Scavs

Who the Scavs are, how AI Scavs fight, what changes when you play as one, how Scav karma works, which quests ask you to kill them and which keys turn up on them.

Who the Scavs are

Scavs are Tarkov's scavengers: armed locals who loot for themselves and answer to neither BEAR nor USEC. Raids start with AI Scavs already in place, and more arrive in waves while the raid runs, sometimes together with Scavs controlled by other players.

Their gear is random. Most carry little armour and an old rifle, but some spawn with real protection and strong ammunition.

How AI Scavs fight

They patrol in small groups, often of three, around landmarks, stopping to look around or pretend to loot.
Their first shots tend to miss, but accuracy improves with every follow-up shot, so finish the fight quickly.
They aim at whatever part of you they can see. If only your head shows above cover, your head is the target, so peek with more of your body or lean instead.
Some carry armour up to class 5 or armour-piercing rounds, and now and then one becomes very accurate. A group is never completely harmless.
With ammunition that does high flesh damage, leg shots skip their armour and leave it intact for you to loot.
They notice little of what happens around them, so a patient player can pick a group apart from cover.
They pick up loot from bodies and can equip it.

Playing as a Scav

You join part-way through a raid with random gear. Dying costs nothing from your PMC stash, and anything you extract with goes into it.
AI Scavs leave you alone unless you hurt a Scav. Then you become a traitor and nearby Scavs turn hostile for the rest of the raid.
Raiders, bosses and their guards can still attack you, and shooting back at them still costs karma.
Your Scav levels and trains skills separately from your PMC.
The Intelligence Center shortens the Scav cooldown: 15% at level 1, 35% in total at level 3. The Hideout Management skill shortens it further.
Once the Intelligence Center is built, Fence offers daily Scav tasks that can pay out items and karma.

Scav karma (Fence reputation)

Scav karma is your standing with Fence. It rewards Scavs who cooperate and punishes those who shoot their own. Its effects change at every whole number.

Action	Karma
Extract or transit as a Scav	+0.01
Complete a Fence Scav task	+0.01 to +0.05
Help a Scav	+0.01 to +0.02
Help a Scav boss's guard	+0.02
Help a Scav boss	+0.05
As a Scav, kill a PMC who killed Scavs	+0.02, or +0.03 if they killed 2+
As a Scav, kill a traitor Scav	+0.03
First vehicle extraction as a PMC on a map	+0.2, then less each time
First co-op extraction on a map	+0.25, then less each time
Kill an AI Scav as a Scav	−0.03 to −0.05
Kill a player Scav as a Scav	−0.1
Kill a Scav boss's guard as a Scav	−0.05
Kill a Scav boss as a Scav	−0.2
Kill Raiders, Rogues, Cultists or Black Division as a Scav	0

Higher karma lowers car extraction fees and enlarges the BTR delivery trunk and the transit delivery space.
It speeds up the Scav case and raises what Fence pays for your items.
It shortens the Scav cooldown and gives you more extracts and better starting gear in Scav mode.
It raises the chance that AI Scavs follow your commands.
At +6, Fence opens an extra tab of discounted offers, AI Scavs help you fight and Scav bosses treat you as an ally.
At −5 or lower, AI Scavs shoot you on sight and the BTR driver refuses to work with you.

Minimum karma required

Quests that ask you to kill Scavs

From the RaidSignal quest catalogue. Kills include Scav snipers where the quest accepts them.

Quest	Trader	Map	Kills
All This Filth...	Jaeger	Any map	20
Balancing Part 1 Pve Zone	Ref	Any map	5
Balancing Part 1 Pvp Zone	Ref	Any map	5
Blood in the Water	Therapist	Customs	15
Debut	Prapor	Any map	5
Forester's Duty	Jaeger	Lighthouse, Shoreline	10
Hiking	Peacekeeper	Woods	10
Inevitable Response	Btr Driver	Woods, Reserve	10
Intimidator	Prapor	Any map	40
Kings of the Rooftops	Prapor	Streets of Tarkov	8
Make an Impression	Lightkeeper	Streets of Tarkov, Woods, Reserve	10
New Beginning	Ragman	Any map	50
Peacekeeping Mission	Peacekeeper	Any map	48
Pest Control	Jaeger	Reserve	10
Polikhim Hobo	Skier	Interchange, Woods, Ground Zero, Ground Zero 21	25
Rite of Passage	Jaeger	Customs	20
Slaughterhouse	Jaeger	Any map	60
Stabilize Business	Ragman	Ground Zero 21, Ground Zero	7
Swift Retribution	Btr Driver	Woods	10
The Huntsman Path - Forest Cleaning	Jaeger	Reserve, Streets of Tarkov, Shoreline, Lighthouse	50
The Price of Independence	Btr Driver	Any map	10
The Price of Independence 2	Btr Driver	Any map	10
The Punisher - Part 1	Prapor	Customs	25
The Punisher - Part 2	Prapor	Shoreline	15
The Punisher - Part 3	Prapor	Reserve	12
The Punisher - Part 4	Prapor	Lighthouse	20
The Punisher - Part 5	Prapor	Any map	20
The Survivalist Path - Eagle-Owl	Jaeger	Any map	6
The Survivalist Path - Junkie	Jaeger	Woods	15
The Survivalist Path - Tough Guy	Jaeger	Woods	3
The Survivalist Path - Wounded Beast	Jaeger	Any map	3
The Tarkov Shooter - Part 1	Jaeger	Any map	5
The Tarkov Shooter - Part 5	Jaeger	Customs	8
The Tarkov Shooter Part 5 2	Jaeger	Streets of Tarkov	5
Thirsty - Hounds	Jaeger	Shoreline	12
Urban Medicine	Therapist	Streets of Tarkov	10
Wet Job - Part 1	Peacekeeper	Shoreline	10

Facts checked against the official Escape from Tarkov Wiki on 24 Oct 2026 and written in our own words. Values can change with patches.

Keys found on Scavs

Find keys whose location guides mention scavs. Each entry links to its own door, loot and quest-use guide, with the source’s conditions preserved.

These are references from reviewed item guides, not drop probabilities or a complete container loot table. A listed key is a possible source reference, not a guaranteed find.

Open an item guide for locations, photographs and its available interactive map.

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