Escape From Tarkov is becoming more player-friendly with every patch. Despite being notoriously difficult to learn, recent updates have included features that generally make life easier for players, from a new map that is designed for lower-level players and will put higher-level players in their own matchmaking queue, to the ability to create presets you can load to make modding gear easier. But there is one omission that still makes Tarkov feel unfair at times, and that is the lack of ammo stats.
Once you get past the early stage of a wipe when everyone is just using whatever ammo they can get their hands on, a lot of fights can feel like they are determined not by who hit the most shots, but by who had the better ammo. This feels especially true with the new armour system that seems to absorb way more damage than previously. But to find out exactly how much damage a certain type of ammo does, or what kind of armour it can rip through, you are going to need to find an ammo chart online.
There are several good options, I almost always have the Tarkov.dev ammo chart on a second monitor when playing, but it is starting to feel like this info should just be in the game as default so everyone has access to it and it becomes common knowledge.
Obviously, if I’m using a small SMG and come up against a massive machine gun, I’m going to expect my bullets to do less damage, but the differences in ammo stats mean that someone with exactly the same gun as you can kill you in fewer hits if they have better ammo, and unless you search online its impossible to even up that fight by bringing in good ammo yourself. That gives players who search or know the best ammo, a big advantage in-game.
It’s also just annoying to have to tab out and search for what ammo I should be buying to give myself a fighting chance in a fight. It means it takes longer to get into a raid and gives you less time to actually play, which is obviously what everyone wants to be doing.
The baffling part of this is that not having the info in the game gives no advantage. There isn’t a good reason for it, especially as the very best ammo can’t be purchased on the flea market and is locked behind high-level traders. So it’s not like everyone will only start running the best ammo type if they can find out that info in-game.
Tarkov is in great shape if you ignore the issues with cheaters, but adding the ammo stats would be one more step to making it even better and actually user-friendly, which is the direction seems to be going. Right now there seems to be no good reason for it not to be in the game, so Battlestate Games should just bite the bullet and add it in the next major patch.
