Rust: how to start playing and how to best survive

In our guide, we want to talk to you about how to start playing Rust, the Facepunch Studios title that has had a spike in popularity among streamers on Twitch in recent days. 

The influence that a platform like Twitch can have on the gaming industry is well known by now. The well-known streaming site can bring to light the strengths and weaknesses of video games in less than a few days, making them known to the general public in a very short time. It can also, of course, have a major impact on the popularity of titles that have hitherto remained muted, or that had a limited share of fans in tow. This is the case of Rust, a title released in Early Access on Steam in 2013, then released in full version in 2019 and which, perhaps, was talked about more when he was in AA. In the past few days, some big streamers on Twitch have agreed to play it simultaneously, giving a huge boost to the popularity of the Facepunch Studios game. 

Before starting 

Rust is also coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, although an official release date has not yet been announced. The console version, in fact, was supposed to come out in 2020, but has been postponed several due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Right now you can play Rust exclusively on PC, therefore, and what we want to do with this guide is to explain how to start playing and survive in the ruthless world of Facepunch Studios. Let's start! 

Health - Rust: how to start playing and how to best survive

Rust is a survival that will throw you into a very spacious map, populated by wild animals that are often dangerous and by other players (just as dangerous). The first thing that you will therefore have to learn to manage, of course, it is your Health. You will find the Health bar at the bottom right of the screen, indicated by “Health” with a nearby score that will indicate your health points. 

In Rust you will be able to wear armor, which will reduce the damage you will receive based on their invoice, and restore your health points by eating food (strictly cooked). Obviously, when your health reaches 0 you will die and you can choose whether to be reborn at a point near where you died or return to base camp. Be careful, because when you die all the objects in your possession will fall to the ground and can be collected by other players. 

Fame - Rust: how to start playing and how to best survive

As in reality, food is a primary necessity in Rust. Below the health bar, you will find another one of them Calories, which indicate your character's need for water and food, with a maximum score of 1500 which will drop as you perform actions. If the calorie value reaches 0, your health will begin to progressively decline until you die. 

Overnight, if your character is not wearing clothing, the calorie bar will go down much faster. If you are still naked when night comes, then, our primary advice is to light a bonfire to warm up. Instead, you can find clothes, to avoid going around like mom made you and generate chaos, you can either craft them, or collect them from the enemies you have defeated or, even better, from the crates that you can find on the game map. 

Radiation - Rust: how to start playing and how to best survive

Below the calorie bar, you will find another one, which indicates the amount of radiation your character has absorbed. The geiger counter that your naked character is miraculously equipped will tell you when you are close to a source of radiation. When you are hit by radiation, your calorie bar will drop faster and when you go above 500 rad, you will be hit by radiation poisoning. 

You will then begin to lose life points until you leave the contaminated area. There are also, scattered throughout the game world, pills to cure radiation poisoning that you can find in the crates or bodies of the enemies you have defeated. 

To make a table… - Rust: how to start playing and how to best survive

Another very important element in Rust is the crafting of objects. To build objects, however, obviously raw materials are needed, first of which is wood. You will be able to collect the wood initially with the Rock that is given to you at your first entrance. You can then split the trees close to you with the Rock, but this is the most expensive and least rewarding method. In fact, you will consume a large amount of calories and you will get only one unit of wood with each hit of Rock. The easiest way to find Wood in Rust is to safely collect it from the piles scattered around the map. This way, you will get a lot of extra wood units and you won't burn any additional calories, other than what you need for walking. 

With the Rock you can also hit the various sources of minerals that you will find in the game world, to collect stones, sulfur and metal fragments. We remind you that, in addition to the possibility of creating gunpowder and very useful weapons to survive, the stones are used to build bonfires, essential to overcome the harsh nights of Rust. You will also be able to build several new tools, such as axes, which will make the collection of materials more fluid. 

… Wood is needed - Rust: how to start playing and how to best survive

Another fundamental part of Rust is hunting, which will allow you to find fresh meat to be able to feed yourself. Initially you will be assigned a basic weapon with which you can kill the animals you meet on the path (watch out for aggressive ones). Once the animal is killed, you can collect the meat and other resources it drops, such as cloth, leather or blood. 

Finally, as we have already said, scattered in the game world of Rust there are so many crates that you can open that contain food, useful items and weapons. Furthermore, at the base of the Facepunch Games title there is also PvP: if you kill other players, you can get phenomenal rewards based on what they were wearing at the time of death. But be careful: the same could happen to you! 

Have fun! 

Here ends our guide on how to start playing Rust, to better survive in the ruthless game world of Facepunch Studios. What do you think about it? Did you know Rust? Write it to us below in the comments, we will continue to keep you updated with all the news on videogame and tech!