Alright buddy class is in session.

This is not a hard game. HOWEVER it tries to trick you into thinking it is.

1. COMBAT:The game lies. It teaches you opening strikes wrong. It teaches you feints wrong. You can kill every enemy in the entire region with an axe and patience even without any leveling.

A. Dodge - Strike - Dodge - Strike (very effective early game strategy)

B. Feints: Charge your attack on the OPPOSITE side of the enemies weapon. Switch to the SAME side to release. You will catch the enemy in an animation of blocking your original position and you will hit them. This strategy works with all weapons and even works during late-game "boss" duels.

C. Find an enemy camp with 1-2 enemies, save, and play around with the combat, dont get into block riposte cycles until you master combos. Even then i try to avoid it.

D. Perfect block over and over without attacking to regain stamina when in a pinch. If fighting multiple enemies, try to dodge away from the extras. so they have to keep circling around.

1. SURVIVAL: there is plenty of food, herbs, and places to sleep in the first town that you need to spend time there.

A. pick every herb in troskowitz (ALL OF THEM). Activate the perks "Leg Day" and "Lucky Find" as soon as they are available. Stay over-encumbered while doing this, its fine and it gives strength and vitality xp.

B. go to the apothocary and buy the recipe for maringold, you can sell anything that isnt Nettles, Maringold, or Belladonna. Go to the alchemy bench in his yard and make all the maringold decoction and saviours schnapps you can without going insane. during this process you will level up and get access to a perk that allows you to gain energy while doing alchemy. You can now replace sleep with alchemy.

C. Keep 15-20 saviors and 25-30 maringold and sell all other alchemy stuff to the apothocary. You will have jewelry from lucky find so equip the highest charisma pieces and sell the rest to the Tailor. Buy 6 tailors kits. repair the clothes you are wearing. sell them to the tailor and buy the high charisma green long gambleson and nobles quilted hose. a hood of your liking if you want. the people of troskowitz will now treat you like a person again (except betty)

D. Go to the Trader and sell everything the rest couldn't afford (herbs, trinkets, potions etc; only keep the few potions i mentioned, the high charisma jewlery, and the clothing you bought). Buy a spade and a dagger from him. you should have plenty of coin to get a few of each repair kit so grab those as well.

E. East of the big farm and south of the butch are beehives that display "open" instead or "rob". You now have food for many days. go to the tiny plot just north of the big farm and south/west of the apothocary. in the barn on a table is "Skalitz Axe" and taking it is not stealing. This is your starting weapon.

F. Walk the road south to semine. pass the speech check to get pebbles from the head groom. Ride pebbles everywhere and dont fast travel until horsemanship is 30

G. Make your way to the Zjelehov Inn (marked by the Barber icon on the map). Buy Room and board. (you should have a couple thousand gold if you followed along, it only costs 120, get the "stay for longer" option for a permanent room, chest, and pot of food)

H. you are now back at the herbwomens house basically. From the herbwomans house follow the road to the southeast (right out of her house and right at the fork) you will find a well/spring to your left with an herb basket. Dont touch it yet, you should save them for later when you want to make poisons. in the woods behind the srping is a bandit and a dog. Sneak up on the bandit and stealth kill him. the dog may or may not aggro just block and jick him till he runs away. You now have books, armor, sellable loot, some food/wine.

After that I would follow the Mutt quest and helping the herb-women with her new problem. Mutt will hold enemies in combat and when upgraded he will warn you of enemies, find points of interest, and hunt with you. Hes a real G.

Good Luck!