Escape from Tarkov: Arena guide: Best Blast Gang maps, strategies, and tips

When it comes to Escape from Tarkov: Arena, one game mode really stands above the rest: Blast Gang, the Counter-Strike style bomb defusal mode. While the TeamFight mode is a great way to warm up and learn the game, and Last Hero is fun if you are an amazing fragger, chances are you’ll spend most of your time planting and defusing bombs.

It feels like Escape from Tarkov: Arena was made for this mode. Blast Gang maps pit two teams of five against each other. One team needs to plant and defend the bomb until it detonates. The other either needs to prevent the bomb from being planted in the first place, or defuse it before it explodes. If all players on a team are killed, the other team wins the round. Blast Gang is simple but incredibly intense, and requires a good level of teamwork and tactics. 

If that sounds intimidating, don’t worry—we’ve scouted Blast Gang’s existing maps and put together a guide with tips, tricks, and strategies that should help you master the basics and survive longer. We've previously covered beginner's tips, now we're looking at the maps. 
 

Escape from Tarkov: Arena Blast Gang map guide

Escape from Tarkov: Arena has four Blast Gang maps right now, ranging from a giant sports stadium to a tight and winding coastal fort and even a subway station. Each one has a unique layout and features, and mastering one doesn’t mean you’ve mastered them all. Read on for more details.

Bowl map strategies and guide

Bowl is one of the more unique maps in Escape from Tarkov: Arena, set in an abandoned sports stadium with a helicopter crashed right in the middle. When it comes to Blast Gang, it’s all about playing in the tight corridors around the edge of the arena. The middle of the map (featuring the helicopter) is usually a risky place to go due to the exposed sight lines from around the edges.

As a result, despite Bowl’s size and abundance of long sight lines, close quarter kits tend to do quite well here. Big scopes simply aren’t that useful in the most common combat areas. Mid-range assault rifles fit most purposes on this map, but a couple of quick SMGs also wouldn’t feel amiss on any team.

Attack Strategies:

• Early site selection: The bomb sites are fairly spread out. Decide on a site to attack early and commit your whole team to that site.​
• Site entry points: Each bomb site has multiple entry points. Coordinate your team's approach to cover these effectively.​
• Avoid splitting forces: Sending only one or two players to the alternative site is generally ineffective. Focus your team's efforts on a single site.

Defense Strategies:

• Balanced site defense: Each site is hard to retake, so defending both sites is the optimal strategy. Allocate team members to each bomb site, and ensure you cover the main entrances.
• Quick rotation: Be prepared to move between sites rapidly in response to any fights breaking out.​
• Utility usage: Use remaining utility (e.g. grenades) strategically to delay enemy pushes, allowing teammates time to rotate and support.

Fort map tactics and tips

Fort is set in and on a big coastal defense. It can feel a bit like an old prison, featuring cells and tight corridors inside and a few big open spaces outside. With lots of passageways and multiple routes around the map, it's one of the more maze-like maps in Escape from Tarkov: Arena, and getting a clear view of the map isn’t easy given the lack of vantage points.

Because of the variety of areas on this map, you're going to want a team that has a bit of everything. A competent sniper can lock down more open portions of the map and a couple of the longer corridors and walkways, but playing in the mid-area of the map where things get tight and twisty will be a nightmare. That’s where SMGs will flourish, although some of the faster assault rifles can also work well.

Attack Strategies:

• Importance of mid-control: Fort is probably the closest thing to a traditional three lane map in Escape from Tarkov: Arena. Controlling the dual mid-area in the prison section is hugely important.
• Get there first: If you can establish early mid-control, you’ll have access to both bomb sites, effectively giving you control of most of the map.

Defense Strategies:

• Use utility early: Delay attackers with utilities to force them into desperate situations and gain an advantage.
• No need to hold the site: Position yourself strategically out of the way, forcing attackers to search for you rather than holding unfavorable angles. Even if attackers take mid-control, your positioning can force them to look for you instead of securing the site.

Skybridge tips for success in Escape from Tarkov: Arena

Skybridge is perhaps the coolest map in Blast Gang, set in a train station where you can fight it out on an actual train. It also has the most variety, with one site located between two trains on a platform, and the other found in what seems to be a ticket hall area. Skybridge is one of the more open maps in Escape from Tarkov: Arena—and perhaps the easiest to figure out, so it’s a great place to get started with Blast Gang.

You’ll be able to make almost any weapon work on Skybridge, as with some solid positioning you can either get up close and personal or fight from afar in any of the main areas of the map. You’ll just need to figure out the best angles to hold for your weapon of choice, and be sure your team knows how you plan to play.

Attack Strategies:

• Maximize utility usage on Skybridge: Utility is crucial for attackers on Skybridge, offering a significant advantage when used effectively. Smokes can cover key defensive positions on both sites, providing space for attackers to maneuver.
• Force enemies out with explosives: Explosives help force enemies from any hiding positions, allowing attackers to pick them off and gain control.
• Focus on team trading and angle awareness: After planting, awareness of enemy angles is key to securing victory.

Defense Strategies:

• Be reactionary on Skybridge: Retakes on either site are relatively easy, allowing for a flexible defensive approach.
• Cover main entry points on A site: Shutting down a rush is more effective on the A site by covering key entry points.
• Stack A site for better defense: Stacking the A site increases your chances of successfully defending against enemy rushes compared to the B site.

Master Bay5’s attack and defensive strategies

Bay5 feels like a great map concept that still hasn’t quite found its identity for Blast Gang. It’s set in a yard full of shipping containers, which sounds great, but in practice it mostly feels like a series of confusing corridors with only a couple of raised locations on top of the containers. That said, you can still have a lot of fun on Bay5 and it can lead to some very close games.

Close quarter weapons are going to succeed here, thanks to the abundance of short angles and the need for quick reactions when moving around. An enemy can easily be hidden around a harsh 90-degree turn, so being able to quickly check your corners and fire in milliseconds is always going to give you an advantage.

Attack Strategies:

• Identify enemy positions early: Focus on discovering where enemies hide during early rounds to gain valuable intel. The map has quite a few weird holes, and enemies will use them to their advantage. Start with a wide spread to gather information, then shift to closer play as the rounds progress for better results.
• Plan based on the early rounds: That early knowledge can be used to rush those areas, forcing the defenders into more unfavorable areas.

Defense Strategies:

• Cover flanking routes for strong defense: Ensure at least one person covers each flanking route to prevent attackers from getting behind.
• Control the middle for strategic advantage: Controlling the middle of the map gives defenders a key position since attackers need to push through it.
• Use high ground strategically: Take advantage of high ground for information, but avoid becoming predictable by camping there every round.

With these Escape from Tarkov: Arena Blast Gang tips, you’ll be prepped, locked, and loaded. Have fun, and remember to check your corners!

Escape from Tarkov: Arena is available on the Epic Games Store.