Friend from Norvinsk – New Event Questline Walkthrough

With today’s release of Patch 0.16.9.0, a new questline from Mechanic has been added, called “Friend from Norvinsk.” Since it isn’t yet listed on the EFT Wiki, I thought it would be useful to put together this article with everything we know so far and keep it updated as new details emerge. At this point, it’s unclear whether this is simply a standalone questline or—more likely—part of the recently announced event. We’ll find out soon enough. (UPDATE: It has now been confirmed that this was an event questline created to ultimately reveal the release date of Escape from Tarkov 1.0.)

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NOTICE: This article is still being reviewed and updated as more info are available either from me doing the questline or from other sources such as the EFT Wiki, the EFT Wiki Discord or other content creators or streamers doing the questline.

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The questline is split into multiple parts: 12 quests from Mechanic and 1 quest from Fence, which initially appeared to be the start of a separate chain but, for now, has no continuation.

Mechanic:

• Friend from Norvinsk - Part 1

• Friend from Norvinsk - Part 2

• Friend from Norvinsk - Part 3

• Friend from Norvinsk - Part 4

• Friend from Norvinsk - Part 5

• Breathing Room

• Game Review - Part 1

• Progression Difficulties - Part 1

• Progression Difficulties - Part 2

• Game Review - Part 2

• Last Spurt - Pioneer

• Game Review - Part 3

Fence:

• External Interest

UPDATE: While writing and updating this article, the EFT Wiki team has also updated their pages with the latest collected information. I’ve added links to the different parts of this quest chain, so you can get more details, maps and screenshots there too.

Questline info

The questline appears to revolve around a hacker known by Mechanic, along with information he may have uncovered during his time working as a hacker for the military.

Friend from Norvinsk - Part 1 (Mechanic)

Part 1 takes place in Reserve. You need to scout three locations and then extract successfully. Note that you don't need to do all the objectives in the same raid with a successful extraction. You just need to find the three locations and perform a successful extraction, but you can die (or extract if you need to) at any time while trying to complete the quest and continue from there.

Let's see the four steps needed to complete the quest.

1. Scout the command bunker offices on Reserve - these offices are the same offices you need to scout for "The Bunker - Part 1". In this other quest, they are called "The control room". Follow the link to see all the details on the Wiki. EDIT: It's not the same offices you need to scout for "The Bunker - Part 1". It's another office in an adjacent room. See the map below.
   

   

   Command Bunker Offices - Map by Jindouz (thanks for the great maps, Jin!)

2. Scout the medical building commander's office on Reserve - these offices are located in the ground floor of the White Bishop building, in the south-west corner of the building. See the map below for the exact position.
   

   

   Medical building commander's office location

   
   

3. Scout the educational building offices on Reserve - these offices are located in White Queen building on the first floor, on the north side, looking the medical building (White Bishop). See the map below for the exact position.
   

   

   Eductional building offices location

   
   

4. Survive and extract from the location - self-explanatory. You need to extract from Reserve successfully to complete the quest. It's important to know, thought, that if you die (or extract if you need to), progress won't be reset. You don't need to scout all the locations and extract without dying in the same raid to complete the mission. You can die in between finding the three locations, or even after finding them. But until you manage to successfully extract from Reserve, you won't be able to turn in the quest.
   

WARNING! - This part is fairly is easy but the objectives areas are heavily camped!

I think I did a good job explaining what to do and included clear maps to help you find the spots. Still, you can also check the EFT Wiki page for Friend from Norvinsk – Part 1 by clicking this link.

Friend from Norvinsk - Part 2 (Mechanic)

The second part is located in Shoreline and asks you to complete 2 objectives:

1. Locate ad obtain anything that could help with the investigation at the Health Resort on Shoreline

2. Hand over the found info

   
   

The quest description is very "criptitc" and doesn't give any substansial clue to follow.

Luckily the friends at the Escape from Tarkov Wiki and their community are working hard to give use the solution to the riddle and on their Discord I found the details needed to complete this second part.

What is clear from the quest description and objectives is that what we need to do is to go to Shoreline, at the Health Resort and get an item at a precise location.

The precise location is an office located in the East Wing of the Resort, ground floor.

Inside the office you need to look for a couch in the southern side of it (away from the window) and point your weapon towards it and the pillow that lies on the eastern side of the couch until you get the clue dot and the option to pick up something that lies onder it.

It's a golden phone.

UPDATE: The golden phone can be found in different locations. You can see them all on the EFT Wiki page for Friend from Norvinsk - Part 2. Check it out.

Look at the map below to see the exact location of the office and of the couch inside it.

