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For the bosses, see Scav Bosses.
For the raiders, see Scav Raiders.

Banner scav

Shturman, a Scav boss from the Woods location

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, known by their alias "Scavs", are a faction in Escape from Tarkov.

Background

Scav

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, four of these groups the are considered to be the most stable and organized: [1]

  • "Grizzle" armed group. Real name unknown.[2]
  • B. S. Pashutin (Boris Semyonovich) armed group. (alias Fiend)[3]
  • Y. G. Zhilnov (Yaroslav Grigoryevich) group. (alias Yarik, Yaga)[4]
  • B. T. Stoporenko group (alias Lawyer).[1]

Gameplay

Scavs are both AI and player controlled characters. All locations begin with Scavs already populating them, and more will arrive in waves throughout the duration of a raid. During some 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.

AI Scavs are, for the most part, not a very large threat. They usually follow a basic patrol route of walking to a position, stopping, looking around a bit, then continuing in another direction, or just standing in place looking back and forth. This is typically a good method to determine if the Scav is AI or a player. They also occasionally stop to "loot" containers, though it seems they never actuality take anything and is most likely just to help mask Scav players better. They also tend to say voice lines in russian, seemingly at random, very often. This is also a good method to determine if a Scav is a player or not, or simply to find out if there are Scavs nearby. In combat, they are generally easy to dispatch on their own, and while more dangerous in groups they're still manageable.

They tend to be very inaccurate, most likely as a balance and to fit in with the lore, and exhibit a very basic understanding of tactics (using basic cover such as running around a building, waiting around corners or next to doorways, etc).

They don't seem to have great situational awareness, and given their tendency to stand still when patrolling stealth can be valuable when fighting scavs as you can usually get an easy one-tap headshot on at least one before the rest notice you. The size of the groups they travel in vary widely, especially given the size of the map. Typically, they're in groups of 1-3. They always stick near important areas and buildings and rarely if at all are seen traveling the map.

There are 3 different health presets Scavs can have.

Health Pool Stats
Scav-HP-Pool1 Head: 35

Thorax: 85

Stomach: 70

Arms: 60 each

Legs: 65 each

Total: 440

Health Pool Two Stats
Scav-HP-Pool2 Head: 40

Thorax: 100

Stomach: 100

Arms: 70 each

Legs: 80 each

Total: 540

Health Pool Three Stats
File:Scav-HP-Pool3.png Head: 40

Thorax:150

Stomach: 150

Arms: 100 each

Legs: 100 each

Total: 740

Scav game 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 join a raid as a Scav, you are neutral with all normal AI Scavs. That means they will not shoot you or react negatively in any way. However, if you attack any Scav you become a "traitor" and all nearby AI Scavs will become hostile. 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. Scav Raiders, as well as Scav Bosses and their followers won't bother you as long as you don't get too close to them.

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 progressing separately from your main PMC character. Level and skill progress carry over between raids, even though the character names imply different persons.

Upgrading the intelligence center in your Hideout will allow you to reduce the cooldown timer for the Scav game mode:

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

Scav karma

Scav karma is a system that was implemented to reward cooperation between player Scavs rather than shooting each other on sight. Different actions cause different changes to your karma level. Your current karma can be found as Fence trader reputation.

Action Change Note
Extract as a Scav +0.01 Extract on any location
Use a coop extract as Scav or PMC +0.25 first time Subsequent extracts have 50% diminishing return (+0.13; +0.08; etc.) and each location has its own count
Use a car extract as PMC +0.25 first time Subsequent extracts have 50% diminishing return (+0.13; +0.08; etc.) and each location has its own count
Kill a PMC as a Scav +0.03 If the PMC killed at least one Scav, you get +0.01. The more Scavs they kill, the more points you get for taking them out
Kill a traitor Scav as a Scav +0.03 If the traitor killed at least one Scav, you get +0.03. The more Scavs they kill, the more points you get for taking them out
Help a Scav boss +0.05
Kill a Scav as a Scav -0.04 You become a traitor Scav
Kill a boss guard as a Scav -0.6 You become a traitor Scav
Kill a Scav boss as a Scav -0.2 - -0.5 You become a traitor Scav

