Escape From Tarkov Update 12.9: Character Wipe And Woods Expansion Confirmed In Patch Notes

Escape From Tarkov update 12.9 is dropping on December 24 and will add both the Woods expansion and initiate a character wipe for all players. Developer Battlestate Games dropped the news early Wednesday morning following a livestream. You can read full patch notes for the update, which also introduces new weapons and ammo, minor character customization elements, and more, on the Escape From Tarkov forums.

Wipes are a major, recurring part of Tarkov in its closed beta phase, occurring every few months and usually preceding a substantial update. All players will have their level, trader rep, stash, and other progress reset.

The other biggest change coming in patch 12.9 is the rework of the Woods map, which is expected to nearly double in size. We knew the Woods expansion would be arriving before the highly anticipated Streets of Tarkov map, which is at this point looking like a 2021 release--though there is still no official launch date.

Update 12.9 also adds a few new weapons, including the KRISS Vector SMG (9x19 and .45), SIG MCX assault rifle, UMP SMG, and a handful of new mods and ammo. New character customization options allow players to slightly distinguish their PMC from others with new heads and voices, which will be locked in and only adjustable after a wipe or profile reset.

For more from the new Escape From Tarkov update, check out the full patch notes below or on the Escape From Tarkov forums.

Escape From Tarkov Update 12.9 Patch Notes

THERE WILL BE A WIPE

Added and changed:

• “Woods” expansion.
• Reworked PMC initial gear sets.
• Added customization of head and voice when creating character: for now it’s only two new heads for each faction added. You can’t change head and voice after the character is created. You will be able to do it only after profile reset or wipe.
• Added skill “Immunity”.
• Reworked “Metabolism”.
• Reduced the volume of steps and interaction with vegetation.
• Added chance to cause bleedings to the ammunition. Now some ammo can cause heavy or light bleeding more often than other rounds.
• Now some face shields and glasses will reduce the time of blindness effect from flashbang rounds and grenades.
• Players will be receiving letters with a supply package for the first 7 days of playing.
• Added “All” button in the purchasing menu when buying from dealers via Flea market. Now you can select all available items with a single click.
• Filters in the W-List tab are now modified separately and do not affect other Flea market tabs.
• “Enter” button now confirms the action in most dialogue windows.
• Slot highlighting when dragging items in your inventory can now be turned off.
• Equipped armbands are now unlootable and can’t be lost upon death.
• The letter with the reward for the exit in cooperation with the scav will now come with a slight delay.
• Containers will apply restriction filters to mods installed on the transported object. I.e., putting a mount with a thermal sight installed on it into a secured container is no longer allowed.
• New equipment and clothing is added: PMC tops and bottoms, body armor, rigs, Smoke balaclava, and tops for the Scavs.
• Changed the characteristics of a large number of weapon mods.
• Simplified the Jaeger quests.
• Updated some quests: changed execution conditions, starting conditions, rewards.
• Reduced bonus of recoil reduction from the recoil control skill and weapon mastering.
• Now character overweight starts at 35 kg. Used to be 40.
• Increased purchase limits for some ammo from dealers.

New weapons and ammunition:

• KRISS Vector SMG in both 9х19 and .45.
• SIG MCX Assault rifle in .300 Blackout.
• UMP SMG in .45.
• Mk-18 mod 1 Mjölnir DMR in .338 LM.
• .300 blk, .338 Lapua Magnum ammunition.
• Various new weapon mods.

AI:

• Fixed bots hanging behind stationary weapons.
• Fixed a bug where Killa could not hear the enemies approaching from behind.
• Other various bot fixes and optimizations.

Optimization:

• Animation optimizations for interfaces.
• Optimizations of sounds in RAM.
• Server optimizations.

Fixed:

• Aiming a GL40 with Reflex sights.
• The position of the character's body when blind firing was not reset after opening the inventory.
• Blinding was imposed even if the player used a thermal imager.
• The stationary machine gun was removed from its mount if the player used it while in the blindfiring position.
• It was possible to use the tops and bottoms of the opposite faction.
• The nickname could not be changed if the new nickname was 15 characters long.
• The range value of the sight did not change immediately after alignment if the weapon had two sights on it.
• A duplicate weapon could hang behind the player's back for a few seconds after changing weapons.
• Some pants had the equipped gun hanging outside the holster during the fitting on the Ragman service screen.
• The observer did not see the player checking the fire mode on his weapon.

Weapon presets:

• It was impossible to delete the overwritten preset.
• Wrong mods were installed on the weapon if the build was initiated during a save process.

• Failed to redeem all available items in the lot if the player attempted to purchase items over the limit.
• Failed to interact with the inventory in a raid if the player had previously disassembled the weapon via the context menu.
• When reactivating the exit with the hermetic door at the location Reserve, the siren stopped working earlier than it should have.
• The sensitivity while aiming down sights changed when putting and removing sights from the weapon.
• A character was performing a light grenade throw only by double-pressing the RMB.
• Uninformative message about the lack of space in the stash when transferring items from the letter on "Receive all".
• The “Found in raid” status for the weapon would not update if you would put non-found in raid weapon mod on the gun.
• Incorrect information about the level of mastering in the weapon inspector.
• The price of 1 item decreased by 1 ruble if a player bought several of the same items from a dealer.
• The azimuth was missing if the player opened the pause menu with a compass in his hands.
• The camera could go through the body of another player.
• Missing messages in group chat.
• Various server errors.
• Various minor fixes.
• Various localization fixes.
• Various location fixes.