Found in raid (FIR) is a designation used in the popular multiplayer online shooter Escape from Tarkov to indicate items that were obtained from raids rather than purchased or bartered from traders. FIR status is an important mechanic in Tarkov that impacts the flea market, quest progression, and more.
What is Escape from Tarkov?
Escape from Tarkov is a hardcore tactical first-person shooter video game developed by the Russian studio Battlestate Games. It features intense, realistic gunplay and emphasizes survival gameplay elements like ammunition management, healing, and obtaining resources in online raids.
In Tarkov, players take on the role of either a SCAV (scavengers fighting for survival) or PMC (private military contractors hired by the two private military companies, USEC or BEAR). Raids involve entering one of the available maps, like Factory or Customs, with the goal of collecting loot, completing quests, fighting AI scavs and player PMCs, and ultimately extracting safely.
What are raids?
Raids are the core gameplay of Escape from Tarkov. They serve as instanced PvPvE missions that take place across the different maps like Woods, Shoreline, or Interchange against AI scavs, bosses, and other players.
Here are some key things to know about raids in Tarkov:
- Each raid has a time limit, ranging from 10-50 minutes depending on the map.
- The goal is to spawn in, loot items, kill AI and players, and make it to one of the extraction points before time runs out.
- Raids require loading in with equipment like weapons, armor, backpacks, medication, etc. This gear can be lost if you die.
- Playing offline allows practicing against AI without losing gear, but doesn’t yield loot.
- Scav runs let you spawn in as a SCAV with random gear mid-raid.
- As a PMC, successful extracts yield XP, quest progress, and any looted items.
In short, raids are the primary way players interact with each other and the world to earn loot, fight, complete objectives, and ultimately escape.
What does Found in Raid mean?
“Found in Raid” (FIR) refers to any items that are obtained as loot during a raid, either from AI scavs, provisional chests/crates, or player kills. FIR status is applied to items the moment they are added to your inventory during a raid.
FIR items are marked with a checkmark icon in your stash. This status remains even after the raid ends, so FIR items in your stash will still show the checkmark.
Key attributes of FIR items:
- Obtained as loot during an online raid, not brought in with your PMC or SCAV.
- Does not include anything purchased from traders or flea market.
- Remains FIR even after extracting and listing on flea.
- Needed for many quests as turn-ins.
- Can be sold for higher prices on the flea market.
In short, the Found in Raid status shows an item was looted organically rather than externally obtained.
Why does Found in Raid matter?
There are a few key reasons why the Found in Raid status is important:
Flea Market Listing
One of the main reasons FIR matters is that only items with FIR status can be listed for sale on the flea market by players.
The flea market is an auction house where players can buy and sell a variety of weapons, armor, keys, quest items, and more to other players. However, to list an item on the flea yourself, it must have the FIR tag.
This restriction prevents endless reselling of the same non-FIR gear over and over. FIR makes the economy revolve around loot found in actual raids.
Quest Turn-Ins
Many quests in Escape from Tarkov require turning in FIR items to complete them. For example, an early Mechanic quest needs you to find a bronze pocket watch in a raid and hand it over.
By requiring FIR items, it forces players to engage with raids to progress instead of simply buying quest items from other players.
Secure Containers
Items placed inside secure containers during a raid retain their FIR status on extraction. This allows safely obtaining FIR items even if you die.
However, simply taking an item into a raid in a secure case does not grant FIR. It must be found and placed inside the container mid-raid.
Pouch Slot Abuse
Due to the benefits of FIR items, some players abused pouch slots to gain an advantage. For example, repeatedly shoving valuable loot like graphics cards into the pouch to list on the flea market later.
Developers eventually changed it so items placed into pouches during a raid no longer gain FIR status. This prevents easy item farming via pouches.
How to check if an item is FIR
There are a few easy ways to check if an item has Found in Raid status:
- Look for the checkmark icon on items in your stash after extracting from a raid.
- Hover over an item and check if “Found in Raid” is listed in the description text.
- While looting in a raid, FIR items will say “Found in raid” when you hover over.
- When adding items to your secure container, FIR items will have a checkmark.
As long as you obtained the item from a raid, it will be designated as FIR both during and after. It’s always clearly displayed both in raids and your stash.
Losing FIR status
FIR items can lose their status under the right conditions:
- Dying in a raid with a FIR item loses FIR status.
- Dropping a FIR item for another player to pick up removes FIR.
- Exfiltrating with a run-through (staying very briefly in raid) removes FIR.
- Disconnecting or failing to extract in time loses FIR status.
However, placing FIR items in your secure container allows extracting with the status intact even if you die. The goal is to prevent easy item farming/duping.
FIR and the Flea Market
The Found in Raid mechanic has a big impact on the in-game flea market economy of Escape from Tarkov. Here are some of the key effects:
- Only FIR items can be listed, preventing item duping and oversaturation.
- FIRE items sell for substantially higher prices due to rarity.
- Players must actively loot raids to find FIR items instead of endlessly reselling.
- Quest turn-in requirements raise demand and prices for certain FIR items.
- Purchasing non-FIR items from flea can still be useful for loadouts and building kits.
Overall, FIR status creates an organic player-driven economy fueled by gear and items coming out of raids. This also makes engaging with the core looting gameplay loop more rewarding.
Found in Raid and Secure Containers
Secure containers like the Gamma Case add another layer to the FIR mechanic. Some key points:
- Items placed into containers mid-raid gain FIR status on extraction.
- Bringing items into raid does not grant FIR.
- This allows obtaining FIR items even if you die.
- Containers can be used to protect needed quest items.
- Hatchlings abuse containers to easily farm FIR items.
- Developers have nerfed containers to combat hatchling runs.
Secure containers create a safer way to bring out FIR loot. However, restrictions have been added to prevent easily exploiting FIR status via containers.
Found in Raid and Quests
Found in Raid items are often needed to complete Tarkov quests for traders:
- Many quests require specifically FIR items to turn-in.
- This encourages engaging with loot raids over buying quest items.
- Certain items only spawn in raid, so must be FIR for quests.
- Exception is collector quests, where item origins don’t matter.
- Demand for FIR quest items increases their flea market prices.
In short, FIR items add to the challenge and engagement of quest progression. You must survive raids to extract the specific FIR items needed for many quests.
Impact on Playstyles
The Found in Raid mechanic pushes certain playstyle choices:
- Encourages aggressive play – chasing gunshots and PvP for potential FIR loot.
- Quest item focus – hitting specific rooms to find FIR quest items.
- Extract camping – camping exits to kill players with FIR loot.
- Hatchling runs – pistol/hatchet runs to shove loot into secure container.
- Loadout balancing – bringing enough gear to survive while still having room to collect FIR loot.
The process of collecting FIR items during raids for profit and quests influences how many choose to play the game.
Conclusions
In summary, Found in Raid is an integral mechanic in Escape from Tarkov for the following reasons:
- FIRE items can be sold on the flea market, creating an organic player-driven economy.
- FIR status is required for many quest turn-ins, requiring successful raids.
- Containers allow protecting FIR items on death, but have downsides.
- The need for FIR loot creates gameplay incentives around survival and extracting.
- FIR remains after raids but can be lost under certain conditions.
Found in Raid restricts simply endlessly reselling the same gear by requiring it was spawned as part of an online raid. This pushes players to actively participate in raids for profit and progression.