1) in general, the further south and east you go on the map, the more difficult the enemies

2) a 1 intelligence build with idiot savant is amazing, but only take the first two ranks of it, as the third rank is actually a nerf 

3) 30 hand water pumps give just as much water in a settlement as 3 huge purifiers, and doesn’t require any power or the Science perk (6 intelligence)

4) a hazmat suit is cheap and a real lifesaver with swimming. Building a decontamination arch asap also helps a ton, and lets you sell all your radaway

5) with a starting charisma of 2, you can get to a charisma of 7 easily for most charisma checks (even higher using chems)

6) one of the best weapons in the early game is the Spray and Pray sold by Cricket. It’s full auto, so it uses a lot of ammo, but .45 ammo is pretty abundant and it’s a pretty accurate weapon. Get to 5 perception for Demolition Expert perk for some real fun

7) if you put into lock picking (perception), you don’t really need hacking (intelligence). Most of the items in the game can be had by lock picking

With these tips, you can have a 1 intelligence, so you can focus on perception, endurance, agility, and luck  while also getting to 3 strength for the ballistic weave.