The biggest landmark of this map is probably the lake on the north side. As the name suggests, the majority of the area is covered in tall trees, but luckily there aren’t a lot of places where they can disorient you. This is another wide-open map with little to no indoor hiding spots. This is an older version of the map, but the spawn and extraction points are still in the same locations Woods On this map, in particular, the most common sniper spot is the rock bunker close to the resort, but you should pay attention to the weather station and radio tower as well. This road is an especially good navigational tool as at each end of it, there is an extraction point.Īs always, you need to pay attention to tall structures such as radio towers or hill bunkers, as those are common sniper spots. Other good waypoints if you get lost are the electrical line that runs around most of the map and a coastal road. There is a canal that leads runs through the middle of the map and underneath the Resort, and it can be really useful if you get disoriented. The map’s boss, Sanitar, can be found either on the pier, on a construction site near the village, or at the Resort. Other points of interest include an abandoned village, ripe with loot, a pier, a gas station, and a ‘loot’ island with the latter three being common SCAV spawn points. Due to its size and position, there are multiple entry points that can pose danger to new players. As expected, this 3-story building has a large amount of loot inside and is thus a very popular and dangerous spot.
There is only one big landmark that’s easy to find, and that’s the Resort which is located smack dab in the middle of the map. This might be the polar opposite of The Lab with just how much open space it has, which is logical given the size of the map and its lengthy raid time. The good part about the Lab is that there are literal maps of the entire section littered around it so you can use that to get around. Any time you activate one, the entire facility will be alerted of your presence and you will have to defend yourself. The trickiest parts of this map are extraction points. There are no SCAVs here, only human players and Raiders and that makes it even harder. The difficulty spike is highlighted with poor lighting and spawn points that still aren’t balanced properly. Before entering though, beware that if you die here, you won’t be able to recover any of the equipment you previously got unless a friend brings it out with them. In order to access this map, you will need a special key. Furthermore, there are three levels that aren’t all that different. If you’re a newcomer and tried Customs first, you’ll feel confined and disoriented in The Lab, because there are no outdoors nor big landmarks to navigate from. Unlike Customs, The Lab is one of the harder maps in Escape From Tarkov. The River and the Bridge are especially tough as they provide a lot of open space, but the Bridge might be a better bet because if you get shot at, at least you’ll be on the same level as your attacker and will be able to properly defend yourself. Even if you survive the Dorms, you’re very vulnerable when you try to leave through the woods ,as other players who have heard the gunfire will be drawn to your location and have a perfect cover spot.
The Dorms area and the forest around it are especially dangerous because they contain the best loot and quest items and as such, players will clamor there. Reshalla, the SCAV boss usually spawns at the last two locations, but can also sometimes be found east of the Gas Station. The biggest danger points of this map are the River, the Gas Station, and the Dorms and its surrounding wooded area. On the map below, you can see the extraction points, but beware that there are some limitations as some won’t be always available. It provides the quickest route from east to west, but can often be a chokepoint so be warned. Another important feature of the map is the river, but a key crossing point is Train Bridge. The important landmarks to help you navigate your way around are the Customs (often referred to as a ‘Big Red Building’), Substation, Factory, and Dorms. However, due to being so easy to navigate, the time limit doesn’t play a large role.
This map is relatively straight-forward and has a 25-minute time limit which is the shortest of all available maps.