Escape from Tarkov's Blackout event turned The Lab into the most dangerous — and most profitable — map in the game, and the only way to earn the legendary Going Dark achievement is to clear its five exclusive quests. This is the full walkthrough: every objective, every reward, the level requirement that soft-locked players at launch, and the fastest order to run the chain during patch 1.0.6.5 of Season 1 Kord Breach.
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Quick answer: the Blackout questline at a glance
The Blackout questline is a 5-quest chain, live during the 1.0.6.5 event, that all takes place inside The Lab and rewards the legendary "Going Dark" achievement on completion. You need a character at level 30 and a Labs Keycard to even start. The quests, in order, are: Wrench and Waterboarding → Key to Every Door → My Blood Type Mark is on the Sleeve → Patch the Vulnerability → If I Can't Have It. Expect thermal optics, roubles, rare TerraGroup keycards, and a heavy weapon along the way — plus a lot of dying to The Wedge and his Black Division squad.
- Patch: 1.0.6.5 (build 46221), Blackout event within Season 1 "Kord Breach"
- Location: The Lab only — raid timer cut to 25 minutes, and only the Hangar Gate and Parking Gate extracts are open
- Entry gate: character level 30 + a one-time-use Labs Keycard
- Payoff: the Going Dark Legendary achievement + thermal scopes, keycards, roubles, and a heavy machine gun
Battlestate has not announced an official end date for Blackout, but it is a limited-time event — every quest here disappears when it ends. If you want the Going Dark achievement, you're on the clock.
What is the Blackout questline?
Blackout is a limited-time in-game event tied to the 1.0.6.5 patch, and Battlestate Games frames the whole thing through Skier, the trader who "found a vulnerability" that opens TerraGroup's most secure facility. The catch: The Wedge and his Black Division mercenaries got there first, the power is out, and the entire map is pitch black.
The event ships five exclusive event quests that guide you through every new mechanic — the emergency access code, the reworked extractions, and the Black Division enemies — and finishing all five unlocks the Going Dark achievement, which carries Legendary rarity (event details cross-checked against the Escape from Tarkov wiki and tarkov-market.com). It is the single most prestigious thing you can chase in Tarkov right now, and because it's event-gated, it will not come back once Blackout closes.
If you want the wider picture — loot values, extract routes, and how the code farming works outside of the quests — read our companion Tarkov Blackout event guide and the full The Lab (Labs) map guide. This page is the quest walkthrough.
Before you start: requirements & gear
Two hard gates stop most players before quest one:
- You must be character level 30. Wrench and Waterboarding is locked behind a level-30 requirement, and at launch it was soft-locked for a wave of players who met the requirement but still couldn't accept it — a launch bug Battlestate acknowledged. As GamesHub reported, "the issue with Tarkov's new Wrench and Waterboarding quest is that it is locked behind a character level 30 requirement." If you're grinding a fresh Kord Breach character, level first — our Season 1 leveling guide covers the fastest routes.
- You need a Labs Keycard to enter. The emergency code opens doors inside The Lab, but you still need a one-time-use Labs Keycard to get through the front door. Find them in drawers, stashes, boss/scav pockets, and crates, barter one at Mechanic LL3 (Bulbex cable cutter + Pipe grip wrench + 2× Pliers Elite), or craft one at Intel Center LL2.
Gear priority: night-vision or thermal is not optional. The map is dark, The Wedge's squad runs 7.62x51 M62/M993 and AP SX ammo, and whoever sees first wins the fight. Skier hands you thermal optics on the very first quest for exactly this reason — bring your own for the runs before that.
All 5 Blackout quests in order
Every quest in the chain takes place inside The Lab and builds on the last. Here's the full walkthrough.
1. Wrench and Waterboarding (Skier)
Objective: Get into The Lab (visit the location).
This is the "on-ramp" quest — simple on paper, brutal in practice because it forces you into a pitch-black endgame map. Burn a Labs Keycard, enter, and survive long enough for the visit to register.
Rewards: 15,000 EXP · 75,000 Roubles · 2× Cyclone Shakhin Thermal Scope · 2× Torrey Pines Logic Thermal Reflex Sight (reward list per launch-day reporting on Insider Gaming). Those thermals are your kit for the rest of the questline — don't sell them.
2. Key to Every Door (Skier)
Objective: Locate the emergency access code in The Lab, then confirm the code works on a keypad.
