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any tips for a first time player?
stat distributions? percs? other stuff?
spoiler
no spoilers 
What I did was spend the points when I felt I needed them for a particular check. Other than that, it's not really a min-maxing sort of game — just explore and enjoy the world
Do what you want! There is literally no wrong way to play (but don’t have zero perception - that’ll make life very tough). The game is written to allow any player to reach an ending even if you fail loads. Read the descriptions of the skills and spec into what seems interesting. Also the way they work is a double edged sword. E.g. drama is in effect the ability to lie and detect lies. With zero drama you can’t lie or spot a fib, but with max drama you can’t tell the truth. So just dive into whatever you think is the most interesting thing for you and don’t try min max as the pluses have negatives so it’s all even regardless.
I found thought cabinet is a poorly explained mechanic. Basically you do a specific thing in the course of the game e.g. fail a check or take a specific dialogue option and that thing unlocks the ability to start a thought. Then you take a temporary effect e.g. -1 perception for 2 (in game) hours while you research the thought. Then once unlocked you gain an unknown permanent effect which may be unlocking specific dialogue options, perment buffs or debuffs or changes to learning caps etc. Mostly though they add loads of flavour to the game. So again do the ones that seem thematically interesting to you.
Also there is one specific bit late in the game where you will get completely stuck and not know how to proceed. You’ll know it when you find it. Don’t feel bad half of everyone does as it’s stupidly confusing just google it.
The first couple of in-game days can feel kind of aimless and frustrating, so stick with it. This is the first skill check you face as a player, and it mirrors the struggle that the protagonist faces: can you go through with it, when you don't know what the fuck is going on, and everyone is telling you to fuck off?
There are lots of story beats that only happen because you're acting like a clueless fuckup, which you would actually miss if you were playing the game more "competently". Ask Kim what to do if you feel stuck, he's got your back.
stat distributions?
For your first play-through, I would recommend putting at least 2 into Volition, Endurance, and Perception. It plays a bit oddly otherwise.
But otherwise, pick that stats that go along with the style you want to play. Embrace the role-playing. Punch the nazi.
The thought cabinet is kind of important, and it's good to actually read about how it works mechanically (and thematically). Palacegalleryratio has an explanation elsewhere in the thread. Stats and dialogue trees are a well understood mechanic among RPG players, but this "though cabinet" thing is a new concept.
For a first playthrough you might wanna have more than 1HP, but rocking only 1 is also fun
It's very funny getting soft locked by an uncomfortable chair.
haha well shit now i want to try this
Go for it, I think it only takes a few minutes to get to that part if you savescum a couple of checks.
ah yes, i remember those DS1 play thrus 
Do as much of the side quests as you can, especially the one where you have to check crates for an insect, it's very good. Also make sure to take it slow, take in the atmosphere, take in the music, I rushed it my first time and that's probably my biggest regret.
a little spoilery but vague enough to mean nothing until they’re relevant
4. Wear the tie. But the spirits from the hobos. Thank me later.
5. Wear the bug pheromones. Thank me later.
DO NOT take the tie off. Other shiny things will tempt you, but it is very important that you wear the horrific necktie. Oh yeah and if the game gives you the opportunity to punch a kid it's probably the right choice
Nor your beard. It won't grow back.
stat distributions
meathead cop build,
in a single punchspoiler
kill the mercenaries
Playing as roided up asshole meathead for my second play-through was very rewarding. It's almost like a different game.
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i like this weirdo 
don't be afraid to savescum! but also, don't be afraid to lose checks! .....that's counterintuitive, but the game's so good you'll probably be replaying it anyways, so dont be afraid to play wildly different paths.
for a para-psycho-political infra-natural experience 
put some points on like NephewAlphaBravo said and 
, i try to keep most of my skills on 3 or 5 if i feel its super-important but you'll usually be using clothes n tools to up your stats anyways.
......and keep off the drugs kids 
You will regret it if you shave.
Have fun with it!
Different stats effect what parts of the world you learn about / how you learn about it. I would recommend just seeing what interests you most. For example I picked encyclopedia 
because I love lore dumps.
At first you kind of just have to talk to everyone you can find in the area. The game doesnt do much hand holding.
If you ever find yourself with skill points you don't know what to do with, I really liked the dialog options and checks from Shivers and Conceptualization.
That being said, I just love to role play, so sometimes my character is dumb as a rock but very emotionally intelligent, or a physically strong hyperperceptive, stuff like that
You should find and use drugs. For the massive bonuses.
Edit: oh, little piece of disco tech with drugs. If you take a drug, it increases the skill cap on associated skills; you can level up beyond your limits this way.
Your attribute floor determines your ceiling for skills under that attribute, so I would advise against starting with a 1 in any of them. If you only have attribute 1, you can only raise the corresponding skills once. One of the few things to genuinely get stuck in the game is failing a white check, raising the stat and then failing the 2nd white check as well.
This is why save scumming white checks is fine, but only if you failed on them once. Meanwhile, save scumming red checks is bad to do (in my opinion), as they are designed to give you a way forward even if you fail. Often times failure in these can be more fun and better then success even.
Have an Inland Empire of 4 or more right from the beginning of the game in order to unlock a very special friend. It is also a fun stat to have in general.
Don't arrest people just because you can, it may gate you out of some content. Especially true on the other side of the river.
Last but not least: The game will sometimes be like 'hey man, you can opt in or out of this one' and it usually happens in internal conversations. Opting in gives you a side quest, opting out gives you nothing. Opting out is permanent, so I would advise opting in on all of these and then doing only what you actually feel like doing. I have seen people cuck themselves out of a bunch of content for no good reason this way. Usually libs who decided that they are playing a straight-laced cop.
You can retry white checks after sleeping, getting a new idea in your thought cabinet, certain story moment, or purchasing dice.
I am 100% sure the part about sleeping is not true, at least it wasn't when I played. Did they patch that in? neither did just any thought unlock white checks when I played, a few ones did but by far not all.
So yes, there are a few ways around the white check lockout, but not many. I didn't feel it very necessary to explain this because the game will tell you about these few ways.
The game doesnt tell you about the dice until you buy the dice iirc
Actually youre right about sleeping. Turns out that's new to zero parades and my mind just fucking patched that into disco elysium.
The skill hardcap can be bypassed with drugs to some degree.
True, but not everyone will want to drug up to do that. From the people I have observed play, only one out of four went for a drug-positive approach.
Which is understandable, the game portrays addiction in a way that's so realistic it easily gets uncomfortable. I'm an ex-smoker, i specifically avoided cigarettes because the way the narrator describes cravings triggered the fuck out of my addiction memory.
Yep, I agree with this. The only unrealistic part is that Harry can decide to quit that stuff and then stick with it, somewhat easily, for the next several days. I suppose having Kim as a support mechanism helps ^^
yeah when you go cold turkey after that level of alchol abuse, it can easily kill you, Harry would most likely develop delirium tremens by day 2 or 3
Same, so here to read all the tips.
One day I'll try it again I got to part where the lady gives you gloves(i think just before you see the body) then I realised I'd been playing for 30 minutes and hadn't had any fun yet
