Okay, so this might end up just being newbie venting, and that's okay. Before I say any more I just want to note that I LOVE this game and think every part of it is amazing, from the sound to the graphics to the revealed story.

So I think I understand the basics. I get the importance of defensive fighting, using chokepoints, switching parts, keeping spares in storage, coverage, using utility slots, avoiding main thoroughfares, etc. I'm sort of getting better at staying alive. I'm having way more problems thinking of ways to develop my guy as I go.

What I'm feeling right now is overwhelmed and confused. The following contains spoilers for hacking, which is what I last attempted: After some experimentation, I realized that I couldn't do any real robot hacking without appropriate relay couplers and a RIF. So I got into a garrison and found where relay couplers were, but they fried themselves when I tried to install them. [sigh] So I realized I needed to get a RIF first, but got gutted by enemies trying to find where in that garrison it might be hiding. I have no idea how I could have avoided getting shredded by a million enemies while trying to achieve a build that is non-combat focused and has lots of utility slots. Basically this is a solid representation of my experience with Cogmind. Beyond the basics, I'm having difficulty picking it up.

It feels like everything I try to do has eight layers beneath it, and I feel completely lost trying to get where I'm going, whether that's trying to do a combat build, flight build, stealth option (is there stealth tech in the game? or is it just using sensors to avoid enemies?), or hacking. Even the wiki doesn't seem to help much in that regard, but I admit I've been trying to avoid deeper spoilers than general strategies and what things actually do.

Someone might be tempted to pop in here and tell me how "easy" it is to play a certain way, and thats fine, but its not what I'm really talking about. My concern is how to get from beginner to middle game thinking. I'm reading item descriptions and paying closer attention to logs and such, and I do feel like I'm learning, but I also miss tons of info. Like I thought the hammer would be an amazing melee weapon for a combat build, but apparently Impact weapons don't damage the core easily.

PS - I've watched parts of some of the dev streams on youtube, and while they're cool, I am totally lost, generally speaking, as everyone who is interacting with the dev already seems to know the systems very well.

tl/dr - I'm having trouble learning how to build my dude and surviving while having fun.