Escape from Tarkov Halloween 2026 Event Guide: Quests, Rewards, Maps
Escape from Tarkov Halloween 2026 event guide: Infected Factory and Lab, all 19 Skier and Therapist quests, both choices, rewards, achievements and tips.
In this guide 8 sections
This Escape from Tarkov Halloween 2026 event guide covers the infection that Battlestate Games shipped in patch 1.3.0.0 on October 29, 2026: the return of the infected (the game's zombies), two infected maps, a 19-quest storyline split between Skier and Therapist, three event achievements and a stack of event barters. Battlestate's 1.3.0.0 patch notes confirm the event and the switch to fall weather. The quest steps, rewards and map details below come from the community-run Escape from Tarkov Wiki, checked on November 10; unless a sentence names another source, that is where a detail comes from. Its numbers can still be corrected as players test the event, so read the quest text in game before you hand anything over.
Quick summary
- Start: October 29, 2026 (patch 1.3.0.0). The same update moved the in-game season to fall (Battlestate patch notes).
- Two infected locations: Infected Factory and Infected Lab. Infected also show up across the rest of Tarkov, and the location screen shows how infected each map is.
- Enemies: infected civilians, lab technicians, PMCs and Black Division operatives, plus an infected Tagilla. Players call this the Tarkov zombie event.
- Quests: 19 tasks, 10 from Skier and 9 from Therapist, with two choices that set your branch.
- Rewards: the Shields Up!, Triumph of Science and Groovy achievements, a Tarkov of the Dead poster, a Halloween main menu background, cases, weapons and new trader barters.
Escape from Tarkov Halloween event explained
The story this year is a virus, and the EFT zombie event is built around it. The wiki's event page says an unknown disease spread out of The Lab and contaminated the whole Tarkov region. You work for two traders who disagree about how to handle it. Skier wants to hold a hard quarantine. Therapist wants to study the infection and build a cure. The questline makes you pick a side twice, and the side you hold at the end decides which achievement you can earn.
| Feature | What changed in Halloween 2026 |
|---|---|
| Infection | Spread across every map; the location screen shows each map's infection level |
| New locations | Infected Factory, Infected Lab |
| Infected types | Civilians, lab technicians, PMCs and Black Division operatives, fighting with fists, knives and pistols |
| Infected Tagilla | Roams both event maps and sometimes regular Factory and Interchange |
| Virus effect | Each hit from an infected has a small chance to apply it: hearing cuts out for a moment and hydration drops, and the effect stays until you extract or die |
| Scav karma | No penalty for killing Scavs while you play as a Scav |
| Looks | Spooky trader portraits, Hideout decorations and lights, pumpkin helmets on AI |
| Loot | Pumpkins with sweets placed around the world |
Every row comes from the wiki's Halloween 2026 entry. Patch 1.3.0.0 also added high-difficulty PMC bots to the PvE Zone, which can spawn on high-level locations (Battlestate patch notes), so PvE players get the event and tougher bots at the same time.
Infected Factory and Infected Lab
The two event maps sit in their own section of the location menu. The wiki adds two rules that change how you should gear for them: every door is unlocked, and insurance does not return anything you lose there.
| Detail | Infected Factory | Infected Lab |
|---|---|---|
| Raid time | 15 minutes | 30 minutes |
| Players | 4–6 | 8–10 |
| Entry | Not stated | TerraGroup Labs access keycard |
| Lights | Not stated | Turned off |
| Exits | Gate 0 and Gate 3, always open | Parking (needs Car keys) and Sewage Conduit (needs a Collector map) |
| Insurance | Lost items are not returned | Lost items are not returned |
The Lab's two exits are the reason many first runs end badly. The wiki places the Car keys on the round table with the cat statues in the recreation area (R21) and inside an infected head on a water dispenser in office O23, both on the second level. The Collector map can sit at the same R21 table, behind the screen in Kruglov's office (R22) or on a desk in O23.
