Rust Rolls Out Its ‘Biggest Gunplay Update’ Since Its Early Access Launch

rust survival mmo automatic rifle do not enter

Multiplayer survival game Rust has received one of its biggest combat updates since it first launched into Early Access almost nine years ago. The combat update makes major adjustments to guns work in the game, particularly when it comes to recoil. The original pattern-based recoil system has now been replaced with a gradient-based aim drift for automatic weapons.

“The longer you hold down the trigger, the more inaccurate the weapon becomes. It still takes skill to try and keep it centered on the target, but it is not the same with each burst,” said developer Facepunch Studios.

The spread of bullets relative to where you’re aiming, otherwise known as aimcone, has also been updated to a weighted system that will have roughly 20% of rounds hit the center.

“This means that automatic fire at a long range effectively decreases DPS. This encourages players to use the right weapons in the right situations and to improve their tactics and burst discipline. There should be less 200m beaming going on. What this has done is compressed the skill ceiling, and we think this is a good thing,” explained the studio.

The recoil changes were introduced to make the game, which has a reputation for being very unforgiving to new players, a bit more newbie-friendly. The experience will still be extremely challenging but the changes should at least narrow the skill gap between veteran players and complete newbies by a fair bit.

“If you didn't have hundreds if not thousands of hours practicing the recoil in Rust, firing at people in the game would often feel like attempting to align two like poled magnets. Frustrating would be an understatement,” said Facepunch. “This was fun for people who could spend thousands of hours training their aim, or morally bankrupt individuals who would choose to use scripts to gain an advantage. This was not fun for 99% of the population, and it's time for a change.”

“Ultimately, being good at first person shooters and having the drop on someone wasn't good enough. If the other person had thousands of hours of training their aim you stood very little chance.”

Aside from the sweeping recoil changes, the update also introduces smaller quality-of-life improvements to combat, including the addition of a crosshair, a “hit cross” to indicate when you’ve hit an enemy, and clearer on-screen blood spatters to make it easier for players to determine where the shots are coming from.

Hapis Island also returns to the game with the update after being removed last year. The map has been overhauled with new outlying islands and a bigger southern desert biome. Facepunch has also the Handmade LMG, extended magazines, a mixing table for faster ammo crafting, and loads of other game improvements.

A full rundown can be found in the full update notes on the Rust official site. You can also check out the update overview video below for more info.

Rust - Combat Update