The Goons

Learn about the Goons, who are Scav Bosses in Escape from Tarkov.

Introduction

The Goons are a squad of Scav Bosses in Escape from Tarkov consisting of three members: Knight, Big Pipe, and Birdeye. They are quite strong and run high penetration ammo and decent equipment. The Goons have a chance of spawning on Customs, Woods, Shoreline, or Lighthouse. Their chance to spawn increases as the wipe progresses.

Knight

Knight is the leader of The Goons, and has an extremely aggressive playstyle. He has 1120 total health points, however he always wears a level 1 armor helmet so it is best to aim for his head for a quick kill. When he spots a player, he will quickly push forwards to kill them.

Big Pipe

Big Pipe is an explosives expert. He uses a SIG MCX or Grenade Launcher. Similar to Knight, he will rush any player that he spots. He has 910 total health points, but no helmet. If you are playing as a team, be cautious not to clump up, as Big Pipe's Grenade Launcher deals high splash damage.

Birdeye

Birdeye is the designated sniper of The Goons. He has an unique playstyle and abilities. Birdeye will not push first, but instead stay back and snipe players from a distance. He will only push after Knight and Big Pipe have been eliminated. Birdeye's footsteps are also completely silent, so you will be unable to hear him sneak up on you. Birdeye has 795 total health points.

P.S. Birdeye's backpack (Mystery Ranch NICE COMM 3) is not the greatest in terms of storage space, but it sells for 111,600 Roubles to Ragman.

Locations

The Goons can spawn on Customs, Woods, Shoreline, and Lighthouse.

  • On Customs, they spawn at the Stronghold, however they can be pushed up all the way to Crackhouse or Skeleton if they followed a player.
  • On Woods, they spawn near Scav bunker.
  • On Shoreline, the can spawn around Weather Station.
  • On Lighthouse, they can spawn near the chalet or in the Water Treatment Plant.

Strategy

The Goons can be challenging to deal with if you do not have the proper strategy. The first step to beating The Goons is identifying them. Listen for the sound of Big Pipe's Grenade Launcher, or lots of shooting early into the raid around their common spawn points. They also sometimes use voice-lines that are in English when nearby a player.

The most effective way of beating The Goons is to bait them into pushing you while you are inside of a building or area with only one entrance. This way, you have a window of time where you can freely damage them when they are opening the door. You should also avoid head-glitching or lean-peeking The Goons, as they have aimbot and will easily headshot you if that is the only body part exposed. If you must fight them head-on, the better option would be to swing them with your full body visible, thus giving them more areas to lock on to. You will still sometimes die doing this depending on where they decide to aim for, but the chance of suriving is much higher than if you only exposed your head.

Quests

Knight, Big Pipe, and Birdeye must be killed to complete the quest "Stray Dogs".