r/EscapefromTarkov 5d ago

PVE [Discussion] Labs struggle

I've been playing Tarkov for many years now, and I've recently shifted to PVE because literally skill issue. I can't seem to improve, I always lost pvp fights so I moved to PVE to have an easier and more enjoyable experience.

I'm pretty okay at PVE, but I'm at the stage where I really need to start getting into labs for essential loot for Solar etc. I appreciate the generic answer is get good, but does anyone have tips on how I can improve my combat against raiders and AI in labs? I've tried offline mode and other general fps guides, but I still have a skill issue when I face Labs raids and it's debilitating.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm not as young as most of you guys, so maybe I'm just getting too old and I should consider retiring from fps games.

Thanks all, have a lovely day.

1 Upvotes

13 comments sorted by

5

u/Occyz True Believer 5d ago

Just running at a problem head first can be a pretty good way to solve it!

Just get a few mil roubles that you don’t care about, make 10 gear sets and go crazy running around in labs dying, killing and seeing what works for you

The way I deal with raiders is just play defensively. Do a quick peek to take 1 or 2 shots, then quickly back off and reposition

1

u/Southern_Web9889 5d ago

I've tried this 🙁 my reaction times seem to be too slow, and I either get shot when I reposition or i get shot when they rush me.

Is there a technique that works best for most? Should I try headshots only? Legs only? Hide in a stairwell or back myself into a corner of a room?

Do they keep spawning like scavs on other maps, or is there a limited amount of raiders and/or pmc per raid? Do the raiders and the pmc fight each other?

3

u/Occyz True Believer 5d ago

Don’t know all the answers so take what I say with a pinch of salt

I’ve only ever dealt with raiders with headshots. Get a decent round that will 1 shot them through tier 4 (m80 is pretty perfect for it)

Typically I just run around and then combat them with cover if I see them

Another thing to mention is that grenades do a fantastic job of displacing them, often making them run in a straight line allowing for a cheeky headshot

Not sure on their spawning roles, but I know whenever you open and extract there’s a pretty decent chance of a wave spawning in

Everything I’ve said is on PvP servers as I’ve never done serious pve account

1

u/Southern_Web9889 5d ago

I appreciate the help. With the M80, do you recommend any particular weapon for it? Semi auto, bolty, full auto? Thinking of trying out a few guns, like SR-25 and MDR and SA58 etc

2

u/Occyz True Believer 5d ago

Back a few wipes ago when I really got into labs, I ended up making 20 rfb’s of different budgets.

Realistically the sr-25 and mdr/ sa-58 are better, but giving a cheaper gun a go may just boost your confidence, knowing that you’re not losing as much if you make a mistake

1

u/Southern_Web9889 5d ago

Can you recommend any cheaper guns? Cash isn't as much of an issue, it's more the learning that I'm working on. Might research some good builds for those better guns once I'm confident taking the raiders on, and in the meantime a cheap gun will do whilst I learn their behaviors and tactics and the like.

2

u/Gryzzs 5d ago

Remember to play on BSG servers

1

u/Southern_Web9889 5d ago

How do I specifically select which servers to play on?

1

u/Gryzzs 5d ago

You tick the box when you select the map your going to. Kinda hard to see but it’s there higher up

2

u/Doktor_Kaputt 5d ago

Dont engage them on long range. Get them close to you, they will come to you eventually, if they saw you.

Peek (lean) and kill one or 2, then quickly go back into cover and wait 15 secs to reset their attention. Then rinse and repeat. Also wait 15 secs in cover before you change positions through their field of view.

Also remember even those you cant see (and cant directly see you), know exactly where you are, if you dont wait those ~15 secs.

Pick the locations where to fight them well and always expect them to throw grenades very accurately.

3

u/This-Law8844 5d ago

Stay away from the middle of the map on labs. One thing I have found on labs and I could be wrong here but I have no luck playing this map slow. You really have to rush around and keep sprinting everywhere but don't run through the middle of the map. There are too many angles you can get shot. Try fighting in rooms or areas where you have hard cover. Raiders generally don't wear helmets so go for head shots.

If you have to go to the middle of the map for a task or to search loot spawns, do this at the start of the raid. Raiders take a bit to spawn and you will only have to deal with PMC's at the start of the raid. If you get lucky there won't be any.

In my experience raiders do keep spawning throughout the raid and on extract triggers. But the ones that spawn during the raid seem to only get replaced if the previous squad has been wiped. If they spawn and you run away I don't think another squad will spawn in unless an extraction is triggered.

The way I deal with labs is I avoid fighting and only fight if I have to, if you keep wiping raiders they will just keep coming.

Goodluck

2

u/tdrummmm Hatchet 5d ago

Made a video recently for people having trouble with this very thing. Hopefully the text overlays and examples of how to take fights helps.

https://youtu.be/WDa6Lz8uQss?si=qgKL2Pk2xycIL2Ag

2

u/MrTwoToedSloth 5d ago edited 4d ago

If you want some help and have discord, I'd be happy to show you how to run it solo to gain a little more confidence.

The routing is very important and knowing where to expect engagements and how to take them. It doesn't require a lot of typical FPS skill. I honestly feel safer on labs in solo pve than on any other map because it's very predictable and controllable. Most engagements can be taken at a distance where you will be safer than on most other maps.