How to Deal With Blacked-Out Limbs in Escape From Tarkov

Escape From Tarkov is a realistic FPS with a number of survival mechanics like health, hunger, thirst, and stamina management. One such mechanic that deals with the health of various body parts is the blacked out limbs. Here is all you need to know about Blacked-Out Limbs and how to fix them in Escape From Tarkov.

What are blacked-out limbs in Escape From Tarkov?

When you take damage to your arms and legs, the body part HP goes down but as long as they atleast have 1 HP, you can use medkits to restore them. However, when a limb gets destroyed, it turns black on the UI, this is what players refer to as blacked-out limbs.

How do you restore blacked-out limbs?

Once your limb HP reaches 0, you won’t be able to restore it using standard medkits. You’ll need either a Surv12 field surgical kit or a CMS surgical kit to fix the blacked-out limb and restore it to 1 HP. After which you can use a medkit to get back more HP to the affected limb. Note that you can only use these kits to fix destroyed limbs. Once you’ve blacked-out your head or thorax, you cannot use either a CMS or a Surv12 field surgical kit to restore them. 

There are some differences between a Surv12 field surgical kit and a CMS surgical kit:

Both the CMS and Surv12 kits can be purchased from Jaeger. The CMS surgical kit will be available with loyalty level 1 while the Surv12 can be obtained at loyalty level 3. The kits can be also purchased from the flea market at varying prices. 

While the Surv12 field surgical kit has clear advantages, it takes up more inventory slots, as a result it doesn’t fit in all container types. It also needs more time to use. However, it gives you more of a bang for your buck with lower price per use. 

Both these kits have situational advantages. For longer raids, some players prefer using a Surv12 field surgical kit to restore more max HP, which ultimately gives you more survivability and also takes care of any fractures, letting you omit using splints. Some players prefer a CMS kit, especially for situations where you want to fix the limb quickly and reach an extraction point without limping all the way there.