The gear I've currently got on my character is mostly a step up from the gear you first receive, but I doubt it's top end. Currently the skid-lid is decent and I've got a heavy duty armored vest that I've insured. The vest has saved me a couple of times. Is it BIS? Highly doubtful, but it's better than wearing cardboard. Inventory space has improved slightly with finding higher capacity rigs and packs. The trade-off though is weight. I'm finding I need to be cognizant of the overall load since higher values can adversely affect survivability. Stamina use goes up, energy loss is faster, hydration loss is faster, and your movement speed is reduced which makes sense. My character has almost blacked out from over-exertion (due to be finding and trying to lug back a full tank of propane lol). Weapon-wise I've had to change things up a bit and what I carry is dependent on the map. For example, close quarters map= hand grenades, SMG, pistol, carbine...the SMG is, for me, switchable with a shotgun (heavy buckshot preferred, and/or slugs). My favorite weapon is whatever get's the job done and my avatar back to the extract point. We are coming up against better geared opponents as we level up, but the lowliest scav can still waste you. For the dudes with armor I've gotten into the habit of leg shot kills (femoral artery) or if I'm feeling confident, a clean face-headshot. Tarkov has modelled many hitboxes on the body, including at least eight for the head alone. I'm just under fifty hours in, and my son has maybe 65 hours total. Have you engaged much in the GZW PvP? I may dip my toes into Tarkov's PvP but the PvE has been compelling enough.