Part 2 objective location

WARNING! - as for part one this location too will be heavily camped!

I think I did a good job explaining what to do and included a clear map to help you find the spots. Still, you can also check the EFT Wiki page for Friend from Norvinsk – Part 2 by clicking this link.

Friend from Norvinsk - Part 3 (Mechanic)

Part 3 description is a bit less confusing than the one for Part 2. Even though it doesn't give clear instruction and doesn't tell us where to go exactly (it says "any location" in the upper right corner of the quest page), by following what the description says and the objectives required to complete the quest, we can find some more indications.

"Hey, so I'm going through his phone now. It's not a walk in the park — he specializes in encryption, he knows what he's doing. But I might have a clue. I found mention of a diary in his notes. Seems like my friend had a hunch something was gonna happen. A Moleskine diary, he always carried it with him. We need to find it. If you don't find it at the resort, that means the Scavs have probably snatched it already. I suggest you walk along the shore and "ask" the locals. Maybe someone will have it. You know how it is in Tarkov."

It also lists the following objectives:

1. Eliminate 15 Scavs

2. Obtain any information on the diary from the Scavs (Optional)

3. Locate and obtain Mechanic friend's diary

4. Hand over the found item

1. Eliminate 15 Scavs - This can be done in any location
   

2. Obtain any information on the diary from the Scavs (Optional) - While looting dead Scavs, you may come across a kind of “treasure map” that shows where to find the diary. The map points to a church that appears to be located in a lake — clearly a reference to the flooded church in the Scav Village in Woods.

   
   

   This step is optional, but you’ll likely find the map while completing the objective to kill 15 Scavs, as long as you loot them. (Which I strongly recommend anyway, since Scav loot has been significantly buffed lately.)
   

3. Locate and obtain Mechanic friend's diary - The diary can be found around the flooded church in the Scav Village in Woods. It has a number of different spawns wich are both inside and outside the church.

   While I was updating this article, The EFT Wiki for this quest has been updated and you can now find the screeshots of the different locations on the quest page (click the link to go there and check the possible spawns).
   

   

   Location of the flooded church

   
   

   WARNING! - as for part one and two, this location too will be heavily camped!
   

4. Hand over the found item - You need to successfully extract after picking up the diary and hand it to Mechanic.

Friend from Norvinsk - Part 4 (Mechanic)

To complete this part, all you need to do is deliver a set of computer parts to Mechanic to help speed up the deciphering process:

1. Hand over 2 found in raid PC CPU

2. Hand over 4 found in raid RAM stick

3. Hand over 3 found in raid Printed circuit board or Microcontroller board

   
   

You can find most of these parts (except the Microcontroller board) on any map, but Interchange is the best choice since it has plenty of PCs to loot. Streets of Tarkov is another solid option, though it may be riskier and it's larger, so it can take more time to navigate. Still, if you prefer Streets over Interchange, it’s a valid alternative.

Microcontroller boards, however, are much harder to come by. They only spawn in The Labs or The Labyrinth, making them much more difficult items to obtain. Fortunately, you can turn in the much easier-to-find PCBs instead. That said, if you often run Labs or Labyrinth raids, you might already have a surplus of Microcontroller boards.

As mentioned for the other parts, the EFT Wiki is now updated for this quest too, so you can check their informative page too if you want.

Fun Fact: The quest picture actually shows Nikita, seen from behind, while sitting at a desk and looking at a computer.

Friend from Norvinsk - Alternative Solution (Mechanic)

If after 24 hours you haven't completed Friend from Norvinsk Part 4, you will get this quest automatically. Mechanic offers you to pay 1M Roubles as an alternative instead of finding the PC components for Part 3.

You can choose to pay this amount of Roubles or simply complete Part 4.

If you complete Part 4, Friend from Norvinsk - Alternative Solution will fail (with no consequences) and you will get Friend from Norvinsk - Part 5.

If you complete Friend from Norvinsk - Alternative Solution, Friend from Norvinsk - Part 4 will fail (with no consequences) and you will get Friend from Norvinsk - Part 5.

Here is the EFT Wiki page for Friend from Norvinsk - Alternative Solution.

Friend from Norvinsk - Part 5 (Mechanic) (30 min wait)

Objectives:

1. Figure out the cipher and hand over the found item

2. (Optional) Locate the place mentioned in the cipher

3. (Optional) Stash the copy of the diary in the specified location

   
   

Things to know about this quest:

• There’s a 30-minute wait after completing Friend from Norvinsk - Part 4 or Friend from Norvinsk - Alternative Solution before this next stage becomes available.

  
  

• Starting with this quest, things get a bit weird and complicated. It took quite an effort from The EFT Wiki community to figure out what was needed to be done to complete this and the next parts.
  

