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I want to share my journey in obtaining Kappa with you: to both new and seasoned players of Escape from Tarkov (EFT); my experiences, wins, frustrations, and strategies. Whether you’ve completed this journey previously, are currently in the process or even simply thinking or dreaming about it- I hope this post can provide you with some insights and perspectives around the Kappa and how it ultimately fits into EFT’s identity for me.
“Have you got it all? Fine. Take your present, just as promised!” There is was, finally. Before my eyes- the elusive Kappa. That sweet, juicy 3x4 slot secure container. It felt strange examining and equipping it to my PMC. It felt good, yet hollow at the same time. Finished, but not quite satisfying. And so I began to ponder…is this really what Tarkov is all about, was it worth it all of that effort, and what to do from here on...
EFT has come a tremendous way since I first purchased the game in February 2018. Before the 12.9 wipe, I had never reached level 40, for no reasons other than time and competing commitments. Further, none of my friends IRL play Tarkov either, which meant most of my online multiplayer time was spent on other games over the years. And so, with a bit of additional spare time, I decided to set the goal this wipe: reach level 40 and max all traders. However, after a random Scav run on Customs where I stumbled upon a Silver Badge, and item I had never seen before, it felt like something more was looming. After some research, it seemed that in my stash was nearly all of the items required for Fence’s only task: The Collector. And so, after achieving my initial goal, I decided: Kappa, here I come. After all, I was so close, or so I had thought…
Before I dive into it, I wanted to share the fact that, depending on your skill, luck and prior EFT knowledge, the journey to get a Kappa container for the first time (or any time) can be an extremely consuming endeavour- not only in actual game time, but also in thought. It took me an additional ~200 raids to get Kappa after I had reached level 40, and the fear that I might never complete it all before the next wipe was ever looming, and at times toxic. It is important to realise that everything you have in EFT, including a Kappa, will be wiped, most likely a few times before we ever see a ‘final’ release of the game. Don’t let it become the ‘be all’.
Endgame and Tarkov’s identity
You might ask if the Kappa was worth it in the end? For the item itself, definitely not. For the experiences and journey- I’d say so, with strains of satisfaction and frustration. Are my raids without purpose now? No- there are still lots of gear exploration, PvP experience and boss hunting to be had, but I do hope that BSG can implement a meaningful endgame experience, because the Kappa does not scratch that itch, irrespective of the grind and time sink involved.
Further, throughout my Kappa journey, I can’t help but wonder whether EFT has lost some of its identity. Whilst still a hardcore survival game in its own right, obtaining money and gear has never been easier. With the Flea Market in the mix, it is a rat race to max hideout and traders, with anything but the meta gear rare to see a few weeks into a wipe cycle. The sight of terminator PMCs lasering everything down on their 10-minute quest for a graphics card is not exactly what I thought the game portrayed. I think we can all agree that EFT’s fresh wipe experience is one of the most unparalleled experiences in any multiplayer game: everyone is fighting and scavenging for scraps, using what they can to desperately survive- a truly exhilarating experience.
I think we can all agree that BSG has created a truly unique game, one that has us coming back for more time and time again, and I am excited to see how it will evolve. However, with the explosion of its popularity and pressuring criticisms and opinions, I hope BSG can still implement a game experience and quest line more in line with its hardcore survival identity in the end– after all, aren’t we supposed to try and escape from Tarkov?
Anyway, my most valuable tip, for whatever you’re trying to achieve in EFT, is that persistence pays off. There is no point fretting about a loss. Remember, there is always another raid, another opportunity. Learn, adapt, repeat, achieve.
Quests
EFT has some truly rewarding and fun quests, forcing you to explore maps and gear you might not have otherwise. In saying that, there are many quests that are a pure frustration, does not fit into EFT’s survival identity, and quite frank, some I would rather never do again- unfortunately, a lot of quests required for Kappa fall straight into this category. BSG claims that most of the quests are placeholders, and until we see a rework, this is what we have.
I tried to stack my quests as much as possible and make the raids purposeful. Do your research on the EFT Wiki and learn what quests lead to, be aware of what quests you have on a particular map, and plan accordingly. Try to avoid quest tunnel vision - it is better to leave a raid with progression in something, rather than nothing for a single quest. And definitely spend early to upgrade your Hideout. Without going into detail, most of the tricky Found-in-Raid (FIR) quest items can now be crafted, which will really help with limited play time. Some quest call outs:
Shooter Born in Heaven (SBIH)
My advice is to ‘leave’ this one the background but being aware of it as you complete other tasks. In fact, I wouldn’t recommend fully completing this one until you have your sniper leveled to 5 (see below). You will get many quest opportunities that should unintentionally lead to some progress, such as the Tarkov Shooter and Punisher series. I got all of my Customs and Reserve SBIH done with the SVDS on Punisher Part 6. I recommend taking a semi-auto with ammo that is high pen but lower flesh, so that you get another chance if you hit low into the thorax. Oh, and trigger patience, lots of it.
