How to play?

[Mustardoish]

I am generally confused what constitutes "good" play apart from grinding the meta updates?

Are there any tricks that can help a new player?

[Fellow~]

It seems so very unbalanced in scaling. Four easy fights in, with a team of lvl2 characters, the enemy is scaled to lvl4 and kills a tank before anyone can act.
Unforgiving is one thing, this seems more unintentionally busted.
So.. I guess I'll keep an eye on this thread as well.

[Wlerin]

The main thing to understand is that enemy scaling depends on the map region, not your party strength. Generally you want to stick to the areas around the city trees at first, don't go too far north or south (nor too far east). And watch the Ambush indicator at the top, it both tells you how strong enemies currently are (both Ambushers and the ones you see on the map), and tells you roughly when the next Ambush will be (when the bar fills).

It's also not homogenous, there are patches of level 4 north of the first city but also some level 7. Keep an eye on that Ambush indicator and change directions if it flips to Merciless (or even to Fearsome if you're just starting).

The other thing is to pursue the main quests. In conjunction with meta progress (which is necessary), main quests both unlock fragments and increase the amount of fertile land on the map, as well as the amount of supplies available.

In particular once you reach the second Mka tree you should get a quest to restore Yoz*, in between the two Mka trees. Completing that quest and unlocking the crystal upgrade that links Mka cities with roads will make that whole central desert fertile. I can't tell if the Terracer main quest has a similar effect, their region was already pretty fertile before I started it.

* I think. Actually kinda don't recall where you pick that quest up.

[Mustardoish]

Thank you, that is helpful.

[Fellow~]

It is indeed. I guess I'll try to shift focus to powering through the main a bit more.

[Wildomarkid]

another really good Idea is to have at least one healer in your party and someone who can guard others. so far the best combo for that is the protector and bard. once you've got those down as long as you're not completely outclassed you can fight the enemies until only one (preferably the weakest) enemy is left. at that point you just stall the fight for as long as you want/need to as you heal up all damage except the damage on your healer as you can't target yourself with healing. since starvation just does a % of your max hp in damage as long as you fight enough people you'll survive and likely thrive after a bit. just remember to keep a supply of potions or ambrosia fruit to heal your healer once they start to get lower on hp simultaneously remember to prioritize your healers safety in battle.