• The dialogue from Part 5 says: "With your help, I figured out the decryption way quicker — both in the phone and the diary. Just one last issue. I managed to extract a strange phrase: "Diary. wvyglv. oiphxifq: sbb onfz qulve. rgx: ssemddvyl". This is clearly a Vigenère cipher. It needs a key, but my friend didn't leave it anywhere in his notes. We'll have to figure it out ourselves. Here are some copies of the diary. I'll keep the original for now. If you lose it, you can have another one from me. Just don't overdo my generosity."
  

• The strange phrase "Diary. wvyglv. oiphxifq: sbb onfz qulve. rgx: ssemddvyl" is decrypted by using the key "Unheard". With it you can get the following decrypted message:

  
  

  Diary. Circle. Location: you know where. Add: flammable.
  

• The encrypted phrase has been decyphered by content creator and stramer Onepeg by realizing that the rewards from the previous questline parts gave us the materials needed to build the Cultist Circle in our hideouts. This led him to think about the fact that the Cultist Circle was introduced and is included with the Unheard Edition of Escape from Tarkov. So he tried the word "Unheard" as the key to decypher the Vigenère cipher... and it worked! Well done Onepeg and thanks!

  
  

• An easier way to get to this was by reading the description of the item Programmer's Diary, which states:

  The first page has a table of contents:

  • Update

  • Notes

  • Highlights

  • Encrypt

  • Agenda

  • Ruminates

  • Drafts

  As you can see, taking each word initial, the word "Unheard" is formed.
  

• The reference to the Cultist Circle, along with the deciphered phrase, explains (more or less, not sure how they figured out the sacrifice receipt, I guess they noticed the word "flammable" and tried different fuels, etc.) what you need to do next.

  
  

• You need to have the Cultist Circle built in your Hideout to further progress with this quest line.

  
  

• As part of the Initial Equipment when you accept Part 5 you get the Programmer’s Diary (Copy). After accepting Part 5 you can also buy additional copies of it from Mechanic LL1.
  

• You’ll need to sacrifice three items at the Cultist Circle: the Programmer’s Diary (Copy), an Expeditionary fuel tank (flammable), and a Zibbo lighter. In exchange, after 1 minute, you’ll receive a Disk with unknown data. (This sacrifice becomes available only after accepting this quest.)
  

• You need to hand over to Mechanic the Disk with unknown data.
  

• EFT Wiki page for this quest

Breathing Room (Mechanic)

Mechanic doesn’t have time to analyze the Disk, as he’s swamped with weapon orders. To help him, you’ll need to build an IWI UZI with the specified stats. Once the build is complete and you turn in the weapon to Mechanic, the quest will be finished.

You can find the exact request from Mechanic, along with the required parts to modify the IWI UZI, on the corresponding EFT Wiki page for this quest.

Game Review - Part 1 (Mechanic)

Mechanic returns the Disk to you, now renamed Disk Drive 1, and asks you to check its contents.

You need to do this by using Rest Space level 3 in your Hideout. If you haven’t built it yet, you’ll first need to gather the required items to construct it.

Once Rest Space Level 3 is ready, access it in your Hideout and insert Disk Drive 1 into the provided slot.

By doing this you'll find start playing a game on the Rest Space TV. It's some kind of text-based RPG called "Targard Tales".

Here’s how Tbdead, a user on the EFT Wiki Discord, described the steps needed to complete the quest:

“To complete the quest you need to visit the battlefield at the start and get the ring from the dead soldier. After that, talk to the woman in the village first; she will tell you about the elder. But before visiting the elder, speak to the man beside her and buy a sausage. Then go to the elder and distract his dog with the sausage. The elder will ask you for a favor — the ring. Give it to him, and once you start talking to the soldier at the gate, the quest will end.”

After this, go back to Mechanic to complete the quest.

It appears that you will hear the usual "quest completed" tone, when you get to the right point in the text-baed RPG game.

In the meantime, OnePeg has also released a video explaining this part of the questline. Check the link to jump directly to the section where he covers the Targard Tales part: Friend From Norvinsk Step By Step Guide - Escape From Tarkov New Questline

UPDATE: Now the EFT Wiki page for Game Review - Part 1 is available

Progression Difficulties - Part 1 (Mechanic)

Mechanic asks you to give the Disk Drive 1 back to him.

Do it and complete the quest.

Progression Difficulties - Part 2  (2 hours wait)

This part unlocks 2 hours after completion of Progression Difficulties - Part 1.

You need to craft and hand over a Decrypted intelligence folder to Mechanic.

