ive got the map marker. done vics quest and pretty much all other quests in klamath and the den. (except the car part, resuce the trapper in toxic caves because i dont have any boots)

i just cannot get to valut city without dieing on the way. ive tried a dozen timesand dont even make it half way. its so far.

im lvl6 iirc. ive got a smg, desert eagle, hunting rifle. wearing combat armour.
specced for gifted gunman from the fallout 2 ultimate guide

100% in small guns, lockpick and speech.
fast shot. gifted. quick pockets awareness

if some npc and his group called kaga doesnt wipe out sulik, vic and then me. then something else will like groups of slavers etc

fast running out of ammo aswell, and noone seems to sell it now. even after waiting a couple days.

i had far less trouble getting to umbra tribe and back again than just getting to vault city.

im using the latest version of restoration project. difficulty on normal for both combat and gameplay.
dont really want to alter difficulty.

advice is sorely needed, please.

- If you don't have the car, you can join a caravan at redding, if you have a map marker to go there.

- I think there's a pair of boots at rat-cave in den, also at the top level of toxic caves (but you'll take a toxic hit going there. I recommend doing the toxic cave, it's no big deal when you're decently armed.

- SMG in single shot mode is swell choice early game.

- If you want to do the walking, go a bit and save. Reload if meeting too tough opponents, it happens.

Run from random encounters. You should be able to make it off the grid before they kill you, unless you set yourself up for shit as far as action points go. Don't forget to rest till healed if you survive an encounter, shouldn't be wandering around on your deathbed.

I would say just travel around lookin for easy exp grind encounters, radscorpian encounters and such, but you say ammo is low, so that may not be an option.

It can be tricky making it there, but with some luck and smarts it should be possible.

Which way are you going from the Den to Vault City? If you go the direct route, you should run into a town called Modoc about halfway in between. That makes the trip a lot easier.