Scavs

Shturman, a scav boss from the Woods map

“	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.

Description

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.

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. They can be recruited by players via the Hideout.

Factions

Lore factions

• "Grizzle" armed group. Real name unknown.
• B. S. Pashutin (Boris Semyonovich) armed group. (Alias - Fiend)
• Y. G. Zhilnov (Yaroslav Grigoryevich) group. (Alias: Yarik, Yaga)
• B. T. Stoporenko group (alias - Lawyer). Does not have an extended description.

Gameplay factions

• Normal scavs (poorly armed; topic of this page)
• Scav Raiders (medium armed)
• Bosses and guards (well geared)
• Cultists (well geared and stealthy)

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. Scavs can spawn with random various pieces of equipment, and even have varying skill levels.

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, the player Scav will spawn part-way through a raid in one of several set spawn points. 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 among themselves.

When you just join a raid as a Scav, you are neutral with all AI Scavs. That means they will not shoot or react in any way. However, if you attack a Scav (Does not matter if AI or player) you become a "traitor" and all AI Scavs nearby will become hostile.
Note: You won't become a traitor if you attack or kill a player Scav who attacked you first, or was already marked as a traitor to nearby AI Scavs.

Upgrading the Intelligence center in your Hideout will allow you to reduce the cooldown timer for your Scav mode.

• Level 1 Intelligence center: Scav cooldown timer -15%
• Level 3 Intelligence center: Scav cooldown timer additional -20% (-35% in total)

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 your stash. In other words, this is an alternative way to find and save items and to take part in combat, but without the risk of losing everything brought into the Raid.

Your Scav character is levelled up separately from your main PMC character. The levels carry over between raids, even though the names imply different persons. Your Scav-level can't be seen in the statistics if you're off-Raid, but if you are in a Scav-run you can check your level and skills by open the inventory and switch to the tab "Skills".

Strategy

• Generally avoid shooting AI Scavs, as they are useful for early warning against PMCs and do not contain a lot of loot. Maps like Factory are quite friendly to Scav runs, as the local AI Scavs start out friendly.
• Scav Raiders and Bosses will still be aggressive. Either avoid them or kill them before they see you.
• In addition to picking up loose items, go to high traffic areas and look for PMC bodies. Players may leave the bodies behind due to time constraints, injury, or weight, allowing you to take the leftovers of the loot. Also, search for hidden gear, since group players tend to stash their friends' gear for insurance.
• When you are short on equipment, do Scav runs whenever possible. There is no risk to the player's PMC character or stashed equipment.

Equipment

Note that the primary weapons can have numerous mod variations and those shown below are examples.

Scavs generally only spawn with one weapon, but they can loot weapons from any bodies they come across.

Pistols

Icon	Name
	MP-443 "Grach"
	P226R
	PB pistol
	APS
	PM (t) pistol
	PM pistol
	TT pistol
	M9A3
	M1911A1

Shotguns

Icon	Name
	MP-153
	MP-133
	Saiga-12
	TOZ-106

Submachine Guns

Icon	Name
	PP-9 "Klin"
	PP-91 "Kedr"
	PP-91-01 "Kedr-B"
	Saiga-9
	PPSH-41
	STM-9

Assault Rifles

Icon	Name
	ADAR 2-15
	AK-105
	AK-74
	AK-74M
	AK-74N
	AKS-74
	AKM
	AKMN
	AKMS
	AKS-74U
	AKS-74UB
	AKS-74UN
	SA-58
	Vepr AKM/VPO-209
	Vepr KM/VPO-136

Assault Carbines

Icon	Name
	OP-SKS
	SKS
	Vepr Hunter/VPO-101 7.62x51 carbine

Designated marksman rifles

Icon	Name
	SVDS 7.62x54 Sniper rifle
	Special Sniper Rifle VSS Vintorez

Sniper Rifles

Icon	Name
	Mosin
	Remington Model 700 Sniper rifle
	SV-98
	VPO-215

Icon	Earpiece
	Peltor Tactical Sport headset
	GSSh-01 active headset

Vanity headwear are the most common.

Armor

Icon	Name	Armor Class
	Tac-Kek Fast MT Helmet (non-ballistic replica)	1
	PSH-97 "Djeta" helmet	2
	SHPM Firefighter's helmet	2
	Kolpak-1S riot helmet	2
	6B47 Ratnik-BSh Helmet	3
	UNTAR helmet	3
	SSh-68 helmet (1968 steel helmet)	3

Mount

Icon	Name	Gear Mods
	Armasight NVG mask	Armasight N-15 Night Vision

Vanity

Icon	Name
	Kinda cowboy hat
	Ushanka ear-flap cap
	Beanie
	Kotton beanie
	Army cap
	Baseball cap
	Ded Moroz hat
	Santa's hat
	Police cap
	Tactical fleece hat
	USEC baseball cap
	BEAR baseball cap
	EmerCom cap
	Pompon hat
	Ski hat with holes for eyes

Armor

Icon	Name	Armor Class
	Light armored Shattered mask	1

Vanity

Icon	Name
	Pestily plague mask
	GP-5 gasmask
	Deadly skull mask
	Respirator
	Slender mask
	Misha Mayorov's mask
	Jason mask
	Balaclava
	Cold Fear Infrared balaclava
	Ghost balaclava
	Momex balaclava
	Lower half-mask
	Neoprene mask
	Fake mustache
	Shroud half-mask
	Fake white beard

Icon	Name
	Tactical glasses
	Anti-fragmentation glasses
	6B34 Anti-fragmentation glasses
	Round frame sunglasses
	Dundukk sport sunglasses
	RayBench Hipster Reserve sunglasses

It is not uncommon to spawn with a piece of level three armor.

Icon	Name	Armor Class
	Module-3M bodyarmor	2
	6B2 armor (flora)	2
	PACA Soft Armor	2
	MF-UNTAR armor vest	3
	Zhuk-3 Press armor	3
	BNTI Kirasa-N armor	3
	6B23-1 armor (digital flora pattern)	3
	6B13 assault armor	4
	BNTI Gzhel-K armor	5
	FORT Defender-2 body armor	5

	Pilgrim tourist backpack
	Scav Backpack
	LBT-8005A Day Pack backpack
	Flyye MBSS Backpack
	LK 3F Transfer tourist backpack
	Duffle bag
	Transformer Bag
	VKBO army bag
	Tactical sling bag

Icon	Name	Armor Class
	Spiritus Systems Bank Robber Chest Rig	-
	Scav Vest	-
	Security vest	-
	DIY IDEA chest rig	-
	BlackRock chest rig	-
	Splav Tarzan M22 Rig	-
	Wartech gear rig (TV-109, TV-106)	-
	UMTBS 6sh112 Scout-Sniper	-
	Wartech MK3 chest rig (TV-104)	-
	Triton M43-A Chest Harness	-
	Belt-A + Belt-B gear rig	-
	6B3TM-01M armored rig	4
	6B5-15 Zh -86 "Uley" armored rig	4

Trivia

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

See also

• Factions
  • USEC
  • BEAR
  • Scav Raiders