Escape from Tarkov - Are Faceshields In Tarkov Worth Using. Guide

Intro

For escape from Tarkov, one of the most important pieces of gear we can equip our pmcs with is a face shield. Or so we think. Today I'm going to be conducting a somewhat quick test of face shield effectiveness in eft. This test will be far from perfect but can hopefully serve as a snapshot of where face shields stand against commonly used rounds in the current patch point of 12.12.3.

Before we get into it, you can find me on twitch at {957}, slash johnnybusoc, or on tiktok under the same name.

Explaining testing method

The testing The method will be as follows: Ten rounds will be tested against four different face shields. For each round, a bullet will be shot at the face shield until the target dies.

Each combination of round and face shield will be tested twice, for a total of 80 tests. This, of course, is not the ideal sample size, but due to the length of time loading into offline raids repeatedly being somewhat restricted, the range will be consistent for each test at 15 meters as determined by a rangefinder.

For the face shields.

Faceshields used

I didn't choose any under class 3 because at class 2 and 1 we'd be purely relying on ricochet chance. I also only chose the face shields that you see most often in the game. For the first two, I opted for the kiver and the zsh face shields. With both being class 3 and glass material, the kiver has a high ricochet chance with 40 durability, while the zsh has a medium ricochet chance with 50 durability.

For the third face shield, I chose the fast. It's a class 3 and glass as well, but with 40 durability and a medium ricochet chance, it's theoretically the least effective combination of stats out of the three. For the fourth and final face shield, I opted for the alton. It's class 5 combined materials, 50 durability, with a high ricochet chance.

I'd considered the x-fil face shield, but it's just a halfway point between the kiver and zsh. I also considered the class 4 face shields, which are the LSHC and vulcan, but I rarely see people actually using either for the rounds used in testing.

Rounds used

I chose five of the most common calibers, with two of the most commonly used types of rounds for each caliber. The rounds are five six five six a one and nine five 545. BT and BS, 762, by 39 ps and BP, 762, by 51 m80 and m62, and 45 acp fmj, and ap While I could have chosen plenty of other different types of rounds and face shields.

I really wanted to stick to what's encountered most frequently. In the game again, each face shield will only be tested twice in each round, so the results will not be a hundred percent perfect, but with all this in mind, hopefully after testing you'll be able to easily develop an opinion on whether or not face shields are worth using for you.

Reviewing the results

Let's get started , With all that wrapped up, let's go over the data we've gathered. The face shields performed pretty interestingly across the board. Against 556, they surprisingly didn't have much of a chance. I expected the class three options to consistently tank two shots of five to six, but only one of the zshs actually lasted more than one bullet with 995.

Similarly, none of the face shields provided much protection. They also proved to be protective against 545 bt. Aside from the alton and bs providing nearly identical results to 995, against 45 fmj, the face shields actually started to do their job. Aside from the fast, which didn't survive a bullet in either test.

I was particularly caught off guard by this one, as 45 fmj is one of the lowest pen rounds you really see used in the game. The ap results were pretty much as expected, with one to two tapping the class three face shields and three tapping the alton 762 by 39ps. proved its status as one of the best budget rounds in the game, one to two tapping all the face shields other than the alton for bp, we were met with the surprise of the zsh, tanking a single shot.

One of the more interesting moments from the entire test. As for the other face shields, they were ineffective. The fast finally started to step up, being the only class iii face shield to last more than a single bullet. Finally, the M62 was a mash-up of surprises. The kiver and fast both had a test where the face shield blasted two bullets and the alton lasted three in both tests.

Personally, I expected the alton to go down with one or two shots of m62, so to me, this was a standout moment for the alton. At the end, we threw in the 9x19 PST test against the Alton, where it tanked 24 shots. I wouldn't really have expected anything different, but hopefully down the line, 9mm will become somewhat more usable again.

Answering the question

So after all this, we can loop back to the initial question: are face shields worth using in Tarkov? I'd say yes and no to that. The alton does its job, allowing you to survive a couple of face shots in most situations.

It'll cost you around 200K to barter for the helmet, then another 30K for the face shield on the market at 230k, Total. It's a hefty price to pay, but maybe not so bad as an extra layer of protection when the rest of your kit costs three times as having that tier of face protection really allows you to survive from a mistake or an aggressive push that would have gotten you killed otherwise.

As for the class 3 phase shields, their results are varied. There's something to be said about the ability to wear headphones with fast compatible helmets, but decisions based on that are purely subjective, considering rounds like 762ps are available immediately. At level 1, there isn't a player you'll run into that isn't capable of shooting around that will one tap through these options.

Overall, the level 3 face shields just have a very slight chance of surviving a shot from most common rounds. Of course, we can bring low pen scav rounds or buckshot into the equation as well, which, of course, these will hold up against for a couple of shots, but is a 40k, ruble fast face shield, or 60k.

Zsh helmet and face shield worth the slim chance of surviving a shot from a player or extra protection from a scav? The choice is really up to you and how many rubles you have to throw around. I'll run these lower class face shields on the factory since so many people are running around with buckshot.

I'll also run a faster x-fil on other maps if I have one sitting around, but I never go out of my way to buy one for any real pvp. Outside of the factory, the Alton is the only one that's going to save you consistently .

Outro

And that's going to be it. I hope you all enjoyed this experiment, as it was a ton of fun for me to go through with some friends. I'd love to continue the conversation, but that wraps up this article.