Psycho Sniper
If you are going for Kappa do not complete The Mentor and SBIH before your sniper skill is level 5. Increasing your sniper skill ‘naturally’ to level 5 is a heck of a lot easier than from anything to level 9. Completing SBIH (+1) and The Mentor (+3) at level 5 meant rapid succession to level 9.
Grenadier
This ended up being one of the most frustrating quests to complete. Like SBIH, I recommend ‘leaving’ it in the background, but being aware of it. See an opportunity for a grenade kill, take it. I ended up with 9/12 before finally deciding to brute force it on Factory. Whilst it led to some hilarious moments, it was very expensive and ultimately frustrating as ****. I saw before my eyes many PMCs walking over exploding grenades, and it took me more raids to get the last kill than I care to admit, but persistence paid off in the end.
Setup
I found AP-20s to be very inconsistent against PMCs, who by this stage, wore mostly level 5+ armour; they also weren’t any use against peaking PMCs with Altyns and Vectors in dorms. It took only a handful of raids to complete once I changed tact to Magnum Buckshot and avoiding dorms. Get into a good spot early, travel light (no bag) and stay agile. Aim for the legs, and you will see geared players dropping from 50+ meters out. I mostly stuck to the construction area, the hills behind new gas, and the hills near RUAF / Crackhouse.
Huntsman Path series
Having a boss spawn is one thing, finding them alive is another. I have a lot to say on this, but in summary I wish all bosses had a higher spawn chance across more areas. Finding Reshala and Glukhar alive took f o r e v e r. My advice here is to try night raids, strap on persistence, and have a SJ6 handy if you get a far spawn. And make sure you have good ammo too.
The Guide
I dreaded this quest, simply because surviving every map wasn’t exactly appealing to repeat. The order: Labs, Factory, Customs, Interchange, Reserve, Woods then Shoreline. All night raids, top tier armour, ammo, and a thermal; no chances. My first attempt ended in tears: the last stretch to Rock Passage extract, a thermal scan showing no activity, and as I move in a hit out of nowhere, all fading to black. I sat in silence for 5 mins not really taking in what had just happened. Needless to say, that was EFT done for the night. A few days later I attempted it again, and it ironically involved another mini-heart attack on Shoreline on my way to Tunnel. Luckily, this time I came out alive. My advice: take your best gear, night raids, Labs/Factory first, and try squad up if you can. Good luck.
Insomnia
This one took a while to complete, for no other reason than finding PMCs in night lobbies. Whilst I enjoy night Factory, I hated being the only PMC in the raid for 90% of the time. In saying that, night Factory is the most logical choice, but due to a serious lack of populace I recommend night Interchange or Customs later in a wipe. Also, the quest reward for this one….
Test Drive Part 1
If you haven’t used one before, it can be nerve wrecking to play with a Thermal due to the cost and inability to put it in your safe container. As I discovered after the two raids it took, killing 5 PMCs with a superior advantage is not exactly difficult. Positioning is key with this one, and I recommend daytime Customs for the traffic. I personally think BSG should increase this one back to 15 PMC kills.
The Collector
My biggest advice is to be aware of the potential areas that these items can spawn from the beginning, and to check them every time you pass by in your journey towards Kappa. As long as you are aware and holding on to the items required, you should have most by the time you reach this quest. The only items that gave my grief at the end were Old Firesteel (found in resort, West 301) and FireKlean (sports bag in resort East 310).