When you accept the quest, the craft for Decrypted intelligence folder at Intelligence Center level 1 gets unlocked.

To complete the craft, you’ll need to collect several Thumb drive with military data and decrypt them at your Intelligence Center Level 1. These thumb drives can be found by looting almost any type of container across all EFT maps.

The decryption can fail so the exact number of drives you will need is unknown. But since the letters to decrypt are 11, the minimum number of drives you need is 11. So you may need 11+ drives to complete the decryption.

Once the decryption is completed you will obtain the Decrypted intelligence folder and you can hand it over to Mechanic.

Now the EFT Wiki page for Progression Difficulties - Part 2 is available

Game Review - Part 2 (Mechanic)

Mechanic gives you back the Disk Drive 1 and asks you to further explore the game disk's content.

You need to use the disk at the Rest Space level 3 again and play the text-based RPG "Targard Tales" on the TV more.

Now the game plays differently because by decrypting the intelligence folder you now know the password: "Tetriandoch" (you don't need to remember it).

Here is a video by content creator Fr0styo which explains what to do from the beginning of the game to get to the quest completition.

Please leave a like and a comment to the video on YouTube and subscribe to Fr0styo channel to thank him.

After exiting the game you can complete the quest at Mechanic.

Now the EFT Wiki page for Game Review - Part 2 is available.

Last Spurt - Pioneer (Mechanic)

You need to find a second disk on Reserve, called Disk with release version.

It appears that the disk can spawn in 4 different locations on Reserve.

You can check the possible spawn locations in the Last Spurt - Pioneer quest page on the EFT WIki along with maps and screenshots.

Once you find the second disk, you will need to turn in both the Disk drive 1 and the Disk with release version you just found on Reserve.

Now the EFT Wiki page for Lat Spurt quest is available.

Game Review - Part 3 (Mechanic)

This is the last part of this questline.

Mechanic gives you the Disk with release version you've just found in Reserve and you have to place it in the Rest Space level 3 and play the text-based RPG on the TV again.

Once you do that you can complete the mission at Mechanic and you get the Targrad Tales achievement.

Now the EFT Wiki page for Game Review - Part quest is available.

External Interest (Fence)

Obtainable after accepting Friend from Norvinsk - Part 5.

This looks like a bonus quest, with no other quest linked to it or unlocked by completing this one.

You just need to buy a Programmer's diary (Copy) from Mechanic and hand it over to Fence.

Now the EFT Wiki page for External Interest quest is avaialble.

My 2 Cents

This was a long and complex questline that brought a large part of the EFT community together across different Discord channels, collaborating to solve each stage.

Special thanks to the EFT Wiki team for updating the quest information as soon as it became available, and a big shoutout to everyone who contributed — whether by helping solve the quests, searching for objectives, posting screenshots, comments, or tips on the EFT Wiki Discord channel and across other platforms.

Events like this highlight just how much potential EFT has for the future. Questlines of this type are relatively simple to implement yet can provide a huge amount of fresh content, greatly extending the game’s longevity.

EFT itself is already a strong foundation, but at the moment it also often feels like a collection of missed opportunities. Hopefully, BSG will be able to fully realize the potential of what they’ve built.

Escape from Tarkov 1.0 Release Date Announcement

After the questline was completed and the first players got the Targrad Tales achievement, BSG released a new video acted by Nikita himself, in which, along with various scenes and details, it is shown the date 15.11.2025.

Initially the EFT Community unanimously decretated that this is the date for the final release of Escape from Tarkov and the end of the Closed Beta phase.

Later on, not only the Community but also Nikita himself declared it's the final release of Escape from Tarkov 1.0 date on his Twitter account.

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NOTICE: This article is still being reviewed and updated as more info are available either from me doing the questline or from other sources such as the EFT Wiki, the EFT Wiki Discord or other content creators or streamers doing the questline.

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Sources and Resources for info and details about the questline and how to complete it:

EFT Wiki - Friend from Norvinsk - Part 1 page. Start here and check all the parts of the questline using the link you can find on this page that gets you to the next part.

Glorious_E YouTube VOD of his stream from yesterday, where he attempted to complete the questline as soon as servers went up. He didn’t get through all the parts, but it’s a solid reference to see what to do up to Friend from Norvinsk – Part 5 (link should start the video at the moment he finally manages to login and start playing. If not the right moment is at 6:31:02).

Onepeg's video: Friend From Norvinsk Step By Step Guide - Escape From Tarkov New Questline. This one is much shorter than Glorious_E’s VOD, less entertaining but more detailed and explanatory. It also goes further into the questline, reaching the “Game Review – Part 1” quest.