Battlestate Games has finally delivered Escape From Tarkov’s long-awaited 1.2.0.0 update, a sweeping patch that reworks the game’s PvE experience and introduces a mentorship program designed to soften the notoriously steep difficulty curve for newcomers.
The update is now available to players across all platforms, arriving after years of community demand for a more welcoming onboarding process in the unforgiving extraction shooter. At its center sits the new “EXFIL Brothers” program, which incentivizes experienced veterans to take less seasoned players under their wing while both parties earn tangible rewards for doing so.
A New Kind of Brotherhood
The mentorship system hinges on two distinct roles within Tarkov’s social fabric. Players who already possess a level 30 character are designated as “operators,” while those running an account no older than seven days qualify as “candidates.” When an operator joins a raid alongside a candidate, both players immediately receive a 5% XP bonus.
The rewards deepen as the candidate progresses through Tarkov’s leveling milestones. As candidates reach levels 10, 20, and 30, operators and their protégés alike will collect in-game roubles, bitcoins, and various cases. Operators stand to gain additional perks depending on which edition of the game their candidate purchased, including TarCoin, posters, the operator upper, and basic training hideout customization.
The program effectively turns Tarkov’s brutal learning curve into a shared endeavor rather than an isolating one, offering veterans a concrete reason to pass along hard-won knowledge while giving newcomers a gentler path through their first hours in the game.
Prestige and Bot Reworks
Beyond mentorship, the 1.2.0.0 update finally brings prestige to PvE mode, structured across six levels of progression. Crucially, everything earned through PvE prestige is permanent, meaning it will not be wiped clean when the next seasonal wipe arrives.
The prestige rewards carry real collector’s value for veteran players, including TarCoin alongside unique versions of the NKVD Finka knife, Akula dagger, and Gamma secure container. These exclusive cosmetics provide lasting recognition for those who invest heavily in the PvE experience.
The update also delivers a complete rework of PMC bot behavior across maps. According to Battlestate Games’ official announcement, “They are now distributed across the map more logically, with a greater concentration in quest areas.” The studio further explained that bots “engage in firefights with each other less frequently, preferring to attack scavs instead,” while gear and weapon loadouts now vary depending on their level and faction. New PMC bot spawns have additionally been added to the Labyrinth location.
“They are now distributed
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