The only way to get weapons and armour is to buy them. If you're anything like me when it comes to open world exploration games and you normally just save all your money for the odd bit of ammo or customisation. Scrap that instantly. As long as you've harvested the right materials from the mechanimals (no idea what they're actually called but that's what I call them anyways...) then you're good to go. Just buy the weapons and armour from any vendors you find. [spoiler]there [i]are[/i] a few weapons and a couple pieces of armour you don't need to buy but I won't spoil how you get them...[/spoiler] Other than that, spend your first several points in stealth and the perk in foraging that lets you hold twice as many healing herbs. Trust me. Dodge any and all attacks you can but when you do get hit, you'll definitely need as many health refills as you can get.