Early game FEPs

[razfen]

Just collect WWWs for days, plant them, and get a stable supply of barley, wheat and pumpkins early. Make a bigass field. Once you have those, just make a new char and start eating.

[MagicManICT]

There's a trick with bats (and foxes... never tried with anything bigger) where you don't need armor and only need a bit more than base stats. Aggro ones near cave entrances. You can duck in and out of the fight enough with the exit to use moves to get rid of openings and duck back in before combat breaks. Boat hunting is basically the same idea. Punch, back up, get rid of openings, punch again.

Reason I didn't try it with bigger was the combat breaking if you stay out long enough, and anything bigger than a fox can actually hurt a new character even at low (<20%) openings.

As pointed out by azrid, fishing is and has been very consistent. You just need to have the right baits and be on the right node (think Salem fishing). I think there's still an influence of shallow/deep, time of day, and moon phase, but they're minor now compared to being the core of the system.

Welcome back.