Escape from Tarkov’s Icebreaker update is here, and fans of the pioneering extraction shooter are trying to figure out how to get to Icebreaker, the new map added for this event. Following the deployment of the update, it wasn’t immediately obvious how to trigger the Boreas questline and head to Icebreaker, but this guide outlines exactly what to do.
It’s not as tough as it seems, and learning how to find Icebreaker in Escape from Tarkov is just a few steps away.
Where to Find the Ship Poster in Escape from Tarkov
Battlestate Games has listed a few ways to get to Icebreaker in Escape from Tarkov, and one of them is to have Intelligence LL3 in your Hideout. That’s a tall ask for anyone who might have prestiged or who hasn’t leveled up their Hideout enough, but it doesn’t end there.
In fact, the easiest way to start the Boreas storyline and get to Icebreaker doesn’t involve your Hideout at all.
Instead, you’ll want to head to Ground Zero and search the map for a new poster:
This poster can be found spontaneously across the map, but I found mine by the main staircase in the central Terragroup building on Ground Zero. This is the easiest way to start Icebreaker.
From there, head back to the lobby, go to Mechanic, and engage him in conversation, asking him about the new poster and what you’ve discovered.
He’ll tell you everything you need to know, including giving you your next target.
You’ll have to head to Woods and go to the Scav Bunker in the top-left corner of the map, taking a Toolkit to perform a repair job on a radio tower there.
Once you’ve returned to Mechanic, he’ll inform you that you need to head to Lighthouse, go to the rail station north of the Water Treatment Plant, and find a document located there:
The shipping documentation is located on a table in the main hangar building of the railway station.
Once you’ve taken the documents to Mechanic, he’ll inform you that you need to find someone with access to vehicles. Right now, you have two pathways, both of which need to be completed:
- Prapor
- BTR Driver
If you talk to the BTR Driver (by going to a map he circulates on), you’ll have three potential outcomes:
- If you have done the BTR taskline and sided with him
- Go back to your Hideout
- Talk to the BTR Driver again via the Hideout
- Transit to Icebreaker unlocked
- If you have not done the BTR taskline
- Complete the elimination task, taking down enemies in Smuggler territory
- If you have done the BTR taskline but sided with Skier
- Give ammo to the BTR Driver to appease him (200 x 7.62.54mm BT)
- Find Skier’s reports on Customs in the ditch between crackhouse and the stronghold on Customs, under the Paradigm shipping container. Then, take the documents and burn them in a fire barrel. The closest one to the documents is in the stronghold itself.
- Eliminate 15 targets in Smuggler territory. The easiest place to farm these kills is at the Smuggler Base on Shoreline (top right of the map)
- Once the required objectives are complete, confirm with the BTR Driver if all is well to proceed.
If you talk to Prapor via the Trader menu, you’ll also have three options:
- If you gave the case to Prapor in The Ticket
- Find helicopter oil on Reserve. This is either around the helicopter in the barracks (look near forklift trucks), under Black Bishop (in the long corridor under the back of the building), or on the cargo area of the railway station
- If you kept the case in The Ticket
- You need to give Prapor three FIR Military Power Filters and then find the helicopter oil
- If you have not yet touched the case in The Ticket
- Kill 30 Scav enemies on Reserve, launch a yellow flare, and then find the helicopter oil
Even though Prapor can help you get away from the Icebreaker location, he can’t help you get there, and you still need to find a way there.
Once you’ve ticked the boxes above and done what needs doing, you’ll have to finally head to Shoreline to the pier where the boat extract usually sits, and use the hovercraft idling there to get to Icebreaker. Bear in mind this transition costs a whopping 400,000 rubles, so make sure you have the capital before you go.
To get out of Icebreaker again, you’ll need a green flare and 2,500 Euros, but these can be found around the ship itself, including on Wedge, who carries several thousand Euros.
Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server if you’ve visited Icebreaker yet
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the full patch notes for Tarkov’s latest update
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
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