Escape from Tarkov Blackout Event Guide

Escape from Tarkov Blackout Event Guide Quick Summary:

• The Blackout event takes place only on Labs, and the main difference from the usual map is that the power shuts off shortly after the raid begins.
• The only extracts are Hangar Gate and Parking Gate, and both require someone to turn the power back on first.
• You need to complete five event tasks, including finding quest items, planting hacking devices, killing Black Division, and getting PMC kills on Labs.

At Skycoach, our PROs can help you Complete Blackout Event along with any quests you choose. Both PvE and PvP modes are available.

 

 

 

What Is the Blackout Event in Tarkov?

The Blackout event is a Labs-only event in EfT. You still need a Labs access card to enter, and that means you’re not getting free entries like some older Labs events. You still need a TerraGroup Labs access keycard to enter the Blackout event. There’s no free Labs entry here, so don’t load your kit first and then realize you forgot the actual ticket.

The good part is that BSG made keycards easier to get during the event. I would use trader offers instead of gambling on random spawns or paying whatever nonsense the Flea Market decides to show that day. Your main options are:

Source	Requirement	Cost
Therapist	LL3	Around 166,500 ₽
Ref	LL3	14 GP Coins
Mechanic	LL3 Barter	1 Bulbex Cable Cutter, 1 Pipe Grip Wrench, 2 Pliers Elite

The Mechanic barter is usually the cheapest way in if you already have the tools or can buy them at a normal price. Therapist is simpler because you just pay rubles, but it costs more. Ref is fine if you have GP Coins sitting around, but I wouldn’t burn them first unless you don’t care about the other options.

You can technically transit into Labs from Streets or Factory, but I wouldn’t recommend doing that for this event. It adds extra time, extra risk, and one more chance to die before you even reach the dark part everyone came here to suffer through.

Once the raid starts, you get a few seconds of normal Labs. Then the power shuts off, and the whole map goes dark. And when I say dark, I actually mean it. You won’t see anything around. Don’t rush to turn on your flashlight, though. Flashlights work, but they also make you look like a free kill marker for everyone using night vision. I would not build around flashlights unless you’re using them very carefully. NVGs are the only tool you can rely on during the Blackout event.

The event also adds Black Division enemies to Labs. Raiders still exist, but Black Division usually deletes them pretty quickly. You may find a few raiders left alive, but they’re not the main threat anymore. Black Division spawns immediately, keeps coming back over time, and can kill you extremely fast if you play badly. So yeah, Labs is somehow even more Labs now.

How Labs Works During Blackout

You already know that the power is completely shut down during the event. But other changes are also important to keep in mind. For example, having a shorter raid timer is one of them. It was pushed up a little bit after the community talked too much about it, but you still won’t have enough time to walk around slowly. It’s 30 minutes in PvP and 35 minutes in PvE after the latest balancing patch.

After running this event multiple times, I can certainly say these are the things to remember first:

• Labs goes dark shortly after raid start
• Black Division spawns right away
• Black Division can respawn after areas are cleared
• Wedge and his guards can spawn around Hangar Gate or Parking Garage
• Raiders can spawn, but they’re not the main problem
• The middle of Labs is extremely dangerous
• Basement routes are usually safer for crossing the map

There’s a higher chance of surviving in the basement. It’s not 100% safe, of course, but you’ll be well there compared to the central areas where Black Division can take you out from weird angles. The worst areas would be middle sections, long glass angles, and places where enemies can shoot from above, below, and across at the same time. You never want to expose yourself to gunfights like this. Instead, stick to corridors and controlled angles where you can clearly see one direction to shoot at.

How to Extract During Blackout

The extraction process also works differently during the Blackout event. You only have the following options:

Extract	Availability
Hangar Gate	Available after power is restored
Parking Gate	Available after power is restored

Both extracts are available every raid, but they do not open until someone turns the power back on. There are no normal extract buttons to press. Once the main power is restored from the special locked room, both gates start opening, and everyone in the raid can use them. This creates a very obvious problem: the power room becomes one of the most important places on the map. And when one place matters that much, rats appear. Nature is healing.

