Scavange and Hoard

Resources will be something you are constantly seeking out, from the most basic need, water, to the higher end materials to make the really good higher level items. You are going to need to keep gathering, find someone who loves doing it like me for your guild, or find ways to make it take less time or you will be spending all your time gathering and have no time for other activities. At least that is how it feels!

That said, while a lot are advocating rushing forward at breakneck speed I have my own methods and I did not do this. I played in the Large Scale Beta Weekend, I loved it and I knew that the last part of what I had done then was to be told to abandon my base. But while you all rushed ahead, I have spent time gathering resources to secure the bottom tier of materials for myself and my guild. I am the first to admit that I am not the best in combat. It isn't my forte in most games(well other than Mass Effect I'm pretty good as FemShep with that sniper rifle I have there!), least of all just starting in one. With time, I will settle into it and do alright even hold my own as I improve. But to me this game is a survival game first and foremost, that was the draw for me, and the rest is bonus or just there to be honest.

That means fight OR flight and either option is valid. Knowing when to stand and when to run comes with time. But I am stubborn and I'll get in and get my backpack retrieved come hell or high water. Granted at times, when I am over my head, that may be retrieved, moved a few steps, rinse and repeat but eventually I'll get out with the loot. Including a scrap buggy from a base with 3 NPCs with flamethrowers! Now that felt like an epic win after being roasted to charred ash a few times! The scrap vehicles are pretty much trash, but a buggy is a buggy and parked with storage module added it's a HUGE storage space!!!

Leave no resource behind, except when you must! It's better to be making choices of what is more valuable than to be wandering home with a half empty backpack when resources are so important to the big picture. Sure later on granite and scavenged metal will be so abundant that you will pass it by, but even later on the light and heavy darts for the weapons are scavenged metal! There are some other weapons (flamethrowers and rocket launchers for example) that don't use them but surprise, most of the weapons use light or heavy darts, even that heavy with the rapid fire machine gun is just using light darts!

So no you can't do without the lower materials if you just rush to the high end ones you just end up needing to find more things at once!

Granite is used for so much of the basic building components that as your base grows, you will need more of it. Granted it is almost always plentiful, but trust me there are spots that have little of it nearby and having some you can grab from the base if you need to make a temp base in a new area or a garage for a vehicle saves the time to hunt some down. This is also a piece of the basic logistics you or someone in your guild will need to get a handle on for end game in the Deep Desert where you have to rebuild your base every week!

My method is to secure my supply of a new material and gather a decent amount of it while upgrading tools and equipment. Keep in mind you don't always have to upgrade every part of your equipment to each tier. For example, while the lesser parts made of lower tier materials may wear faster, they can also be easier to replace as you secure the supplies of the next tier. So things like Buggy parts consider what the part actually provides you. A faster engine, more efficient cuttaray, and bigger storage are all easy to justify upgrading as soon as you can, But the hull, chasis, and treads do not actually make you faster, more efficient, or give any real benefit past the slower deterioration. The reality is, you can save yourself a lot of materials and progress just as fast with selective replacement as you level up your gear. Depending on how long you take to move up a tier you could potentially skip even a couple tiers my daily use sandbikes still use mk1 backseat, mk1 chassis, mk2 treads (because I just replaced them and had excess material in that tier but not so much in the next one). I have one with a booster but really don't often use it unless I am needing to get somewhere fast like a guildmate is nearby and needs help fast. When I get to the top tier I will replace those other parts too overtime, but until then, as I replace parts that can no longer be repaired enough, I will evaluate and upgrade if I have the materials without reducing my stockpiles too much for the sake of a part that does little past being needed for the vehicle to be whole and function.