Far Cry 3 has arrived from Ubisoft to an uproar of praise from fans and critics alike. With the many dangers to be found on Rook Island – from pirates to tigers – here’s a list of some essential hints and tips to surviving your Far Cry 3 experience.

1. Before you do anything, focus on crafting
Unless you like be limited to less weapons than the mandatory allowance in Duke Nukem Forever, you’re going to need to go hunting.

Check your crafting list and head out hunting to craft new weapon, syringe and ammo holsters to upgrade your ass kicking arsenal and capacity. There’s nothing worse than running out of ammo or not being able to store the awesome loot you find on Rook Island.

2. Don’t be afraid to flash your cash
The only thing more prominent than pirates on Rook Island and it’s cash and loot you can trade in for cash.

Unlocking radio towers does offer free weapons but it’ll be mere minutes before you max out your wallet capacity again. Buy some decent weapons, kit them out with some sweet customisations and just go on a spending spree!

3. Buy a sniper rifle as early as possible
If you’re planning on taking the stealth route (which is recommended with the XP bonuses you get for sneaky kills), invest early in a sniper rifle.

Kit out your newly purchased melon popper with the silencer and a scope customisation to maximise your stealth killing potential. Not only is it handy for taking out pirates unnoticed, it’ll reduce the chance of herds of animals running scared after the first shot.

4. Activate radio towers as soon as you can
Not only does activating a radio tower unlock a whole new collection of weapons to you free of charge, it also reveals a new part of the map area.

This allows you to better scope out potential hunting grounds, places to pick up loot and relics, and unlock those crucial safe houses. Plus, bombing it down the zipwire after you unlock a tower is freaking awesome.

5. Don’t run headfirst into red flagged camps
Unless you’re completely suicidal, barging into an enemy camp guns blazing will probably end up with you pushing up the daisies or struggling to tackle the enemy reinforcements.

Before launching your camp attack, scope out the enemy with your sniper rifle (or camera) to tag any enemies that you’ll need to take down. If possible, disable the alarm or at least position yourself close enough to it for you to take down anyone trying to set it off.

6. Save up those skill points
If you’re an explorer like me, you’ll end up levelling quicker than you can unlock a lot of the awesome skills on offer to Jason. As such, save up those skill points to use for later.

There’s no point in spending points on a skill just because it’s available when you get a point if it’s not going to be of use to your character build. Far Cry 3 skill points are the Nectar points of the video gaming world.

7. Some skills are essential
Whilst the point above reminds you to save up your points for a worthy perk, some skills really are an essential to your Far Cry 3 experience.

You should have already unlocked Takedown, and if you want to keep your stealth killings to the maximum, Takedown Drag is an essential skill to unlock. Focusing on the Shark skill tree health perks is also highly recommended, such as Advanced Conditioning and Improved First Aid.

8. Fast travel can get you out of the worst situations
Unlike some games, fast travel in Far Cry 3 works at absolutely any point (as long as you are able to access your map).

This means that if you’re about to fall to your death, get eating by a wild beast, or are bleeding out from numerous gunshot wounds – simply open up your map and fast travel the hell out of there to get to a safe spot to recuperate.

9. Don’t try to outgun a Heavy
That body armour doesn’t let up quickly and headshots will only get you so far. Instead of burning through all your ammo trying to take down the hefty mother trucker, let explosives be your guide.

C4 or landmines are your best friend against Heavy enemies. If you’re stealthy enough, chuck a couple in his path before blowing him sky high. Alternatively, you can stun him for a bit if you barrage him with gunfire for a while, giving you the opportunity to turn him into tiny chunks.

10. DON’T FREE CAGED ANIMALS
This is a lesson of experience. I thought I was doing the bear a favour by killing his captors and setting him free of his cruel bamboo cage. However, Baloo had other ideas and decided that my intestines would look better on my head.

My folly shouldn’t discourage from using them to your advantage though. Caged animals are great for backup if you free them in an enemy camp as they’ll start savaging everyone nearby – including you. Make sure that if you do free the beast, you do it from a safe distance.

Far Cry 3 is out now for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.