Gear and Gear Fear
Try to run your best available gear when you can. I suffered immense gear fear for a long time and would horde the ‘good’ stuff for that ‘special’ raid or quest, whilst still accumulating money. And when I eventually ran the ‘good’ stuff, I felt nervous and anxiously sought out the first opportunity to ‘insurance fraud’. Not only did it eventually lead to more deaths in my PvP encounters, but I was also missing out on sooo much cool gear and a lot of what EFT has to offer. ‘Overcoming’ this mentality of always trying to raid with the bare minimum was game changing- not only did I start winning more PvP encounters, but confidence grew alongside general enjoyment of the game. The only way that worked for me was to literally run the gear, raid after raid, trying out new things and working out what I liked/didn’t like. Making money has never been easier than this wipe, and a few good Scav runs easily funded a few top tier kits. Know the strengths and weaknesses of your gear and play according to it. A great way to test gear is against Scavs/raiders in offline mode. Don’t cheap out on meds and ammo: it is better to fork out extra than to die with everything. Always bring grenades. Grenades save lives.PvP Tips (mostly from a solo perspective)
Shoot to kill. If possible, only engage if you are certain you can kill. Try not to engage a PMC on sight. Holding off a few seconds to assess the situation has saved me countless of times, as it most often revealed additional squad members. Repositioning and movement if life. Your biggest asset as a solo player is the ability to position and engage with freedom at any time. Use it to your advantage. The more unpredictable you are, the more chaos you instil in a squad giving them less time to formulate a plan. Do not re-peek, especially shotgun Scavs. Disengaging from a fight is a completely valid option. If you are badly injured, unsure of an engagement, or have lost control or sight of a fight, running away is not cowardly – it’s smart. Survive to fight another day.Thank you for reading this post and I hope you got something out of it. Happy raiding!
Edit: Thank you very much for the awards and comments y'all, means a lot. Also fixed a typo and some formatting.
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The biggest 3 things to do when going for kappa imo is to get it as fast as possible, find a team that is similar in quest progression to always play with, and GET TARKOV SHOOTER DONE FIRST
ID: gw222lxID: gw2njs6Woods has been relatively populated for my squad and I lately on weekends. Generally running into 4 or more pmcs a raid and hearing other fights indicating more.
It's fairly slow though, most of our fights come 15 minutes into the raid unless a bunch of people descend on mid for a boss fight. Had some really solid 40 minutes raid though
ID: gw29mccThat tarkov shooter pt 8 is fueled purely by my tears.
ID: gw2g7jlI completed two consecutive woods raids with 3 bolt kills over the weekend...
But I was still completing part 7. I'm really scared about how long it will take once I finally get the quest.
ID: gw30invTook me a few weeks but I finally got it camping the sawmill area. Just have to be patient it will eventually happen.
ID: gw2dp7hTarkov shooter part 8 becomes borderline impossible late wipe, and that is not exaggeration. If you are in a low pop region then you may not get enough players to do it.
ID: gw2mlfcMy advice ( I just did part 8 yesterday) is to switch your servers over to a bunch of bigger more populated ones and just farm it. It’s rough because it’s hard to find 3 and even if you do they’re usually farming shturman for the quest so they’re just meta chads with M4s but keep pushing. I heard people say shit like “just me going you’ll get it” and I thought they were crazy. I ended up just being super aggressive and literally running through the sawmill (once I either confirmed shturman not there or killed him) and I actually had 1 kill and had spent 20 minutes looking for people. Was about to get out but decided to check sniper rock where I had killed one guy. Went up there and he had two teammates. No scoped both of them. Just keep trying you really will get it. Just can’t have gear fear. Run good shit and pop sj6. Bring propital and zagustin. Run what weapon YOU like. Everyone tells you to run this or that, I would recommend a 762.51 so you can use m62 (tracer makes it easy to adjust shots) but I listened to everyone and tried a m700. The last raid I decided to try my favorite the T5000 and that’s the one I literally no scoped a duo. A lot of people hate that gun, it’s what I finished all my sniping quest with. It’s much better to run the gun you feel good with.
ID: gw3cuqyYep, I got kappa last wipe and it was very late. Tarkov shooter put 8 took for ever, it was so hard to find 3 pmcs on woods. This wipe I prioritised it and got it done a couple of weeks in and kappa was done in a month. It's much much easier the second time round.
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Lol how are you a “first timer” with a 53% surv rate? Im impressed, this is my first wipe and Im no where near Kappa and only have like a 30% surv rating.
Thanks for the tips!
ID: gw1v7o0First time Kappa* 🙂 I’ve played EFT on and off since Feb 2018, but this was the first wipe where I went all the way. I was on like 30% until almost lvl 20- I actually started the wipe a tiny bit late and it was rough, especially against squads (a lot more of them than previous wipes). Try to find your strengths and play to them. Getting the ‘hang’ of EFT takes a while, it’s very different to other FPS games. Ps- survival rate doesn’t really mean anything, don’t get caught up in it. Take it as a learning experience, especially your first wipe. I know a lot of players who have 30% but sit with a Kappa, 80m and full stashes.
ID: gw2adz4This is my first wipe getting Kappa too! Playing since Dec 2017.
But it took me 667 raids to get Kappa, I SUCK at SBIH and tarkov shooter 8.
