First few days What should be focused on?

[Akire]

Hi just about to start a full first play through and wondering what you all recommend doing, was planning on using the day meeting a few of the main characters and then just looting as much as i can and trading before the plague begins is this a good idea to start off or should i focus on quest lines if there are any on day 1.

Also are all Main NPCs shown on the map that give quests, how will i know if they give quests on the day, is it a go find out situation? what do you do on the first 2 days for examples what do you prioritise trading etc ..

[Heikai]

The quest lines should reveal themselves naturally as you play the game. There are multiple different ways for them to appear based on your actions. Survival-wise, you should keep looting the bins you come across and trade those items especially for food. If you keep up trading for food, there's less need to buy it from the shops which is expensive. So, keep looting bins, trading for food, and following the quest lines.

P.S. Note that there are two different looking bins. I have seen some players miss bins because of this. One looks like it's made of stone/cement and the other one is metallic.

[Akire]

Thanks for the response, So would you say food is priority what about different medications morphine, immunity tablets etc .. are they important to stock up on.

[Heikai]

Originally posted by Akire:

Thanks for the response, So would you say food is priority what about different medications morphine, immunity tablets etc .. are they important to stock up on.

Food is usually the thing that trips people up. I would say it's the first priority. You need to keep yourself alive in order to help anyone else. Once the plague kicks in and people start getting sick, the game should explain what you need to do. I don't think you necessarily need to prepare for it beforehand. You will get to make your own tinctures (by mixing water and herbs) that help with immunity which is important. I think the game's pretty well tutorialized so hopefully you can learn as you go.

[StrayDogFreedom]

Heikai already gave the best advice, focus on food, and most other things I would recommend might give too much of the fun away.
That being said, I would recommend using the first day as an opportunity to learn how to sneak around and fight with your fists or a stabby instrument. Being able to do both well will make the rest of your game far more easy, particularly since a lot of players think it's the hardest aspect.

You should also buy the bull, Khatangher

[sokolov]

You can store items at Lara's home so you can keep looting.

[New Pantera]

buy the bull, don't take the deal

find the lines, i know you can

[Double-D]

Honestly - I would recommend just do whatever you feel like. Yes, the game is ridiculously punishing sometimes, but it's all part of the experience. So - explore. Try anything you feel like trying, talk to anyone you think is worth your time (just be careful with what you say), visit any place you find interesting.
You will start a new playthrough anyway.
And yeah - buy the bull, don't take the deal, stick your nose into every single trash can you see and don't drink from barrels - they can and will run dry. Drink from public wells. And don't forget to visit the theater every night. They do some nice performances there.

[Heikai]

Also, when running away from enemies, lower your fists. You run slower otherwise.

[Akire]

Currently on Day 4 and damn even though i have been hoarding food im all out my immunity is practically non existent pretty sure im infected starting to hear voices trying to use immunity boosters and got to improve immunity of the Villagers trying to farm herbs but it takes alot of my time. Even looting in infected areas is a challenge infected people touching you constant immunity loss phew lots to think about. So in other words game just picked up on difficulty and loving it probably going to die soon and need to restart but should have learned a few bits.

Does holding out your lamp (that i forgot i even had) in infected areas slow your immunity loss. Any recommendations walking through infected areas and how to prevent it spreading to other areas is possible.

[Double-D]

Originally posted by Akire:

Currently on Day 4 and damn even though i have been hoarding food im all out my immunity is practically non existent pretty sure im infected starting to hear voices trying to use immunity boosters and got to improve immunity of the Villagers trying to farm herbs but it takes alot of my time. Even looting in infected areas is a challenge infected people touching you constant immunity loss phew lots to think about. So in other words game just picked up on difficulty and loving it probably going to die soon and need to restart but should have learned a few bits.

Does holding out your lamp (that i forgot i even had) in infected areas slow your immunity loss. Any recommendations walking through infected areas and how to prevent it spreading to other areas is possible.

Welcome to Pathologic. Get comfortable.

If you're infected - your "Immunity" bar changes name to "Infection". If you're at low level of infection - try and walk into the fire from molotovs (only from molotovs or flamethrowers, others won't do). You will take damage but you wil burn out the infection.

Touching stuff in infected areas is not recommended - your imunity will go down rapidly. Best idea would be to avoid those areas completely if there's not quest-related reason to visit (and you can finish the game this way, at least I did).

