Early-Game Farm Routes That Snowball
Your first two hours decide your wipe. Here is a simple route framework so you come out of the early game with a kit lead instead of a backpack of nodes.
In the early game you are your own economy manager. The simplest framework: pick a road, hit every barrel and the nodes on the way to one small monument, and recycle on site instead of hauling junk home. Backtracking is the number-one time waste — plan a loop, not an out-and-back.
When you have your first 100 scrap, ask: do I tech-tree a workbench tier or craft now? Early, the tech tree usually wins because it unlocks crafting you would otherwise grind components for. The biggest mistake is the all-day node farm that leaves you stone-rich and gun-poor while everyone else is geared.
Learn the recycler outputs, count your scrap, and your gear level climbs without farming any harder.
Two habits separate a good early game from a wasted one. First, carry less: a full backpack of stone is a reason to walk home, and walking home is where wipes are lost. Second, bank in stages — drop your scrap and components at a small forward base or a hidden stash rather than carrying a full run through open road. Losing a bag is survivable; losing the whole two hours is not.
Set yourself one goal for the first hour and stop when it is met. Usually that goal is a workbench and a means of defending it, not a chest of ore.