Disclaimer: Solo queuing in Tarkov is hard but you can do it. You will be at an extreme disadvantage the whole raid because most people group together. But I can help you lvl up and stop dying so much. This guide is more or survival and not PVP guide. If you want to get better at pvp just play the game and run to the shots you hear.
- Knowledge- take the time to learn the maps and controls. There is a wipe happening right now take the time to go offline and play around with bots. With wipe about to come its a pvp zone so its not going to help you if you are extreme new to the game. So walk through the maps learn the exits and likely spawns. Go to a youtuber or streamer you like and find the link to their controls to make your base. If you already have experience with the game go pvp with early game weapons so you will be more comfortable with them when wipe comes.
- Gameplay- Your game play should be slow but aggressive. What I mean by that is, play the game slow don't go sprinting around everywhere. Sprint only when you are dodging a firefight or in the wide open(Be aware). Don't go to know pvp areas on the map. Focus on your task, slowly make your way through the map grab your items either early in the raid or close to the end and gtfo. When you run into a player or players avoid the firefight if you can. If you can kill the person without them knowing you are there then do so, but only then. When in a firefight you have to be aggressive and end it quickly because you don't have back up. For multiple players, kill one player and gtfo they most likely won't chase you far because they have to guard there buddies loot and ditch it some where. You can always come back later to loot or hit a flank to kill another but don't hang around the same location. Loot only at the beginning or the end of raids and only when you know you are alone. There is no one to watch your back incase someone comes upon you.
- Gear- You are by yourself so you need to put on the best gear you can afford. This means you can't have gear fear. If you do, the easiest way to get over it is to just sell the gear to a trader or flea because its just going to take up space in your stash. If you sell it you have money to buy gear you are more comfortable to lose. For you guns, build whatever you like, I build recoil builds till I get the stat lvls, but make sure you are running rounds that can go through lvl 4 armor at a minimum. You also need 60 rounders or a vest with 4 or more mags to make sure you don't run out when you need them. Early to mid game make sure you have lvl 4 armor its more important than money at this point. Mid to late make sure you are running with lvl 5.
- Money Making- you make money but doing quest and surviving. As long as you leaving the raid you will be making money. But to make more money, you can do cache loot runs or what I do is scav when Im to busy to do a normal raid (I have kids, that I'm playing/watching till dinner and bed time). Scaving is free money, 2 weapons with 60% durability and scav bag full of stuff can get you up to 100k per raid depending on the items. Scaving is also good for key and put up tradeable quest items. So lookout for those while scaving.
- Quest trouble- If you are having quest trouble with a go fetch or go to the area and you keep dying. Do a night raid or early morning, there is almost no players in those lobbies and only the bosses and sniper scavs have nvgs to see in the dark. Lvl 2 I think Skier, have some cheap NVGs that you can buy so you can go do pocket watch, sawmill folder, or whatever you having trouble with.
- PVP- Like I said in the gameplay paragraph, ignore pvp while leveling, if you can. Wait to you have lvl 3 traders to start going after pvp. With lvl 3 traders you can buy weapons and modes that are almost meta for cheaper than flea prices. You can also have access to the second best rounds by this point as well.
Good luck with your questing, if you have double monitors I would have a map up with exits so you don't get lost. Don't forget to aim for the head, pre painkill before going in pvp areas, and stuff all valuable items in your butt case.
