As Battlestate Games shuts down Escape From Tarkov servers temporarily to implement the new changes, the patch notes for update 0.14.9.1 were just shared, revealing the introduction of four new loot crates to the game, along with new adjustments for Ballistic Plate colliders.
The new loot crates are divided into four categories:
- Equipment crate
- The crate can contain various chest rigs, armor, helmets, helmet attachments, ballistic plates, headsets, and masks.
- Weapon crate
- The crate can contain various weapons including pistols and melee weapons, weapon attachments, grenades, and ammo.
- Supply crate
- The crate can contain various barter items required for crafting and upgrading the Hideout, as well as medicine, stimulants, food, and water.
- Valuables crate
- The crate can contain various valuables and expensive barter items, keys, keycards, and info items.
Do note that these loot crates are not supposed to be added to Escape From Tarkov raids, but rather they are rewards for completing daily and weekly tasks in Escape From Tarkov Arena. Once you claim a loot crate, it will be added to your Hideout in Escape From Tarkov.
The loot crates will be locked initially and players can only unlock them after upgrading their Workbench to Level 2. So, if you are yet to improve your Hideout, there is a big grind ahead for you!
This new system will add more synergy between Escape From Tarkov and Tarkov Arena, encouraging players to revisit Battlestate Games’ smaller-scale arena shooter, as it has been struggling to maintain an acceptable amount of active players since its launch.
Aside from this new cross-game reward system, the new patch also improves the Ballistic Plate colliders in Escape From Tarkov, something that the head of development at Battlestate Games, Nikita Buyanov, teased only a few days earlier.
With this anticipated adjustment, the body armor will now protect more of the player’s torso, only leaving the arms and a small part around the armpits vulnerable to shots. You can check how the body armor size has changed now in the video below. This size adjustment will apply to all sizes and brands of body armors, as they all now protect an identical surface of the torso.
Last but not least, update 0.14.9.1 adds a bunch of new perks for Edge of Darkness and The Unheard Edition owners. The owners of either editions will now receive a 30% boost in getting back their insured items after failing in a raid.
Besides, two new cosmetic pieces, including a unqiue dogtag as well as a unique upper body clothing were added exclusively to The Unheard Edition owners.
The Escape From Tarkov servers are expected to come back online on June 13 at 4 AM PT / 7 AM ET / 12 PM BST.