Here's our guide to EFT's Reserve map, including the best extraction points and loot spots.
Escape from Tarkov's Reserve is home to the rats and scavengers of the game, having players equipped with a pistol, backpack, and no armor hijack all the maps loot within the first five minutes of the raid. As profitable as this may be, you must become a master of Reserve and learn all the best loot locations, extracts, and places of interest. Reserve offers three things: loot, high-level players, and raiders, believe me, you can't have one without the other. Whether you're running through the sewers in an attempt to escape or pinned down by the scav boss Gluhkar, Reserve provides a tense experience that haunts you long after extraction.
Within this guide, we are going to provide you with the essential skills to defend your loot, friends, and interests. This includes extracts, loot locations, weapon suggestions, and a guide on the scav boss, therefore, once finishing this guide you'll understand the essentials of how to survive within this daunting map. Most players typically avoid playing Reserve, which is incredibly unfortunate due to the uniqueness and interactive map, allowing players to commence in all roles ranging from, sniping, machine-gunning, close-quarter combat, and mounting a heavy machine gun or grenade launcher!
Table of Contents
- What Scav boss is on reserve?
- Escape from Tarkov Reserve Extracts
- Where do you loot in Tarkov Reserve?
What Scav Boss Is on Reserve?
Meet Glukhar, Escape from Tarkov's powerhouse that will surely knock your socks off! Whether it's his ASH-12 or biceps, Glukhar definitely knows how to handle himself and protect the lands of Reserve with the bold aesthetic seen by no other scav boss. Coming in at a 30% spawn chance, Glukhar and his buddies spawn in ready to rock the boat, typically spawning at these locations:
- Storage building marked with "K" (opposite train station)
- Repair building marked with a black and white chess knight
- At barracks marked with a black bishop and black pawn
- In the underground storage warehouse marked with "Д "
Despite having four separate spawn locations, Glukhar enters the raid alongside 5-6 raider friends to help protect him and they come packing heat. These are the weapons you can find on Glukhar and his guards:
- M1A
- ASH-12
- AKS-74U
- PP-19-01
- AS VAL
- AK-74M
- RPK-16
- M4A1
- TOZ pump-action shotgun
There are more weapons that can be found on the followers, but they are typically found with the above and similar weapons, having the widest plethora of weaponry out of all the scav bosses and followers. Although appearing daunting, this factor is incredible due to the sheer volume of loot you'll receive once killing the targets and dominating the raid - quite a lot to carry to extract though.
Gluhkar and the guards are very territorial, meaning they often won't venture outside of the building they spawn within. To kill Gluhkar and his guards, you're going to want to battle them at close quarters to have the highest chance of success, including the use of grenades. Due to Gluhkar's high health, you're going to want to shoot him in the head, easier said than done, just make sure that's what you do. If you lose sight of Gluhkar, stay away from windows or open locations due to their ability to adapt to long-range combat. Weapons-wise, choose something with high power and agility, such as the Saiga 12ga with flechette rounds.
Escape from Tarkov Reserve Extraction Points
Reserve offers weird extracts that most despise, however, that's what makes the map unique, below, you'll find the extracts and their requirements:
| Extract | Location | Requirement |
| Armored Train | The building marked "Rook" with "T" above (train station) | Arrives between 20 and 15 minutes left in the raid. Honks twice on arrival. Stays for 7 min. Honks once 1 min before departure, leaves with you on |
| Bunker Hermetic Door | Activate the lever (marked "A" on the map above) in the shack west of the white pawn building, then run to the bunker (marked "D") | Activate power and run to the bunker in less than four minutes |
| Cliff Decent | Behind the dome on the hill | Red rebel ice pick, paracord, no armor vest |
| D-2 | Command, underground system, follow stairs down and through one way system | Turn on the power with a lever in the command part of the underground bunker system and push the button at the bunker door |
| Scav Lands (Co-Op) | Marked "S" on the map, the southern part of the map next to the brick house on the gate. | Extract with friendly scav |
| Sewer Manhole | Marked "M" on the map | Extract without backpack |
As you can see, there is essentially no extract that you can just "walk" away from, you always have to complete or meet some criteria before extracting from the map, hence why people mostly dislike Reserve. However, the fewer people the more loot and that's even better from the adventure capitalists out there.
Where's the Best Loot on the Reserve Map?
In spite of the Reserve's confusing layout, there is plenty of loot up for grabs. Thankfully, Reserve doesn't require many keys to obtain the upper category of loot, allowing players to search and rinse the map fully without costing them a penny. However, there are obviously still helpful keys to obtain as seen below:
| Key | Location | Loot |
| RB-BK Marked key | East barracks on Reserve (opposite helicopter). The south end of pawn east building basem*nt | Very rare loose loot - BTCs etc |
| RB-VO Marked key | Left room, in the back end of the barrack northwest of the reserve and west of the bunkers | Very rare loose loot - BTCs etc |
| RB-KPRL key | The southernmost small building at the radio tower (dome) | Safe, weapons, intelligence |
| RB-PKPM key | Underground bunker system of the reserve, the marked room next to the office that is connected to the D-2 extract switch | Very rare loose loot |
| RB-SMP key | The second floor of the HQ (white bishop) building | Loose medical loot |
All of these locations are high-traffic areas, therefore meaning you need to act with precaution, having your gun locked and loaded. Whether you want to run, stamp your feet, or quietly rat through the hallways at walking speed, that's up to you to make the right decision. Overall, Reserve provides a very high-traffic map, having players, scavs, and raiders roam the lands with little worry of death and empathy for your gear fear, they won't spare you.
Finally, here are the best looting locations without keys:
- White king building - opposite dome - rare PC loot scattered over server rooms
- Black pawn building - opposite white king - rare loose loot and scav boss spawn
- White knight building - opposite sewer manhole - rare hardware loot/scav boss spawn
- Underground tunnels - underground - rare loose, PC, and hardware loot
- Black bishop building - in front of the helicopter - rare PC loot
These locations are easy to find on (this) map, or each location has a big painted chess piece on the side of the building in-game, linking each reference to the building within Reserve. To benefit massively at minimal risk, equip a large vest and a pistol, run around all the listed key and building locations, pick up the best loot, and extract through the Sewer manhole, there's minimal risk and no gear fear. Please beware, players often look for pesky pistol runners, they understand that pistol runners likely have more than a PM on their character!
For more Escape From Tarkov news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or take a look at some of our just below:
MAJOR NEWS - Latest Patch Notes | When Is The Next Tarkov Wipe |Is EFT Down? How To Check Tarkov Server Status |
FUTURE UPDATES - Tarkov 2023 Roadmap |
MAP EXTRACTION GUIDES -Customs | Interchange | Factory | Woods | Reserve | Shoreline | The Lab | Lighthouse | Streets of Tarkov
GAME GUIDES - | Best Weapon Builds |How To Get Kappa Container | How to Complete "the Stylish One" Quest Quickly
