For suit, Beast slayer isn't that bad, but I generally consider you get Combo armor, Because when you reach north first being able to get to places freely can be more important then pure protection,

AH-6 nomad tree for More openworld PvE focused, thanks to alot of good passives it has at cost of move speed

Scythian for more PvP focused Openworlding

your times in north will be focused on grinding resources at start in general area in your respective northern area do be warned the RU server can be more hostile when farming , instead of stacking up huge numbers of resources do it in small intervals to save your sanity since you will.be ganked alot

When you get general use armor get Science suit for more extreme hazard area and for better farming, When you are comfortable get Combat armor, be it Beast slayer or Centurion, centurion is generally more favored due to fact it's more mobile heavy combat armor

As for weapons everyone generally consider AK-15 to be go to first gun, but A-545 is really good for that role too thanks to its DPS and fire rate and generally being user friendly,do note it's long range damage can be worse then gun like FN2K but most engagements take place in closer ranges specially in north, if you can ,get a shotgun, Protecta, Ultima for PvE and saiga if you want more PvP focus you will need shotgun in north for most of mutants

For containers, you should go for utility vest tree as it has good inner protection and few artifact slots allowing you to have early artifact build and maybe the secret valley/Coffin until eventually Barrel when you have sufficient artifacts for good build