Every single wipe in Escape from Tarkov we see people reaching high levels super fast. You can see people in their 40s and 50s, even just a week or two into the wipe. Of course that’s not only because they play the game for 12 hours a day. They do this by applying some core fundamental principles that you can apply to level up fast. And our Escape from Tarkov Leveling guide will definitely help you. So, let’s go over them now.
How To Level Up Fast In Escape From Tarkov: Best XP Farming Tips
- Get second level without raiding. Inspect items from the traders via Tarkov “Trading” tab in the menu, earn enough XP to reach level 2, and then start grinding quests;
- Simply survive more raids. That sounds stupid because the whole point of the game is to survive, but we have found that while every single person wants to survive every raid, very few people actually play with that being the fixed idea. Our best advice is: Play more passive, but it will pay off well. How often you see people tunnel vision quests and just try and go do something over and over, and over, and die, and die, and die. Additionally, so many people either push themselves into PVP fights they shouldn’t. Use class 4 armor which fits into your budget;
- Play with party. Playing with friends almost guarantees you a good completion of the raid. You will be much safer and faster end the raid;
Use paid trips. It allows you to save time and be safer on some maps (for example, on the Customs map); - Headphones and knowing a map (location) are essential! Always remember what kind of game you are playing – here you need to hear your opponent 100% of the time and determine where he is, where you should run to in case of anything or where he can escape to;
- Do the quests. It’s really simple – just take every single quest you see while you play the game. Even if they provide a small amount of XP, they still will grant access to better quests with a great XP reward;
Do not waste items with a tick. It can be useful in future quests (for example, golden egg, morphine, defibrillator, etc); - Remember about raid statuses. During the raid you can get the different outcomes and you’ll prefer to survive, just believe us our check it out below;
- Learn how to loot fast. First of all, learn how to distribute loot in advance, so that at the responsible moment you do not have to do this. Even if the situation isn’t safe enough for you to safely loot a corpse, you can just check the body to gain a bunch of experience. If you can also pick up all the items from him (or even from environment) and throw them away if you don’t need them, you will also be rewarded with experience for each item;
- Check all the jackets you find. They contain the keys needed for the quests. Even if you find the wrong key you need, you can sell it later for a substantial amount of game currency;
- Make sure you headshot NPCs. An additional 100% experience bonus is given for head kills. If you have to kill a lot of NPCs on a quest or just wander around the location, it’s not hard to imagine the benefits;
- Don’t pay for therapist post raid healing. Use grizzlies and you’ll get healing XP in stash. Even more, this will be cheaper.
Raids are Important
As we mentioned before there are raid statuses:
- Survived – The player needs to gain a minimum of 200 experience or spend at least 7 minutes in the raid – that’s the point we aim for. It gives you 13% bonus experience;
- Run – The player left the location with less than 200 experience points or spent less than 7 minutes at the location. Attention: at this status things taken out of the location lose the status Found in the raid. Also some quests may not be counted;
- Missing in action – The player did not have time to leave the location before the end of the timer. Attention when getting this status does not trigger insurance on the items that will remain put on the PMC. Recommendation – if you realize that you do not have time to leave the location before the end of the timer, throw off all the insured things, then the insurance will work;
- Killed in action – A player was killed in a raid;
- Deserter – The player left the raid through the game menu.
So now you see, that first and foremost you just get an XP bonus for surviving raids. You could notice that our first advice was about raiding a lot. If you only have a few hours a day to play or a few hours a week to play, maximize surviving in the raids. Play passively. Of course everybody wants loot and money in the game, but if we’re talking about leveling up, money doesn’t really matter.
Surviving entire raid, getting out, getting your quest items, all that stuff is going to give you the most XP. So that is kind of like a fundamental shift.
Of course, when you look at these guys that have ten thousand hours in the game, they’re grinding levels really fast by going +W and PVP. It’s because they know that they can do it. Their aim is well trained, they know all of the in-game tricks and use them well. Worst way to level-up is counteracting them. The ultimate slogan of Tarkov beginners: Be smarter – play safely. So there’s a significant amount of experience you’re just gonna get every single time you survive raids.
Secondly, there are so many quests that require a quest item that you have to find or some sort of thing found in a raid. That’s one of the richest sources of experience, and you definitely should not miss that. Also the more you survive the less money you have to spend to gear up every single time.
The Importance of Money in Escape from Tarkov
Previous paragraph means you probably have more game currency, which means you have more money to invest in, better gear, better ammo. A better armor may have a visor which also increases your survivability. So survival is really, really important to maximizing the amount of XP and money you have. It’s all about playing a different way in the early Tarkov wipe where survival and getting as much XP and money as you can is the most important thing to concentrate. If you want to start after the wipe more comfortable, just buy our Tarkov Fist Wipe Pack.
