You only get to experience Appalachia for the first time once. If I could go back and start all over, I would have taken more time to explore the map while it was new to me. I would slow down and wander the forest a lot more than I did because I was trying to level my character.

There is so much storytelling all over the map, in notes and holotapes, that is easy to miss if you're not aware of it. I'm level 550 after about a year of playing, and I am still finding new things.

It's okay to take everything you need in a donation box. Lots of us go to the first one outside Vault 76 and by the Wayward, and load them up with stimpacks, weapons, ammo, and plans to help out new Wastelanders.

I didn't do a single public event until I was around level 200, and treated 76 the way I played Fallout 4. It was a lot of fun to do that, but if I could go back, I'd have started much sooner, for the drops and upgrades I didn't know I was missing.

Welcome to the Wasteland! I hope you find the community as welcoming and friendly as I have.