This should be a basic guide for begginers. Realize, that players are inteligent and they will find another way how to kill you, but at least, after reading this, you will know basics.
I will update this with some screens later.
1) Player protection game concept
In general, there is not any protection mechanism against other players based on voluntary agreement with fight. It is developers aim, to avoid this kind of in real world unnatural protection and this makes, in comparsion with another MMO, Fonline 2238 more hardcore and uniqe. It is fact, you can disagree, you can protest, but that is all, you can do. For entirety, there were attempts in this way (Parle, temporary unvulnerability), but they were unsuccesfull and generated more gameplay problems than they solved.
On other way, there are places and mechanisms, that are replacing lack of previous kind of protection.
2) Direct protection of players
In wasteland there exist places, that are protected by NPC guards. NPC guards will start action against violator of rule immediately after rule violation, but sometimes it could be too late, because even well guarded places cant resist suicide attack.
Mechanism: if someone attacks you in this place, he will be immediately attacked by NPC guards, but only attacker. Attacker has almost zero chance to survive it. NPC guards, after killing of PK, will loot his stuff from his corpse, if his victim is killed too, guards will loot its stuff too. There is not any way how to get back this stuff and because of this PK developed this tactics:
If it is possible, they kill all NPC guards in that location, so they will defacto eliminate this direct protection. There are places they can do it easier (San Fran tanker), harder (Vault city), or where it is impossible (NCR Bazaar). So if you see guarded city full of dead guards corpses, better to leave.
Other way is that they operates in pair or more players. They know that attacker will die, so they focus on kill in one shot/burst and fast looting by attackers teamate (faster than NPC looting). Because of this, it is almost necessary to use burst (= constant damage than luck based aimed single shot) from one hex (damage is not divided by 3), so you can even with bad burst weapon (submashine guns, combat shotguns, as. rifles, lsw, minugun) do lethal damage. So even during barter with NPC, look around you (move your char to position you can see all entrances to your position, move trade window so it will not block your view,...). If you see danger, somebody is running to you, close trade window and leave place.
Also, they can use places that NPC guards cant reach and eliminate attacker. I.e.: shooting from hotel room windows, but it is not very succesfull tactic (trust me
).
If you wear advanced amor (metal or kevlar based) and more than 150 HPs, you should be able to survive attack of 2 PK group (one hex burst and one looter). If PK wants to kill you because of stuff and he is smart, he will not kill you if you stay near any NPC guard (or trader), because guard will loot from your dead corpse your stuff immediately, and PKs teamate will not loot anything.
There are not many groups with more than 3 members that are killing only for stuff because of they will have to split their loot among each one.
List of guarded places with notes: wiki
3) Prevention
a) use town preview (it does not work during TC capturing) and check all entrances to see if there is any activity. Entrace you want to use check at least twice (because of rantom preview positoin). You can see even invisible player in your FOV (field of view). If there is any danger, but you still need to enter location, dont use main entrance and try to use entrace with most possible spawn points, so they could not kill you immediately after enter.
b) dont enter TC location during or soon after capturing. Even anti PK gangs will kill you, because they wil think you are enemy, spy, looter, suicide bomber, in general, they dont think that somebody innocent is so stupid to enter a warzone in the middle of war.
c) use your common or personal information networks (radio, IRC, forum, voice comm, ingame text) to check security places you want to visit, but dont forget, that negative information of enemy presence is not equal to absence of PKs there. Also somebody could lie to you,... .
d) find a help to protect you in unguarded places
e) in unguarded places, some pks will let you go if you dont have any valuable stuff, some will kill you. But if you have CA and plasma, and you are alone, they will hunt you.
f) use tents, even ad hoc created, before you enter city, as a place to secure key to your car, money, armors,... if you dont need them inside
g) if you are able, visit unguarded places at time, where is minimal activity on server. Main PKs activity is based on russian time zone.
h) russian PKs (mostly, but not entirely nicks in cyrilic) will kill you practicaly without any reason, so dont try to negotiate with them
i) if you are killed by PK, dont forget to tag him red, so next time you will know recognize him more easily
j) USE YOUR BRAIN
k) use awareness perk, if you have it. Good PK build for guarded cities could be only at level 3 (he needs one burst), so if you see unknown nick, with bursting weapon in hand, low HPs and his teamate, operating near you, better to leave, if you dont have enough HPa
4) PK zones
New Reno, Fortress, Hub Oldtown and places even in guard city but near NPC traders with good stuff or bank are danegerous. Some of them are regular PKs zone (New Reno, Fortress).
5) Punishment
Join or at least make contact with anti pk gang (TTTLA, VSB, Hawks) or even alliance and join their crusades against horde of PK. You are welcome.