Hey there. I started about 2 weeks or so ago and it took me a few days to get used to things, so I can understand everything can be overwhelming.

I did solo forts on Community Day to get some starting money and rep for all the factions + got my battle pass to level 100.

The trick is to head straight to the fort, they'll stop shooting once you are close enough. Most of the times, you won't get shot at all, because the AI has horrible accuracy.

If you get shot once or twice, just keep calm and make sure you get close to the fort so you aren't in cannon range and repair.

The Kraken doesn't appear too often and I've maybe gotten it around 4 times in about 60 hours. Make sure to kill tentacles ASAP. If you are on a sloop solo, it'll only take around 3 tentacles to deafeat it. If it grabs a hold of your ship, it can be tempting to try and shoot the arm or melee it, but I found it's quicker if you find the closest tentacle and shoot at it, so it removes the arm.

If it grabs you, that'll be a little tougher as you have to use the sword to break free or wait for it to release you and by then your ship might be in trouble. I've only had it grab me once and I sunk on that encounter.

I know you are playing solo now, BUT the greatest fun in my opinion is getting at least one more player and working together towards an objective. I got my friend to join in and we've only played about 10 hours together due to our schedules, but it was WAY better than solo.

Good luck!