The starting stuff matters. In my opinion a lot. The last game I started was the brainnerd. Full academical background combined with healing implant and wealthbackground. I started to train academics. The same time I began to rebuild my home. The goal was to minimize cost (garden) and influence loss. The moment I was good enough to work at the academy I started there. Then I got my first slave Juno. I trained her, build the housestuff and most important trained. First everything that developed intelligence, than the courses at the academy. Then the other advanced training stuff. After that I started to develop the physical attributes. At the moment I have all physical attributes at 60+, with a meleeskill of 110. Juno fights at the arena and gets about 2k per win.
restart game, focus on Range for damage i skip melee/ get all perk boost manipulation/ get healing implant /
After few tries what worked best for me was full academic background and from the abilities - sharpshooter, brainy and healing implant. Also charm and manipulate from the sexual abilities, with the priority on manipulate as charm is easier to train with seduction - caress.
This set of traits means starting with a rifle and some ranged skill and also 60 int which maximizes gain from academy courses (but take Daria's course last as it requires slightly more int for the full reward and you will get int from other courses). After doing at least 2 courses you will also have enough int for max gain from skill books. All these things are one time only so it's better to get the best results. Of course you can play the game with a dumb character but it will be harder. There is no easy repeatable way of training int so it's probably the best stat to invest your starting traits in.
However to pay for the courses and books you need some early game income not to mention upgrading your house and equipment, so before you can improve yourself you should focus on combat for money.
So here is a basic walkthrough:
Take Juno for free as your first slave, give her your starting crossbow and then change to a pistol once you find one. She will still miss almost everything but criticals always hit and raise skill. Your starting rifle should be enough for the first quest, maybe hire one cheap merc for a day or two but dismiss him once done to save money. For slave training do only things that result in nothing bad on failed rolls.
Progress through Kymanto quest line until you get 4k and then hire 2 good mercs. By good I mean combat armor and at least a rifle, I think Mr Doyle and Space Marine are the best ones before you have access to Crystal Hills. Don't worry about their salary, they are well worth the investment. With those two you can start killing enemies on the map, getting bounties and doing other quests for serious money, but you still need to prepare better for the docks fight, preferably getting your 2nd slave and combat armor for you and both your slaves.
Don't forget to sell extra weapons and merchandise at the market in your home area. Some ranged skill training in your house would be nice too. With this team you should have no problem getting money and you can focus on 1500 influence for the crystal hills, mostly from the quests and killing bandits but upgraded home is a nice source of influence too. Once you can go there the arena is an easy money source every day. The team you already have is enough for 2 random easy fights without even getting hit once and that's like a quick 400$ every day. Work on academy courses and books for skills and after that the game becomes very easy.
Yes, they do. A lot.
There are basically 3 ways to start a game: hunter, academic & vigilante, choose your initial stats accordingly.
A hunter will make a living hunting game outside the city and selling his gains at the market, it's the most straight forward; an academic will teach classes at the academy and requires a substantial amount of training before doing so, but it's, on average, the most profitable; a vigilante will wipe those red dots from the map and profit from loot (don't forget to sell the merchandise at the market), but be prepared to bleed and/or save scum a lot.
Counter intuitively, it is best not to get slaves right away, IMHO. I'd advice to wait till you got a fully upgraded garden, bedroom & bathroom - which you should upgrade in that order - before doing so. Try raising your stamina when possible as well, for this makes a huge difference.
Once you get a decent amount of money, a couple of loving/broken slaves and a home that doesn't stink, you can take your nerd to pick up some fights or have your brute read a book, till then, focus on your strengths.
Good luck!
Ok, this is what I love about this game. A wide variety of choices on how to play!!!
Basically, everyone has their preferences. Some will start combat focused, and go out and hunt down combat encounters to generate money and sellable loot. Some will focus on working, either at the factory, or as a professor. Some will get into hunting with the new hunting expansion, (crafting is still a partial WIP, but you can still make good money off of it). I knew one guy who basically made a career out of gambling at the taverns. At a high level, he would clear almost $1k a day off of it.
For me, i usually go with a int/charm build. no combat skills. then i go and grab Juno as my first slave and get the best mercs i can afford (PRO TIP: if you sub on SSA for the $5 tier, you can get the special quest that gives you the .45 revolver and $3k. that allows me to get Felix and Doyle right off the bat. Then I grab the quests from the general store, and complete it (should be able to do that w/o a fight), then I'll gear up me and Juno and do the other basic quests and fights.
Keep in mind that my combat skills suck. Juno's will suck as well. But my mercs will carry me, and Juno serves as a distraction and meat shield. Once i have some decent gear (heavy leather armor), ill do the first of the kymanto quests, clear it (should be no prob with Felix and Doyle) and then go buy my second slave (Rebecca, cause she starts out with 40ish ranged and is decent at combat w/rifle). From there I will do more combat to make more money.
If you look at my prev posts, I can amass almost $10k in 5 days. And this is with buying tendstims regularly to heal my crew. The combat also boosts my respect with my girls, so I always bring them. I ALWAYS BRING MY GIRLS TO COMBAT. THERES NO REASON NOT TO, AND IT HELPS OUT IN THE LONG RUN. I always talk to them everyday to help raise their affection, but its not my focus. Once I get $10k from doing quests/bounties/selling loot, ill start upgrading my mansion, starting with the garden, then living room/bedroom/kitchen. In about a week or so I'll have a mostly upgraded mansion, which makes interactions with my girls WAAAAAY easier (also set food and luxury to good levels, that helps as well). Then I start sexing them down/up, depending on my mood.
From there, it depends. Grim keeps expanding the game, so I usually start trying out new stuff. Right now im experimenting with building up my passive income, so that when I switch from active combat to training up my stats w/books and going to classes, I wont be strapped for cash. Putting a girl into the arena also helps during this time because she can generate income while training up her combat stats.
I really need to write up a walkthrough and post it on the wiki.
