How to Unlock Ref in Escape from Tarkov

Escape from Tarkov has a trader, Ref, who is sort of the NPC that connects Tarkov Arena and Escape from Tarkov. In the base game, he gives you a wide selection of valuable weapons and other items for GP Coins. Most of these GP Coins are acquired in the Tarkov Arena game. If you mainly play Tarkov Arena and you want to start playing the base Escape from Tarkov game and want a headstart, you need to unlock Ref as fast as possible. Here’s how you can do it.

How to Unlock the Trader Ref in Escape from Tarkov

To unlock Ref, you need to do the starter quest, Burning Rubber. It is one of the earliest tasks in the game, and you only need to use the vehicle extraction in Ground Zero. Just bring some Roubles in the raid and head to the Terragroups building, head outside to the left, and look for the vehicle extraction. You don’t even have to complete a raid; you can finish it with a run-through.

Once you finish the task, you’ll unlock the Easy Money – Part 1 task, which unlocks Ref.

How to Finish Easy Money Part 1 in Escape from Tarkov

Easy Money – Part 1 requires you to get the Bison vs Undertaker poster or quest item at the USEC Camp in Woods. It is near the ponds, the Scav Bunker, and the Scav Bridge extraction. It is easier to navigate around the area because the small ponds are some sort of landmark or point of interest to get your bearings.

Once you are in the USEC Camp, look for the white monoblock chair next to the supply tent. It has a yellowish poster on it. Pick up the poster, and you have to survive the raid to bring this task item out. Depending on your spawn, you want to extract either at ZB-016 or Outskirts (ZB-014 if you have the key).

After extracting, you can head straight to Customs with the quest item. However, if you want to do some other activity, you can stash your Bison vs Undertaker poster first so you don’t lose it when you die.

Go to your character screen and open the tasks tab. On the right side of your screen, you’ll see two inventory spaces. The one on top is your current inventory, meaning everything inside this inventory will be taken into all your raids. If you die, you’ll lose the quest item. You want to put the poster in your special item stash so it doesn’t get lost when you die in a raid.

Ignore all these if you plan on heading straight to Customs to finish the Easy Money Part 1 task.

Once you are in Customs and you have the BIson vs Undertaker in your quest inventory, go to the Stronghold. The Stronghold is an unfinished building with multiple mounted LMGs on the second floor. This is where Reshala, the Goons, Partisan, or even Cultists (at night) roam around. These bosses and enemies don’t have a high spawn rate, but it is worth mentioning.

Once you are inside the Stronghold, go to the small room with three boxes (technical crate, supply box, and supply crate). Stash the poster on the ground next to the light. If it doesn’t show up, you can try the Scav room in the middle next to the beds.

After stashing the poster, you can go to the nearest extraction, which should be the Old Gas Station or RUAF Roadblock. Depending on the path you take, you can even go to the Crossroads, which should be safer.

Once you finish the quest, you’ll unlock Ref and his shop. You can transfer more items and Roubles in Tarkov Arena to your Escape from Tarkov game to buy more weapons and items.