4Game

Hi, Its me again. By popular request I've gotten around to putting another one of these things. Before I begin however, I will put up the following disclaimer.

I hammered this out as quickly as I could, on the first day of the wipe. As we know, things move fast this early on, that means all of this is subject to change. Also, everything here operates under the assumption that you do not have access to the flea market yet. As such, it turns out that this guide today will focus more on availability, rather than cost.

With that out of the way, lets hop to the guide itself.

Ammo

The wipe has caused quite a stir when it comes to ammo. With even low tier armor being scarce, top tier ammo types like BS and M995 are no longer needed. Right now when it comes to selecting ammo, there are two major milestones.

1. Ability to penetrate class 4 – this allows you to easily deal with scav armor, which can be an issue.
2. Ability to penetrate class 2 – this is gonna likely be the maximum armor level that most PMCs you encounter are going to wear.

With that in mind, here are some ammo types to look at for all you early birds

7.62x39mm PS – Prapor LL1

This is available from Prapor at LL1, is cheap as peanuts, and penetrates scav armor well while also doing solid damage. This is arguably the best early game bullet as a result, from its high availability and solid performance.

9x19mm PST Gzh – Mechanic LL1

Woo! 9×19 is back with a vengeance. While it aint gonna penetrate high end scav armor, most enemies you face are gonna be going down quick against it. Face shields are also really rare right now, so face taps are an option

7.62x54mmR Lps Gzh – Prapor LL1

Mosin ammo never goes out of style, and having it available off the bat is nice.

There are also some other common ammunition you might be able to find

5.45x39mm PS/BP/BT – Scavs

These are all good ammo types, and scavs can feasibly spawn with them, if you have the time, always check the ammo in scav guns and mags when you loot them. Note though that the guns you can get are not going to be reliable at low level. There are no 5.45x39mm guns you can buy for roubles/euros/dollars from LL1 traders.

Honorable Mention – .366 TKM FMJ – Skier LL1
For some reason no trader sells a gun that fires this ammo at LL1, but the Vepr AKM is common enough on scavs that you will likely run across them, as kindly mentiones by iMlv2. Capable of easily penning PACA armor, the Vepr AKM is a solid early game gun, even if it is slightly outshadowed by its Vepr KM counterpart.

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Guns

So, unfortunately, it seems that the selection is going to be extremely limited in terms of what guns you can buy at the start of the wipe. As such, a lot of this is going to depend on what you can find. That being said, there are a few good guns that are readily available.

SKS – Prapor LL1

The SKS doesnt go out of style. Especially since you get access to 7.62×39 PS ammo right out of the starting gate. This is likely going to be your bread and butter.

HK MP5 Kurz – Peacekeeper LL1

If you are looking for an early game cheap, readily accessible automatic weapon, the Kurz is the gun for you. The recoil is going to be somewhat higher than what you expect, but decent 9×19 ammo exists for relatively cheap.

Mosin Infantry Rifle – Prapor LL1

The Mosin is back with a vengeance, with everyone wearing little to no armor, the LPS Gzh ammo is back to one shotting most people with a chest shot. If you are good with bolt actions, well, have fun!

However, there is one gun I would strongly recommend avoiding

ADAR – Skier LL1 barter

M855 ammo seems to be perpetually sold out at the moment, even at the cost of $2. Do yourself a favor and buy a SKS instead. That way you dont have to agonize over each trader refresh waiting in line to get all your ammo.

Armor

There are no easily available armors that are worth your time at LL1. The PACA vest is frankly a waste of valuable weight and roubles, dont buy it. Here are a few options that you should look into for slightly later into the wipe.

6B5-15 Zh-86 "Uley" armored rig – Ragman LL1 Barter/Scavs

This is a hard barter, requiring 3 soaps and 4 toilet papers, but it can be found on many scavs. Coming in at level 4 with pockets, its frankly a walking tank this early in the wipe 😛

6B3TM-01M armored rig – Ragman LL2

This is basically the 6B5 but with two more pockets. Very good as an early game goal to pick up. If you are an EoD player, consider selling your starting chongus armor to Ragman to quickly level up his loyalty.

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Rig

Bank Robber – Ragman LL1

There is only one option here. We dont exactly have a choice.

Literally anything you get from a raid

Rigs = more loot space = more money = more stuff to sell to ragman to level him out of Level 1 hell.

Triton – Ragman LL2

Another reason to get Ragman LL2 ASAP 😀

Backpack

Literally anything you get from a raid

Anything is better than the sling bags that Ragman sells you. Bring your biggest bag.

Scav backpack – Ragman LL2

Yet another reason to get Ragman LL2 ASAP 😀

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Helmet

Ssh-68 – Ragman LL1

This old classic never dulls. Considering the shitty ammo being thrown around now, level 3 head protection is more useful than ever.

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Conclusion

Unfortunately, I was not able to give more options this early in the wipe, and most of the choices were limited more by availability than cost. The summary is that right now, you should take advantage of the fact that everyone has poor gear and no armor, and focus on leveling on up and selling expensive gear to traders, especially to Ragman.

Getting Ragman LL2 is critical this early in the wipe

Once people start getting levels and access to mid game gear, you will find it harder and most costly to run effective budget loadouts. Ragman LL2 is a huge jump up in survivability, as Level 4 armor offers you protection against most early game ammo except for the 7.62×39 PS and 7.62x54mmR