How to level up combat in the beginning?

[The Real Alpharius]

I bought this game about two days I started with the nobodies beginning and I scavenged some gear and crossbows off some dead dust bandits. I know in the beginning you are weak and bandits will steamroll you so I avoid them, but my party of 5 nobodies plus Hobbs with basic horsechoppers and crossbows got completely wiped by a pack of 3 goats.

If I cant attack even passive animals without getting my cheeks clapped then how do I level up enough to at least find bandits in the very beginning?
P.S enjoying the game alot and the challenge is fun so not trying to sound like I'm complaining
Edit- mispelled beginning

[nex]

a good idea is fighting near cities where there are factions that fight bandits and try for limited engagements and slowly train up.

with time you can venture out and fight more challenging enemies.

[rompier02]

Hi. For me in fresh start, I will stick with Garrus. When hit 20 - 30 in att/defense/dodge, will move on to Gorillos. In my plays for some reason they do not eat you when you go down. Further their attack are always around 45 - 47. Fight stronger enemies in order to improve your combat prowess. Their strikes cannot be blocked most of the times. This is good xp for Dodge/Defense & Toughness. Prioritize melee/MA over range. Will not touch Bulls/Goats. Their damage is enough to amputate/kill my fresh crew. Give it a try & maybe formulate your own method.

The above suggestion by nex have been tested & rings true. This method has been employed since the place holder maps. Good luck.

[Koraxious]

If you're just starting out, look for roaming squads of Starving/Hungry Bandits. They have very low combat stats and they spawn with cloth rags and rusty iron clubs. Their leader usually has a horse chopper and some weak armor. They're the first enemy you want to start combat with since they don't inflict much bleeding, which means that you can get back up and fight them as long as you don't let them hit you too much.

[Morkonan]

Originally posted by YungUpgrade:

..., but my party of 5 nobodies plus Hobbs with basic horsechoppers and crossbows got completely wiped by a pack of 3 goats.

If I cant attack even passive animals without getting my cheeks clapped then how do I level up enough to at least find bandits in the very beginning?
P.S enjoying the game alot and the challenge is fun so not trying to sound like I'm complaining
Edit- mispelled beginning

Goats are no joke. They're tougher than a squad of Starving Bandits. Though, that you got wiped by just three goats... lolz. :) (Happened to me too, but it was more than just three goats. :) )

The way to increase your stats is by doing the things related to the Stats. (Mousehover over them, then manuever your mouse down to the description window to scroll it.)

There are training dummies for Melee Attack, which can get a character up to 15 Melee Attack. But, that doesn't train weapon skill or toughness or primary stats like Strength and Dexterity

You need to train Strength by carrying heavy stuff. A backpack full of iron ore, carrying a body, and walking around as best you can will dramatically raise Strength. (Encumbrance over 90% gives max resulst and is easy to reach with a wooden backpack and Iron Ore.)

For Weapon Skills, fight enemies with the desired weapon.

For Toughness, get your butt beat a lot... Yeah, you're meant to fight and fight and fight until you end up getting to be a pretty Tough fighter. You'll get a lot of extra Toughness EXP if you try to stand up after being knocked unconscious and are in the "Playing Dead" state and enemies are still around. Though, if you've got some really serious injuries, you might want to continue playing dead unless you're about to be eaten..

Pay attention to the stats on weapons and armor. Weight is significant for weapons and you need twice the Strength of the weight of the weapon to wield it without penalties. At first, you want armor with as few penalties on it as possible. Later, you'll have higher Skill scores that can handle those relatively small penalties.

With Kenshi, it's all about "playing." Even having the best equipment available isn't going to help you compensate for having low Ability/Skill scores. And, you get those scores through experiencing the game and fighting and getting hit by nasty enemies. If you ever find yourself hitting a "wall" caused by a stat deficiency you can't seem to get past, search online for how to train that stat. There are lots of different ways to train stats, some more realistic than others, and many of them can provide some fun gameplay on their own.