Expect players to camp near the power room, Black Room, or the routes leading there. Some people will wait for another player to do the hard part, then either extract or try to kill the person who brought the key and code.

To turn the power on, you need access to the TerraGroup Labs Arsenal Storage Room. This room is located near the Black Room and server area on the first floor. The key comes from Black Division. Wedge has it guaranteed, but other Black Division members can have it in their pockets by chance as well. After killing them, check pockets properly. Don’t just grab the gun and run away. Once you unlock the room, hit the power panel. After that, Hangar Gate and Parking Gate become usable.

How to Get the Four-Digit Labs Code

The same locked room used for power also gives you the four-digit code. After entering the Arsenal Storage Room and turning the power back on, look at the whiteboard inside the room. There will be a four-digit code written there. That code changes every raid. Don’t memorize it for the next run. It won’t help. The code opens every Labs keycard room during the event. Black, Green, Yellow, Violet, Red, and the rest use the same raid-specific code.

This is very important for the taskline because several objectives require you to enter specific keycard rooms. You no longer rely on normal keycards for this. You need the code from the power room. This is what your raid would normally look like:

1. Load into Labs
2. Survive the lights going out
3. Kill Black Division
4. Loot the key from Wedge or another Black Division enemy
5. Open the Arsenal Storage Room
6. Turn the power on
7. Read the code from the whiteboard
8. Use the code to open keycard rooms
9. Complete your task objective
10. Extract through Hangar or Parking

But in reality, you won’t complete even half of these steps before someone would get you shot. Skycoach’s team can help you get prepared for this and other raids thoroughly. Get EfT Roubles at the best market price and skip the grind.

How to Fight Black Division

Most players would be afraid of Wedge since it’s the event boss here. But regular Black Division enemies can take you down just as fast. The only tip I can share from the start is to never peek them wide. You always gotta have a controlled angle and be sure that no one can shoot you from another direction at the same time.

Grenades are your big friends here as well because they can help you disengage them and force them to move around searching for you. Also, be careful with head-only peeks. Against normal players, showing less of your body is usually good. Against cracked AI, showing only your head can just tell them exactly where to place the bullet.

My top 5 best fighting spots with Black Division in the Blackout event would be:

• Doorways where they must push into your aim
• Stair areas where you can retreat downward
• Corridors with hard cover behind you
• Pillars that let you reset the fight
• Basement routes when crossing the map

And try to avoid open rooms or places where you can’t retreat easily. The same goes for stairs where you expose your head first. And finally, never be in open middle Labs. That’s the place where you’ll get shot instantly. Things will only get worse in PvE because Black Division would have fewer players distracting them. You may end up fighting a lot of them yourself every raid.

 

 

All Blackout Event Quests

There are five main quests in the Blackout event. I’ll list them all below, and then describe each one in detail:

• Wrench and Waterboarding
• Key to Every Door
• My Blood Type Mark Is on the Sleeve
• Patch the Vulnerability
• If I Can’t Have It

Once you complete them all, you’ll earn the Going Dark achievement.

Wrench and Waterboarding

You take this quest from Skier, and it requires nothing but visiting the Lab during the event. It counts as completed with no extra actions. You don’t need to survive, extract, or kill anyone.

Key to Every Door

Key to Every Door is also given by Skier, and here you’ll experience the Blackout event mechanic. These are the steps you’ll complete during this quest:

1. Enter Labs
2. Get the Arsenal Storage Room key
3. Open the power room
4. Turn the power on
5. Read the four-digit code
6. Use that code on any keycard room door

It doesn’t matter which room you open. Any keypad door should work. You also don’t need to survive for this task. If you open a room and then immediately get shot by Black Division, at least the task progress should be done. Not a good raid, but technically productive.

Just make sure you actually use the code on a door. Turning on the power and extracting without touching a keypad means you did most of the work and still didn’t finish the task.

