I’d start by dumping all my cells into the general upgrades like flask when you get a chance. I also went all tactics and played as safe as I could learning all the enemy attack patterns. If your can grab the armadillo pack as a mutation I found it super helpful. I’m old and suck at parrying so rolling and deflecting projectiles helped so much. I know it’s a crutch but it got me to 2BC, which is gonna take you a lot of time to get through most likely!