Scavs

"Amidst the chaos and lawlessness, scarcity of vital provisions and territories, the first to lift up their heads are shady characters, unembarrassed by excessive moral or ethical restraints or quick to lose them under influence of conditions. They gather into packs, living by dog-eat-dog rules, cutting each other throats over a better piece. This is how yesterday's civilians become Scavs."

- In game description Scavengers, also known as its shorter version, Scavs, are a faction in Escape from Tarkov.

Background
At the onset of active hostilities in the city, in addition to the predictable humanitarian consequences, a special trend is observed that represents a threat for both civilians and armed forces of the conflicting parties. Due to the tense situation in the city prior to the open conflict, Tarkov has developed conditions attractive for all kinds of criminals and antisocial personalities. In addition, the development of the underworld business, especially in recent years, has encouraged the formation of a certain population stratum previously not directly associated with criminals, but, due to their moral and ethical inclinations, prone to antisocial actions in certain cases concerned with their own benefit. Thus, at this point, the formation of groups actively engaged in looting, robbery and armed attacks can be observed in Tarkov, invariably coupled with violence against the civilian population and even military staff. Recently, these groups have earned a nickname from the locals - Scavs.

The Scav groups are quite varied, have diverse ethnic, social and quantitative composition, as well as the different levels and quality of equipment and varying degrees of sustainability. By far, three of these groups the are considered to be the most stable and organized. Namely: Y. G. Zhilnov group (alias - Yarik, Yaga), B.S. Pashutin group (alias - Fiend), B.T. Stoporenko group (alias - Lawyer).

Summary
Scavs are Tarkov locals who decided to walk the path of bandits. Essentially, a Scav is a side character which can deliver you an entirely different gameplay experience. Equipment, weapons, place and time of Scav spawning on location are set randomly.

Factions

 * Grizzie armed group
 * B.S. Pashutin armed group (Alias - Fiend)
 * Yaroslav Grigoryevich Zhilnov (Alias: Yarik, Yaga)

Gameplay
Scavs are both AI and player controlled characters. All maps begin with Scavs already populating them, and more will arrive in waves throughout the duration of a raid. During one of these spawn waves, player controlled Scavs will join the match.

Scav mode
Playing as a Scav is like playing the game without rules, one where the players can experience quite different gameplay with a focus on reckless abandon. The Scav player is spawned together with AI Scavs - for example, in a locked spot on the map, in the middle of the time allocated for the raid. Scav tactics change up the overall style of raid gameplay, and in most cases, complicating the lives of BEAR and USEC players, while also fighting amongst themselves.

The most important thing about playing as Scav is that if you get killed in the raid, you will not lose anything from your main character’s possessions, and if you survive, you can add whatever you looted to the cache.

In other words, this is an alternative way to find and save items and to take part in combat, but without constant fear of losing everything that was found or brought into the Raid.

Equipment
Scavs can spawn with the following equipment:

Earpieces: None.

Headwear: Kolpak-1S Riot Helmet with Visor, Kiver-M Helmet, all current vanity helmets.

Facecover: All.

Eyewear: Tactical glasses, Anti-fragmentation glasses.

Body Armor: Module-3M bodyarmor, PACA Soft Armor, 6B43 6A Armor.

Backpacks: Transformer Bag, Duffle bag, Flyye MBSS Backpack, Scav Backpack, Pilgrim Tourist Backpack.

Chest rigs: Scav Vest, BlackRock chest rig, Crye Precision AVS chest rig, Wartech gear rig (TV-109, TV-106).

Weapons: All Pistols, all Shotguns, all assault carbines, PP-91 "Kedr" (including varients), AKS-74U (including varients), PP-19-01 Vityaz-SN, AK-74N.

Armor is often between 85% and 100% durability.

Weapons can be found missing various non-vital components, such as dust covers, stocks, and iron sights. Additionally, they may also be found with mods attached such as flashlights/lasers, sights, and scopes.

Trivia

 * In Russian, Scavs are known as 'Savages' or 'Wild'.