your main profile as safe. Creating a seasonal character does not wipe it.
- Read the Global modifiers at character creation. You cannot change them, and one of them switches insurance off.
- Spend Personal modifier points only on effects you have read in-game. They lock once the character exists.
- Audit your stash before raid one. Guides disagree on whether you start with gear.
- Run your Scav on cooldown and use your PMC for the first task batches from Prapor, Therapist and Mechanic.
- Push to PMC level 15. That opens the Flea Market, and the trader spread is now much wider than before.
- Build Stash and Generator first, then work down the hideout order below.
- Start the Kord Breach task line early. Seasonal rewards you have not unlocked when the season ends cannot be earned afterwards.
What Actually Resets (and What Doesn’t)
The season costs your main profile nothing; the things that cross between profiles are rewards, the Battle Pass and a few account-level items. Here is how BSG’s notes split it:
| What | Seasonal character | Main PvP / PvE profile |
|---|---|---|
| Level, stash, hideout, trader standing | Separate profile; progress resets every 4–6 months | Untouched |
| Insurance | Disabled in the season | Stays, with a new Jaeger insurance tier |
| Ragman tactical clothing | Stays on your account, no rebuying | Same |
| Seasonal rewards | Unlocked by PMC level, a task or a chain; permanent in every mode once unlocked | Receives the unlocked rewards |
| Battle Pass | Free, progress shared across all three modes | Same |
| EFT: Arena progress | One-way sync in; only XP, skills, reputation and some currency earned after the season start counts | No sync from the season back out |
One source dissents. Insider Gaming’s 8 August piece describes the wipe as returning your level to one and resetting stash and hideout, which reads like the old account-wide wipe. The patch notes, Tarkov Questie and DualShockers all describe a separate, optional character instead, and I follow those.
Hour 0: Before Your First Raid
Read the Global modifiers first. BSG says they are season-wide rules, apply only to seasonal characters, cannot be selected or disabled, and are listed at character creation. The wiki lists six for Kord Breach (it calls them Common modifiers), and Tarkov Questie’s list matches: No Insurance, Black Division, No FIR for Hideout, Armor Shortage, Handyman (craft times −50%, Crafting skill starts at level 51) and Seasoned PMCs (+25% experience).
One guide gets that last one wrong. NeonSect presents Seasoned PMCs as something you pick, but the wiki, Questie and BSG’s definition of Global modifiers all make it mandatory.
Personal modifiers are optional. Negative ones give you points, positive ones spend them, and the balance must end at zero or higher; Tarkov Questie says choices are locked at creation with no respec. The wiki lists the costs: Kappa Protocol (you start with the Kappa secure container) costs 12 points, Prodigy (+30% skill experience) and Safecracker (a 25% chance a key does not lose durability) cost 5 each, and Sailor’s Nostalgia (a short health-regeneration effect after eating canned fish) costs 2. Taking No Flea Market gives you 10 points back, and the wiki lists an Underdog modifier worth +4 points for players who start late, though I could not confirm how it is granted. Timesaver.gg calls Kappa Protocol, Safecracker and Sailor’s Nostalgia the strongest picks but describes the last two differently from the wiki, so judge them by the wiki text.
Audit the stash. NeonSect says a seasonal character starts at level 1 with starter gear; Timesaver says level 1 with an empty stash. The patch notes do not say. Open the stash, then plan the first raid around what is actually there.
Plan for no insurance. Anything you carry into a raid and do not extract with is gone. Older wipe lists predate this: Insider Gaming’s December 2024 early-wipe tips recommend insuring through Prapor, which the season does not allow. The notes do add a safety net: after a death in a hard financial spot, a support letter delivers a container with items for a full raid, no more often than every 18 hours, and you must open it within 18 hours. The notes do not scope it to a mode, so test it on your first broke death. Before you load in, fix your frame rate with our Best Escape From Tarkov Settings guide.
Raids 1–5: Build the XP Engine
Extract first and kill second. Timesaver’s leveling guide says a successful extraction adds roughly +30% to the experience you earned in that raid, and that it stacks with the +25% from Seasoned PMCs. If they multiply, a survived raid pays about 1.6 times a base raid (1.25 × 1.3 = 1.625, my arithmetic on their figures). Treat that as a third-party estimate. The same guide ranks Ground Zero, Factory and Customs as the fastest survival-loop maps for a fresh character, and says to run your Scav on cooldown for free loot. The wiki adds a weekly League: after your first raid you join a group of 50 players of your rank, ordered by the experience you earn that week, and the top 25 move up.
