I'm not a crazy good player, but after building up to >50% survival rate with a 7 k/d as a solo player, here are some tips to help you have more successful raids. Thanks for stopping by!
Pick just a couple maps to learn. I would recommend customs since you have so many early quests there and one other map. Personally I find woods to be a great beginner map. Learn the major hotspots and MOST IMPORTANTLY pay attention to where you meet people or hear lots of shooting. You should be building a mental map of the common pathways thru each map which will help you control when you encounter people and where to look.
Try to use the best gear you can. Sell the crazy expensive gun you found on a dead pmc that you're too afraid to ever use, but ALWAYS bring a gun and armor you can actually hold your own with. Lots of new folks don't bring armor or think bringing a stock mosin is enough. You are almost guaranteed to lose 9/10 fights before they begin because you chose to make your only winning condition be a lucky headshot. For new players, between traders and scav runs you should try to always have minimum lvl3 armor and bullets with >30 pen or leg meta. Just by bringing in level 3/4 armor instead of paca you will probably die to scavs half as much when you are just starting out.
Listen to shooting around the map. Scavs are the canaries of tarkov… Wherever you hear shots that is where players are. If you feel like you are constantly killed from nowhere you are likely being tracked by players who are listening to you fight scavs. Learn the scav spawns and use a suppressor to move through areas without giving other players an idea as to where you are. If you are a solo player, you should try to be suppressed for every raid.
There is more loot than you think. Watch some streamers on how they move through areas and how they search every container and loot spot. An extension to this is that you do not need to rush high-value loot spawns. You can make at least 500k roubles per raid easily just from looting non-hotspot areas.
Move around close to cover and concealment. You should never be totally in the open. Stick close to trees and obstacles because you can quickly break line-of-sight of scavs or players if you start getting shot at.
Do not sprint unless you absolutely have to. Sprinting is not just a little louder than walking like in other games. Players will hear you clearly from 30m+ away and you will give enemies a huge advantage.
Take your time moving through the map. If you loot around by your spawn for the first 5min or so you are far less likely to immediately run into other players who are moving quickly through the map.
Know what your objectives are before loading into raid. Make sure you have all your keys and know what you want to accomplish every raid, even if that is just exploring/looting.
Be patient in fights. If you are in a good position it is sometimes your best choice to wait. You don't have to push everything or flank every time. It's also good to anticipate where people will come thru if you can disengage and set up an ambush where you think they will pass through.
When you first enter a large building and the audio shifts to the 'indoor' mode, it's a good idea to find a safe spot and just listen for 10-20s. Oftentimes you can catch other players moving and be ready.
Take a soda or food stim with you in your secure container. Nothing sucks more than failing to get out because your character runs out of energy on your big loot haul.
Use grenades as a distraction. Throw them away from you to get players looking where you aren't. DO NOT try to use grenades on close enemies unless you have a friend covering you.
Find an xrsu or x47 ak handguard and put it on an ak gas tube for a 1×1 item you can fit like 6 attachments on in your secure container. Even if you die a lot, this ensures a healthy stream of attachments to put on your guns.
Learn how damage and ammo works. It will be frustrating beyond belief when you first start out and put 20 shots on a guy and he doesn't die. Generally anything that isn't the top 2-3 ammo types for pen for that caliber it's not worth using. 30 pen is the minimum for getting thru most helmets, 40 pen minimum if you want to actually kill players with armor.
