Do you already own Escape from Tarkov and are just chronically poor, or are you a new player struggling to make money? I have over 1500 hours of playtime on Tarkov, and I have 120 million Roubles of total value of items in my stash. Some background for the noobs: Escape from Tarkov is a partly realistic first-person looter shooter with MMORPG (Massively multiplayer online Role-playing game) elements where looting items of value to obtain is key to getting the equipment to make fighting and questing easier as well. Players need to complete quests so that the traders allow them to buy more potent and expensive equipment for the main character, which is a PMC (paramilitary contractor) whose gear the player loses on death, and affording more potent equipment grants more options to survive.
A lot of players make money in a lot of different ways like killing bosses and other AI enemies like raiders, and going to very high-value rooms in the Streets of Tarkov or The Lab, but new players will not know many ways to make money, and the above options are far from safe.
So, here are my top five safe money runs in Escape from Tarkov. These runs are relatively consistent and spawn a lot of items that are useful to players while providing a good degree of safety from enemies. There is a chance to face Scav enemies, which can be present from the start of a raid, or players who join some random amount of minutes after the start of a raid, all spawning with low-level gear. The first two will help you build and maintain the hideout, an easy source of cash for any player.
Back of Interchange (Goshan Stockrooms)
If players are new to Tarkov, this area will spawn a ton of items that not only sell well to traders but are needed for upgrades to the player’s hideout, an area that prints money. No keys are required, and engagement is unlikely. Other players can sometimes come mid-way through the run, but it is not common in a quick raid.
Oild hardware store run
This run is where you are most likely to get gasoline, water filters, and electric motors, which are needed for the Hideout, and sell for big money on the in-game flea market (unlocked at level 15). Players are likely to find Scav enemies and more importantly, PMCs running to and near the technology stores, which can be avoided with patience, or you can try to kill them.
This next run is far less timely, yet very profitable, and player scavs hit this run far more often.
Shoreline Town Run
This town run spawns more general loot and has lots of jackets and duffle bags. Duffle bags can spawn most kinds of loot in the game, including very profitable loot. Food spawns inside houses in this town, and it’s generally a very safe area. You are likely to find Scav enemies, especially closer to the edge of the map.
These next two runs require keys that can be found in raids or purchased from the flea market.
Reserve ORB run
This run requires at least the RB-ORB1 and RB-ORB3 keys, and maybe the RB-ORB2 key if you aren’t full of loot from the other two. The keys to these rooms must be found or purchased. This run is most feasible after unlocking the flea market so you can buy the keys directly from other players. Otherwise, the keys spawn in filing cabinets and jackets, and the pockets and bags of Scavs, though are most likely to spawn in Reserve’s filing cabinets and jackets. You get a lot of weapon and filing cabinet loot, which can include valuable intelligence folders, military flash drives, and Bitcoin on top of filing cabinets, and one spawn for the one million Rouble Armor repair kit on the roof of White Pawn.
Reserve PSV/PSP run
This is the big run I will be sharing. It is still safe to a degree, but you have to run a lot to extract, and you need a good backpack to store all of the supply crate loot. It has medical supply crates, which can spawn the coveted LedX among many useful healing items, technical supply crates, which spawn items needed for Hideout upgrades (and a 40-kilogram tank battery), and ration supply crates, which can spawn moonshine(very rarely), sugar, and other valuable food items, and twp spawns for the Armor Repair kit. Almost guaranteed to find Scav enemies and a chance for PMC enemies who are doing the quests that require you to go down there.
The way to do the run and get to the hermetic door alarm is marked in blue, and once you trip the Hermetic door alarm, the route to extract is marked in red. You can still choose to go to D2 from here.
These runs vary in speed but are all generally safe from PMC enemies who may try to kill you for their PMC-killing quests. Smart players that are good at combat can try to do PvP and Scav Raider hunting in Reserve, The Lab, or if their computer is powerful enough, looting the high-value buildings in Streets of Tarkov, but the runs I have shared today are newer player friendly with minimal danger. Now, go make your money so you can go complete all those tasks you have been putting off, or spend it all on expensive thermal sights that you’ll never use, like I do.
