NEO Scavenger

- Character creation is a big deal, and affects a lot of how you're going to play. A lot of people recommend Strong + Melee for the initial Dogman encounter, but I think that wastes too many creation points that could be better spent elsewhere. Trapping is a must-have skill as it lets you make fires pretty much anywhere, and clean (boiled) water is your #1 most important resource throughout most of the game.

- Pick Myopia as a flaw when you're starting the game. It's basically a free point, because later in the game once you have money you can have an operation to not only remove Myopia but give you the Eagle Eye skill too. Never pick Eagle Eye when creating a character for this reason, it's a waste of points.

- Botany, Mechanics, and Hacking are all worth considering. Botany lets you find (and identify) more food and make Tannin Tea, which sells for quite a bit and can be used as an antiseptic. Mechanics lets you build vehicles which will allow you to haul around a lot more crap. Hacking is not terribly useful but hacked computers, phones, and tablets can sell for huge amounts of cash.

- Early survival is heavily RNG-dependent. If it starts out freezing and your initial scavenging turns up nothing, you're probably going to die of hypothermia and there's nothing you can do about it.

- Combat is generally something to be avoided, but picking a combat skill is useful as it'll allow you to make a broad spear, which is probably the best all-around melee weapon. Melee dominates in the early game, but once you get access to guns later on Missile is very powerful. I tend to favor Melee but that's just me.

- If you do get into combat, never attack an enemy unless they're Vulnerable, stunned, prone, etc. Getting hit is really bad so being very defensive (dodging, parrying, etc) is your best bet. Flurry attacks are also usually not worth it since you lose a turn. Missile ambush attacks when hidden are ridiculously powerful--even a mere sling stone will wreck an unsuspecting enemy. But you need Missile and Hiding skill to make the best use of that.

- The first thing you want to do in the game is head toward the Glow. The Glow is the single best "base" in the game, so long as you're not dumb enough to mess with the guards. Scavenge as much as you can along the way but getting to the southeast corner of the map is your first priority.

- When it comes to dealing with hostiles, a lot of the strategy involves luring them toward each other, letting them kill each other, and looting their corpses afterwards. DNC guards in particular have amazing loot, and the only way to really get it is to have bandits/raiders/dogmen attack them, since taking on a DNC guard is suicide, even if you win.

- Clean water is your most important resource. Drinking unpurified water will get you Giardia and death by dehydration quickly. Find a metal sauce pan as soon as you can, but a soup can will work too. You can boil water in glass bottles as well, but it will destroy the bottle in the process.

- Never eat unidentified mushrooms or berries if you don't want to die. (you'll need Botany to identify them) Blue berries are always safe though.

- Don't resort to cannibalism unless you're going to starve otherwise. Repeated cannibalism has some pretty hefty negative consequences.

- In the various random events, picking the "good" thing to do is incredibly dangerous and will more often than not get you wounded or killed. Like if you hear someone screaming for help and you try to save them you're more likely to get jumped by bandits and robbed than a reward. Attempting to be a hero in Neo Scavenger is really risky--it's not totally without reward, but it's usually not worth it to try.

- Never ever wander into the swamps south of the Glow without a working gas mask, and even then it's really not worth it. The swamp will give you Defoliant Exposure, a nasty illness which can never be cured in-game.

- Relatively early on, you can get a quest to go to Camp Grayling from several different people in the game. Camp Grayling is actually the endgame, so don't tackle it immediately. You'll need to be well-kitted out before you take it on. A foil poncho is a must, too.

- Trapping also lets you make preserved meat which makes you thirstier but is overall better. It also lets you make fur items which really help with freezing.

- Botany's ability to make tannin tea can't be understated - antiseptic is really useful towards long term survival. If you don't have tannin tea then you'll have to make due with whiskey. Don't neglect your cuts, and although you ideally want both boiled rags and antiseptic doing something is better than doing nothing at all.

- Skills like Trapping populates recipes to work with in the crafting menu so explore those.

- Certain skills also give you more combat options, which generally serve as better ways to make enemies Vulnerable.

- A broad spear is indeed king and you need to realize it lets you attack from farther away than most melee weapons - so never neglect the reach advantage in close combat.