My Blood Type Mark Is on the Sleeve

This Therapist quest is the first one in this chain where you’ll encounter the real challenge. It requires you to get three quest items from Labs. You need the power room code because all three items are behind keycard rooms or locked access. These items are:

Room	Item Location
Black Room	Sample inside the containment box on the left
Green Room	One of three possible spawns
Sanitar’s Office	Journal on the desk near the computer

The Black Room item is annoying because you need to look through the glove hole at the right angle. Green Room has multiple spawns. Check:

• Counter on the left after entering
• Bottom of the standing fridge
• Vent hood area at the back

Sanitar’s Office is easier. The item looks like an Intel-style folder and sits on the desk near the PC or laptop. You do need to survive and extract with these items. The nice part is that you don’t need to grab all three in one raid. If you get one or two and the raid sounds awful, just leave. Getting greedy is how Labs gets more free gear.

Patch the Vulnerability

This Mechanic task requires you to plant three Local Network Hacking Devices around Labs. Mechanic gives you the devices, but if you lose them, there is a barter to replace them. I’d still put them in your secure container because losing task items to one bad push is not what I like, huh. You need to plant devices in:

Location	Where to Plant
System Admin Office	Desk inside the power/code room
Garage Gate Control Room	Desk in Yellow Room
Central Security Monitoring Room	Server racks inside Violet Room

The first plant is simple because you’re already entering the power room. Place the device on the desk. The second plant is in Yellow. Be very careful here because Black Division can be in the garage and shoot through bad angles if you stand around. The third plant is in Violet. Open the red cages and plant on the server racks.

And I’ve almost forgotten to mention… you’ll have to take down 10 Black Division enemies to count this quest as finished. You’ll have enough time for this when working on the plants, trust me. Just make sure you don’t get yourself killed first.

If I Can’t Have It

This is the grindiest task, but it’s also the last one on the list. You need 15 PMC kills on Labs during the event. But after the patch, taking down Black Division and bots also counts. You think it’s that easy now? This sounds normal until you remember Black Division is roaming the map and taking down players before you even find them. In some raids, you may barely see players because the AI gets to them first. In PvP, I’d expect the best player action around:

• Black Room
• Power room routes
• Keycard rooms
• Extract paths
• Basement crossings
• Hangar and Parking areas after power is on

If you’re specifically hunting PMCs, don’t spend the whole raid hiding from everyone. You need to move toward the areas people must use. At the same time, don’t sprint through middle Labs like you’re invincible.

I would strongly recommend that you finish this task only in PvP mode. Otherwise, you’ll struggle way too much in PvE. Black Division would keep wiping PMC AI, and you’ll never know how many of them are left for you. Once you finish the 15 PMC kills, you complete the taskline and unlock the Going Dark achievement.

 

 

Best Loadout for the Blackout Event

You don’t need to bring the most expensive kit every raid, especially if it’s your first time trying it. Spare your precious money, or you’ll run out of roubles in no time. But make sure you’ve prepared a serious setup to survive through this event. I would say that this is the best loadout for the Blackout event in Escape from Tarkov so far:

Gear Slot	Recommendation
Vision	NVGs every raid
Armor	Class 5 armor with decent coverage
Weapon	Low-recoil automatic rifle
Ammo	High-pen ammo for head taps and armored enemies
Sight	Reflex sight instead of a heavy scope
Mags	Large magazines, ideally 60-rounders
Grenades	Bring several grenades
Meds	Propital, ETG, CMS/Surv12, bleed control
Backpack	Optional, since Black Division can drop usable bags

You might disagree with certain gear slots here, but night vision is the only part you can’t miss out on. You can loot NVGs from Black Division, but that only helps after you survive long enough to kill them. I’d still bring a pair in.

For armor, Class 5 is usually enough. Class 6 sounds nice, but Black Division uses strong ammo anyway, and replacing expensive plates after every death gets old fast. Something like a buyable armored rig with decent plates makes more sense if you’re running the event repeatedly.

I’d also avoid big scopes for most runs. Labs is dark, cramped, and full of angles where you don’t get time to sit there zooming in like you’re birdwatching. A clean reflex sight is much easier to use.

As for weapons, a controllable rifle with good ammo is my pick. You want to aim head level, burst properly, and drop targets before they get enough time to lock onto you. Large magazines help because Black Division can push in groups, and reloading at the wrong time is a very traditional way to go back to your stash.

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