All new players should take advantage of Escape from Tarkov’s Scav War feature. If you’re not sure what that is or how to use it, take a look at our guide below. It’s an easy way to learn EFT without losing all your gear.

What is Scav War?

For those that don’t know, Offline Mode is a way to play Escape from Tarkov without losing or gaining gear. While you won’t get experience or loot, you can learn maps and kill AI Scavs for practice. This is where the Scav War feature comes in to give you a more realistic experience.

Scav War makes it so AI Scavs fight each other, unlike a normal EFT experience. This creates a more realistic experience as if players are fighting each other. Rather than AI Scavs only focusing you. You’ll hear the AI running around shooting and yelling like the normal chaos you’d expect.

Enable Scav War by checking the box on the Offline Mode page after clicking “Enable PvE”.

Adjusting The AI Difficulty and Amount

Offline Mode has other options such as adjusting the difficulty and amount of AI Scavs. Many people recommend using the Horde amount with Scav War on Factory for a chaotic raid. However, the Horde amount spawns an absurd number of AI that often crashes the game.

Difficulty As Online Easy Medium Hard Impossible Random Amount As Online Low Medium High Horde

Random Weather or Time

The random Weather or Time option does what you would think it does. While you can’t choose a specific time or weather condition, this is a neat way to create a scenario you’re not prepared for.

What is Tagged and Cursed?

The Tagged and Cursed option makes AI Scavs specifically hunt you down. The name essentially means that you’re tagged and cursed. If you want an onslaught of enemies headed toward you instead of having to find them, this is a good challenge.

How Do I Play Offline Mode?

If you’re still not sure how to play Offline Mode, it’s nothing too complicated. Players can activate it by picking their PMC, choosing a map, and then clicking “Next” instead of “Ready”. Eventually, the page with all the options for Offline Mode will appear.

However, you can only use your PMC character and not a Scav. You won’t lose any gear, but you can only bring in what’s on you.

I hope this guide helps you understand how useful both Scav War and Offline Mode are. If you’re looking for more guides to get ahead, check out our Escape from Tarkov guide hub here.

Jeff is a journalist that loves to write, stream, and make content about video games. He’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.