The task system changed, and old advice breaks on it. According to BSG, most side tasks are now tied to a trader’s loyalty level (LL) and arrive in sets of two to four. To get the next set you finish several tasks at that LL or reach a new one. Chains still exist for the rare rewards, and the key reward is shown when you accept the first task. So the practical move, matching KappaGuide’s opening advice, is to clear the LL1 batches from Prapor, Therapist and Mechanic, then let new loyalty levels unlock the next sets.
Two details save wasted raids. Scav-kill side tasks now count only regular Scavs, Sniper Scavs and Player Scavs, so Scav bosses, Raiders and Rogues no longer count. And squad members can progress some tasks for you (they carry a special icon), while a few stay strictly solo.
If This, Then That
- Died with no kit and little money: run the Scav, then check your mail for the support letter.
- A chain task shows no obvious reward: accept the first task and read the reward preview before committing raids to it.
- A squad-mate is online: look for the group-task icon and queue together.
- Under level 15: stay on the safe maps above and take extracts over fights.
Day 1 Evening: Money, Traders and the Flea
Trader asking prices rose by about a quarter and trader buy-back prices fell by about a fifth, so the gap between buying and selling is roughly 1.56 times wider than before (1.25 ÷ 0.8, my arithmetic on BSG’s averages, not a per-item figure). These changes apply to all modes, not just the season.
| Change in 1.1.0.0 (all modes) | BSG figure | What it means for your first day |
|---|---|---|
| Trader prices | +25% on average | Do not buy gear you could loot |
| Trader buy-back | −20% on average | Trader sales lose more than before, and the Flea stays shut until level 15 |
| Flea commission | 3% to 5% | Selling on the Flea costs more; compare both exits before you sell |
| Loyalty level requirements | Trader turnover requirement removed; reputation and level rebalanced | Reputation and level, not cash volume, gate trader levels |
| Hideout zones | Many now require a sum of money | Keep a roubles reserve for stations |
The last column is my reading, not BSG’s. For scale, Timesaver’s money guide lists a graphics card at about 205,300 roubles on the Flea against 124,700 from Therapist, a 40% loss. That table was measured on a July build before 1.1, so the gap is likely wider now; do not copy the numbers.
The Flea opens at PMC level 15, per Timesaver and NeonSect, and the wiki lists “No Flea Market” as an optional personal modifier worth 10 points. At the 1.0 launch, Insider Gaming reported category locks on top of that: level 20 for bolt-action rifles, foregrips and muzzle devices; 25 for assault rifles, marksman rifles, backpacks and light or laser devices; 30 for components and barter items; 35 for M80; and 40 for PS12B and Blackout CJB. That report predates 1.1 and does not say whether the season uses the same table. If it does, it contradicts NeonSect’s advice to flip bolts, wires and fuel on the Flea while prices are volatile, so check your category list before you stock up. One estimate puts level 15 at 20 to 40 hours of play with the XP modifier, which is why 48 hours is a planning window, not a promise.
Day 2: Hideout, Seasonal Rewards and the Clock
BSG simplified levels 1–3 of many hideout zones, dropped Found-in-Raid on some required items in PvP and PvE, shortened some build times, and made weapon assembly usable from the start without a Workbench. Tarkov Questie adds that Kord Breach carries a No FIR for Hideout modifier. Many zones now also ask for roubles, which is why the Day 1 reserve matters.
Timesaver’s hideout order, built so stations pay back before the season ends, is Stash, Generator, Lavatory, Water Collector, Nutrition Unit, Rest Space, Medstation, Workbench, Intelligence Center, Scav Case, Booze Generator and a conditional Bitcoin Farm. NeonSect disagrees and puts the Booze Generator and Bitcoin Farm first after level 15. I have no verified build cost or yield for either, so I cannot give a payback number. My rule: only build the Bitcoin Farm once Stash and Generator are done and it will still have weeks to run before the season ends.
The Workbench slot is the one I would argue with. With assembly no longer needing it, its remaining job is crafting, and Handyman halves craft times, so I would treat everything from position 6 down as flexible.
