The new Tarkov event is all about masks.

Credit: Battlestate Games

A new event has launched in Escape From Tarkov that adds new quests to the game and tasks players with choosing a side in a war between some of the traders.

The new event is called Casus belli and kicks off with two new tasks being added to Tarkov. One is from Ref, who explains he is launching a new season of combat in Arena and has ordered some fancy rewards for the fighters, however these have been hijacked by masked bandits in Tarkov. He asks you to take out the pillagers and claim back the masks they have stolen, which you will then have to hand over.

At the same time, you will also get a new quest from Skier, who is annoyed that Ref has been poaching some of his staff, so has started targeting his shipments. Answering the mystery of who is behind the masked thefts. Skier wants you to take out PMCs on locations Ref is using to ship the goods, to further disrupt his plans.

As part of the new Casus belli event, some new scavs, known as pillagers, have been found across Tarkov, wearing some outlandish masks and other gear that is typically only seen in Escape From Tarkov Arena. These pillagers appear to have better weapon skills than the standard scavs, and have been reported to be hostile by default to player scavs, so are certainly something you will want to watch out for.

The event is only a couple of hours old, so the next stage of the event and further quests are still being discovered, but given the narrative is tied to the new season in Escape From Tarkov Arena, it would not be a surprise if some quests needed to be completed in that game. I also get the feeling that some of the rewards will likely be gear that has so far only been seen in Arena, which could now come to the main Tarkov game.