And then you can head immediately to Empire Arms and raise it further to a 4 without having wasted the 12xp. For example, sitting on Brawl 2 and waiting for Nines to raise to a 3? By that point you've only done Santa Monica which has virtually no combat at all. None of the books or trainers are positioned so late or are for such low amounts that it adds difficulty to the game waiting till that point to acquire. Simply buy the two books from Trip and get Firearms 2 without wasting any skill points right from the get-go. So, even if you want to build say a Firearms character, it behooves you to not put any of your precious starting points in Firearms.
In the pawnshop you start the game in, there's no fewer than five free points. The real meat is, of course, skill books though. Also, if you're a Nosferatu you have access to a clan quest that can give you Computer 5 for free, which is another 15XP. Technically, Beckett can also raise your stats a couple of times, but I've found him to be wildly inconsistent and buggy and wouldn't rely on it.
Just in the vanilla game without any of the whacky plus patches or mods, there's the following teachers: It might seem trivial to ignore them as it feels like there's only a few here or there, but ultimately you've passed up on over a hundred free XP worth of skill points.
The game includes a number of NPCs that will give you skill points for free if you meet requirements and haven't gone over, and there's several skill books as well. There is an optimal build, or rather, a list of things to not waste XP on that should be heavily considered when building a character. Sufyan: Whatever you want, there is no optimal first playthrough. If you want, you could try starting the game with Intimidation 4, but it is better to skip it entirely for a first playthrough. Intimidation is woefully neglected by the game designers, there are very few conversations where it is used and many times these options have no concrete benefit. Seduction is somewhat useful to female characters but you don't really need to bump it up to more than 4 unless you're specifically exploring what it is like to be a seductress. Of the three, Persuasion is the most useful one and eventually you will have good use of it at level 8. If your 'Feat' is not high enough, the option does not appear as options during the conversation. Intimidation options are green and Seduction options are pink. Conversational 'Feats' are also straight checks: If your Persuasion is high enough, blue dialogue options appear in conversation. When you lockpick or hack, the game will tell you what level the lock or computer requires to open. Same with computers: You need to equal a minimum 'Feat' level for every computer in the game. Your lockpicking 'Feat' stat does not improve your chance to open a lock, it straight up decides whether or not a lock can be opened. That being said, it is worth mentioning that while there are invisible die rolls during combat (random damage), other things outside of combat are NOT random.
You are not looking for rich synergies to help you overcome tough odds, the game is slowly introducing tougher enemies but nothing so intense that you will be fighting using all your wits and getting the most out of your character build. The character building system only slightly improves the core gameplay. I know I'm oversimplifying things by saying this, but the core gameplay is very simple. They add some flavour but they are all very situational, you don't need to invest early. I'm not a fan of the clan specific "Disciplines". Guns are quite terrible until the last act of the game, but by the time you reach Chinatown it is a good idea to start investing in them. Melee weapons are quite decent early in the game and can last until the end. Also, avoid investing XP on things that are only modestly helpful, like Investigation and Sneaking, it makes very little difference. For a first playthrough I advise against investing heavily into any one thing so that you can try on lots of different things and not be wasting XP for minimal improvements. I'm not being facetious, the game is really quite easy. Whatever you want, there is no optimal first playthrough.