My tips and info, some spoilers.

[OldManCraven]

I'll give this to the devs, this game is amazing but can be a serious pain in the beginning. It is NOT going to be easy to start out. You are going to be bad at everything. The mini-game for most things seems impossible at first. You may die. It's not going to be easy. You will get lost many times. I died or gave up/restarted many times. This is a survival game. I've been playing for over a week, and while I'm not an expert, I did learn some tips and tricks. I thought I'd share some in hopes others might find them useful and enjoy the game more.

A word of warning, this will probably be a misspelled rambling mess. I apologize in advance.

So, everything comes down to surviving and you'll find that difficult to impossible if you're not getting coin/food/skills/items. Easier said than done I know but this is how I got the hang of it. The mini-game for items or speech will seem like it is impossible. It will make the game unplayable for some. Some will hate it with a passion. It gets easier with every level of speech/begging/diving/etc so keep at it. It is just a matter of timing.

First do the quest line. This is incredibly important. You'll be sent from various hobos and have to do various jobs. You have a basic map in the beginning that will highlight the hobo's area. You can buy a "real" map but that's not necessary imo because you can't scroll in on it. Learn landmarks as you explore. Once you know where to go, there are normally shortcuts to the hobos that can be found. Doing all the quests will unlock all the basic crafting you'll need as well as show you what hobos can do for you. Some will teach recipes, some will teach building blue prints, some will offer services, some offer perks.

All that will cost coin or items or both. At first you won't need them, but once you can survive, you'll need them to thrive. Trust me, some perks open up a whole new world of possibility in the game. More on that later.

Hit every dumpster/trashcan or loot able spot you can find. It will be a luck of the draw sort of the thing but don't give up. I cannot stress that enough. Every time you loot an item(I believe anyway) it gives small increases to dumpster diving.

For the love of god do not let these chances go by! Every spot you loot will have a mix of none-loot able trash, a mix of lootables, and warning icons/poop. I don't remember how many warnings you get at first before you'll actually start hitting the poop but it's not many. I want to say 2 but no promises. After you hit the limit I suggest stopping. This will limit your haul but it makes thing easier in the long run I felt. Hitting poop will damage your clothing and make it/you smell. If you stink bad enough you can't buy from vendors or talk to people.

This can be dealt with but in the beginning it can be a problem. I honestly didn't bother with begging/talking to people or sell for the first few days of in-game play. I looted everything I could find. Each level you earn in dumpster diving gives you another warning chance and I think better loot, I could be wrong on better loot. I currently have 8 warning icons before I hit poop, so everything but the big dumpsters are completely safe for me. If you're a hoarder like me, you'll hit the carry limit quick but there's a cure for that I'll explain in the shelter part.

People are suckers. I absolutely love the dev's dialogue options in this game. I haven't laughed like I did as some of them in months. Most people will blow you off/not talk. Don't let it bother you. I will try to talk to every single person that goes by. Why? Because those that will talk are you main source of coin and possibly food/items in the beginning. They are not the only source mind you. Speech/begging/thief and some skills come into play when talking. You'll have a patience bar that you spend on your dialogue or various options. Begging food or coin will burn patience as will stealing. I'll be honest, I steal from everyone that I have the chance to. It burns off 10 patience and starts a mini-game. Some items are rare finds in the dumpster. Some items can be sold for 60-100 coin. Beginners will be bad at this game. The mini-game is part of everything so get the timing down asap. I don't have cat-like reflexes but in time you'll get the hang of it. Higher levels of skills/perks give you more green bars and eventually blue bars. Most times if you fail it is no big deal, they just get mad. Sometimes the cops will get involved. Again, for me, no big deal. You can handle the cops with the right perks. If not, you go to jail and lose morale. Morale can be fixed with items.

Food can be an issue in the beginning. Beg if you need it. the charity location will give one food or clothing item per day as well if you're desperate. It can also be bought if you scavenge/beg enough coin. All the food items you loot in containers turns into food scraps/deluxe food and can then be crafted/mini-gamed into usable food. Delicious is your main food craftable item. It takes 20 scrap food and a roll that you can buy for 3 coin a piece. The Master hobo, which you should find if you do the quests, will teach you to make better food for a price. Tasty Delicious is one of those. that's your high grade hobo food. I didn't bother will any of them for the first part of the game because they can cost too much in the beginning. The better food does give more food and health. It can also give a permanent but small bonus to resistances.

A side-effect of all that food is you WILL need to poop. haha, that's funny. No it's not. Every food item will give you a certain amount of poop. For the love of god do not ignore this in the beginning. I'm sorry to say this, but when you start out, pooping costs coin. The restroom is the only place you can go for the time being. It is a hassle but try to always have enough coin to use it. The penalty is far worse than the coin loss. Why? Cause nature will take its smelly course and you will stink. If you stink, you cannot shop/beg and you're in trouble. Some items in the game will reduce your personal stink but the clothing can only be cleaned at the laundry or the charity. Stinky clothes increase your personal stink. Bathroom break or a good amount of coin. Make the right choice. Btw, a perk makes this easier to handle. I'll explain that later.
Clothing is important. The charity and the seamstress will give you 1 item a day. Find them. Use them. Every day.

Clothing will increase your stats. You'll carry more, take longer to get cold/wet, have more charisma for talking to people. They make a huge difference. In the beginning, if you get your clothing too smell but can't yet afford to wash, just switch out clothes for ones that don't smell. You may have a problem with carrying limit because of all the clothes. Shrug the hobo can buy them from you.

