Escape From Tarkov Arena patch 1.5.0 has arrived, bringing with it a new EFT Arena wipe for the spin-off arena FPS game. Launched in beta in December 2023, this paid counterpart to one of the defining extraction shooters looks to bring its satisfying gunplay into a more traditional multiplayer FPS in the vein of Call of Duty, Counter-Strike 2, and Ubisoft’s imminent XDefiant. Despite this, developer Battlestate Games is keeping one of the most iconic parts of the main game: the Escape From Tarkov wipe, where all players’ progression is reset at once.
This first wipe arrives alongside the launch of the new Escape From Tarkov: Arena update, meaning that all your preset progression and ARP has been reset. Along with this, EFT Arena patch 1.5.0 sees hefty reworks to presets, a new matchmaking system, armor adjustments, and additional settings for custom game modes as Battlestate looks to make its mark among the biggest and best multiplayer FPS games.
If you had reached an ARP rating of more than 2000 prior to the wipe, you’ll be set to 2000; otherwise you’ll have been reset to 1500. Presets have now been divided into three tiers, and balanced within those tiers. The first two presets of each class are free by default, and Battlestate has both standardized the amount of medicine in presets for each tier, and “significantly reduced” the number of frag grenades in all presets to cut down on grenade spam.
Only one of a preset can now be selected per team, so you won’t see full teams all rocking the same loadout. When matchmaking, you can select one of three tiers – unlock five presets from the next tier and you’ll also unlock matchmaking for it. Battlestate has already temporarily locked ranked matchmaking for preset tiers two and three “until there are enough players who have unlocked tiers two and three respectively.”
The default fire mode on all weapons that support it has been set to full auto, so picking up a new gun in a high-pressure situation should be a little easier to adjust to. Finally, custom games now have additional settings to tweak. You can turn off killcams for a more challenging experience, and configure the preset tier, character skill level, the number of rounds needed to win a match, team names, and the duplicate preset limit for each team.
If you haven’t kept up with the changes being made to the main Escape From Tarkov client, it’s also worth noting that hitboxes and armor values have also been adjusted and that these carry over to Arena. Head hit zones are now divided into separate sections to more accurately reflect the specific protections offered by your equipped helmet or mask. The same is true for body armor, and Battlestate notes that protection “now depends on what areas the body armor visually protects.”
That means if you hit someone in a spot that isn’t covered by their armor, it should be treated as such. If you do catch their armor, however, damage has been somewhat reworked, with shots losing their penetration power and damage as they pass through each individual layer – so loading up on ballistic plate slots should dramatically reduce the impact.
Escape From Tarkov: Arena patch 1.5.0 is out now. You can read the full EFT Arena patch notes courtesy of Battlestate Games.
Prove you’re the top dog by jumping into the best multiplayer games for some (hopefully) friendly competition, and keep an eye on when the next Escape From Tarkov wipe lands if you’re looking to get in on the ground level of Battlestate’s extraction shooter.
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