Escape From Tarkov Arena Patch 1.5 Notes

Escape From Tarkov Arena Patch 1.5 will be the first major patch to come to the game since its release in December 2023. The patch went live a few days ago and brings with it Arena’s first ever wipe, along with a number of bug fixes which vastly improve the game’s balance issues.

A new system is being implemented for armor and hitboxes with each body part now having its unique hitbox. Some other changes include new rules for where grenades spawn. Here is all you need to know about Escape From Tarkov Arena Patch 1.5.

Escape From Tarkov Arena Patch 1.5 Notes

Here are the official patch notes for Escape From Tarkov Arena Patch 1.5:

Player profile

This update features a full profile wipe. As part of the update, the progression of presets as well as player ARP has been reset;

ARP values have been adjusted as follows:

• Profiles with less than 2000 ARP rating - ARP is set to 1500;

• Profiles with more than 2000 ARP rating - ARP is set to 2000.

Tier system and preset rebalance

The new Tier system features the following changes:

• Removed the Rating presets tab;

• All presets are divided into 3 Tiers;

• Presets have been balanced within each tier. Several class and ranked presets have been removed;

• First 2 presets of each class are free by default;

• Each collectible preset is now attached to a specific class and Tier;

• Standardized the availability and amount of medicine in presets for each Tier and class;

• Significantly reduced the number of frag grenades in all presets.

Matchmaking

  You can now select one of three Tiers when starting matchmaking;

• Unlocking matchmaking in the next preset Tier requires unlocking 5 presets of the next Tier; 

• Matchmaking now accounts for player ARP and the selected preset Tier;

• Preset Tiers 2 and 3 will be temporarily locked from matchmaking in ranked games until there are enough players who have unlocked Tiers 2 and 3 respectively.

Team limit on picking duplicate presets

• Players can now select only 1 identical preset per team for more balanced gameplay;

• Your team's selected presets are marked in the presets list.

Flexible preset unlock system

• Added the ability to select 4 presets for unlocking, one in each class;

• Experience to the unlockable preset is gained when playing as any of the available presets of the corresponding class;

• When playing with a collectible preset, it will level presets of corresponding class;

• Preset tree view is available via the button in the bottom menu.

Preset price and unlock balance

• Recalculated the preset purchase cost based on the Tier it belongs to;

• Increased the difference in cash rewards between players who contributed more to the victory and those who contributed less;

• Reduced the amount of experience for unlocking a preset.

Location selection

• Increased the minimum number of locations to start matchmaking from 1 to 4.

Painkillers effect

• Reduced the color loss effect when using a painkiller.

Custom games

Added new settings for custom games:

• Preset Tier configuration;

• Switching off KillCam;

• Configurable duplicate team preset limit;

• Configurable character skill level;

• Configurable number of rounds needed to win a match;

• Configurable team names.

Fire mode

• Changed the default fire mode for all weapons. Full Auto is now set as default.

Locations

• Added the new Chop Shop location for the TeamFight mode;

• Fixed the culling issues on all locations;

• Removed the ability to vault out of bounds on all locations;

Readjusted the logic of frag grenade spawns on all locations for all game modes according to the following rules:

- Grenades do not spawn on Equator and Chop Shop, and on all ShootOut locations;

- Grenades spawn on Bay 5, Air Pit, Bowl, and Sawmill;

- Added a spot with 100% chance of grenade spawn in the center point of the location;

- Added 2 frag grenade spawn locations at equal distances between teams. Chance of grenade spawn is 100% at one of the two locations;

- All other item spawn points no longer contain frag grenades.

Air Pit

• Slightly changed the geometry of the map. Regardless of the spawn side, players will reach the airplane at the same time.

Bowl

• Slightly changed the geometry of the map. Regardless of the spawn side, players will reach the helicopter at the same time.

New hitbox and armor system from EFT versions 0.14.0.0 and 0.14.1.0

Hitboxes

• The head is divided into separate simple hit zones that coincide with the protection zones of helmets and masks;

• Three hit zones have been added to the head area: Throat, Neck, and Face colliders;

• Thorax and stomach hit zones are divided into front, back and sides; 

• Pelvic hit zone is divided into Groin and Buttocks. Hitting these areas inflicts damage to the Stomach area.

Armor

Protection of armor and helmets is divided into separate zones, depending on which section this zone covers (in some cases it might be several zones). These are the slots with integrated armor. Integrated armor zones have their own separate durability. For example, you can now reduce your opponent's chest zone armor durability and not damage the durability of other armor zones if you shoot them in the chest. Integrated armor usually has armor class 2 or 3;

• An armored collar that protects the neck hitbox has been added for a large number of body armor pieces;

• In addition, ballistic plate slots and integrated armor slots have been added to body armor vests and plate carriers: for chest section, for back section, and for side sections. Ballistic plates usually have armor class 3-6;

• The dimensions of the ballistic plate zones are the same as the average dimensions of real ballistic plates of that format;

• Body armor protection is no longer uniform. It now depends on what areas the body armor visually protects. For example, no body armor protects the armpit area.

Damage and armor

• Reworked the damage through layers of armor: now when each layer is penetrated, the bullet loses some penetration power and damage depending on the characteristics of the penetrated armor;

• Blunt damage now decreases when there is soft armor behind the unpenetrated component;

• Removed the possibility for bullets to pierce through a character's thorax and stomach.