In Rust as in real life, you begin naked and afraid. Washed ashore on an enormous island with nothing more than a rock to your name, it’s up to you to gather materials and find sources of food and water in order to survive. In fact, survival is the solitary goal in Rust, but it’s not just as simple as gathering corn from a riverbank. You’ll be contending with wild animals, other players, and nature itself on this island. The aim is to snowball your early-game materials into weapons and defensible structures. From there, you can start making more advanced weaponry and armor, which you can use to go raid other players for their loot.
If this is your first journey into the world of Rust, the sheer scope of the game may be overwhelming. In this guide, we’ve put together a handful of tips and tricks that should help you get your footing.
Follow the In-Game Tutorial
When you first start a character in Rust, you’ll receive a task list that tells you to take on some very basic objectives, such as harvesting wood and stone, building a campfire, and crafting some entry-level gathering tools. This list basically serves as a tutorial in Rust. If you’re band new to the game, but familiar with games you may be tempted to skip up. We recommend you follow it through, you’re going to need it.
Think About Where to Put Your Sleeping Bag
Sleeping bags function essentially as your respawn point, so if you die or exit the game, that’s where you’ll find yourself when you resume. Since it’s such a precious item, carefully consider where you plop the thing down. It’s best to move a bit inland, away from the beach where your character first wakes up. This is because, in most cases, the beach is crawling with other new players, and you don’t want to become a target. Leaving your sleeping bag out in the open isn’t a good idea regardless, so you’ll probably want to find a nice secluded nook near some cliffs or a forest to make your first camp.
Find That Hemp
To place your sleeping bag in the first place, you’re going to need to craft one from hemp. Hemp isn’t all that hard to find, but it’s worth reiterating just how important it is to early survival. Not only can you make a sleeping bag out of it, but it’s how you’ll clothe yourself, thus protecting your squishy human body from elements. Speaking of the elements…
Pay Attention to Your Temperature
If you get too cold or too hot, your character will be negatively affected. Getting too cold, below 5°C specifically, you’ll start to take damage over time. The colder you get, the faster your health will fall. Things that can cause your body to drop in temperature include swimming in water and spending too long in cold environments.
Getting too hot (above 40°C) functions a lot like the cold; you’ll take damage over time if your clothes are too warm. So try not to spend too much time near heat sources like campfires or in hot, arid environments.
Keep an Eye Out for Silent Nodes
Gathering materials in Rust can be a noisy business. Bashing a rock against a tree or a boulder isn’t the definition of stealth, after all, and doing so can attract the attention of nearby enemies. It’s worth your time, therefore, to seek out smaller resource nodes that you can simply pick up without having to use tools. These include tree stumps that grant you wood and smaller rocks that grant you various ores. If you’re trying to keep hidden, this is a great way to do so.
Watch out for Wildlife
It’s not just other players you need to look out for in Rust. There are a number of dangerous animals such as bears roaming the island and you need something to protect yourself. A bow should be a priority early on, as ranged weapons are a better choice than melee weapons when it comes to fighting off animals. The last thing a new defenseless player needs to encounter is a set of claws and teeth!
Plant Those Seeds
You’ll often find vegetable and hemp seeds while exploring, and you should consider finding a safe place to plant these. Since food and hemp is so important early on, the convenience of having a reliable source is invaluable. Just make sure you remember where you planted them, and keep your crops hidden from thieving enemies.
Loot, Loot, Loot
While only the most basic items are available for crafting in the early game, containers scattered around the island may hold some more advanced stuff. Finding radiation-proof clothing or a metal hatchet can greatly speed up your progress in Rust, so make sure you take some time to explore locations that are likely to have chests and barrels for you to loot. Dilapidated convenience stores can also be a lucrative source for food and water, which, it goes without saying, is hugely important.
And there you have a few tips to get you started in Rust. Did these help you out at all? Let us know in the comments section!