Unique event equipment
A handful of new items run through the questline. Most are pure quest items, but two of them are grenades you will throw during raids.
| Item | What it does in the event |
|---|---|
| TG-VI-26 vaccine batch | Quest item from Lighthouse; you either stash it for Skier or give it to Therapist |
| Blood sample | Taken from a dead scientist for Follow-Up Examination; also used in barters |
| Infected tissue sample | Needed for Studying the Enemy and barters; can't go in a secure container |
| TG-Vi-24 vaccine prototype (B.1.2 strain) | Therapist's partial cure; needed for Prototyping and the RDA-78 barter |
| Model 8230 CS gas grenade (RDA-68) | Throwable used in First Results |
| Model 8230 CS gas grenade (RDA-78) | Throwable used in The Final Push |
| RDA-78 vaccine (Replicative DNA Attenuator) | The full cure; Skier asks for one in Blind the Enemy |
Both grenades come from Therapist barters once you take the quest that needs them. The wiki lists one plain Model 8230 CS gas grenade as the cheapest trade for each, and you can bring at most three of them into a raid.
EFT Halloween event quests and the branch choices
The first two quests ask for little more than 10 kills each. The real test is staying alive on the event maps long enough to finish them. Here is the quest order:
- Halloween: Rumors (Skier) opens the event: travel to Infected Factory and eliminate 10 infected.
- Halloween: The Best Defense (Skier) moves you to Infected Lab. Accepting it also unlocks Follow-Up Examination from Therapist.
- First choice: the Lighthouse vaccine batch goes to Skier's stash in Unexpected Help or to Therapist in Initial Examination. Completing one fails the other.
- Second choice: Tightening the Quarantine (Skier) or A New Vaccine (Therapist). Again, finishing one fails the other. There are two versions of each, so what they ask and pay depends on how you chose in step 3.
- The trader you sided with in step 4 gives the rest of your branch, ending in either Blind the Enemy (Skier) or The Final Push (Therapist).
Every event task name begins with "Halloween:", and the two traders hand them out in turns, so check both trader screens when the next step seems missing.
Skier Halloween quests
| Quest | What to do | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Rumors | Go to Infected Factory and eliminate 10 infected | 26,000 EXP, €1,800, AA-12 Gen 2 shotgun (Labs variant), 3 AA-12 20-round drums, 4 packs of SuperFormance HP slugs |
| The Best Defense | Go to Infected Lab and eliminate 10 infected; optional: find an exit item and get out alive | 36,000 EXP, €2,700, QBZ-191 rifle, 3 magazines, 4 packs of DBX95 ammo |
| Unexpected Help (choice) | Pick up the vaccine batch at the Lighthouse water treatment plant; stash it in the Customs two-story dorm, room 105 | 38,000 EXP, €2,700, Ammunition case |
| Tightening the Quarantine (choice) | Turn in found-in-raid medkits that stop heavy bleeding, medical balms and surgical kits: 5/2/2, or 7/3/3 if you sided with Therapist first | 48,000 EXP; Skier first: €1,800 and an AK-12 kit; Therapist first: €2,700 and a Money case |
| Danger Zone | Eliminate 15 targets on one map from each pair: Ground Zero or Customs, Woods or Interchange, Shoreline or Streets of Tarkov, Lighthouse or Reserve | 44,000 EXP, €2,800, weapon repair kit, IOTV Gen4 armor, 2 tissue samples, two Therapist barters, 2 extra daily tasks |
| Coincidence? | Find the signal source and the TerraGroup folder at Lighthouse; hand it over | 42,000 EXP, €2,700, PKM machine gun, 2 100-round boxes, 10 packs of BT gzh ammo |
| Prototyping | Turn in a pair of TG-Vi-24 vaccine prototypes | 34,000 EXP, €1,800, Skier barters for the AA-12, Sako TRG M10 and Physical Bitcoin |
| Enemy of My Enemy | Pass the TerraGroup folder to Therapist | 24,000 EXP, €1,800, 3 BNTI Gzhel-K armors |
| For the Greater Good - An Agreement | Hand over Therapist's infection data (Therapist branch partner quest) | 18,000 EXP, €1,800, 2 tissue samples |
| Blind the Enemy | Hand over an RDA-78 vaccine; destroy cameras on Woods (2), Customs (3), Lighthouse (3), Reserve (3) and Shoreline (3) | 60,000 EXP, €4,000, Weapon case, Shields Up! achievement |
Two practical notes from the quest pages. The Customs room needs a Dorm room 105 key. The Lighthouse folder for Coincidence? lies in water treatment building no. 2, in the ground-floor room with the world map, next to a door.