As I said above, Clothing is your resistance to being wet and cold. You will get cold. You can get wet from rain/snow. You get cold and wet then you're potentially screwed. Cold+wet= sick and your health will drop. I'm on day 26 and every piece of clothing has the highest cold resistance I can find. There are "legendary" clothes you can buy with really high stats, but they cost something around 1300-2000 coin. They are sold by hobos and vendors. They are NOT always for sale. Standing by a burning barrel will dry you out and keep you warm. Learn the barrel locations. Don't be afraid to wait out rain/snow under covered spots. You can always craft items while you wait. Some craftable/loot able items can increase warmth/ decrease illness/ etc. Use the time you're stuck waiting for the storms to stop to make those. You can make a run for it to the nearest barrels but sometimes it's better to wait.

The burn barrel I mentioned above is your friend. Again, learn the burn barrel locations. most everything can be burned but I normally only burn useless junk/books and magazines or spare clothing/bags when I am desperate. Each item burns for different amounts of time. Burn whatever as you see fit. Whatever it takes to stay warm. I've had to burn clothing on one night when I can out of useless junk.

Spoiler alert about clothing and cold.
So now you know where to go to stay warm aka the barrels, but guess what...it's going to get cold. No kidding you say? Winter is coming and I don't think you realize what cold means yet. You get cold at night. The temperature always drops a night and goes back up during the day. The more days pass, the less warm it will be. Clothing helps immensely with that but only to a point. I've sacrificed wet resistance and charisma for the best cold resistance clothing I can find. Cold to me is -3 at night and maybe if I'm lucky, the lower 20's during the day. My temp is set to fahrenheit btw.

Sleep. You will need it. In the beginning you can only sleep on benches or the ground in certain spots. You can drink items to give you back energy, but eventually you will need sleep. When you sleep, your energy goes up but you get cold quick. The master hobo will teach you to craft some items that give a bonus of sorts to the act of sleeping. You'll sleep "better" and get cold slower. That is good because to earn a blessed sleep bonus you need to sleep a good amount of time. Some sleeping spots have a natural bonus to it. One spot, the only one I know of so far, will give back health. others give confidence aka longer talking to the suckers, Three will eventually become your best choices aka shelter spots. More on that later.

Stink. Diving into dumpster will make your clothes smell. Hitting the shrapnel aka poop will make your clothes smell. That smell builds up on clothing and makes you smell. Pooping yourself will give you 100% stink. This all can be handled several ways. Some items will reduce your personal stink. The charity and Shrug will let you shower/wash for a price if you need them. The charity or laundry mat will wash clothing for a price.

Ok, by now if I'm not screwing this up, you have the basics down. You can beg/steal off people.You're loaded with coin. You're finding food to make into meals. You're hitting the containers and dumpsters for items. You know how to get clean and wash clothing. You're surviving. Now, it is time to thrive my hobo brothers and sisters!

Shelter. There are three locations on the map that become your base of sorts. Each has a burn barrel and a repair station. They look like nothing special. They can become your haven of warmth, storage, and healing. It won't be easy for quick, but it is worth it. The shelter can be "upgraded" with items. You can find them in the big dumpsters or steal them. If the hobo gods smile on you, you'll find a sleeping item somewhere. You can place it by the burn barrel in your shelter. You can sleep and be warm! Each item gives your shelter a certain number of shelter points lets say. After you get enough points, your shelter can be assigned a bonus you get for 15 minutes of real time after sleeping a full cycle on that nice couch/chair/etc you found!. There can be multipule bonuses. Right now, I get a resistance to cold, a illness reducer, and a healing buff when I sleep.

You will choose from a list. Whatever you choose, it becomes permanent for that level of the shelter. You cannot change it. I went cold resistance to keep from freezing at night and be able to roam longer during the day. Some shelter items can be upgraded. I just learned that recently too. Place items by hitting tab, clicking the item to give you a model of it, then place. Inspect it while in building mode and you'll figure out if it can be upgraded. It takes somewhat mid-game items, but well worth the cost.

So, you got coin? I got ways for you to spend it. I mentioned above in the quest part about hobos teaching for coin. Remember them, find them, learn from them. Every perk/skill/recipe is worth it in the long run. Miasner will teach dump diving. Drax will sell you shelter items or buy ones you don't want. I've never sold any shelter items, btw. I've yet to find a situation where I need the coin that bad. Master hobo teaches some of the best. He has the food recipes. He has the street skills that allow more options in dialogue or doors. The most important skill he can teach is guts imo. Guts will let you poop outside at certain locations. This will cost you a roll of toilet paper but is invaluable. It will also let you enter doors that can't be lock picked, aka houses and business back doors. It costs will to enter a building, but the master hobo can increase that. Gum and smokes can replenish it as well. Once inside, you can beg with a mini-game win. You can sell items. You can steal items. Maybe most importantly, you can get the chance to warm up with a mini-game win. That has saved me many times. Monty will teach you to repair items or fix them for a price.

Bear can teach you higher level dump diving. Doing so gives you more green/blue bars as well as, I believe, gives you better loot in the dumpsters and dump piles. Each npc gives two options for learning anything. First is a lot of coin and the appropriate level of skill. You can't learn expert or master if your skill isn't high enough. The second option is generally less coin plus an item and a high enough trust/patience rating. Giving hobos food/drink/items will increase their trust/patience with you. I never went this route but if you don't have the coin, it is an option.

I hope this mess of tips helps everyone that is starting out. I'd also advice everyone to go to the guide section. Sxcnt's guide helped me immensely. It will explain the game stats, show locations and hobos, and give tips. I wouldn't be as far in the game if not for that guide. It gave me the info I needed in the beginning.

Shout out to the dev's again. I love this game. It is a challenge but it is a fun challenge. My apologizes once more for what a mess this post will seem.

[hanys.polach]

great job man!

[Simone]

really helpful. right now the pawbshop is glitched so you get free better bags. they burn better than junk