Escape From Tarkov patch 14.5 will be installed at 8:00 am BST / 3:00 am EDT tomorrow, April 3, with the installation process expected to take five hours. Escape From Tarkov servers will be down between 8 am and 1 pm BST, meaning the game will not be accessible to anyone.
Battlestate Games has revealed that Escape From Tarkov 14.5 will launch tomorrow, and with it being a numbered patch fans are expecting it to bring a lot of big changes with it.
However, the extended downtime should bring with it some big changes to play with. While the patch notes have not been revealed, with them typically launching as the installation process starts, the fact this is a numbered patch rather than a technical update bodes well for this being a major patch with new content.
The patch notes for Escape From Tarkov 14.5 have been released, and they bring some big changes to both the Woods map and the new map Ground Zero, with a BTR being added to the former.
The biggest changes in the 14.5 patch notes come to Woods, one of the older Tarkov maps that doesn’t get changed all that often. But now it has been given its biggest addition in years, with the arrival of the BTR vehicle that was previously only available on the Streets of Tarkov map.
The BTR will travel around Woods, stopping at the following locations; Scav Bunker, Sunken Village, Old Sawmill, Sawmill, USEC Checkpoint, Emercom Base and Junction. To enable this travel, the gates at the Northern and Southern UN Roadblock exits have been opened to allow the BTR to travel off the map to get around. However, these areas are now under sniper protection so you will be shot if you try to get out of the map on foot. The BTR’s suspension has also been updated given it will no longer only be on the perfectly flat roads on Streets of Tarov.
Earlier today a new Escape From Tarkov patch launched and added a brand new in-game event, seemingly called Maslenitsa, that requires players to light up bonfires in order to earn rewards.
The new event seems to be available to everyone in Tarkov, with the new Spring Never Changes and Evil Spirits quests being unlocked when you boot up the game following the patch.
The event has also seen snow return to Tarkov after being removed a few weeks ago. While this feels like a strange choice given it was only just taken away, the teaser video for the event shows that snow is a key part of the lore and will likely be removed once the event is over.