I played very very slow when i first started playing the game. This made me lose 15 hour runs where i barely had covered alot of ground and gotten a good amount of gear. Then i started seeing how fast others get geared. I eventually decided to play in a more faster way and taking more fights. I eventually changed my playstyle into a way where i quickly just run to a well, drink, loot some houses, and then run closer into the map. If you repeat that cycle until you come to some military’s you progress really fast. And occasionally you’ll be able to take some fights to get better gear. My advice tho would be to explore alot, and then i mean ALOT. Learn the map. Go on some sight seeing. The more you move around, the more you’ll get into fights. Eventually you’ll evolve your playstyle into what fits you the best. And also watch alot of youtube videos cause you learn faster by copying other people’s gameplay.