Tips for Best Possible Start
I’d avoid the loner traits for now. You absolutely can make a monster who fights on his own, but your allies aren’t half bad if you put some effort into them.
It’s probably better to just have the +stat traits and, if you have anything left over, I cannot recommend “Hardy” enough. Even at just 10 Con, that’s a good chunk less damage taken.
Happy Fatty is meh on the other hand as 10% hp isn’t that much unless you are going over 15khp, which is entirely doable but at that point you don’t need the extra 10%.
If you want more achieve points you could cheese the start for the ending you get for just meditating instead of choosing thief or constable, then winning the fight. Doable if you let constable stand and tank for you. Then do free mode and continue cheesing for more points.
Don’t waste your days sleeping, though. That trait is honestly very meh and the enemies will scale faster than you do. You’re wasting a lot of points for them.
In my experience:
- Attributes > Externals > Internals > Equipment
Internals are good when they have special effects and some feel very good for certain battles with gimmicks, etc, but otherwise they are just hp and mp. Having high base stats – str, con, dex, etc – make you strongest in both the short and long term.
You can go for nightmare mode straight from the start but the fights against the sect leaders will be somewhat tough.
I suggest to put your points into dex/con/str (in that order). Luck and int are easy to raise later.
Wasting time will make the game harder for you starting from hard difficulty because specific enemies grow slightly stronger every day. Not sure how that works in detail though. Maybe they just level up, maybe they gain additional stats forever.
No idea about the mysterious stranger. Usually you get one-shotted when running a damage-oriented build. Maybe he can be useful as a diversion for a round. But honestly, there are better traits to pick.
Choose any trait that increases your action speed first and foremost. Weapon skill increase can also be useful for additional damage. Same with stat perks. I go for perks that I cannot get during a specific run because of my choices.