Escape from Tarkov’s Blackout Event Goes Live and Labs Becomes The Focus

The Lab is the place to be in Escape from Tarkov right now, with Battlestate Games having rolled out the 1.0.6.5 update and putting the challenging map in a very tight situation. Per the update, that pesky trader, Skier, has uncovered a vulnerability that has allowed him to access the Lab and identify what must be some mad loot, because now every man and his dog wants a piece of the action.

That includes Wedge and his Black Division folks, who were ahead of the game and managed to take over the location before any PMC could blink. The Blackout update is centered around The Lab, but what secrets it now contains are locked behind a questline that players must unravel as fast as possible.

How to Complete Wrench and Waterboarding in Escape from Tarkov

The Blackout questline in Escape from Tarkov starts with Wrench and Waterboarding, a simple task handed to players by Skier, the conduit for this entire event. It all begins with getting into The Lab, which is an easy enough premise at first blush. But this is a late-game, or even endgame, event, and that means it’s designed to be tough.

For completing Wrench and Waterboarding, you’ll get the following rewards:

• 15,000 XP
• 75,000 rubles
• 2 Cyclone Shakhin Thermal Scope
• 2 x Torrey Pines Logic Thermal Reflex Sight

Skier is kitting you out with night-vision aids because The Lab has been plunged into darkness to accommodate the Black Division, who you might have already tussled with when ICEBREAKER landed several weeks ago. This is a super-tough faction that’s incredibly difficult to take down, and their leader, Wedge, is a former SAS operative, which tells you all you need to know.

So, to get to The Lab, you need to have a Labs Keycard, which is a one-time-use item that will get you through the door and into this harrowing environment. That’s all you need to do to tick this box, but where do you get those keycards?

Well, you can find them anywhere you’d find mechanical keys, so in drawers, stashes, in the pockets of bosses and scav characters, or in other crates dotted around Tarkov. If you’ve got Mechanic LL3, you can barter for one, or at Intel LL2, you can craft one, but again, these are fairly high requirements that require a lot of legwork beforehand.

The heart of this event is basically turning The Lab into a loot-fest of an environment. Skier has noted that if The Lab’s emergency power is activated, all doors, which are now unlockable exclusively via a code, will be accessible using the same code. That means no keycards are required, and you can access all areas in The Lab.

That’s huge, as this is arguably the best map in the entire game for loot diversity and value.

Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server if you’re enjoying the new Tarkov event.

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