Tarkov’s Newest Ammo Changes are Intense

With patch .14 came the whole gambit of changes to the game. And one that we are still feeling the effects of are all the ammo changes to when and how we get access to more powerful rounds. We’ve talked about ammo multiple times in the past; some being taken off the flea market, how much certain ammos can be purchased, the whole nine yards. But this time, ammo has gone through the largest change in the game's history. Even not so top tier rounds, like M855 and PP ammo for 5.45 are being moved much deeper into the games unlock cycle. It was quite a change by itself. But again, combined with everything else this patch brought with it, and it just reinforces why this patch feels like a brand-new game. The game has us now scrounging around maps and looting scavs magazines for whatever ammo we can get our hands on. And I love that. This is how the ammo economy should be at the start. Desperation to find and use rounds that may not be remotely what you want to use, but at the start of the game, you don’t have a choice. It’s crazy how after almost two weeks into the wipe, I just got the ability to buy M855 from Peacekeeper level 3. It’s insane, but again, I love it. Ammo is one of the core components of being able to land successful kills in the game, and if everyone’s access to the good stuff is being pushed further into the game, that means everyone regardless of skill or level, has a better chance of killing other players and surviving the raid. Which is what we’ve wanted for a long time. So, what are some of the ammos people find themselves using these days? Where are the good ammos now? And how have the interactions between the ammo changes with the new armor been? Let’s talk about all of this, and if you are new here be sure to subscribe to the channel for future videos.

The ammos available at low level traders is stuff you might not have even seen or used in the game before. Lots of flesh damage ammos, in addition to very low penetration ammo types. Even the more basic ammos we are used to seeing like 7.62 PS and all the Mosin ammos are gone and off the vendors. Those rounds are now pretty much liquid gold at the start. Ammos we are also used to unlocking from quests have been altered too. Either by removing them flat out or making so those ammos can now be crafted. Some of the calibers got their numbers adjusted too. The biggest shake up is easily 5.45. The new second-best ammo is BP, which has become a trend for a lot of calibers. BT has gone from having 40 penetration, back down to 37 so keep that in mind. Maybe they are trying to make the calibers and the ammo values more uniform. So, all BP ammo types are known for their higher-than-average penetration, but this is just bro science on my end. Regardless, the 5.45 boat has been rocked somewhat and things are very different from the previous wipe. But it’s not just their values, how and when you acquire some of the ammos has also changed. For example, completing punisher part 3 no longer grants the purchase of PP. It now allows you to craft it in the hideout. So even ammos sitting around the mid 30’s for their penetration value are becoming harder to obtain. Granted, you can still of course find these and better ammos out in the world in boxes. I found 120 rounds of M855A1 on Reserve early on, so it’s still possible to encounter these. But BSG has definitely made it harder to run these ammos with the same level of consistency as before. Getting your hands on 7.62 PS ammo, which has always been a solid round is now locked behind Prapor level 3, instead of 1 or 2. So, again, they are slowly dragging out how you get the better ammos.

This trend of ammos becoming more of a late game staple is an interesting and refreshing take on how to prolong the early and mid-game of a Tarkov wipe. Because that has always been one of the game’s main problems. We all restart, and everyone plays the game at their own pace. Both because everyone has different goals when playing, but also because everyone has different amounts of time to play. But being able to use either 56A1 or even M80 back in the day by only hitting level 14 and getting Peacekeeper level 2, was kind of insane to think about. We played during that and didn’t even really think twice about it. But now both 56A1 and M80 aren’t available until level 36. Crazy how far we have come in this game.

But ammo changes aside, we all know this wasn’t the only change. The armor changes and mobility adjustments have been massive for how we play Tarkov too. But a good question to ask is how the new armor changes interacted with the ammo overhaul? It’s hard to say exactly. Because a lot of this is going to be a subjective experience. If we were to look at things from a purely technical standpoint, yes, objectively, ammo is going to interact much differently when deployed against scavs and other players. Simply because the hitboxes have been changed. Rounds might be able to get around or even through certain parts of armor for full damage instead of just being absorbed by what you’re wearing. But what does that mean for your personal experience in raids? Well, for myself it’s been a bit of an odd one to say the least. There have been moments where I take a bunch of damage, almost die, but then I look at my armor and it’s lost less than 10 durability. The soft armor might be low, but the important parts, the plates, are still 100% durability. But then on the other hand, the amount of arm, armpits I’ve seen on the death screen is kind of comical at this point. Rounds you don’t normally see, especially shotgun slugs, have been slipping through the cracks and doing lethal damage most of the time.

This has certainly been the most interesting and diverse wipe we’ve had in, man, I’d say years, at least. Having soft armor and armor plates has also been playing a pivotal role in taking and dealing damage. Because low energy or penetration rounds get absorbed by the soft armor, and you end up taking little to damage. What this also does is prevent armor from becoming useless before you want it to. Before this patch, something like a Korrund armor, that is made from armor steel, would get shredded by a scav and then be kind of useless before encountering a PMC. But now, because the armor is divided up into different sections, if you get into a fight and your back plate gets destroyed, you still have a front plate that is full durability and can basically take another fight. It adds, and we’ve been talking about this a lot recently, layers to the game that shakes the game up and makes it more different than it already was. In addition, being able to find or bring additional plates into the raid, drop your armor and swap the plates out means that you can have durable armor throughout the entire raid, instead of getting into one fight, getting your defenses zeroed out and having to extract even if you don’t want to. But this plate swapping idea I guarantee will only become common much later into a wipe. People just don’t have the capital or even the general resources to be running around with extra armor in their backpack. Plus, those things can be heavy, so more plates mean you will need more strength to run this strategy and be competitive with reaching highly contested points first. So, I foresee in the next couple of weeks or maybe in a month's time, we will see people begin to consistently bring additional plates with them so they can stay in the fight for much longer than before.

Well, that was a long tangent about armor. We were supposed to be talking about ammo! Ammo is just as important as the armor changes. And as we get deeper into this wipe, and people begin to run the more powerful rounds on offer, both massive changes will really begin to show their true colors and whether they were good changes to the game. For the ammo, the early game has emphatically been extended and people are happy about it. But what about the late game? We’re slowly getting there, so in due time we will revisit this conversation and see how the game plays deeper into the wipe with good ammo being harder to obtain. Thank you very much for taking the time out of your day to watch this video. Let me know in the comment section below your thoughts and experiences with the new ammo systems, when you acquire new ammo and any general thoughts about this topic and be sure to subscribe for more videos talking about ammo down the road, when we all have the good stuff. I hope to see you in future ones.