Early contracts just destroy me

[Polk]

I played 3 runs of this game so far:
run one, dual wield dwarf, cleared one dungeon. Ok cool. I go to do the next quest and I die to the first enemy inside the dungeon. I decide maybe this build was bad

run two, spear and crossbow dude. Shoot people on the way, seems decent. I get to the first quest and get killed by the first enemy who just did more damage than me. Ok, so I guess there's no point in trying again since the same thing will happen.

run three, I try noble lady. Sword and shield, seems solid, I head to the first quest. Kill a bandit with little trouble, then I go inside the dungeon and get just slapped to death.

I don't get it man. It's not about the save system, it's about getting randomly ♥♥♥♥♥♥. How am I supposed to "prepare" or "calculate risk" when I just lose a 1v1 battle against the first enemy?

How do I know what contracts are easier than others? Since that was clearly the case the first time.

[ZeddTakashi]

You shouldnt be doing contracts starting out but exploring the area, gain 1-2 levels first. And obviously we need more details.

There are alot of other stuff to consider, youre condition, equipment, the type of enemy, what weapon your using, what skills you have, etc.

[Bud Spencer]

Locations on the map are marked as easy, mediocore or dangerous. When you start a game, I recommend fighting animals for hides and killing mobs for XP untill you have a better equipment and higher level.

[American Dove Mitten]

You can safely farm mobs on top of the town.

I would recommend a build with defensive skills as opposed to high offence.

You can also use W to switch between ranged and melee to get a few free hits.

[xClickiTx]

The time limit on the first contracts make me want to skill up before attempting. 4 days to go in and come out successful is hard at level one. Plus you can get money and gear up if you explore the immediate adjacent areas. :) You can do the thing, I believe in you.

[AndreGAS]

Nobody forces you to take contracts. With starting equipment and with xbow from armory you can farm easy exp and money by killing bears around villge. Hell, with the enemy-follow-system you can even kill bears far away just by luring them to the starting village and just kill with xbow.

[Drewsko]

2nd contract seemed to be hardest one. I say to be safe, complete first contract at lvl 3, then grind to lvl 5 before taking on second contract. Then add a lvl or 2 for every other one. Save early and often.. Bring lot of gear and ammo to outposts before tackling a mission site for extra help.
Dont forget alot of mission sites have containers near the surface entrance so u can use them too.

[Drewsko]

plants, water, and ammo are great things to stock all over!

[laveley]

Farm, explore some PoI, 1 lvl or 2 makes a huge difference in early dungeons.

[Neyreyan_Youtube]

I supose i will have to make a guide if this keeps up:) listen , you dont have to farm anything, you dont have to waste 2 hours to get 500 gold.
You can do the contracts without any problems.
I like to play the dual mace build with the dwarf and its more about awarness and what gear to use.
For example, i the vambrace, decent boots, knight girdle(belt)and generally what else i can find. Get items wich gives % like 2% stun chance is big, 2% counter, 1% dodge etc.
For skills i prefer the stone armor, the initiative hit and the aura with the bonuses for enemies you see.
I get a lot of medical supplies and use cover.
You can also search the ? Locations near the village because some of them have free loot and you can also go to the monastery to loot the corpses, reloading for better loot works wonders:D needs a nerf
I am no expert but this is how i always played
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pqAZMgi7BNg&t=2s

[GoatHeart]

Yeah like some people have said, explore the ? positions around town before you go for the first contract, it should get you to lvl 2 or even 3 before you go for the first contract.
When taking contracts read what they say, they will usually say which dungeon they need you to go before you click the accept, find out which one it is say you need some time to think about it, open the map and see which difficulty the gamemap says it is.

Also melee combat in this game is not about running in, you see an enemy if they're alone kite them to your position to ensure that the noise you make while fighting doesn't attract more enemies. If there are more than 1 enemy try to use the shout ability (by right clicking your own character) to make them come check your position, sometimes you can make a single enemy come.

Melee in this game is definitely harder than magic but its not impossible, its about choosing your fights and planning them carefully. In dungeons always run back to rooms that are empty and that have no connecting doors to avoid getting jumped on by more enemies than you can handle.

And most of all, yes you have to get some defensive abilities in the early game, later on you can hack fast enough that its not mandatory but early in the levels you need to survive so get some defensive things. I suggest either combat arts(Defensive Stance) or athletics (Elusiveness).

[Biggboi]

I had to wait until I was level 6 to do a dungeon..... I am playing as the dwarf, I recommend buying a crossbow, and buying the bolts that do bleeding damage, just hit at least one, then run, they are most likely to flee, then just shoot them in the back and finish them off with fire magic if you can. This happened at like 20 hours in.... Maybe I'm just bad lol but so far I've cleared 2 dungeons, and moving on to the 3rd! Just play smart, and you'll be fine, dont be afraid to flee, and fight a person 1 on 1.

[Biggboi]

I reccomend doing contracts that involve regular people, so that they can bleed. The undead ones were a bit hard...

[Biggboi]

Also dont rush into a door, try shouting or even blowing up the door if you have pyromancy wayyyy much easier, then just shout and wait for them to come out and shoot them with cross bow.

[Red Oktober]

You dont have to TAKE any contract at all... you can complete a contract without TAKING it from the contract giver NPC.
If it happens that by exploring a dungeon you manage to kill the boss, you can go back to town and ask for the reward without having actually taken the contract before hand.

So, to sum it up, YOU DONT NEED TO TAKE A CONTRACT TO COMPLETE IT !!!
by doing that you can totally discard the timer :)

Have fun !

[Polk]

I've done a playthrough as the maiden knight, greatsword build. I've been chopping my way through the game after some help from a few tips here. Once you figure things out it's not too bad. I must say now I'm kind of disappointed that this is all there is. Only thing left to do is kill the troll, is there more content after that?