Escape from Tarkov next patch is coming out soon. Patch 0.16.8 brings Hardcore Wipe and 2 new Prestige levels and exclusive rewards. Moreover, there is a new sniper rifle and a quest to get it. However, Hardcore Wipe is the main highlight of patch 0.16.8 and brings new ways to play the game.
Here’s everything you need to know about Patch 0.16.8 and Hardcore wipe in Escape from Tarkov.
Hardcore Wipe Release Date
New Hardcore Wipe and patch 0.16.8 is set to arrive on July 9, 2025 and will change how regular wipes work in the game. Moreover, hardcore wipe will be the final pre-release wipe.
All Features of Hardcore Wipe
Hardcore wipe will change how normal raids work in Escape from Tarkov. Whether you’re an experienced player or new player Hardcore wipe will limit all the player to test their limits. This will help showcase who has better game sense.
As most experienced players in Escape from Tarkov, tend to go to place with high-tier loot. But that’s not the case in Hardcore wipe as there will be limited and restricted. Moreover, for raids, you will need to transition to most locations and they will not be directly accessible.
Here are all the changes and features coming in Escape from Tarkov hardcore wipe.
- Flea Market disabled;
- Reduced spawn chance of rare loot;
- Hideout zones don’t require Found in Raid items;
- Increased item requirements for Hideout zones;
- Limited Hideout ammo crafts;
- Limited Trader interaction: reduced range of available medicine, weapons, ammo, and armor;Â
- Reduced item selling price and increased purchase price;
- Restricted location accessibility:
Most of the locations will only be accessible through transitions from appropriate locations; - Secure container restrictions: can’t store ammo, currency, and certain medicine;
- Reduced experience for killing enemies and dying
- Increased experience for surviving
- Increased AI difficulty
- 100% Boss spawn chance on all locations
Note: PvE mode will not be affected by the Hardcore Wipe changes.
2 New Prestige Levels
There are 2 new Prestige Levels and Rewards added with patch 0.16.8 in Escape from Tarkov. Here are all the rewards.
- New PMC character voices;
- New PMC outfits;
- New mannequin poses for the Gear Rack;
- New posters for the Hideout;
- New target styles for the Shooting Range;
- New Hideout customization options;
- New Dogtag styles.
After earning Prestige 3 and 4:
- Skills and weapon mastery will have their progression saved by 15% for Prestige 3 and 20% for Prestige 4;
- Weapons, helmets, armor and attachments will become available for Prestige item transfer.
New Weapon AK-50
The new patch added the AK-50 anti-materiel sniper rifle with a related task chain to obtain it.
More Changes in Escape from Tarkov Patch 0.16.8
AI
Readjusted the PMC bot spawn system. Now, the AI PMCs will no longer spawn immediately at points of interest and will instead have remote spawn points, making them travel to loot POIs and compete with the player.
Improved the friendly-foe identification system for PMC bots to distribute the availability of spawn points and check them for enemies. Fixed several bugs where regular bots and PMC bots would not be hostile towards each other.
PMC bots will try to avoid Boss areas but may still engage in a fight with them.
QoL
Added the stash auto scroll function when click-dragging an item.
Added a storage stacking limit for containers. This is necessary to avoid situations where players would get stuck on the profile loading screen due to excessive amount of items in the stash. The change will mostly affect PvE players who have stacked 7 or more items inside each other, i.e. backpacks. All items that exceed the limit will be deleted.
Sale on Escape from Tarkov
The summer sale event for Standard Edition, Left Behind Edition and Prepare for Escape Edition starts from July 7, 12:00 PM BST / 7:00 AM EDT to July 14, 12:00 PM BST / 7:00 AM EDT. The store has also been expanded with two new clothing sets: summer hawaiian shirts for BEAR and USEC characters.
That’s all you need to know about Hardcore wipe in Escape from Tarkov starting July 9. Jump in to grind for loot and raids in this new hardcore mode.