I Use Two Primaries in Tarkov - Here's Why

Tarkov has many ways to create a viable kit that will get you to the extraction and out of a raid. And when I say viable, I mean technically anything you run can become viable. If you can kill a scav for some extra gear, or simply one tap a juicy player in the face with a pistol, anything in your hands that can be lethal, could be argued as a viable kit. Of course, when I say kit, people usually imagine primary, armor, meds, ammo, nades, etc. And for myself personally, late game kits can sometimes consist of more than one primary. I usually have the money to back up playing with multiple weapons in one life, and while others may shy away from it, the increased flexibility that comes with running two weapons can really be quite a game changer. So today, I wanted to quickly go over my thoughts with running two weapons, why I do them, and what weapons I usually pair together.

When you first hear two weapons in a single raid, you probably think that’s a dumb idea. You lose your gear when you die, so why risk more weapons than you probably should. And to be fair, that thought process isn’t wrong. But for myself, the added layer of risk with a second weapon on your sling makes the raid that much more interesting. This game is all about risk and reward, after all. So, enhancing that twice fold can lead to some interesting situations. And while there are weapons in the game that are flexible enough with the right attachments that two weapons are moot, having one weapon specifically for close and one for specifically long range can pay off and give you an extra layer of insulation. Normally, my go to for running two weapons is an SMG or some sorts, and a bolt-action rifle. If ammo wasn’t a problem, I would personally say the .45 Vector would be my favorite SMG to pair with a bolt-action. And any of the snipers honestly work in this situation, again, if ammo isn’t an issue and you can just run whatever you want. The M700 or the T-5000 are probably my favorites to run, but again, any bolt-action is good. The SV-98, DVL, or, if you’re a crazy person, the .338 Lapua Magnum bolt-action. But now the larger question: why? Why run these two weapons together, when something like an M4, RD, or SR-25 would do the same job but with only one weapon?

Well, because I like running two weapons. The answer is kind of just that simple. For anyone who has played any of the older Call of Duty campaigns, remember the missions where you were given both a bolt action, and another primary to pair with it? Whether it was an SMG or small assault rifle; to me, those missions are the most memorable (aside from the obvious ones). There is something insanely “tacticool” about having two heavily modified weapons on you, and being able to effectively switch between them, taking out targets at every range because you have one that can do short-medium, and one for long and extreme ranges. Don’t get me wrong, a bolt-action and pistol combo evokes the same feelings, but it’s trickier to use, because unfortunately, pistols in Tarkov have way too much recoil and weapon movement, and are drawn too slowly, and reload too slowly... they’re kind of a mess. And it sounds like they might be getting better in the future which is wonderful, and something I have been advocating for a long time now. However, if you have an SMG, or hell, even a shotgun on your, if anyone figures out your location and tries to get aggressive because you took a shot at them with your bolt-action, you can surprise them with a hail of bullets, or a slew of buckshot, completely swinging the engagement back in your favor. And there is something viscerally satisfying when those situations happen and work out. Someone underestimates you, because they lacked the critical information that a sniper might be holding something in their hands that can shoot up to 1100 rounds per minute.

Tarkov is such a situational game, that you may not have needed that second primary for many raids in a row, but it’s always the one time it would’ve been extremely useful that you decided against it, and now you’re back at your stash because someone ran up on you without you hearing their feet. Again, this is such an outlier because the odds of these events happening exactly like this are low. But speaking from personal experience, it has happened before. And man does it suck when the person that got you would’ve been dead to rights if you just had that second primary. And this mindset is very much a late game Tarkov mentality. Early game, it’s overkill to load into a raid with two primaries' (unless you’re dumb like me and just forgot to take the second one off). It helps with the inevitable lull in gameplay that comes with being three or four months in a wipe. A way to spice up your moment-to-moment experience while in raids. It’s a very similar mindset to adding restrictions to your loadout or how you play to help make things more interesting after you’ve accomplished all that you wanted to in a wipe. People min/max the hell out of their kits, meanwhile I’m still running around with level four amors, a hat, and two primaries because I don’t really care if I die. Not to bash anyone that does that, enjoy the game as you will, but it’s just funny to point out the duality of how people can play this game, even when they have basically infinite money and more gear than any of the vendors sell.

But ultimately, it’s just another way I enjoy the game. The added flexibility of having two guns with a more focused role in the kit instead of trying to make one gun fill as many as possible. Gear comes and goes, so dying with two guns always hurts more, but sometimes you get more guns back, but the attachments are just stripped off which isn’t too bad. And the extra “tacticool” element of using two weapons effectively is always fun and viscerally satisfying no matter if the raid was nothing but scavs, or killing a fully geared squad. If this sounds interesting to you, I recommend trying two primaries', with specified roles for dealing with enemies. Let me know down in the comments if what are some of your favorite two primary weapon setups you enjoy using. Thank you for taking the time out of your day to watch this video and be sure to subscribe for more nuanced discussions about how you can use multiple weapons to spice up Tarkov and your in-raid experience. I hope to see you in future ones.