09-04-2025
‘Escape From Tarkov' Patch Notes Add Weapon Skins And Make Ref Changes
A cool Tarkov patch has arrived.
Credit: Battlestate Games / Mike Stubbs
A new set of Escape From Tarkov patch notes have been released, and while the main focus is on the link between Arena and the main game, there are some exciting new additions, including the addition of weapon skins.
The biggest changes come from the Escape From Tarkov Arena 0.3.0 patch notes, which also launched at the same time as the Escape From Tarkov 0.16.5.5 patch notes. For Arena, there is the launch of the first ever battle pass in the game, which is free and features over 100 rewards to unlock for players. The list of rewards is mostly what you would expect to see, but the big addition comes in the form of weapon skins, a first for Tarkov.
Skins in the Escape From Tarkov Arena battle pass are surprisingly complex, with different camos being available throughout the battle pass. Interestingly they aren't just tied to a weapon, but instead can be applied to just a single weapon attachment, such as the silencer, to give you a very cool look. You can have up to three camouflages on a single weapon, although I'm expecting that to expand in the future.
The only disappointing part of the new skins launch is just how limited the list of weapons that support them is, with only 13 weapons currently having skins. However, with the dev team clearly wanting to support Arena for a while with more battle passes, you can probably expect that list of weapons to grow as more battle passes launch in the future.
The other big change in both sets of patch notes is a rework to Ref and his tasks, with every single Ref task getting some kind of change in the main Tarkov game. They have generally been made easier and given better rewards, meaning there is much more of a reason to complete them now. The full list of changes can be seen in the patch notes, but be warned, it's a lot of reading!
As far as changes in the main Tarkov game go, that's about it, however the Arena patch notes make for much better reading with a lot of very welcome changes. There's a rework of the social systems, an English-speaking announcer, a new map for Last Hero and tons of balance changes.
This update for Escape From Tarkov Arena will also coincide with the launch of the game on the Epic Games Store, with the release date set for tomorrow, April 10. Hopefully, this will give Arena a new lease of life, with tons of new players discovering the game.
