i've played probably 15+ hero outlanders and have had 1 nightreaver and 1 sunwarden
1. Which branch would you recommend for a noob? Good, neutral or evil?
--i'd go neutral/sentinel. evil isn't bad but you have almost no external groupmates. evil mage outlander is SUPER hard to rank unless you're a muter. even then, get used to solo ranking. i don't like goodie outlanders because they often become too chummy with fortress or at worse and fort is strong, you get bored.
2. As a newbie char, how strict is the no coin/civilization thing?
--not too strict. i've certainly ranked up to 15 or so with things i bought and still used coins. i felt bad with those chars though. don't use mercs. avoid city-quests. you don't need to buy gear from cities any longer, the item search on officials is great to help with gearing
Do I need to give it all up from the second I roll? I worry my char will starve to death as I have no idea where to find food.
--no, not at all. i'd stop at 10 though. pledge early if you want and you get the harvest skill at 11 for finding food
3. Any basic tips on the above?
Not looking to be spoon fed, but guides on areas to look for basic stuff like backpack and food would be helpful. Even a low level recall/teleportation if its not against the rules.
--use your crappy haversack. or barter in non-city places like camelot (adverlain?). or kill the mob in there with the knapsack. learn where to pick up food from ground. if you see steaks in FoN, get them and stuff your sack full. learn which mobs are meat-mobs that drop food (search around tir-talath). you can use merchants, just avoid the city ones, especially the Protected city ones
Any other tips would be appreciated too, thanks.