So I'm on my 4th attempt to try Empath out, I like it now. It's not that bad once you get past a certain point. But up to that point, it's absolute masochism (intended? jokes aside?). I feel like being able to hunt normally up to a certain point, or skill levels of X, would ease that path in a similar fashion to how the Necromancer experience is if you don't go redeemed. Perhaps your empathy (and in effect, sensitivity) grows with you as you level, such that you're not hardcore shut out of systems of learning if you choose to hunt. One of the central problems is skinning. Sure you're weapons and armor tert, that'll always be an issue keeping at level, but having to go back and learn skinning once you can kill things, or leveling to circle 40 reqs before joining, or whatever, seems insane to me. Maybe I'm the one with the problem, but it's come up enough different times when I've attempted to try this guild out that I figure I should start offering solutions rather than just complaints.

A couple of things that may help with your experience:
-The Empath combat kit is designed around sustainability, use this to your advantage.
-There is no need to limit hunting to constructs, manipulate and guardian spirit are great methods to use vs living creatures (*gated by circle)
-Absolution can assist with creature gaps when taking the "active" combat approach with weapons
-Parry training can assist with learning weapon ranks while maintaining an empath capable of healing.
-If combat with mundane weapons is the preferred method of combat, focus on circling to 30, learn shift and IZ, then backtrain.

I guess the central problem is skinning and a fluid progression of targets to learn weapons off of. 250 utility before you can regularly kill the living to learn skinning off of, what do you do til then? How do you get up to casting GS if you want to hunt from day one?

Yes. Manipulate doesn't tend to lead to enough corpses to train skinning, if at all. Give it a try on a newbie empath. There's kind of a break and awful low to mid experience. I'm fine now and I like the guild at this point in the process. But that stumbling block made me drop the journey 3 times in the past. Figured it was worth tossing some data points out there.