Escape from Tarkov is Battlestate Games' hybridized MMORPG survival shooter taking place in the fictional Russian town of Tarkov as its government collapses. Players drop into Tarkov to loot as many locations and people as possible before extracting without getting killed. There are two factions: PMC and Scavs with players primarily playing as the PMC faction.
Scavs, or Scavengers, are a primarily AI-controlled faction, and knowing the difference between an AI and a player character can make all the difference in the world to a PMC player trying to make their way out of the war zone. There are many ways to distinguish between the two, but some differences are subtle.
7 PMCs Are Always Players, So An AI Will Not Be A PMC
The first and most easy way to distinguish the AI's from the players is that an AI will never be a PMC. Private Military Contractors are exclusively player characters with the intention of trying to extract from the zone with whatever gear they can try to get.
AI Scavs aren't trying to get extracted. Unfortunately, players can be spawned into a game as a Scav to balance out the numbers, and they will be trying to get extracted. This complicates things, so one needs to learn how to discern AI and player-controlled Scavs.
6 AI Scavs Will Shout At You Before Firing
One detail that easily distinguishes AI Scavs from player Scavs is that AI Scavs will always shout something in Russian before firing on a PMC.
Bear in mind, a player-controlled Scav can press a button to deliver a voice line, but it's not automated. Furthermore, with the recent addition of in-game chat, most players will just speak into their microphone. However, if someone wants to really get into the specifics, AI players will deliver an aggressive voice line before shooting at the player. However, a player cannot deliver an aggressive voice line until after firing a shot.
5 Player Scavs Will Sometimes Try To Kill Each Other
When a player joins the game as a Scav, AI-controlled Scavs will leave them alone, as the Scavs are generally supposed to work together. Plus, player-controlled Scavs will still be trying to get extracted with whatever loot they have on them.
However, some player-controlled Scavs will try to kill other Scavs, both player-controlled and AI. Sometimes, they just want the loot that badly. This is a bad idea, as AI Scavs will then fire on that player, but it is known to happen--and not rarely either.
4 AI Scavs Will Shoot You On Sight, A Player May Hesitate
If a Scav hesitates after seeing a PMC, that Scav is definitely a player-controlled Scav. AI Scavs do not hesitate before shooting at a PMC. This isn't the best way to distinguish between a player-controlled Scav and an AI Scav--as it involves completely exposing yourself--but it is still a method nonetheless.
AI Scavs are programmed to kill a PMC as soon as they can, and a player-controlled Scav may get surprised, frightened, or try to focus more on surviving and getting away as opposed to killing you.
3 AI Scavs Will Only Patrol Certain Zones
AI Scavs are spawned into certain zones on the map, and they will patrol that zone for the entirety of the raid. They will not leave that zone, and they will try to kill any PMCs that they see in their zone.
A player-controlled Scav isn't restricted by such things. They can run wherever they want on the map, and they will generally do so to get whatever loot they can, survive, and extract. Generally speaking, a player-controlled Scav has the same goal as a PMC, so their behavior will be different from that of an AI-controlled Scav.
2 AI Scavs Will Always Make A Sound When They Stop Sprinting
Generally, you want to make as little sound as possible in order to survive in Escape from Tarkov. Sounds attract attention, and attention gets you killed. AI Scavs aren't quite as concerned with that. As a consequence, when they sprint, they will make a sound once they stop sprinting. It sounds like someone dragging their feet.
This happens because AI's go from a full sprint to a dead stop. Players can do that, but most players won't because they don't want to risk making the sound. To avoid making this "skrrt" sound yourself, let go of your sprint key before you stop moving.
1 Watch A Scavs' Movements Very Closely
After playing enough of almost any first-person shooter, you will be able to notice the difference between AI movement and player movement. Players will move more "naturally" and fluidly. An AI's movement will be more jarring and abrupt. Another example of this is when an AI Scav turns. It's a more jarring movement than that of a player-controlled Scav.
Escape from Tarkov is currently available on PC.