"Death is our destination. Kill the roach to accept your fate. Welcome, vagabond."

Though a twist of fate or an 18-karet run of bad luck, you are now a passenger on the CEV "Eris" on it's trip into Null Space. Who you were only barely matters on this ship of the damned and now you only have one goal: survive for as long as you can.

This guide is intended for newer players, recommending commonly useful equipment and teaching them about the common hazards that lurk in the dark corners of Maintenance.

Recommended Early Equipment

New players are frequently recommended to take the Vagabond role when they first start exploring the ship. The role itself has minimal responsibility allowing the new player to adventure into the tunnels without handicapping any particular function of the ship. Of course, new players also end up jumping directly into the tunnels leading to serious injury or death early in the round.

This section discusses early equipment recommended to exploit the tunnels.

Gear

Early on in a scavenger's round gear is scarce or expensive. With minimal access, a scavenger is either at the mercy of RNG or has to bring their gear through the character loadout. As such all these recommendations are items that are available through the loadout selection screen or have well known static spawns on the ship.

Item	Explanation
File:EnforcersCoat.png Enforcers Coat (Long)	The Enforcer's coat is the most basic form of protection for most new explorers. The Long variant is specifically recommended as it provides similar melee protection to other jackets while also providing increased protection against bullets.
Hard Hat	The Hard Hat is a useful piece of headwear that serves two purposes: firstly it is a light helmet and protects your head, secondly it doubles as a flashlight that never runs out of charge.
Work Gloves	Work Gloves are often seen as a lower form of insulated gloves, but for the average new blood they are just as good for digging through trash. Protects hands against cuts when digging through trash, a frequent vector for infection. Work Gloves can be found in various Firefighting closets on Deck 3.
Gas Mask	The full Gas Mask (not to be confused with the Breath Mask) covers it's wearer's face, preventing the ingesting of mushroom sprays. Also hides the identity of the wearer when the ID card is hidden. Gas Masks can be found on Deck 4, Section 3 east of the holodeck.
Work Boots	Work Boots are both incredibly useful and actually incredibly hard to find in junk piles. These provide protection against wire splices.
Welding Goggles	Welding Goggles (and Welding Masks) provide protection against the flare of an active Welding Tool. While technically optional, eye damage is a very annoying thing to treat and navigation while having impaired vision is hazardous. Welding Goggles can be printed from the public lathe using the Asters Basic Tools disk.

Tools

Unlike Gear, tools generally cannot be chosen as part of a character's spawning loadout. However, much like Gear, all these items should have well known static spawns in various parts of the ship. In the case that they do not or have been already claimed, these can be printed using commonly available disks and materials.

Tool	Explanation
Crowbar	The quiet counterpart to the Shovel, the Crowbar acts as a useful generalists tool. Prying open machinery, wedging open doors, breaking down burrows or removing obstacles through percussive persuasion the crowbar does it all - just not as well as a more specialized tool would. Crowbars can be found at the Section 5 Cryopods, the Junk Beacon ready room, printed using the Asters Basic Tools disk, or taken in the loadout selection.
Shovel	The shovel is the glory hound of an explorer's toolset. It is the primary tool to remove burrows and dig through the resulting trash piles - but it has little other function. Still, it is the breadwinner for most residents. Shovels can be found at the Junk Beacon ready room or printed using the Asters Basic Tools disk.
Wrench	The wrench is useful for disassembling or unbolting machinery that would normally block off narrow path ways. Also necessary for disassembling walls for breaking and entering. Wrenches can be found at the Junk Beacon ready room or printed using the Asters Basic Tools disk.
Welding Tool	The Welding Tool is primarily used to cut through steel or repair damaged cybernetic limbs. Also doubles as a flame source for lighting things on fire. Welding Tools can be found in any Blue Toolbox (usually found in Section 4) or printed using the Asters Basic Tools disk. Welding Fuel is more uncommon and is found east of the holodeck on Deck 4, Section 3.

Why no weapons?

Bluntly put, early on most scavengers should make do with simple bludgeoning tools. The goal is to gather resources with the minimum of danger and the guide is intended to direct players on the path to do so. That being said, there are a few recommendations for early weapons that should be mentioned.

Weapon	Explanation
Slaught-o-matic	The Slaught-o-matic is the cheapest possible firearm available at the start of the round. While it cannot be reloaded, it has ample internal capacity.
Junkblade	The lowest tier of sword is easily crafted with materials found around maintenance. It's damage output is no less than it's more conventional counterparts and for the early-mid transition period it is a perfectly viable weapon.

Consumables

Item	Explanation
Gauze	Gauze is the basic item to treat BRUTE damage by closing the wounds. This not only allows the body to start healing, but also stops blood loss that is fatal in the long term.
File:Splints.png Splints	Splints treat broken bones that develop during melee combat. These allow the wounded to more quickly make their way back to the inhabited areas of the ship, rather than limping due to broken legs.

Hazards

Traps and Terrain

The ship itself is arguably quite hostile to human life.

Item	Explanation
Structural Lattice	Structural Lattice often gets mistaken for terrain that can be walked on, however it is not. Frequently seen when sections of the floor have been massively damaged by explosives, stepping on these tiles will send the player to the next z-level down.
Underplating	Underplating is usually not extremely hazardous in of itself, but it can trip up scavengers who move recklessly (run). Normally this just causes minor 'BRUTE damage but becomes a cause of death when attempting to flee a large swarm of roaches or spiders.
Wire Splice	Wire Splices are a collection of poorly insulated wires. These are not troublesome for those who wear Work Boots, but all other forms of footwear are vulnerable. Stepping on a Wire Splice without Work Boots will stun and knock a player down in addition to causing minor BURN damage.
Mechanical Traps	When triggered Mechanical traps deal BRUTE damage to the legs and immobilize their victim. Much like underplating this is not a major issue in a vacuum but when triggered in conjunction with a large swarm of enemies can cause extra injuries or even death. Examining an readied Mechanical Trap will reduce the chance of triggering it by 40% when walking over it.
Explosive Mines	When triggered explosive mines create a wave of shrapnel that causes 'BRUTE damage and can embed itself into those unfortunate to be caught in the blast. Mines have varying percentages to trigger when stepped on, however they can be disarmed by applying a tool with a Pulsing value.