Therapist Halloween quests
| Quest | What to do | Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Follow-Up Examination | Find the scientist's body (hazmat suit) on either event map; open the body with Medical tools; take and hand over the blood sample | 40,000 EXP, €2,700, 2 Adrenaline, 2 Trimadol, 2 Labs access keycards |
| Initial Examination (choice) | Hand the Lighthouse vaccine batch to Therapist | 38,000 EXP, ₽200,000, Document case |
| A New Vaccine (choice) | Survive a raid on either event map and extract; if you sided with Skier first, do both maps and pay $2,000 | 41,000 EXP; Therapist first: ₽150,000, 2 Surv12 kits, 2 Labs keycards; Skier first: ₽300,000 and a thermal bag |
| High-Risk, High-Reward | Eliminate 30 infected across the event maps | 41,000 EXP, ₽300,000, 3 Propital, 3 Zagustin, 2 TG-Vi-24 prototypes, four new barters, 2 extra daily tasks |
| First Results | Kill 15 infected inside the RDA-68 gas cloud | 42,000 EXP, ₽300,000, 5 Grizzly medical kits |
| Studying the Enemy | Turn in a pair of infected tissue samples | 34,000 EXP, ₽150,000, four Therapist barters up to an Item case |
| For the Greater Good | Pass the infection data to Skier | 24,000 EXP, ₽150,000, 2 Ibuprofen, 2 Augmentin, 4 Labs keycards |
| Enemy of My Enemy - An Agreement | Hand over Skier's TerraGroup folder (Skier branch partner quest) | 18,000 EXP, ₽150,000, RDA-78 vaccine, 2 TG-Vi-24 prototypes, ten trader barters |
| The Final Push | Kill 15 infected inside the RDA-78 gas cloud; kill Infected Tagilla | 60,000 EXP, ₽450,000, RDA-78 vaccine, Item case, 2 TG-Vi-24 prototypes, ten trader barters, Triumph of Science achievement |
Each branch has one quest that needs items from the other side. Prototyping wants TG-Vi-24 prototypes, which only Therapist's tasks hand out. Studying the Enemy wants tissue samples, which only Skier's tasks hand out. The suggested fix for both is the flea market. Neither item fits in a secure container.
Escape from Tarkov Halloween event 2026 rewards
The quest payouts are generous, but the parts you keep after the event are the cosmetic and account rewards. The wiki's achievements page lists three for Halloween 2026, all rated Legendary:
- Shields Up!: finish Skier's line with Blind the Enemy.
- Triumph of Science: finish Therapist's line with The Final Push.
- Groovy: kill 300 infected during the event.
Shields Up! and Triumph of Science sit on branches that fail each other, so one account can earn Groovy plus one of the two story achievements, not all three. Either story achievement also gives the Tarkov of the Dead poster and the Halloween main menu background, which the event page says stays with you for good.
A second poster, Halloween in Norvinsk, advertises a made-up horror film from a famous director. It hangs on walls across Tarkov, can be installed in the Hideout and can't be sold on the flea market.
The event also opens trader barters. High-Risk, High-Reward unlocks these four on Therapist's branch:
| Item | Trader (loyalty level) |
|---|---|
| FLIR RS-32 2.25-9x 35mm 60Hz thermal riflescope | Jaeger (LL1) |
| RShG-2 72.5mm rocket launcher | Prapor (LL1) |
| DevTac Ronin helmet | Ragman (LL1) |
| SIG MCX-SPEAR 6.8x51 assault rifle | Peacekeeper (LL1) |
Enemy of My Enemy - An Agreement and The Final Push open a longer list that includes the Mk-18 .338 LM, T-7 thermal goggles, a PKP, the RB-BK marked key, a Trijicon REAP-IR, a Milkor M32A1 and a T H I C C item case. None of the sources say whether any of these barters stay after the event, so treat them as event offers.
Pumpkins with sweets are back too. They lie around every map, open only once you are out of the raid, can't go in a secure container and can't be sold on the flea market. The contents are listed only as random. A pumpkin can also go into the Cultist Circle as a sacrifice, which returns a Jack-o'-lantern tactical pumpkin helmet after 1 hour 6 minutes.
