A guide to EFT's Woods map, including the easiest way to extract.
Page Updated November 14, 2023, 16:59 | First Published May 21, 2023, 21:49
Table of Contents
Escape from Tarkov's most hated map and Jaeger's favorite place to send us on his scavenger hunts - Woods provides players with the hell-on-earth experience, facing you against the terrain, a sniper-wielding scav boss, and players camping bushes. If you're reading this article, it's very possible you're hiding in a bush, confused and scared because Jaeger sent you on a trip to kill five scavs without body armor. Despite the bad portrayal, Woods can provide heaven on earth once mastering the marksman rifle, hence why the majority of Tarkov marksmen transfer their urban skills to the rural wasteland of Woods.
Within this guide, we're going to teach you how to navigate around desolate lands and prosper, educating those on the map, loot, extractions, scav boss, and the best weapons to use within Woods. However, please understand that Woods is an unforgiving map, if completely new to Tarkov, you are most likely going to struggle, therefore it's recommended that you learn the map slowly via Scav runs instead of losing gear and money on PMC runs. Woods contains minefields, deadly players, scavs, and bosses, along with a confusing and frustrating map dynamic, I'm sure you can sense you're going to die a lot here.
What Scav boss is on Woods - Shturman
Escape from Tarkov collaborates with many difficult bosses, such as Killa, Tagilla, and Reshala, but these bosses are nothing in comparison to Wood's Shturman. Equipped with a 7.62x54 marksman rifle and the vision of an eagle, Shturman protects the lands of Woods ruthlessly alongside his advanced scav buddies. Located around the sawmill on the south coast of Woods, Shturman lurks in the vicinity with a puffer coat and a vendetta against all PMCs. Unfortunately, Shturman has quite the eye, locating and engaging players at sometimes over two-hundred meters of distance, often hitting and eliminating his target within the second burst of shots.
Shturman is often equipped with the following weapons:
- HK G28 7.62x51 Marksman rifle
- SVDS 7.62x54R Sniper rifle
- Kalashnikov AK-105 5.45x39
Shturman's guards are often equipped with the following weapons:
- SVDS
- SR-25
- Vpr Hunter
- Mosin
- OP-SKS
- VSS Vintorez
Although "guard" has the connotation of being protective of Shturman, the guards are quite spread out over the sawmill, having Shturman and his guards venture around the mill alone. Therefore, once you kill Shturman, chances are his guard is posted up in a completely different location. However, before engaging Shturman, it is important to know he will let off a burst of rounds before initiating on you, the second burst of rounds will be directed at you and likely kill you. Therefore, when you hear the first couple of shots fired, hit the deck as the next is coming for your neck.
To kill Shturman and his guards, it is recommended that you operate a weapon of high calibers, such as the SR-25, Mosin, OP-SKS, HK G28, SVDS, etc as it'll put him out of commission quickly. Additionally, ensure you have a scope with a 4x zoom minimum; woods and long-range scopes go hand-in-hand, therefore it's best you follow advice. Finally, Shturman has a 32% chance of spawning and to figure out if he has spawned, listen out for loud bangs in the southern direction, chances are it's the legend himself.
Escape from Tarkov Woods Extraction Points
Similar to Shoreline, Woods has extracts on the outskirts of the map (even having an extract called outskirts) which is beneficial from a safety point of view. Although the map is dominated by snipers and marksmen, therefore you're not going to be totally safe.
Here are all the PMC extracts on Woods:
| Extract | Location | Requirement |
| Bridge vehicle exit (V-Ex) | Northeast outskirts along the main road by the river | ₽5,000 |
| Factory Gate | Southeast of the military base near RUAF Roadblock | PMC and friendly scav |
| Northern UN Roadblock | East side of the map, opposite bridge vehicle exit | - |
| Outskirts | South part of the map, West of the sea, past scav house | - |
| RUAF Roadblock | East side of the map, near the factory gate | - |
| UN Roadblock | Opposite the RUAF roadblock, follow the road across | - |
| ZB-14 | North of scav house in the bunker with green flares | ZB-14 Key |
| ZB-16 | West of the old station in the woods | (only open if green flares show) |
All players will find it relatively easy to find these extracts except ZB-14/16 due to them being in underground bunkers, although green flares will be showing near them. All other extracts are on the outskirts of the map and are relatively easy to find, venture too far northwest and you'll end up in a minefield and extract in a body bag.
Is Woods good for loot?
Simple response, no. It's not. The map only has three available keys for use and one of them is for an extract! Despite lacking keys, the best looting location would be Sawmilll and the small military base south of Sawmilll. These locations offer weapons, medical equipment, supply crates, and toolboxes, offering a diverse selection for you to choose from, provided you don't get shot whilst snooping around.
Sawmill contains a box belonging to the infamous Shturman, this box is called "Shturman's stash" which contains the motherload of goodies, providing players with expensive loot and high-caliber weapons. However, in order to unlock this case, you're going to have to take the key off Shturman, and to do that, you've got to kill him and survive his guards. Once doing so, search Shturman for the "red rebel pickaxe" in his melee slot, costing over ₽1,000,000 on the flea market, then search his pockets for the key. Once finding the key, the box is located on top of a wheel next to stacked piles of logs in front of the blue-ish tin workshop in the sawmill.
The final key, the Yotota car key unlocks the truck by the log cabins in the sawmill. Again, not particularly sure if it's worth the fuss considering the extreme threat you're facing walking into the death pit known as sawmill. However, there's so much loot you'll be kicking yourself if you didn't at least try.
To make up for the poor loot, the developers decided to add a ridiculous amount of loot stashes around the map. As you can see by this map, these are the locations of all the stashes that contain a mixed variety of rare and useless loot. Whether or not you decide to gather loot from all the barrels is up to you, but in reality, it'll be worth it. These barrels can contain BTCs, rare weapons, and armor which will help aid your journey through the barren lands of Woods.
For more Escape From Tarkov news, be sure to check out our dedicated section or take a look at some of our Guides & Tutorials just below:
Escape From Tarkov Wipe News, Latest Patch Notes and More
Escape From Tarkov Map Extraction Guides
Escape From Tarkov Gameplay Guides
Escape From Tarkov Best Weapons, Armor and More
Escape From Tarkov Gunsmith Walkthrough
Written by Will Dowey
Will is a freelancer who formerly wrote for Jaxon where he completed a series of CSGO skin guides, Escape from Tarkov updates, and Modern Warfare stories—additionally, joining forces with DualShockers to share expertise on the much-beloved franchise, Wolfenstein. Following behind Will is his degree in Esports, obtained at the University of Chichester, the degree acts as a foundation for his articles and his love for games. If not battling PMCs in the Streets of Tarkov and farming clips for his YouTube channel, Will is inspecting upcoming Counter-Strike skins and plotting potential purchases to fuel his inventory.
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