Your Scav karma affects the following things:

  • Scav game mode cooldown
  • Amount of available extracts in the Scav game mode
  • The quality of your gear set in the Scav game mode
  • Car extracts fee amount
  • Scav case turnaround time in the Hideout
  • Fence's payout for items sold to him
  • The chance that AI-Scavs follow the players commands (Follow, hold position etc.)
  • With a karma level of +6, players get access to an extra sales tab on Fence that contains uninsured gear from players
  • With high levels of positive karma, AI-Scavs will support player Scavs by attacking their targets, and Scav bosses will be considered allies
  • With high levels of negative karma, AI-Scavs will attack the player on sight

Equipment

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

Icon Name
MP 153 icon MP-153
MR-133 icon 2 MP-133
Saiga 12ga v10 icon Saiga-12
TOZ-106 icon TOZ-106

Icon Name
ADAR icon ADAR 2-15
AK-105 5.45x39 icon AK-105
AK-74 icon AK-74
AK-74M icon AK-74M
AK-74N icon AK-74N
AKS-74 Icon AKS-74
AKM icon AKM
AKMN icon AKMN
AKMS 7.62x39 assault rifle icon AKMS
AKS-74U icon AKS-74U
AKS-74UB icon AKS-74UB
AKS-74UN icon AKS-74UN
SAGIF SA-58
VPO-209 icon Vepr AKM/VPO-209
VPO 136 icon Vepr KM/VPO-136

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

Icon Name
SVD-S icon SVDS 7.62x54R sniper rifle
VSS icon VSS Vintorez 9x39 Special Sniper Rifle

Icon Name
Mosin icon Mosin
M700Icon Remington Model 700 .308 bolt-action sniper rifle
SV-98 icon SV-98
VPO-215 Icon VPO-215

Icon Earpiece
PeltorTacticalSporticon Peltor Tactical Sport headset
Gssh GSSh-01 active headset
Earmorm32icon Opsmen Earmor M32 headset

Icon Name Armor Class
3M icon BNTI Module-3M body armor 2
6B2 Icon 6B2 armor (Flora) 2
PACA icon PACA soft armor 2
UNTARArmorIcon MF-UNTAR body armor 3
Zhuk-3 Press armor icon BNTI Zhuk-3 press armor 3
BNTIKirasaNarmorIcon BNTI Kirasa-N armor 3
6B23-1icon 6B23-1 body armor (Digital Flora) 3
6B13 assault armor icon 6B13 assault armor 4
GZHELKArmorIcon BNTI Gzhel-K armor 5
Defender-2 Icon FORT Defender-2 body armor 5

Pilgrim Backpack icon Pilgrim tourist backpack
ScavBP Icon Scav backpack
Day pack icon LBT-8005A Day Pack backpack
Flyye MBSS Backpack Flyye MBSS backpack
LK 3F backpack icon LK 3F Transfer tourist backpack
Duffel icon Duffle bag
T-Bag icon Transformer Bag
Armybagicon VKBO army bag
SlingBackPackIcon Tactical sling bag

Icon Name Armor Class
6B3TM-01M Icon 6B3TM-01M armored rig 4
6B5-15icon 6B5-15 Zh-86 "Uley" armored rig 4

Icon Name
Bank Robber icon Spiritus Systems Bank Robber chest rig
Scav Vest icon Scav Vest
Securityvesticon Security vest
DIY IDEArig icon DIY IDEA chest rig
Blackrock Icon BlackRock chest rig
Tarzan icon Splav Tarzan M22 chest rig
Wartech gear rig icon WARTECH TV-109 + TV-106 chest rig
Scout Sniper rig icon UMTBS 6sh112 Scout-Sniper
Mk3 WARTECH MK3 TV-104 chest rig
Triton M43-A Chest Harness icon Dynaforce Triton M43-A chest harness
Belt-A Belt-B gear rig icon Belt-A + Belt-B gear rig

Trivia

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

See also

References

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