EFT Halloween 2026 tips and tricks
The event is hard in PvP and PvE alike, mostly because of how many infected the event maps throw at you. These habits come from the quest and item notes.
- Carry spare Medical tools for Follow-Up Examination. Each body you open uses one set, and a sample doesn't always come out. Bring more than one set.
- Know the blood sample spots. On Infected Factory there are three marked spots: outside the laboratory, on top of the tanks by the pumping station, and next to the offices against a pile of rubble. On Infected Lab there are four: the first-level reception, the tented area near the Blue keycard room, the basement tunnel toward Sewage Conduit, and the middle of the main work area (O11).
- Bring a lot of ammo. Running dry in a hallway full of infected ends raids, so take large magazines. The event's own rewards point the same way: an AA-12 with 20-round drums early on and a PKM with 100-round boxes later in Skier's line.
- Take night vision to Infected Lab. The Infected Lab page notes that the lights are off there, so plan to see without them.
- Respect the gas. Inside an RDA cloud you get hand tremors, can't use meds, lose stamina and take 2 HP per second to the thorax. A respirator only stops the thorax damage and coughing. A GP-5, GP-7, Avon M53A1 or MSA Millennium gas mask stops all of it.
- Plan for Infected Tagilla. Therapist's last quest needs him dead. He roams both event maps and sometimes regular Factory and Interchange.
- Check zombie behaviour and loot yourself. The sources we checked do not say whether killed infected can be searched, or whether some move faster or shoot from range beyond the pistols they carry. Test it in your learning raid rather than trusting forum claims.
- Gear for no insurance. Nothing comes back from the event maps, so pick a kit you can afford to lose.
- Keep your distance. Any hit carries a small chance of the virus effect, which cuts your hearing for a moment and lowers hydration, and it lasts until you extract or die. Pack water.
Run one cheap learning raid on Infected Factory before you take the Lab: learn how fast Tarkov's zombies close in and how many hits they take. Our beginner raid preparation guide has a simple pre-raid check. One more change from the event page: playing as a Scav, you can kill other Scavs without a karma penalty while the event runs.
The Escape from Tarkov hub collects our guides and service categories for the game, including quests and achievements.
Want a hand with this?
If you would rather not grind this part yourself, Escape from Tarkov Halloween event services are listed on FullBoosts. Read the publisher's rules before you buy any service from anyone, FullBoosts included — a marketplace listing isn't publisher permission.
FAQ
When does the Escape from Tarkov Halloween 2026 event end? Patch 1.3.0.0 brought it live on October 29, 2026. When we checked on November 10, Battlestate's news feed hadn't given an end date, so finish the quests and the 300-kill Groovy achievement early instead of counting on extra weeks.
How do you start the Halloween 2026 event in Tarkov? Take Halloween: Rumors from Skier, then eliminate 10 infected on Infected Factory, which you pick from the event section of the location menu. The Best Defense on Infected Lab comes next, and accepting it unlocks Therapist's first event quest.
How do you access Infected Factory and Infected Lab? They have their own event section on the location selection screen. You need a TerraGroup Labs access keycard to enter Infected Lab, and nothing insured comes back from either map.
How do zombies work in the Tarkov Halloween event? The infected spread across Tarkov, and both Infected Factory and Infected Lab are built around them. They are civilians, lab technicians, PMCs and Black Division operatives who attack with fists, knives and pistols, and each hit has a small chance to apply the virus effect. Most event quests ask you to eliminate them, so they are your main target.
Should you choose Skier or Therapist in the Halloween questline? Pick by the achievement you want. Skier's line ends in Blind the Enemy and Shields Up!, a tour of five regular maps to smash cameras. Therapist's line ends in The Final Push and Triumph of Science, which means gas grenade kills and Infected Tagilla. The two lines fail each other, so check the rewards before you hand in the second choice quest.
What are the rewards for the Tarkov Halloween 2026 event? Three Legendary achievements (Shields Up!, Triumph of Science and Groovy for 300 infected kills), the Tarkov of the Dead poster and Halloween menu background for finishing a story line, and the Halloween in Norvinsk poster from raids. On top of that there are cases, weapons, vaccines and event barters such as the FLIR RS-32 and SIG MCX-SPEAR.