50% survival rate
ID: gw2etagMy survive rate goes down each wipe but so does my time to kappa. Higher stash value each time as well, go figure.
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I’ve thought for a long time now, BSG should add daily and weekly quests. Maybe have Fence issue them. I think it could help. Maybe different types, like PvP, PvE, and Rat quests.
Edit: I think another cool system for this would be similar to Black Ops 1, you purchase some very tough missions with a time limit to complete and a very high payout.
ID: gw1z22zI agree- it could be a good ‘quick’ fix. And some simple, some more difficult. Like, ‘kill 10 PMCs with a vpo209’ or ‘find in raid 15 scav vests’. Another thing I’d like to see is another PMC faction, maybe from euro, and creating quest lines targeted to their meta gear. For example, M995 is locked behind a quest line for peacekeeper, with personal buy limits, and not being able to be crafter or FIR. It will slow down and limit the availability of meta gear a lot i think
ID: gw2b4fnYup. COD does this with the daily/weekly ones and it helps you explore different weapons and playstyles. I don't really see much of a downside to it.
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I have basically one quest left, tarkov shooter part 8, how did you do it without wanting to blow your nuts off?
ID: gw2gmlvSeems like the weekend is the best time. Ran into multiple groups of players level 10-20. My guess is that casual players probably trend towards Woods since it's the safest.
ID: gw2ioinGood idea.
ID: gw22zi4I dreaded that quest, mostly because of how ‘late’ it is into the wipe and how dead Woods can be. I got super lucky with mine, finding semi clueless players around sawmill hunting shturman. My advice now, if you’re struggling to find PMCs, is to use a Thermal and hang around the areas between marked circle, sawmill and usec camp all raid. If you’re still struggling, and I hate to say this, perhaps find some players on a discord and just cheese it to keep your sanity haha
ID: gw3df9di remember me and my friend tried to cheese a PMC kill quest by matchmaking together and having him shoot me once he got in, but it the progress didn't go through. we assumed that method of cheesing was patched out/doesn't work
ID: gw2hob7I finished mine yesterday. Took me like 20 raids of trying specifically for TS8.
Advice: daytime with either Sv98 and 7N1 (1 tap lvl 4 armor), or DVL sab with m61 (quiet af so they don’t know where you are). Not many people do nighttime woods raids anymore in my experience.
I was using korund/ shattered mask for cheap raids.
Be aggressive off spawn. Know where people rotate to start the map. Get that first kill. Then sit around the closest extract to where you spawned and wait for players pushing to get out. Sitting around scav house or Emercom camp were the best for me.
Remember that people can stay in woods a long time so patience is key.
ID: gw2j13bPersistence and luck, the last 2 times I have done it I ran into a 3 man of newer players and just kept taking a shot and repositioning. First time it took me nearly 30 raids, this last time I did it when I had tarkov shooter 7, and that really annoyed me, finished 7, got to 8 and after 2 dead raids got it by killing the a 3 man by the new camp with all the food and med spawns
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congrats man.
our stats are almost identical. I am also level 46 with a 52%sr and about 5.0kd
every wipe i tell myself i'm going to grind to kappa and then i lose steam once i'm like 80% of the way there. the later quests can just be so annoying. not even overly difficult. just annoying
ID: gw219a6Thanks dude. And yes, I thought I was close after reaching lvl 40, but the last stretch took forever haha. I agree, they’re not difficult, just a pain in the *** and not enjoyable, which is partly why it feels semi anti-climatic once you finish them all. Which ones you hating on the most atm?
ID: gw2hg1ahonestly I unlocked the guide like a month ago and I just haven't wanted to do it. I'm pretty sure I even finished it first try last wipe its just a pain in the ass lol.
I also have a couple of the quests like decontamination service left where you need to wear specific gear for scav and player kills. I've just been lazy and haven't done them
ID: gw2ojeoI haven't even gotten my Epsilon yet and I'm already mentally checking out of quests, I don't know how some people rush for Kappa every wipe.
ID: gw26ww0Same. 4th wipe, and always sit around 55% SR and 4-6 KD
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I play this game since Dec 2017 and never got the kappa lol. Kinda embarrassing, but i never felt the need to grind for it. But every new wipe i get further with quests than before (and my interest to keep playing is longer too), so i know that i will get mine someday too
Congrats to you!
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Enjoy your reward, thanks for taking the time to write all this.
ID: gw1u2mdThank you very much, means a lot! 🙂
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Good shit man! As a player with 3k hours who just got kappa for the first time this wipe, (played for 3 years) I can say that it was fun. Endgame is so retardely boring. I know that it might be seen as ‘call of duty’ like but I would love some weekly tasks to at least have SOME goal to strive towards.
