Rust: The Most Important Things To Do First

As the father of all modern multiplayer survival games, many players still swear by Rust. Almost all of the mechanics of building, crafting, and survival that can be found throughout the different games in this genre originated with Rust back in 2013. Despite the fact that it has been almost seven years since the game released, it is still the kind of game that players are still checking out and roaming around its massive world.

Surviving in Rust has never been an easy process, and those who are new to the game will find themselves at a severe disadvantage compared to their opponents. Staying alive for any length of time (especially when playing alone) will be a constant slog for those who have no idea what they are doing. This guide hopes to fix that problem by showing players some of the things they should do first in order to survive.

Rust: How To Avoid Death in The Early Moments

Starting a game of Rust is always incredibly stressful considering that the player is dropped on a beach completely naked and is expected to survive. The trick here though is to not get overwhelmed or too worried, and instead just try to move away from the area as fast as possible. Odds are someone on the beach will probably try to start a fight, but players should try their best to resist fighting an enemy in these early moments. While it is possible to kill someone with just the rock, it is just a flat out waste of time. At worst the player risks getting themselves injured or killed, and at best they’ve just spent time on something pointless rather than collecting resources.

In all actuality, players should just avoid combat whenever possible early on in the game. Most other players that are encountered will be lacking resources just like the player, so there is really no reason to fight someone unless they are trying to kill the player. Most of the time it is just a better idea to run away until the player has the better gear and a shelter to respawn inside.

Another great way to ensure survival early on in the game is to start collecting sources of food immediately. Players will be able to find things like corn and pumpkins on the ground throughout the entire map, which is a great way to stay full early on. This is also much less risky than trying to hunt animals and cook them outside. Using fires without a base to hide is just asking to get attacked by nearby enemies.

Rust: Build Some Tools and Weapons

While the player is picking up nearby resources and materials they will want to start creating different tools and weapons to keep themselves alive around nearby enemies. By using their rock players can attack nearby trees and larger stones to collect things like wood, stone, and cloth. Using these simple resources players should craft these pieces of equipment as soon as possible:

• Wooden Spear: 300 Wood – With this players will be able to protect themselves against an enemy that tries to attack them at close range, but is also very useful for opening barrels as well.
• Stone Hatchet: 200 Wood and 100 Stone – Players can use this to chop trees down faster and acquire wood more efficiently.
• Stone Pickaxe: 200 Wood and 100 Stone – Similar to the hatchet, but used to break apart stones at a faster rate.
• Bow: 200 Wood and 50 Cloth – This should be the player’s preferred early game weapon because it allows them to take out enemies from a distance.

While these tools and weapons are very important early on in a game, players will want to avoid crafting clothes unless they need them for specific reasons. Since the idea is to avoid undue attention in Rust for the most part, wearing clothing essentially paints a big target on a player’s back when moving around the starting area. Players should probably wait until they have weapons and a shelter to return to before they start worrying about making clothing.

Rust: Get A Settlement Up Fast

Once the player has some starter tools they will want to get a settlement up as soon as they possibly can. The first thing that players will want to do is look around the map and determine the best possible areas to lay down roots. Here are some tips for choosing a settlement location:

• Avoid the starter beach as there are way too many players in this area.
• Prioritize locations that are far away from other player settlements and not easily seen from high traffic areas.
• Try to choose a location that either has access to or is near places with a high concentration of resources.

Once players have found a suitable area they will want to start building a small shelter as quickly as they possibly can. Players should keep in mind that their shelters can always be upgraded and added on to, so its best to build using the cheapest resources possible at first and then upgrading them as time goes on. Once players have crafted a solid place they will want to lock all of their doors so that no nearby enemies can break in.

Rust: Craft a Furnace

Arguably the most important thing to create in Rust is the furnace. This allows the player to smelt down things like metal in order to craft higher quality tools and shelters. Creating a furnace isn’t exactly an easy process for players early on in the game though especially because making one requires low grade fuel. One of the simplest ways to acquire fuel is to go hunting and taking any animal fat from harvested animals and combining it with cloth to make low grade fuel. Players can also find fuel by opening up barrels with their tools or checking around mines for containers holding fuel.

Once players have the furnace crafted they can finally start refining metal and creating more efficient tools. One of the first things that the player is going to want to do is upgrade any doors at their settlement into sheet metal doors. These are much more powerful than the doors that will currently be in their possession. Once these doors have been taken care of players will want to upgrade things like their hatchet and pickaxe to metal rather than stone. It is also a good idea to start crafting some decent armor from here as well. Here are a few weapons for players to focus on going forward as well:

• Waterpipe Shotgun: 200 Wood and 100 Metal Fragments – Firearms are the best thing for players to have in the early game as it will help deter other players from messing with them. This gun is absolutely devastating at short ranges, so players will want to wait until enemies are in their face.
• Revolver: 1 Metal Pipe, 25 Cloth, and 125 Metal Fragments – As soon as the player gets their hand on a metal pipe they will want to craft this weapon as soon as possible. This is mostly because it is relatively easy to make and can deal damage from longer distances.
• Machete: 100 Wood and 40 Metal Fragments – The Spear is an okay weapon early on, but players would be smart to move on to the Machete when they get a chance. This will absolutely shred through any enemies that it comes into contact with.

Rust can be played on PC.

About The Author

Cody Peterson
(951 Articles Published)

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Cody Peterson is an avid reader and writer. Graduated from Midwestern State University with a BA in English where he worked as an editor for the University literary journal. Currently a freelancer for Screenrant, where he spends most of his time writing guides or reviews. Be warned that any conversation started with him will probably wind up gravitating towards his two dogs, The Adventure Zone, or Kingdom Hearts 2.

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