This is the heart of the event. Find the 4-digit emergency access code inside The Lab (commonly on a whiteboard in the system admin's office / security area), then punch it into any keypad door to prove it works. Note: the code regenerates every raid, so you find a fresh one each time you enter — memorising it does nothing.
3. My Blood Type Mark is on the Sleeve (Sanitar)
Objectives: Obtain the TG-y blood sample from the experiment room, obtain a second TG-y blood sample from the second-floor laboratory block, and grab the documents from Sanitar's room in The Lab.
A collection quest that walks you across three high-traffic loot zones — expect to fight for every objective. Reward: rare TerraGroup Labs keycards (Black / Red / Violet tier), which are worth a small fortune on their own.
4. Patch the Vulnerability (event)
Objectives: Plant a signal jammer in the system admin's office, the garage gate control room, and the central security monitoring room, then eliminate 10 Black Division operatives.
This is the combat wall. You're planting three jammers in fixed rooms and farming 10 Black Division kills — the toughest AI faction in the game. Bring a squad or expect multiple raids.
5. If I Can't Have It (event)
Objective: Eliminate 15 PMC operatives in The Lab.
The finale is a straight PvP grind: 15 human PMC kills inside Blackout Labs. Completing it grants the Going Dark Legendary achievement and a heavy machine gun reward. This is where most players stall — Labs PvP is the hardest in the game, and the dark map amplifies every mistake.
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How the emergency access code works
The single most important mechanic to understand: during Blackout, normal Labs keycards do not open interior doors. Instead, one randomly-generated 4-digit code unlocks every keypad door in the raid — loot rooms, the arsenal, and the keypad extracts.
- The code is different every raid — find it fresh each time inside The Lab.
- It opens all keypad doors once you have it, which is exactly why Labs is currently the best loot map in the game.
- You still need a Labs Keycard to enter; the code only matters once you're inside.
Because a single code opens everything, an efficient run can hit multiple keycard-tier rooms in one 25-minute raid — a farm that normally takes dozens of expensive keycards.
Fastest way to complete the Blackout questline
The chain is front-loaded with easy quests and back-loaded with two combat walls (10 Black Division + 15 PMC kills). To clear it efficiently:
- Run quests 1–3 solo or duo — they're objective/collection tasks; stealth and speed beat brute force.
- Squad up for quests 4 and 5. 10 Black Division kills and 15 PMC kills are far faster with a coordinated team holding the code rooms and extract chokes.
- Bring thermals every raid — the map's darkness is your biggest killer, not the AI.
- Bank the keycard rewards. The Black/Red/Violet TerraGroup keycards from quest 3 are pure profit if you don't need them.
If you don't have the roster, the level, or the raids to spare — and Labs PvP is genuinely the hardest content in Tarkov — a pro-player can clear the whole Blackout chain on your account and hand you the Going Dark achievement before the event closes.
Get the Going Dark achievement without the Labs deaths:
- Tarkov Quest & Kappa Boost — pro players clear the full Blackout questline on your account · skip the grind
- Tarkov Leveling Boost — hit the level-30 gate fast · secure
- Tarkov Roubles — instant delivery — fund your Labs kits · best rate · fast
FAQ
How many quests are in the Tarkov Blackout event? There are five: Wrench and Waterboarding, Key to Every Door, My Blood Type Mark is on the Sleeve, Patch the Vulnerability, and If I Can't Have It. Completing all five unlocks the Going Dark Legendary achievement.
What level do you need for the Blackout quests? You need to be character level 30 to accept the first quest, Wrench and Waterboarding. At launch it was soft-locked for some accounts even at level 30 — a bug Battlestate addressed shortly after the event went live.
Do you still need a Labs Keycard during Blackout? Yes. The emergency access code only opens doors inside The Lab. You still need a one-time-use Labs Keycard to enter the map — barter it at Mechanic LL3, craft it at Intel Center LL2, or find one in raid.
What is the reward for finishing the Blackout questline? The final quest, If I Can't Have It, grants the Going Dark Legendary achievement plus a heavy machine gun. Earlier quests reward thermal scopes, 75,000 roubles, and rare TerraGroup keycards.
Is the Blackout questline permanent? No. Blackout is a limited-time event with no announced end date. Every quest and the Going Dark achievement become unavailable once the event ends, so complete the chain while it's live.
How does the emergency access code work? It's a randomly-generated 4-digit code that opens every keypad door in that raid, replacing normal Labs keycards for interior doors. It changes every raid, so you must find a fresh code each time you enter The Lab.