You cannot save everyone. Accept this idea. Technically, you can, but not on the first playthrough. Same with quests. It's not the game you can 100% in a single playthrough (agian - probably some madman actually managed to do that, but it's not for casual player). Pick priorities - it's part of the game.

Gathering food in advance is a great tactic, but the game will provide you with means to live another day. Sometimes by quests, sometimes by pure accident. Doesn't mean you shouldn't stock up at every possibility - you should. Just don't think your game is over if you're broke completely. Look and you will find.

Oh, and water. Pick up every bottle you find and fill every single one from a well (clean water, of course). Keep barrels as a last resort. Water is extremely important on later days.

[StrayDogFreedom]

When you're in Infected Areas you'll notice there are sometimes swarms of black clouds near entrances and exits or inside buildings. In most cases, bringing out your lamp will cause these plague clouds to disperse. Only the stationary ones, though, not the moving ones, it's best to just avoid the moving ones. This is pretty much the only use of the lamp, as far as I know.

Boots make walking through infected areas much easier and slow down immunity loss a great deal, they're a worthwhile investment. I also highly recommend gloves if you're going to be grabbing any items in there because lots of things will give you a little infection, particularly any dirty cabinets you comes across, consider whether those are worth opening before you do so. The big Cloaks protect you when you're being touched by plague victims but you'll probably want to save your investment in those for inventory upgrades. I personally recommend not using immunity boosters but Tinctures instead, particularly the bubbly ones but that's more of an advanced strategy to worry about in later playthroughs.

There are quests that may help you prevent plague from spreading to different districts but for the most part it's out of your hands. Trying to be as helpful as possible is usually the best way to help the city.

There are certain areas on the map that have a lot of herbs, those are worthwhile areas to go to, to farm herbs. I don't personally recommend focusing on the blood and root method as it just takes too long for too little. It can be a useful supplement, however, particularly if you're killing a lot of bad guys.

I would recommend restarting only if you get yourself into a death spiral or you think it's just too hard to continue. Dying is part of the game and you get a lot of interesting interactions and a lot of the gestalt of the game's message is in the death dialogue. Character deaths, likewise, will sometimes reveal interesting things about them you wouldn't be able to find out otherwise. But do what keeps you interested in the game, for sure.

[Olly_alpha]

Focus on accumulating everything that will definitely be useful to you in the future. This:
- Food. Any food that is available. Buy it in the first days, stock up on eggs, pies, cottage cheese, crackers, etc., so that in the middle of the game you don’t spend a lot of money on food.
- Bottled water. By the fourth day it is good to have a supply of 30-40 bottles. Why - you will understand.
- Jewelry, watches, amulets. Try if possible not to sell them in the first days. Wait until the 5th-6th day to be pleasantly surprised at the prices and suddenly get rich.
- Everything you need to repair weapons and expand your inventory. These are springs, gears, sharpening stones, chisels, as well as everything that relates to sewing (thimbles, needles, pins, etc.). Have a few straight razors in stock.
- Buy, collect, exchange nuts from adult NPCs. Run to the children with the nuts. Pay special attention to little girls. If you see a “powder” in their inventory, take it without sparing the nuts. For nuts and various small items, children can also give you food, Immunity Boosters, morphine, and coins (for the boatmen). Exchange, it's important. But “powders” are a priority. If you collect 5-7 powders by the fourth day, you can relax. But you shouldn’t spend them on everyone; save them for especially important occasions.
- If possible, try to exchange more coins for fasttraveling. For these coins, the young men with scarves will give you coffee beans, but leave a few (8-10) coins for yourself.
- Buy and stock coffee beans and lemons. No one will allow you to sleep properly in this game anyway.
- In the first three days, buy a revolver from the man near the boat. Don't buy bullets for money. Little blond boys give away 1 bullet for 4 “handshakes” (nuts, raisins).
By the fourth or fifth day you should have a supply of food, water, parts for repairing weapons and clothing, a bunch of jewelry and watches for sale, several pieces of “powder”, about ten coins for boatmen, a revolver, ammunition and a pair of scalpels in perfect condition. And pockets full of morphine.
Never throw away empty morphine ampoules, bloody bandages or rotten meat. In the "shop of dead things" you will receive very valuable things for them.
Tincture "Medrel+" is brewed from Swevery and any other herb. At the first opportunity, make as much of this particular tincture as possible and try to apply it only to yourself, and not waste it on NPCs. This stuff is much better than Immunity Boosters and also restores fatigue.