Did my first run into this last night. Lots of fun, plenty of targets, and a couple of really intense moments which resulted in my getting the first person view of having one's incapacitated body tractor beamed out of trouble.
PvP wasn't a big threat but we did run into one player who was apparently trying to speedrun. He made the tactically unsound choice of trying to shoot us while out in the open, and not only did he die on the spot, he got a double crimestat for starting shit in the first place. (Automatically applied Aggrevated Assault charges from both of us once he started shooting).
There are several videos on farming the armor, which aren't much help in exploring the place but should be really helpful with the repeated visits that are required to get a matched set.
Edit: Respawn timers for NPC's are pretty short, probably to encourage folks to get a move on through the levels. Even though restricted to healing, the inclusion of the med beds in the central lobby can save a run.
I've seen different recommendations for armor.. imo just run whatever you are used to, and bring LOTS of ammo. Meds can be found in many boxes but ammo is random; i.e. there was only one box in the whole place that had FS-9 mags.
Probably the most important gear you can bring is a buddy!!