The following is by no means comprehensive, it is my opinion and others have difference experiences and results. I consider myself to be quite average at the game. My suggestions may not work for you, if that is the case you will need to find a play-style that works for you.
* Do not try to learn how to play from Twitch/YouTube, they are not the typical player, they are the 1% that can spend unreasonable amounts of time playing and learning the nuances of the game.
* Enable voice chat and use it when applicable, if someone attacks you, try to reason with them, some times it actually works. If you get the drop on someone, you don't have to kill them, move away, or even let them know you are there and you do not mean them harm, or just kill them :D. Scavs should work together, I've noticed with Voice coms this happens way more organically and often. Just don't be the jerk that claims to be friendly then shoots people, this is just low, even for internet nerds.
* There is more than enough loot on every map for everyone to leave with a full inventory, you don't HAVE to kill to succeed, its just more fun.
* EFT Is NOT a high speed game, don't sprint everywhere your stamina will drain, and when you actually need to move you wont be able to.
* Only be slow around dangerous areas, rooms/buildings, and loud surfaces, but also only sprint when you need to, like open areas, or to get to cover.
* So don't rush, and don't move at min speed, most of your movement should be at normal walking pace, obvious tactical situations change this.
* Being over-weight (over encumbered) drains your stamina faster, and makes you more noising, just because you CAN pick something up, doesn't mean you should. This is signified by a yellow eye-looking icon in the upper left of your HUD, checking the health tab of your character status allows you to hover over the icon to learn what it does.
* Say NO to Gear Fear! If you have it use it (unless its needed for a quest/barter/craft) You can always get more gear, a good gun and armor does nothing to help you learn how to play if it sits in your stash!
* Always bring medical items, if you are worried about losing them put them in your secure until you find something to replace it with. Analgin, Bandage, Splint, and esmarch are pretty much mandatory minimums, replace them with more space optimizing options when available.
* Do NOT ignore your injuries, bleeding will kill you fast, fractures and blacked out limbs will kill you fast but not directly, but by being slow, or hindering your ability to aim/perceive your surroundings.
* Avoid exposing yourself to open sight-lines (don't stand in the open, utilize cover at all times possible).
* Do not loot while standing, nothing says kill me! like a player standing like a goof staring at a container/body.
* Loot QUICKLY, its better to not get some loot than to die and lose what you already have/brought in.
* Do not silhouette yourself against the sky by going over hills/rubble/whatever, go around it.
* Try not to step on wood or metal, the sounds are ridiculously loud.
* Wear headphones (in real life) wear in game headphones if you have them, they amplify specific sound ranges, they pick up footsteps really easily.
* Do NOT try to move and shoot unless you know your weapon and how the character movement works very well! your weapon sways as you move, and you cannot hold breath and move at the same time.
* Bullets, when fired come from the barrels transform (Vector 3 coordinates determining position and direction) Not the center of your screen like a lot of shooters do. If the weapons barrel is blocked by something, it will block the bullet, if you are mid step and the barrel is pointing off center, the bullet will go that direction.
* Do NOT engage a target unless you have an advantage and a clear shot.
* Reposition, reposition, reposition, do not peek the same corner twice. If a fight starts and you are not sure, break sight, and change position to another angle, do not just go behind something and sit there, you are just easy meat doing that.
* Scav AI has some kind of short term memory, if they see you, they will remember for a while where it was that they saw you, if you peek that spot again, you will most probably be shot. (See • Reposition)
* Do NOT ADA strafe, inertia killed it like the toxic whore that it is.
* Bind a key to toggle your walk state (I think its Caps by default), that way you can go from full speed to min speed with a single press.
* Load maps in offline mode with PvE, you will not gain loot or character exp, but you will learn the map, and how the Scav AI behave, and get a little shooting practice. Map knowledge is really important!
* You can use the wiki, or a site like to help with locations, don't focus on the loot locations, learn the land marks, paths, spawn points and extracts.
* Use , and try not to use ammo that is rated lower than 4 in the Class 3 column, 9mm x 18/19 is trash, don't bother, shotguns are mostly trash, I avoid them. If you can't use average ammo, any bullet is better than a knife.
* Use to quick reference the value of an item, clicking on it will tell you the Flea value, how much you can get from the Trader that will pay the most for it, and any Quest/Barker/Crafting uses the item has.
* If you do not have access to flea (level 15 required) to make cash sell Knives, and Shotguns to Jager, All wearable (Armor, vest, face, eye, ear, head backpack) to Ragman, all weapons (not shotguns) ammo, and weapon parts to Mechanic, and all barter/medical/food items to Therapist for the best sale price. If a weapon is too damaged to sell, DISASSEMBLE it, sell the parts to Mechanic and the frame to Fence, if an Armor is too damaged to sell to Ragman, sell it to fence.
* Do NOT fill your stash with barter items, if its not something you need for the next level of a hideout upgrade, a quest item you need, or a REALLY hard to find item, sell it, the money is way more useful than junk taking up your stash space.
There are so, so many more, but it comes to down play-time experience, and basic tactics.