Quests are Essential
There aren’t that many other ways to get XP in this game. The biggest thing is going to be by doing quests. A lot of newer players really do overlook this in the beginning because they’re trying to learn the game. It’s really overwhelming. Maybe they’re just hopping in somebody’s and they’re trying to get some loot or get some cool kills or something like that. A lot of the early quests really don’t give that much xp (3-5k XP), but they do open up some of the mid-game quests that can give you 10-30k XP.
You have your dailies in your weekly tasks. Once you get to level 5, you get three daily tasks that rotate every 24 hours, and once you get to level 10 you get a weekly task that obviously rotates out every week. And if you’re level 15 these tasks probably don’t give a ton of XP. So it’s a time waste trying to complete them. You should focus on the quest lines over those.
How to Unlock Flea Market
Flea market is one of the most important things after every wipe in Escape from Tarkov. It allows players to trade items with each other for self-determined prices.
To access the Flea Market, you need to reach level 15. The fastest way to reach it is surviving during the raids and completing quests. Also be sure we can help you to get Flea Market unlocked.
Insurance Can be Really Useful
Players can insure weapons (except grenades), body armor, containers and cases, keys with some exceptions. You can insure items in a stronghold or before going on a raid. Insured items are marked with a yellow border.
There are two insurers to choose from: Prapor and Therapist.
- Prapor insures things cheaper, the return of insured things occurs after 24-36 hours. Storage limit is 4 days.
- Therapist insures things 75% more expensive than Prapor, but returns are made in 12-24 hours. Storage limit is 6 days.
In raids it is possible to drop insured items in bushes, where other players will not look for loot. Then the items are returned almost always. It is worth noting that this works in the opposite direction – in bushes, very rarely, you can find things dropped by other players.
Note: it is recommended to use insurance as often as possible, but do not insure consumables.
Best Gear for Leveling up in Escape from Tarkov
After a wipe, there are a wide variety of gear, so let’s take a look at the best ones.
The best weapons are usually free weapons, and if you already have a decent weapon, you shouldn’t consider getting a new one or use our Tarkov Gear Configurator services. If not, here are a couple options for you:
- Mosin 7.62x54R bolt-action rifle (Prapor) – probably the best sniper rifle for day 1. Ammunition choice will be 7.62×54 mm LPS, and this just annihilates after wipe. The only disadvantage is that you need to learn how to play well with SRs;
- PPSh-41 (Prapor) – 1000 RPM gun with a 30-round mag available from level 1. It is the best SMG after the wipe, isn’t it? Ammo choice will be simple 7.62×25 mm TT LRNPC;
- VPO-136 “Vepr-KM” karbine (Skier) – high 7.62×39 caliber, Bastion dust cover is available from level 1, all the attachments that fit AK, fit there too. Disadvantage is its poor 10-round mag. Ammo choice is 7.62×39 PS (requires level 2 Prapor) or 7.62×39 HP.
Now let’s talk about gear.
Not too long ago, developers introduced penalties for using backpacks. Now you need to be much more selective than before, because your choice can greatly affect the outcome of the raid.
The best armor choice of other armor types on any level is an armored rig, we will introduce you the best ones just after the wipe:
- 6B3TM-01M armored rig is a great balance between price, protection and capacity;
- Ana Tactical M1 armored rig – this rig offers a significant step up over the 6B3TM above with smaller movement penalties and significantly more slots;
- Wartech TV-110 plate carrier – coverage is limited to the thorax so you’ll find no wasted durability on stomach shots like the other armored rigs in class 4;
- The best Class 4 vest is Highcom Trooper. Great combination of protection, durability and weight makes it one of the favorite armor choices of any player.
Backpacks allow you to carry noticeably more loot, but they make you stand out, you become more noticeable for enemy players, which is not a good thing. We recommend using an unloader, because it is the perfect balance of protection and capacity, and look for backpacks in raids, let’s highlight the best backpacks:
- Flyye MBSS – cheap and cheerful;
- Oakley Mechanism heavy duty – Best value for the price of backpacking cells and minimum penalties;
- Mystery Ranch Blackjack – minimum penalties for such a big backpack.
Remember we told you headphones are essential? It is because they improve your hearing. This can include doors opening, looting, healing, footsteps and other indicators of movement while making your own noises quieter.
There is Top-3 headset in Escape from Tarkov:
- MSA Sordin Supreme Pro-X/L – simply the best headset by quality. Even more, its price isn’t exorbitant. These headphones will be your favorite lifesaver during the whole game;
- Peltor Comtac 2 – you’ll get a good amount of ambient sound reduction to help you hear other PMCs or Scavs;
- Peltor Comtac 4 – too expensive to be good. Main advantage is the massive reduction in ambient noise which can be a lifesaver in lots of situations.
That’s probably all you need to know to level up effectively in Escape from Tarkov. You’re equipped, armed with knowledge and ready to catch up with the streamers! If our guide was helpful, be sure to leave a positive rating and share it with your friends.
