I used a fully upgraded troll armor till I got to the mountains playing solo without console commands. Stealth game play is very overlooked I feel like but guess makes sense since we're supposed to be ruthless warriors not stealthy assasins lol

Even when I did things in plain area because my sneaking was up to 45 (56 with armor) I find it more helpful to have a troll armor than anything else.

To Compare:

Fully upgraded troll armor: 36 armor, +25% to sneaking and technically +10% movement speed if you're used to wearing other armor.

Basic Bronze armor = 24 armor and -10% movement speed.
Fully upgraded bronze armor = 42 armor and -10% movement speed - 25% to stealth

Basic iron armor = fully upgraded bronze
Fully upgraded iron = 60 armor etc.

Basic silver = fully upgraded iron
Fully upgraded silver = 78 armor etc.

Basic silver armor is probably worth the switch for taking 24 less damage with every hit and also keeps you warm.

Padded armor is 100% worth switching - armor is just too much to pass up.

Other tips to stay alive:

1) Find a small island next to the swamp or what ever biome you're going for and setup a portal there. Has to be somewhere no mob can reach you / no mobs there to kill.

2) When running away, which happens often, sprint till you're at 20% stamina and then sneak away (even more effective with troll armor)

3) Always have a back up ship at your spawn point.