Early game objectives

A few key objectives in the early game:

There’s a lot more to it than this and I’ll go into detail below.

Finding an area to build

You can build just about anywhere on the map (besides around monuments and caves) but some areas are generally quieter than others. Most large monuments draw a crowd and you’ll get picked off while trying to make your start.

A good strategy is to check the map immediately after spawning (press G ) and run away from the beach so you don’t get harassed by other nakeds. Head inland away from monuments.

Part of the fun of Rust is learning the different characteristics of each area so don’t be too fussed where you end up. However, initially the snow is challenging because you will die of cold overnight unless you have clothes and a fire.

Some things to note:

Resource nodes spawn around mountains and rocks. Look for white snow peaks on the map.

If you’re not near a forest wood can be difficult to farm.

Barrels spawn around roads and they’re important once you’re up and running for harvesting scarp.

Hemp spawns in grassy areas.

Thirst can become a pain in the arse if you’re not near a river.

There’s a lot more to finding a good place to build but that’s a start.

Getting a sleeping bag and stash down

Once you’ve found an area you’ll want to get a sleeping bag down. Find some tall grass or bushes and plonk it down. This allows you to respawn at your bag rather than on a random beach after you inevitably die.

Next up craft a small stash and pop it down somewhere distinct that you will be able to remember. It’s worth taking a screenshot of where you’ve dumped it for future reference. You’ll need to be able to find it to add and remove loot.

The reason this is important is that you’re going to bury your stash underground where no one can see it (including yourself). To access your stash again you need to look down at the ground where it’s buried for a couple of seconds.

Because of the difficulties of locating a stash some people prefer a wooden storage box. While this is easier for you to find, it’s also much easier for other players to find. Note that it’s possible to find a box-sized rock to hide your box in, which works a treat if you can pull it off.

My very poor attempt at hiding a wooden chest.

Periodically dump your main resources in your stash (wood, stone, metal ore, sulfur ore and high quality metal ore) and continue foraging. You’ll want to accumulate a decent amount of loot along the lines of:

2-4k wood

1-4k stone

300-500 metal ore

At least 30 cloth for a sleeping bag

The more the better, but this is enough for your starter base.

Building a starter base

Don’t get too carried away building your first base. Your main priority here is safely securing your loot so you can build up your gear and start causing mayhem for other players.

The cheapest and most common starter base is a single square foundation with an adjoining triangle foundation (commonly referred to as a 1x1). The square foundation has one door leading to the triangle foundation, which in turn has one door leading to the outside world. The triangle creates an airlock allowing you to “safely” leave your base without other players jumping in and grabbing your main loot.

To get your head around base building YouTube is your friend. There are a ton of great base builders out there but for your basic “shit shack” I found Tiny Pirate’s starter base showdown to be the most useful. Check it out.

For some additional 1x1 layout ideas I also recommend checking out Tiny Pirate’s vid comparing 1x1 layouts.

Another sleeping bag

You should already have a bag outside your base, but it’s essential that you also have one on the inside. You’ll want to be able to safely respawn in your base if you die.

Building materials

To start building you will need building plan and a hammer. The building plan allows you to place twig foundations, walls, floors and more. The hammer allows you to upgrade your twig to wood, stone, metal and armoured.

When placing twig walls, notice that on one side there are criss-crossed logs forming an X. This is the wall’s soft side and you don’t want it external facing. When placing twig structures, press R to rotate them. If you place something incorrectly you can rotate it using the hammer, but only for a limited time after placing it.

Twig is very easy to destroy so at the very least you should upgrade your twig to wood. But wood is vulnerable too. It can be burnt using a flame thrower and hatchets will eventually break through it. Stone is what you should be aiming for. Just make sure you place your walls strong-side out or they can be pick-axed.

Tool cupboard

Placing a tool cupboard (TC) in your base means only you - or anyone else who has access to your TC - can build within a certain radius of where your TC is placed. Other players can build some types of twig near your base but they can’t upgrade it. This prevents players from griefing your base by building walls around your door. Place your TC in one of the back corners of your 1x1 and authorise yourself. Having TC auth allows you to destroy structures, but only for 10 minutes after they are placed.

Key locks

Until Devblog 193, key locks were a terrible option for securing your base. But that has all changed. You no longer need to carry your key on your person, and there’s no longer a 1⁄ 100 chance that someone else’s key will open your base.

The catch is that if you want to share your base with other players you’ll need to give them a lock and at that point they become a lot less secure. This is because if anyone is killed while carrying a key to your base, anyone else can use it to get into base. It also means that if you’re not around to craft a key other players can get stuck inside or outside your base.

For these reasons, if you plan on playing with a group you should aim to get a codelock as soon as possible. To do this you’ll need at least 100 metal frags.

Crafting a furnace

Crafting a furnace is one of the most important early game milestones. Once you have a furnace you can begin to smelt metal and sulphur. This is particularly vital if you don’t yet have a code lock on your base.

The biggest obstacle to crafting a furnace is the 50 low grade fuel. This can be difficult to find early on. Here’s how you can find it:

Killing animals and harvesting them for animal fat (x3 animal fat + x1 cloth = 1 low grade). Bears are the best and if you take one down early on you are set.

Cracking red oil barrels. This usually gets you 5 low grade and 15 crude oil.

Looting the mining carts found outside mines (can yield 15-20 low grade). Make sure you take low grade from the candle hat and miners hat.

Catching trout in a fishing trap will get you 8 animal fat. This seems like a lot of effort when anyone else can loot your trap before you get to it.

Refining crude oil via an small oil refinery. You can craft an oil refinery yourself or they can be found at certain monuments.