I Am A Scrub, I Need Advice

[Terminal]

I am pretty new to the game, and I am doing terribly.

I am able to deal with wildlife pretty trivially - not having much issue with boars/wolves/ghouls. The issue is Humanoid enemies. I cannot, for the life of me, take on ANY of them.

Scouring the forest map, I saw a random Hunter (not a Green Army soldier) get attacked by a full pack of wolves. he wipes them out, but not without taking heavy damage. He calls for help, which is sort of the signal that he has low health.

So, trying to take advantage, I sneak as close up behind him as I dare and empty an entire magazine into his back. He lives, turns around and kills me in two shots. This is the common denominator for virtually every single encounter with Hunters/Bandits/Soldiers I have had so far - I empty ALL of my ammo directly into their faces, they ignore it and kill me instantly.

I see a lot of advice about avoiding fights, but I am at a point where I can no longer actually afford to do pacifist hunts - I can't afford to eat or drink or buy medicine. I can't even afford to take a NAP because of the hit to my hunger and thirst that results. I am still stuck with the default gun and bullet vest, and I cannot afford anything better. Because I die so often, the game clock gradually advances to Midnight and then stays there (I assume that's a feature intended to prevent scumming?), so I am now also stuck fighting in pitch black darkness.

I've exhausted most of the early-game tasks. I can't get the materials for ANY modules whatsoever, since most of the areas with the requisite loot are guarded by Humanoid enemies who I usually cannot even run away from before they kill me, let alone fight.

tl;dr: I suck, am dirt poor and cannot afford anything, even the weakest Human opponents utterly unmake me and I cannot even hurt them.

Does anybody have any advice for getting out of this rut?

[Lack of Stuff]

Sounds like you are using low penetration rounds against high armor targets. The regular Hunters you run into in the forest are decently armored (not super armored but compared to some of the piddly starter weapons it's enough to facetank.)

Start a new game and pick the Mosin start, Mosin should 2 tap a hunter on forest. Don't go near the Boss (Lazar in the center map) unless you are confident. When you've got a better handle on the mechanics you can do the Makarov start for that Stalker hard mode feeling.

Don't fight soldiers, they won't aggro unless you shoot them.

[Terminal]

There are no other kinds of ammunition available. The barkeep/doctor do not sell rounds with Penetration over 20.

[Lack of Stuff]

Originally posted by Terminal:

There are no other kinds of ammunition available. The barkeep/doctor do not sell rounds with Penetration over 20.

Then you and I are playing different games. I started a new game and Barkeep sells 32 pen 7.62x54 PS rounds.

[Terminal]

I am using the default gun, it only accepts 5.45x39 rounds.

If at all possible, I would like to try and recover from my poor start, without having to entirely restart the game.

[Lack of Stuff]

Originally posted by Terminal:

I am using the default gun, it only accepts 5.45x39 rounds.

If at all possible, I would like to try and recover from my poor start, without having to entirely restart the game.

Then go kill a bandit with a Mosin or a VS-98 and try to repair it, Or go murder Igor for his gun.

The AK-74U isn't really default so much as it just happens to be the first equipment option, and it's probably one of the worst picks.

[Terminal]

Every single bandit I have come within shouting distance of has vaporized me. I'm not sure who Igor is, but I'll keep an eye out for the name.

[Lack of Stuff]

Originally posted by Terminal:

Every single bandit I have come within shouting distance of has vaporized me. I'm not sure who Igor is, but I'll keep an eye out for the name.

Igor is the old man that the green army commander tasks you with killing. I don't really advocate for murdering him since he's friendly and will even give you free stuff but eh.

[Terminal]

I haven't unlocked the Green Commander yet. I think he's locked behind the task that requires you to kill X Wolves and 5 bandits. The wolves portion of that objective is complete, I have yet to overcome any bandits.

[Lack of Stuff]

You are very early on then, really just start over and pick Mosin or SKS, the AK-74U is a noob trap, awful damage and eats ammo.

[Vazc0]

sounds like you're getting too close to your target. did you try to engage bandits from long range with single shots? step out of cover, shoot, get back into cover, repeat. this game is easier when played like a tactical shooter and not the typical top down arcade game.
so go slow and try to abuse line of sight and range.

- dont attack the green and red army guys. they're friendly. you can just go to them and loot everything around. they might even fight eachother, also giving you free loot.

- stay away from the village in the middle of the map. because theres the bandit boss + his well armed guards. (except you see green army moving in to fight. maybe you can get some free loot then)

- be careful at the sawmill. the bandits there are not that strong but there are many.

- avoid hunters (the brown armored guys) they may be the strongest guys on the forest map

that being said, the game will get alot easier as soon as you learn how firefights work.
i recommend fighting like you would in escape from tarkov or stalker, even though those are first person shooters and this is a top down 2d game.

dont give up. Zero Sievert may look hard to get into at first, but it'll really shine when it clicks.

Edit: ammotypes will play a bigger role too when moving on. but i wouldnt worry about that too early, since learning how to fight is way more important.

[Saracchini (on Fire!)]

I felt in the EC74 and EC74U trap. They are not good weapons, as the standard ammo is not useful vs armoured enemies. The will work with weak bandits (the one with black bandanas) or animals/monsters.But the armoured ones (green bandanas) will just turn and shoot before you kill them and Hunters will stomp you.

