How do I confirm kills in Tarkov?

During long range fights, I regularly find myself wondering: Where did that PMC go? Did I get him? Has he escaped the location? Or has he taken a position to ambush me as I come closer to check for bodies or blood?

Occasionally I am lucky with voice lines, quest completion (SBIH mostly) or rag-doll physics before closing in.

Other players seem to be able to tell more quickly & reliably when one of my mates went down. Do I just need to get better at aiming and looking, or am I missing some important method of confirming a kill?

Solution 1:

There are some things you can try to help confirm a kill that you aren't sure if you actually got. This is more for if you shot at someone and you think you either killed them or at least got a few shots in:

• Do you think you might have got someone who is behind/in cover but aren't sure? Throw a grenade to confirm. If you throw a grenade and it's within kill distance of a target, they'll have to react, or else potentially risk death/severe injury. If they move, there's a good chance you'll at least hear it and potentially see them, giving you an opportunity to possibly finish them off.
• No grenades? Listen/look for healing animations. If you can hear/see them healing, you know you still have a fight on your hands.
• Too far to hear or can't see any movement? Try and reposition yourself to a location where you could hear (and ideally see) your target.
• Playing with a teammate? See if they hear or see anything, or if they could position somewhere else to confirm the kill for you.
• Are scavs around? Are they reacting to the presence of the player you aren't sure you killed or not? Some situations may prove this as a useful hint.

Solution 2:

In short range fights, your opponents while make a death gasp when they die. If you can identify that sound over the din of gunfire that will be a definite confirmation you’ve defeated your opponent. Be wary that it sounds similar to a pain sound.

In any engagement, your opponents will ragdoll when killed. This is different than them moving to a prone position, because the ragdoll can fall backwards whereas prone movements drop the PMC forwards.

If you don’t see either of these behaviors then there is still the possibility your opponent is alive.