Do the Kord Breach line while it exists. BSG says the side-task chain unlocks achievements, new operational tasks, trade offers on valuable items and a trade offer for a new weapon, and that rewards still locked when the season ends become unobtainable while unlocked ones stay on your account. Per the wiki the line starts with Prapor’s quest Uninvited Guests – Part 1, and each of the five barter-trade rewards is tied to a specific seasonal quest: the Gatorz Specter glasses and M53A1 gas mask (no level requirement), the 2 Day Assault Pack (level 25), and the LV-119 and Siege-R plate carriers (level 30). For the Battle Pass, hand in TerraGroup documentation from raids, the Kord Breach chain or certain Black Division kills; each raid creates your own copy of the documents, and a daily cap is shared across all modes.
Which Checklist Fits Which Player
| If you are… | Prioritise | Why |
|---|---|---|
| New to Tarkov | Learn the basics on your main profile first (our Tarkov beginner guide), then Scav runs, LL1 task batches, safe maps, a stash audit | No insurance means early deaths cost kit, so build income before taking risks |
| A main-profile veteran | Read modifiers, the new task batches and the price changes | Linear chains, trader prices and the Flea fee all changed in 1.1.0.0 |
| An optimiser | Modifier budget, Flea category locks, hideout payback | Choices lock at creation and the clock is about nine weeks |
| Short on time | Seasonal rewards that unlock by level or task, plus the daily document cap | Rewards stay on your account even if you stop playing the season |
| A completionist | Seasonal achievements and the Kord Breach chain | Seasonal achievements need the seasonal character but can be earned again in later seasons |
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Tarkov wipe delete my main account?
No. BSG describes the seasonal character as a separate profile on separate servers, and Questie and DualShockers both say your main PMC, stash and hideout stay untouched. The real cost of the season is your time, not your progress.
Should I start a seasonal character now, about nine weeks in?
Yes, if you want the permanent seasonal rewards and can play regularly, because rewards unlock by level, task or chain and then stay on your account. If you only have a few hours a week, my view is to skip it: the economy has no insurance to cushion mistakes, and you would race a countdown with little to show.
When does Kord Breach end?
BSG’s notes say seasons reset every four to six months, and the official wiki lists Season 1 as running 3 August to 7 December 2026. SeasonDex agrees and showed 63 days left when I checked on 5 October. DualShockers says the season runs until 7 October, which does not fit a four-to-six-month season, so I trust the December date. The patch notes themselves give only the range.
Is it worth switching to ARC Raiders instead?
Only if the no-insurance grind is the problem. Our ARC Raiders beginner’s guide covers a different take on extraction, and why extraction shooters create so much tension explains why the genre pulls players in either way. For the wider field, see the best extraction shooters of 2026.
Sources
- Battlestate Games. Patch 1.1.0.0 (official patch notes, Russian-language forum post, 3 August 2026). Escape from Tarkov Forum
- The Official Escape from Tarkov Wiki. Seasons: Season 1, KORD BREACH. Fandom
- Tarkov Questie. Kord Breach: Tarkov Season 1 Dates, Rewards and Modifiers (updated 19 August 2026)
- SeasonDex. Escape from Tarkov Current Wipe End Date and Next Wipe Start Date
- Insider Gaming. When Is The Next Tarkov Wipe? Winter 2026 EFT Wipe (8 August 2026)
- DualShockers. Escape From Tarkov’s Biggest Post-Launch Patch Is Live (3 August 2026)
- GamesBeat. Battlestate Games launches Kord Breach, 1st-ever season for Escape From Tarkov (3 August 2026)
- Insider Gaming. Tarkov Flea Market Locked Behind Level 40 (15 November 2025)
- KappaGuide. Tarkov Season 1 Kord Breach Guide, Patch 1.1.0.0
- Timesaver.gg. Tarkov Season 1 Hideout Priority Guide (25 August 2026)
- Timesaver.gg. Tarkov Season 1 Start and Leveling Guide (updated 22 August 2026)
- Timesaver.gg. Tarkov Season 1 Early Money Plan (updated 13 August 2026)
- Timesaver.gg. Tarkov Season 1 Kord Breach Priority Guide (updated 26 September 2026)
- NeonSect. Kord Breach Day One: What to Rush on a Fresh Seasonal PMC (13 September 2026)
- Insider Gaming. Best Starter Tips for Tarkov Early Wipe (26 December 2024)
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.