Its all about knowing when to fight and when to play it smart honestly took me a while to figure out but the areas are usually big enough that you can choose how to handle things. Something interesting i noticed is you can actually get enemies to fight each other which is pretty sweet especially with those nasty clickers going after wlf patrols.

When it comes to the infected, each type needs its own approach. Runners arent too bad one-on-one, but get tricky in groups while stalkers are sneaky jerks that youll want to stun with whatever you can throw at them. Clickers are still terrifying but if you keep your distance, you can usually take them down with a good headshot. Those big nasty bloaters though man those guys are something else definitely save your shotgun shells and trap mines for them.

The whole stealth thing really works wonders when youre low on stuff, and trust me youll be low on stuff pretty often. Ive found that most areas give you plenty of space to back off and try again if things go south which happens more than id like to admit. Something that might help - keeping a molotov or pipe bomb ready usually turns impossible situations into something you can handle, especially if youre patient enough to wait for the right moment.