Start at the Lion's Den quest and talk to Captain Puta, or you'll miss the Spoils of War quest completely. First big choice comes early with your horse, stick with Pebbles for one perk or trade for Herring for another, cant have both. During the Storm quest grab that Toledo Steel upgrade for Radzig's sword, its a one-time chance.

Near Troskowitz theres this sweet Treasure Hunters spot with some nice daggers and the Dogwood Hunting bow, easy to walk right past if youre not looking. Pretty good idea to do some crafting early on, making 50 items at the forge gets you that Heavy Weapons perk, while picking 200 toxic herbs boosts Vitality by 2. South Kuttenberg has this weird alchemist, finding them means no more food poisoning which is nice.

Watch out for two major cutoff points, Trosky stuff locks after Necessary Evil and Kuttenberg closes shop during Oratores. Talk to Master Tomcat for those Master Strikes, and dont skip Bozhena if you care about herb stuff, makes life way easier later.