The scope on your weapon is arguably the most important attachment on your gun though, it seems there's very little information on ADS sensitivity multipliers and magnification. This post will shed light on both topics and outline potential solutions for both these issues.

I also made a spreadsheet1]) on this topic, but that would make lot more sense if you go through this post first. Here's also a link to my 17 minute YouTube video on the topic. The video will have (nearly) all the information from this post, the section about potential solutions isn't in the video, however. I'll be referring to this using timestamps throughout this post, especially when I talk about ADS Sensitivity.

TL;DR – The only factor taken into account for ADS sensitivity is the scope you’re looking through. All reflex sights move at the same speed with the exception of the Walther MRS. How much an unmagnified scope zooms is greatly dependant on your FOV while it usually matters a lot less when using a magnified scope. The “Sight Magnification” stat present on magnified scopes is wrong for all but 2 scopes and very inconsistent for scopes that share the same value.

The solutions I propose to make: Firstly, Make magnified scopes sharing the same sight magnification value consistent in how much they zoom, and consistent between FOVs. Secondly, Make it so the user can adjust ADS sensitivity.

[1] Generic spreadsheet screenshot

Part 1: ADS Sensitivity

To quickly start things off, I'd like to establish things that do not affect ADS sensitivity whatsoever: Weapon used, Scope mount, FOV, turn speed reduction (Armour), character weight, eyecups, and ergonomics.

The only thing that matters is the scope you're looking through

I highly recommend watching this part onwards in the video, as it's much easier than me trying to explain sensitivity with still images.

I conducted these tests using Kovaaks Sensitivity Matcher which would allow me to consistently move my mouse to the right for a certain distance. I would have it set up so I can do a 360° turn while aiming in with a PK-06, and another 360° turn while free looking (a PK-06 moves at 70.28% the speed of free look).

For the tests themselves: I would stand right here,2]) look at this spot,3]) and press my assigned key. I would then divide the number of degrees turned by 360 to then get an ADS Sensitivity Multiplier on whichever benchmark I used. For example, the Valday would turn 327 degrees when calibrated for the PK-06 benchmark, while it'd turn 239 degrees when using Free Look as a benchmark, making for an ADS sensitivity of 90.83% and 66.39% respectively.4]) All of this information can be found through columns N – R in my spreadsheet.

[2] I stood right here on Factory…

[3] …and aimed on this spot

[4] The Valday turning on both benchmarks

I'm not going to get into every scope's sensitivity values, they're all on my spreadsheet. But the values for common scopes I see in Tarkov are as follows:

Keep in mind that these numbers aren't 100% precise as the compass doesn't (and shouldn't) measure in decimals, but this is a good enough foundation to compare with after the scopes rework/overhaul.

Part 2: Scope Magnification

Weapon zoom seems to be based on the scope and gun used, but I didn't want to go insane by testing every sight configuration with every gun so I would use the M4A1 for as many scopes as I could. Anyways, I stood in the same place in my hideout and looked at the nearest target dummy, and took screenshots with every scope in the game on 50 and 75 FOV. I then recorded how much I had to upscale my reference images to find sight magnification relative to free look and a PK-06.

Scope magnification seems to be really messed up from all the 4x scopes not looking alike at all,5]) to the Vudu and Valday's 6x option being very different.6]) In fact, the "Sight Magnification" stat present on all magnified scopes is just wrong (with 2 exceptions you can find in the spreadsheet).

[5] Various '4x' scopes in use

[6] Notice the Valday needing to be upscaled to 200% to look similar to the Vudu despite them both being '6x' scopes.

Part 2.1: FOV Interactions

I'd like to introduce two terms from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019) called Independent and Affected weapon zoom.

Scopes with independent zoom (all magnified scopes) would lower your game's FOV to the default value of 50 and then apply scope zoom; how much the scope zooms is semi-independent of your FOV.7]) The implementation of independent zoom to magnified scopes isn't perfect, leading to small but quantifiable differences in housing and zoom between 50 and 75 FOV. Which is the reason why I say it's semi-independent. These small differences are documented in Column H in my spreadsheet. Although, there are two scopes (the Valday and Mosin PU Scope)8][9]) that are exceptions to the 'small differences' between 50 and 75 FOV.

[7] Independent weapon zoom on the ELCAN; notice how similar both images look

[8] FOV differences on the Valday

[9] FOV differences on the Mosin PU 3.5 riflescope

On the other hand, affected weapon zoom skips the first step entirely and simply applies weapon zoom to your current FOV; it is affected by your field of view. this only applies to non-magnified scopes so any reflex sight like the PK-06 is greatly FOV dependant.10])

[10] Affected weapon zoom on the PK-06; notice how zoom differs on both FOVs

I forgot to include this part in my video, but you may have noticed that the 30mm P.E.P.R. mount makes scopes look a lot worse, the degree to how much worse it gets depends on which 30mm scope you use, as shown below:

https://reddit.com/link/n0aux4/video/0k4ctv14mvv61/player

Part 3: Potential solutions

This part also isn't in my video at all, I'll be sure to bring all this up after the overhaul when I cover scopes again.

Scope ZoomFirst, make scopes sharing the same sight magnification value consistent in how much they zoom in, so you wouldn't get situations like the 4x scopes, or the Valday and Vudu. It's not a big problem if the sight magnification stat itself is inaccurate by a bit, that's the case with many other games (especially on max FOV), but just make it so there's consistency. This might be a nerf to the Vudu, as it will no longer be the definitive long-ranged scope but that’d be a cool change if it makes other scopes specialized for long-range more appealing.

Also, make it so there's no difference at all between 50 and 75 FOV for magnified scopes. The small differences right now aren't so bad but fixing this would make it so the scopes would be more consistent with each other. But it'd also make the Valday and the Mosin PU scope is actually usable on lower field of views.

And while you’re at it BSG can you please make the housing on the 34mm scopes bigger? It doesn’t look right how these scopes zoom in way too much for how small the housing is.

ADS Sensitivity

Second, If BSG were to implement consistency across different magnifications then a settings menu for all the magnifications as seen in many other games would be cool.11]) BUT if scope zoom were to remain inconsistent, another solution to ADS sensitivity I thought of being able to adjust sensitivity while you’re in your stash, here’s my crude proof-of-concept for such an idea.12])

[11] Examples of various games and their sensitivity settings menu

[12] the PK-06 and Vudu with my proof-of-concept sensitivity slider.

This feature should not be possible in raid, and the set sensitivity should be persistent with the person that set it up, so if you pick up another person’s gun you don’t end up using their sensitivity. Although my example is a bit limited, I think BSG should make this slider go from 0 to 200, like how many other games do it.

Also, if Tarkov were to make a settings screen of sensitivity sliders for every scope magnification, keep in mind just how many different scope magnification levels there are right now: (there are 14)

These solutions would be great, as fixing the inconsistencies with scopes of the same listed zoom would (unsurprisingly) make the game more consistent. As for the ADS sensitivity sliders, giving the player more options is never a bad thing. And to not make the game so much more complicated, players that don't mess with the sensitivity sliders would just be playing with the same default sensitivity multipliers we have now, giving us more options without any added complexity to new players.

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That's about it really, expect more posts/videos like this from me in the future as I have a lot more topics I want to do deep dives into.

If you'd like to interact with me or get updates on future projects just join my discord, I often post edits that would eventually make it to future videos.

I am also committed to publishing high-quality, and as truthful information as possible, so be sure to note any errors. With all that aside, farewell.