First Steps: Where to Go

The snow has died down, the dog is dead, and the wounded guide is left lying by the road. On his body is a crumpled note: “If you make it, head north to the shelter. There are still people alive there.” That’s your first goal. Beyond it lies an open world, and where to go is now up to you.

Step one: head out to the global map

Once the intro is over, the game tells you plainly: “Gather what’s left after the fight and head out to the global map.” Before you leave, open your character screen — while you’re still inside the starting location, your starting stats can be freely redistributed, but once you’re outside they lock in. Pick up everything of value from the guide’s body and off the ground after the fight: this is your only starting supply.

Once you cross the edge of the map, you arrive at the global map — in this version the world unfolds across St. Lawrence Island. Your group moves across it in real time: you click a spot, the party heads there, the “fog of war” lifts along the way, locations are revealed, and encounters happen.

Where to head

The guide’s note points the way: north, to the shelter — there are people still alive there. As soon as you step into the world, two marked roads await: to the north — Vault ED-17, with people, trade, and work; to the south — the signpost and the way into the open wasteland. According to the lore, the nearest inhabited place in these parts is the town of New Gambell, founded after the nuclear winter; it has its own organized guard that beats back raids by the Korka gangs and shoots down wild beasts. In the game, New Gambell is a living, populated city with its own faction: a checkpoint, a central market, and residential sections. Where to go first is up to you: the note and the map markers give you a safe direction, the wasteland gives you freedom.

The main rule of travel: danger depends on the place, not on you. The farther you go from the starting zone, the stronger the enemies — and it’s the same for every player. The game doesn’t tune difficulty to your level or gear. Want easier fights — stay closer to the start; want a challenge — head farther out into the wilds.

First survival: watch the cold

The main threat of your first hours isn’t hunger, it’s the cold. Hypothermia weakens your body and hampers recovery even when you’re not fighting, so keep warm and don’t push through recklessly. Alongside it: poisoning, radiation, fatigue, wounds, and overload. A sensible early loop is simple: stick close to safe places, make short successful outings, figure out which weapons and skills suit you, gather resources, and come back to heal and re-equip before pushing on.

Hints on the global map help you avoid trouble: the markers LOAD (overloaded), SLOW (low speed), FAR (long route), DANG (noticeably more dangerous ahead), and WAIT (an encounter is underway). DANG is an honest warning: best not to go there unprepared.

How to grow from here

Experience comes from many sources — mix them rather than chasing just one:

• Explore the map. Every first discovery of a location grants experience. You don’t get it again for the same place, so exploration is rewarded but can’t be farmed.
• Take on quests. Sometimes a random encounter on the map turns out to be not a fight but a person with an errand — a chance for story and reward.
• Prepare your next run. Your account has shared storage and a set of characters: stash rare materials and pick the hero best suited to the task.

Don’t rush: one or two good short outings give you both experience and a sense of yourself — in a cold world that matters more than a dash into the depths.