‘Escape From Tarkov’ patch makes bosses much easier at the cost of scarier night raids

The latest Escape From Tarkov patch has made it more likely for players to run into cultist enemies at night, along with a major change to every boss in the game.

In a patch issued today (March 3), developer Battlestate Games announced that it had increased the chance of the game’s “hooded guys” – cultists – spawning.

Cultists only tend to appear during night-time raids in Tarkov and although encountering them tends to be quite rare, they can prove difficult to kill due to their poisoned knives and ability to stay hidden from thermal scopes.

● Reduced the initial enemy contact reaction speed of all bosses by 30%;
● Adjusted bitcoin rate factor.

— Battlestate Games (@bstategames) March 3, 2023

The latest patch has also increased the spawn rate for Reshala, the Scav boss who can be found on Tarkov‘s Customs map. As certain in-game missions require killing Reshala, this patch should make actually finding him slightly easier.

While unsuspecting players may find themselves running into Reshala more often, Battlestate Games has dialed back his ability to pick off players immediately after seeing them.

It’s not just Reshala – according to the studio’s balance notes, it has reduced the initial reaction speeds of all Tarkov bosses by 30 per cent, meaning they are less likely to immediately kill any players they spot.

It’s the latest in a few major changes for Tarkov. Yesterday (March 2), lead developer Nikita Buyanov revealed that Battlestate is removing the item examination feature and will no longer allow barter trades on the Flea Market.

These tweaks come as the state of cheating in Escape From Tarkov has been heavily scrutinised by its community. Earlier this week, a community-led anti-cheat service for Tarkov shut down amid controversy, following a streamer being incorrectly banned after being reported to the channel.

Since then, the anti-cheat Discord‘s founder has claimed he “put way too much faith” in Battlestate Games, accusing the studio of failing to properly investigate alleged cheating reports.