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And here i am, feeling good about myself for getting punisher 6 done in my first wipe 😀 grazt man!
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Good writeup. I've been playing since 2017 and never got kappa. Just usually don't have the time for it, maybe an hour a night on weekdays and a little more on the weekends. I've kind of surprised myself by almost reaching 50 this wipe by just playing the game. I figure if I ever did get kappa I'd just lose motivation for playing as I like having some sort of quest or something to do when going in a raid besides just pvp or looting. Good job on getting kappa though. I'm patiently waiting for the quest rework, but who knows, maybe ill end up getting that elusive container before they wipe again.
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Of all the quests, Grenadier is the one I fear the most and reading your comment about it just re-enforced what I thought...this quest is going to be a bitch to complete 🙁
ID: gw28criShitload of VOG’s and Factory is your best friend. Leg people so they can’t run away and then toss a nade at them
ID: gw23p12Have you started it? You should naturally end up with quite a few kills by focusing on other quests. Just be aware of it and try to create opportunities in your raids for nade kills, so always bring a few nades. But yes, it was quite frustrating in the end to get the last few haha. Pestily, in his latest raid series, is a prime example of someone experiencing frustrations by brute forcing it with Vogs in factory haha
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great post, we have very similar stats, like SR, K/D, and level are almost identical. Im about 10 or 12 quests from kappa with many of them being the ones youve mentioned in your post. Do you play a lot of solos or with people?
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Good read dude. I’m within reach of my first kappa on my first full wipe just got to work my way through insomnia and I’m done.
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Main account has kappa currently, but my other account is just sitting with 10 more night kills and the guide...
I can't find the motivation to play Tarkov right now. I got so close to Kappa on two accounts, but I'm just burned out.
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I'm 4 quests away from my first kappa (solo player), and I echo all of this. May I ask what leads you to do Test Drive during the day, instead of at night? I'm a novice with Thermals (got ran up on in a bad spot first time I tried).
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These recent posts about gear fear and people with high SR inspired me to start running better gear and see what happens! Thanks!
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Love the type up but bro...it's PEEK not PEAK ffs
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Can I just spend $300 on a kappa version to get it?
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My first wipe I got to level 40 and the. Stopped playing. My second wipe I made it a goal to get kappa. I’m an average player with not a lot of free time, and no friends that okay to help me. By the end it was like I was working a full time job. The game stopped being fun. Shooter born in heaven was my biggest road block.
I ended up getting the kappa container and never really played the game since.
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i’m six night kills from getting kappa, but can i recommend a better way for The Guide? The order my boys did it in was Labs first, factory last (with a five man in factory). It’s cheesy, but why risk dying to hackers on labs after surviving a raid already?
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I agree with everything you said but I would like to add to Insomnia. Interchange is a good place to get that one done. Especially if the power is turned on you don't really need NVG's. Yes it's fairly dark, but it's not that much worse than daytime.
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Changes I would recommend to you as a frequent Kappa grabber:
Insomnia kills on Night Interchange. You don't even need night vision to play night Interchange well, and you can make a lot of money on tech spawns/Kiba while looks for players. If you don't find anyone, you probably make million roubles and can fund more attempts. Night customs will have easy kills (naked guys questing) but they are harder to find and you will end up wasting a lot of nights.
The Guide, don't do Labs as one of the first! I always save it for last so that I don't end up wasting expensive keycards on safe attempts. Factory first if you are dedicated to that quest, but usually I will just plan to run some normal shoreline/customs/interchange raids, and if I survive all 3 in a row I go get Factory out of the way and then do a reserve with no backpack extract and a sneaky woods extract (daytime to avoid thermal bros). Labs I will usually load up a couple friends and we move to the nearest extract, hopefully kill a couple spawned raiders and exit.
For new Kappa players, don't start trying to do Silent Caliber until you have setup also, do all the PMC killing for setup and the scavs will be done incidentally if you brought a qualifying weapon.
Keep your teapots, vases, golden lions etc., early on so that you have them ready to go when the quest shows up
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Maybe kappa Isn't the endgame. Maybe The Real Treasure Was the Friends We Made Along the Way
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This submission has been removed as there was humor injected into the post at some points.
Please post this type of content to tarkov memes.
/s
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Great tips. Doing it fast is definitely your best shot at quests like insomnia and tarkov shooter prt 8 with a lot of others doing the same. And yes, whatever you do, try to progress tarkov shooter as quickly as you can. Woods dies out the quickest so even finding 3 PMCs late wipe is tricky haha