Got myself a dog. Dog is amazing, because it can fetch you rabbits you shot, that otherwise hard to find in the bushes, and it even can take down a boar.
At first I didn’t understand why meat you pick up from a deer or a boar appears as “stolen”. A funny bug? Then I understood that the game has concept of poaching.
One of the most important skills for a squire is… Lock picking. Everyone likes to store valuables in locked chests. And thief guild quests, sorry, millers quests, pay very well. Also, there’s a huge difference if you are fighting one enemy or two at the same time. And forget about fighting three. So if you manage to backstab one of them, you even your chances.
Game’s “perks” are more like “traits” in Fallout. Often they have not just positive, but also negative effects, like raising your strength, but lowering speech. Or they are mutually exclusive: you can’t get a stats bonus both in the wilderness and in vicinity of settlements. Given the fact that most bandits are in the wilderness, I picked the former. To be safe.
Some of the quests are timed, but it’s not clear that they are. The wounded in the Monastery die after a few days if not treated.
