Escape from Tarkov Casus Belli Guide: Where to Find Pillagers

The Casus Belli event in Escape from Tarkov dropped on April 9, 2026 and runs until April 15. Six days to work through four quests across five maps, with two traders pulling you in opposite directions and a brand-new enemy type standing between you and some genuinely good gear rewards. If you have not wiped or created your account since the November 2025 version 1.0 release, none of this applies to you. For everyone else, here is everything you need to finish the chain clean.

What is the Casus Belli event in Escape from Tarkov?

The name translates from Latin as "cause for war," which fits the setup: Ref, Tarkov's Arena gambling operator, is watching his Season Three reward convoys get picked apart by a new scavenger faction called Pillagers. His response is to send you to shoot them and recover their masks as proof. Meanwhile, Skier is using the same chaos to quietly destroy Ref's operation from the other side. You end up working for both of them simultaneously, which Tarkov players will recognize as a perfectly normal Tuesday.

The full quest chain contains four missions:

• Casus Belli (Ref)
• Backup Plan (Ref)
• Short on Hands (Skier)
• Run Aground (details still being uncovered by the community as of day one)

Pillagers roam in groups of 3-5

Quest 1: Casus Belli

Trader: Ref Kappa Required: No

Ref hands you this one directly. His convoy gear is missing, his Season Three launch is at risk, and he wants you to find whoever is responsible. The answer, per the quest dialogue, is the Pillagers: a new event-exclusive enemy type wearing Arena-tier gear and painted CQCM ballistic masks.

Objectives

• Eliminate 5 Pillagers
• Hand over 3 Found-in-Raid painted CQCM masks

Where do Pillagers spawn?

Pillagers appear on five maps: Customs, Interchange, Lighthouse, Shoreline, and Woods. They do not spawn on Factory, Ground Zero, Streets, Reserve, or The Lab. Each spawn point has groups of 3 to 5 enemies, according to information from both Insider Gaming and boostmatch.gg.

Specific spawn areas confirmed by sources:

Pillagers carry decent loot in addition to their masks, so clearing a group is worth the time even if the mask you need drops on the guy who sprinted into a corner.

How do you get Found-in-Raid painted CQCM masks?

The masks drop from Pillagers you kill personally. All 13 CQCM variants count toward the quest: Smile, Stop Me, Scars, Target, Skull, Demon, El Día de Muertos, Loui Peeton, Loui Peeton White, Crash Tested, Demonic Face, Toxic, and Blasted Ice. The quest does not require a specific skin, so stop holding out for a particular one.

The critical detail: only Found-in-Raid masks are accepted. You cannot buy them from the flea market, receive them from another player, or pick them up off the ground as a pre-existing spawn. You must loot them from a Pillager you killed and then extract alive. Dying with the masks removes their Found-in-Raid status permanently.

Quest 1 rewards

Quest 2: Backup Plan

Trader: Ref Requires: Casus Belli completed Kappa Required: No

Ref still has no contact with his convoy. His contingency plan involves pre-positioning medical supplies at locations his crew might crawl toward if they survive. Your job: deliver a Grizzly medkit to the old sawmill on Woods, then transit directly into Customs and eliminate 6 targets.

Objectives

• Stash a Grizzly medkit inside the large barn at the old sawmill on Woods
• Transit from Woods to Customs
• Eliminate any 6 targets on Customs
• Survive and extract from Customs

Where is the large barn at the old sawmill on Woods?

The old sawmill sits in the eastern section of the Woods map. It is a large lumber complex with workshops and warehouses. The specific structure you need is the large two-story barn with a basement. Go inside the barn and place the Grizzly anywhere within the building.

How do you transit from Woods to Customs in EFT?

Tarkov's Transit system handles this. After placing the Grizzly in the barn, find the Woods-to-Customs transit extraction point instead of a standard exit. Using it carries your character and current loadout directly into a Customs raid. There is no stash access between maps. Whatever you brought to Woods is what you have on Customs, so make sure your kit is sorted before you leave.

Once on Customs, eliminate any 6 targets. The quest accepts Scavs, PMCs, Pillagers, or any other hostile. Six kills is not a high bar on Customs. Survive and extract to complete the quest.

Quest 2 rewards

Quest 3: Short on Hands

Trader: Skier Kappa Required: No

While Ref is sending you to protect his operation, Skier is running his own angle. His staff have been getting poached by Arena's growing revenue, and his solution is to cut off the reward supply entirely. He needs PMCs eliminated on the same maps where the Pillager activity is concentrated.

You are, at this point, simultaneously protecting Ref's convoys and sabotaging them for Skier. Both traders are paying you. Neither has noticed.

Objectives

• Eliminate 5 PMC operatives on Woods, Customs, Interchange, Lighthouse, or Shoreline

Any PMC on any of those five maps counts. Side does not matter. Running the Short on Hands PMC kills alongside your Pillager farming for Casus Belli is the obvious efficiency play since you are already on those maps.

Quest 3 rewards

Quest 4: Run Aground

Run Aground was added alongside the other three quests in this event patch. As of April 9, 2026, the full objectives and dialogue are still being uncovered by the community. Battlestate has a history of rolling out quest details gradually, and this one may become accessible after completing the prior quests in the chain. Check the official Tarkov wiki for updates as the event progresses.

Tips for completing the Casus Belli chain efficiently

After watching several approaches to this event play out, a few patterns separate the players who finish cleanly from the ones who run it four times and still need one more mask:

• Stack Woods objectives. Pillager kills on Woods count toward Casus Belli, and the sawmill is right there for Backup Plan. Two quests, one map, one extraction attempt.
• Prep your Grizzly before loading in. The medkit does not spawn as a quest item. Forgetting it means the entire Woods raid accomplishes nothing for Backup Plan.
• The transit is a commitment. Using the Woods-to-Customs transit locks you into Customs with your current loadout. No stash stop, no vendor visit. Have your ammunition and kit ready before you trigger it.
• Pillagers are visually distinct. The painted CQCM masks make them easy to identify. If someone is wearing a mask and shooting at you, it is either a Pillager or a PMC who also counts toward Short on Hands. Shoot first, categorize later.
• Extract alive, every time. Found-in-Raid status is non-negotiable. Three masks in your pockets mean nothing if you die before the extraction screen.
• PvE is valid. Both PvP and PvE profiles are eligible for this event, provided the account was created or wiped after the November 2025 version 1.0 release.

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