First thing is: AP ammo in this game is really important, as the ones with low penetration but high damage will just tickle them.

MKM and ECM are excelent all-arounders, and the later can be used well in end-game with AP ammo. For long range, getting a "Nosin"/Mosin is a a great starter weapon for long range sniping. You also get bonus damage if you pick off an unaware enemy if I recall correctly. Keep both a rapid fire weapon (deal with wolfes, ghouls and boars that come in packs and not armored) and a high powered rifle (armored humans).

Since you are also weak in the start, you can also act more as scavenger and avoid enemy contact unless you are sure you can get the jump on them. It helps a lot know where in the map there are fights between NPCs. You can get most of the quest items (except the infamous Sawmill p2.) just by scavenging stuff from boxes and houses in the village. Just dont go in the village center... those are boss level enemies but if you dont go there they wont bother you. Also... dont do the mission "the old man" from the Green Army, really. The dude they ask you to kill will reward you every time you come to him with a chest full of good stuff (often) if you do his little side quest.

I got my first MKM and Mosin from bandits killed in Makeshift camp. Hunters, Bandidts, Green/Crimson Army are fighting each other often there. If you are lucky you can get good rifles (VS-98, ECM) there, or even the EDL from dead Crimson soldiers, which is silenced and almost strong as the end-game M700 Marauder Modern. If you see a guy with black armor RUN like the wind. He is the "boss" of that zone and really really lethal.

To deal with the night, try to do some quests that gives you the headlamps, and keep attentive to audio cues. It's easy to overlook but at this point of the game I know what is nearby (human, Ghoul, boar/wolf) by listening their stepping noise. Humans make very soft steps, Ghouls and Boars very stompy, the first very fast the later slowly. Wolfes... well... if you can hear them howling, move in the opposite direction. Invest in a NVG as soon you can. They are totally worthy and enemies wont spot you because your light.
Dont run unless needed as you draw attention to yourself.

In the end there's always an element of surprise. It's very easy to bump by accident in a hunter in the middle of the night even the best NVGs. Thankfully you dont loose your equipment if you die.

As Vazc0 said, this games takes some time to you learn the mechanics and how to survive. Once you do, it shines and is really rewarding.

Ps: I use the in-game denominations. It took a while to "click" that EC was AK, MKM was SKS, etc.

[RicWalker]

I add to the comments of VazcO and Saracchini that mouse on target matters. just pointing the mouse in the direction of an enemy only works if you dont have time to aim and need to do a quick shot or burst when surprised. (most people die on that scenario)

Always scan ahead with the right click on a gun wthout the scope mode. so you are harder to ge ambushed. always walk. only run to disengage or through areas you already cleared.

Engage from long range. but make sure your crosshair is right on the target. that decreases the recoil and gives you more precision.
Dont do mag empties. Only single shot or small burst like 2-5 Bullets and disengage or break line of sight.
Corners of buildings are your friends. step out, shoot and step back behind cover as you would do in any other shooter.

Scope Mode is OP: the bullet teleports into your target and deals extra dmg if you are right on the target with the crosshair and the line of fire is clear (the circle around the scope is white, if red, something is between you and the target). if you are slightly off target, the bullets will travel normally and deal normal damage.

Also in regards to the forest map: there are actually 3 factions on the map. the green army, the bandits and civilians. Yes there are some civilian camps and even i am guilty by shooting them when i started because i misstook them for bandits. Bandits have bandanas, civilians have bare heads.
Yes, civillians will aim their guns at you, but you can approach them the same way as the green army camps on the forrest map and loot their camp dry.
Maybe that will change with later updates when faction reputation is introduced. but right now, civ camps are free loot.

[cam]

I started with an AK-74U for my first playthrough and did fine, but in retrospect I would’ve chosen a longer range rifle, you don’t want to be up close to any gun early game, even bad ammo will chew through you.

Don’t fight hunters without ps ammo, and I wouldn’t fight soldiers, bosses and their goons, or crimson Corp without ap ammo.

Start with hunting bandits, if you’re struggling to kill bandits there’s probably something wrong with your method, maybe use a long range gun and reposition after shooting.

[cam]

Also, just to make it clear. I’d say I’d disagree with with the EC-47U being bad early. I did all guests up until I unlocked the ECM with the EC-47U and it served me just fine. There are definitely arguably better choices, but don’t let gun choice cloud your perception of why you’re struggling. You can do all the early game quests with any of those starter guns

[Vazc0]

Originally posted by cam:

Also, just to make it clear. I’d say I’d disagree with with the EC-47U being bad early. I did all guests up until I unlocked the ECM with the EC-47U and it served me just fine. There are definitely arguably better choices, but don’t let gun choice cloud your perception of why you’re struggling. You can do all the early game quests with any of those starter guns

same. i used the EC-74U for the first ~10 hours of the game with PS ammo and didnt feel limited by gear. yes it'll get way easier as soon as you get better armor, weapons and ammo, but by far the most important thing is to learn how the game/combat works.

sure, rushing in with full auto will get you killed, but controlled tapping from a distance while taking cover can work wonders. even with a pistol.