The early game for Perisno is very hard compared to most mods because the bandit factions are made deliberately strong so they're still interesting later in the game. I'll admit that I've used my fair share of savescumming in Perisno because I've never been one to care much for the "prestige" of ironman and playing without being able to go back on saves is very painful in the Perisno early game, but that's up to you.

The best way to survive the Perisno early game is to trade goods to make money and get good trainer companions as quickly as possible because Perisno units require quite a bit of experience to level up so trainers are a must if you want to have a decent army. Once you've got good units and start buying enterprises you snowball pretty quickly in Perisno.

Originally posted by Nut Bustray:

The early game for Perisno is very hard compared to most mods because the bandit factions are made deliberately strong so they're still interesting later in the game. I'll admit that I've used my fair share of savescumming in Perisno because I've never been one to care much for the "prestige" of ironman and playing without being able to go back on saves is very painful in the Perisno early game, but that's up to you.

The best way to survive the Perisno early game is to trade goods to make money and get good trainer companions as quickly as possible because Perisno units require quite a bit of experience to level up so trainers are a must if you want to have a decent army. Once you've got good units and start buying enterprises you snowball pretty quickly in Perisno.

What Ive managed to do so far, and so far successfully, is to keep taking up bounties from the tavern keepers (Single outlaws in the villages). This gave me quite the boost and I was able to get to level 14 in a couple of hours actually.
Ive seen other players mention the trading. I tried this; but the problem I find is you need to have good relations with the town/guild master, and apparently it takes up to 14 relation; this involves committing to difficult quests for the Guild Master.
I actually have a question since you are replying to my post: What is actually beneficial and easier when you start a new character when selecting Toggle Mod Options/ Troop Prof. Level, Standard or Halved Easy? I keep choosing Standard. Is Easy actually easier or is Standard set to be easier than Easy? Thank you in advance!

I believe half literally halfs the proficiency of all troops

So 600 would becomes 300, 300 now 150

I prefer the standard settings, this way theres a lot more difference in troop tiers.

My strategy for early game is always to trade. Elintor + Galwe area have goods you can sell to a town not too far away ;p You can roam around that trade route while figuring out other goods to sell (if you want to min max). After I get a ton of enterprises going (to passively support my future army) it's a good idea to buy lands in 50 land towns (to have some kind of contingency money in case you totally bankrupt yourself some part in the game) and then get an army and a mercenary contract for whichever faction is losing (I like keeping everyone alive til Zann arrives). From there you can support an army of your liking from your enterprises, get emergency money if you need to, sell the loot from battling factions at war with your faction and build a ton of relationship to upstanding/martial etc. lords. At this point most of your money should come from selling occassional prisoners and battle loot. Have one of your companions learn looting (i chose slyter) and put some looting skill on your character as well if you can.

Edit: For training your character it's mostly just you killing stuff while your army is in the front. Ranged weapons are very easy to level up. You might struggle with melee weapons if you are not used to the difficulty but you can slowly level it up by fighting weaker enemies and let your troops hit the more dangerous (the ones that can 1 hit kill you) ones.

Originally posted by šÞ Lil Bunny:

My strategy for early game is always to trade. Elintor + Galwe area have goods you can sell to a town not too far away ;p You can roam around that trade route while figuring out other goods to sell (if you want to min max). After I get a ton of enterprises going (to passively support my future army) it's a good idea to buy lands in 50 land towns (to have some kind of contingency money in case you totally bankrupt yourself some part in the game) and then get an army and a mercenary contract for whichever faction is losing (I like keeping everyone alive til Zann arrives). From there you can support an army of your liking from your enterprises, get emergency money if you need to, sell the loot from battling factions at war with your faction and build a ton of relationship to upstanding/martial etc. lords. At this point most of your money should come from selling occassional prisoners and battle loot. Have one of your companions learn looting (i chose slyter) and put some looting skill on your character as well if you can.

Edit: For training your character it's mostly just you killing stuff while your army is in the front. Ranged weapons are very easy to level up. You might struggle with melee weapons if you are not used to the difficulty but you can slowly level it up by fighting weaker enemies and let your troops hit the more dangerous (the ones that can 1 hit kill you) ones.

As a dev, I suggest using high looting skill starts and enabling freelancer, then choosing to enlist with Elintor for example. They frequently go to war quickly, and a high loot skill means choice gear and lots of money early on.
Hope this helps!

I found spending a lot of time in a town participating in the melee to build up my fighting skills helps to level my character and raise coin. Plus time does not actually pass regardless of how many times you participate in the melee. Once I have enough coin, I purchase a business in the town.

Early one, I try to keep my group small. Purchase mercantile enterprises and most every town and go a lot of melees than start participating in tournaments.

I also tend to intervene in other battles of other factions, both minor and major. Making friends with the minor factions, essentially adds reinforcements to your armies at no expense to you or your lords. Plus they leave your villagers and caravans alone.

Also befriending the minor factions sometimes opens up new options of mercenary companies you are able to hire, cultures you may adopt for your own and when you rescue them from their enemies, hundreds, even thousands of new troops. I often end up having three or four thousand third legion troops in my service without ever recruiting a singe one. Not to mention lessor amounts of Ankar, Ukundun, Order of the Eagle, Morosu, Lymbardian Knights and Illicans. Sometimes with enough planning, even the Volheere Raiders and Desouk Slavers. Not the greatest of troops, but it adds up to dozens of extra allied patrols supporting my lords and caravans when they come under attack.

Most of Elintor towns and villages sell a raw silk? (i don't know what it called but it looks like a golden hay bundle, if you buy it in Elintor it sells around 200-3000 depends on the quality of it. and if you sell it outside the Elintor, Galwe, Qaletaqa, and Falcon, you'd get a huge amount of profits around 500-12000, again, the quality of it)