How to Unlock Icebreaker in Tarkov: The Boreas Chapter Step by Step

Icebreaker opens through Boreas, a story chapter of Escape from Tarkov. Patch 1.0.5.0 added the chapter and the Icebreaker location on 25 May 2026.

Icebreaker is a separate location for 1 to 3 players. It runs in every game mode.

The route: start Boreas, repair the equipment on Woods, find the documents on Lighthouse, finish 2 transport branches and board the smuggler hovercraft.

Boreas has 2 starts. Both open the same chapter.

Start	What you do	Where
Paradigm Shipping poster	Pick up the poster in a raid and extract with it. Then ask the traders about TerraGroup and Paradigm Shipping.	Ground Zero, in the TerraGroup building and its parking garage
Intelligence Center radio	Build the Intelligence Center to level 3 and check the distress signal on its radio. Then ask Mechanic where the signal came from.	Your Hideout

PvE: unlock Icebreaker without a reset

Patch 1.2.0.0 on 6 October 2026 added Prestige to PvE. A PvE profile that never reset since the 1.0 release unlocks the storyline and the Icebreaker chapter when it takes Prestige. Prestige requirements are in our Tarkov Prestige guide.

1. Start Boreas with the Paradigm Shipping poster or the Intelligence Center level 3 radio.
2. Ask the traders about TerraGroup and Paradigm Shipping. After the radio start, ask Mechanic where the distress signal came from.
3. On Woods, find the equipment under the cellular tower and repair it with a Toolset. Report back to Mechanic.
4. On Lighthouse, pick up the Paradigm Shipping directive in the warehouse at the northern freight yard.
5. Tell Mechanic about Boreas.
6. Arrange a transport to the icebreaker through Prapor. Your Falling Skies result sets his tasks.
7. Find an alternative transport through the BTR Driver. Your BTR Driver quests set his tasks.
8. Tell Mechanic that you found transport to the icebreaker.
9. Board the smuggler hovercraft on Shoreline or Lighthouse.

Branches by the quests you finished

Prapor branch: arrange a transport to the icebreaker.

Your Falling Skies result	What Prapor asks for
You gave the Armored case to Prapor	The AMG-10 hydraulic fluid
You kept the Armored case	3 found-in-raid Military power filters, then the AMG-10 hydraulic fluid
Falling Skies still open	30 targets on Reserve and a yellow signal flare at the Woods transit on Reserve, then the AMG-10 hydraulic fluid

BTR Driver branch: find an alternative transport.

Your BTR Driver quests	What the BTR Driver asks for
You finished The Price of Independence	Return to the Hideout, then return to the BTR Driver
You finished Choose Your Friends Wisely	200 7.62x54mm R BT gzh rounds, Skier's reports found and burned on Customs, then 15 targets at the smugglers' territories
Neither quest finished	10 targets at the smugglers' territories

The smugglers' territories are on Shoreline and Interchange.

Pack these before each leg. The branch tables above show which items your route needs.

Item	Used for	Note
Toolset	Woods tower repair	Step 3
Military power filters	Prapor branch	See the branch tables
AMG-10 hydraulic fluid	Prapor branch	Quest item found on Reserve
Yellow signal flare	Prapor branch	See the branch tables
7.62x54mm R BT gzh	BTR Driver branch	See the branch tables
Sudak-Tudak marine repair kit	Boarding the hovercraft	Single use. Ragman's Pay the Fare! gives your 1st kit, and operational tasks give more.
Green signal flare	Evacuation from the icebreaker	Bring it with your euros
Euros	Evacuation from the icebreaker	At least 2,500

A Pro can run any of these steps for you through our Escape from Tarkov services.

Icebreaker has 3 ways in. Each takes 1 Sudak-Tudak marine repair kit.

The Boreas chapter continues on the ship after your 1st entry.