Prebrief

The infamous desert arena returns with Rust, a small map favoring fast-paced action around a central tower that looms over the field of battle. Will you fight for a spot on the coveted power position, or will you opt for an alternative path?

Whatever your experience is in this classic environment, here’s what to know for the battles ahead:

Intel Card — Rust

Tactical Overview

Located in the oilfields of the Urzikstan desert, Rust is a small, square map dominated by its central Tower. Fight for your spot up top or use the map’s various obstacles to stay out of sight while you skirmish on the ground. 

For the purposes of this guide, we’ve divided Rust into five sections based on key named areas in the map:

·      MAIN SPAWN POINT: Pipe

·      MAIN SPAWN POINT: Trucks

·      ADDITIONAL AREA: Oil Pump

·      ADDITIONAL AREA: Office Buildings

·      ADDITIONAL AREA: Tower

SPAWN POINT: Pipe (NORTHWEST)

Pipe offers quick access to the Tower via the Pipe, but sticking to the ground floor can be just as useful. The bulky comms station provides strong cover, and by using adjacent obstacles you can get on top of it as well. The Gas Containers offer further cover, though the thin walls do little to stop the impact of incoming fire.

SPAWN POINT: Trucks (SOUTHEAST)

The Trucks starting spawn, while not providing many options in terms of verticality, more than makes up for it with its durable cover options. The fuel truck offers cover and concealment so you can keep the enemy guessing whether you’ll move toward the Oil Pump or the Office Buildings, and you can mount your weapon on one of the surrounding concrete blocks to dig in for a strong defense.

Long-range weapons do well here, with sights to the north and west and along a good portion of the Tower. You can also hop directly on top of the fuel truck to surprise your opponents; get back down quick before someone unexpected spots you.

ADDITIONAL: Oil Pump

This area is packed with possibilities. The Oil Pump itself provides a raised platform with commanding views up the Tower as well as to the north and east. Run along the Pipe for direct access to the platform, or, for greater concealment, stick to the ground and climb up in the far southest corner. Draw enemies into CQB by staying close to the ground and using the Oil Pump for cover; don’t miss the crawl space beneath.

The far southwest corner of Oil Pump provides a great vantage point, with the Oil Pump itself granting added concealment without over-compromising visibility. Be mindful of enemies rushing along the Pipeline toward your position.

ADDITIONALAREA: Office Buildings

A haven for Shotguns and SMGs, the Office Buildings funnel players into a narrow path along the northeast corner of the map, with no visibility other than what’s in front or behind them. While it’s a short trip, it’s full of peril. The covered passage toward Trucks marks another key ambush point here. Watch these areas carefully when passing through the nearby maintenance area.

ADDITIONAL AREA: Tower

The focus of the map, and everyone wants to get to the top. There are two ways of doing so: by climbing up the center ladder or by walking up the exhaust chute. The view is grand, but you’re a prime target.

At the base of the Tower, a compact maze mashes players together in crawl spaces and tight corners. The ladder here leads you to the top. You can also access the Tower’s middle platform via the pipeline or exhaust chute, providing less height but greater overall visibility around the map.

With ample surfaces to stick to, sometimes a sticky grenade is the best way to dislodge an enemy in the Tower. Step back, approximate their location, and toss your grenade. Be ready for them if they survive the blast.

Objective Overview

Overall Tactics

Rust challenges Operators with getting to the objective while minimizing threats against them. While it’s nearly impossible to avoid danger for too long, smart movement and positioning around cover can extend your life when it’s needed most.

Work with your team to call out and ping the position of enemy players. Discover which areas of the map you have the most control over and use those points to launch your next attack. Team up to improve your odds.

Domination

The flags are all on the ground floor, nearly equidistant to each other, surrounding the central Tower. Expect much contention over the Tower as Operators vie for its vantage points over the map.

Where the Tower doesn’t help is when your team is down a flag and needs to make a capture fast. Know when it’s time to get down on the ground and get on the objective. In fact, the Operators who can best navigate the Tower’s ground floor are the best equipped to succeed, enjoying quick access to all three flags. If you just can’t resist, fight your way to the top of the Tower and keep your teammates covered where they need it most.

Hardpoint

Of the five Hardpoints, only the second over the Oil Pump is elevated off the ground. However, as in Domination, the Tower still looms over all and as such plays a key role in providing vantage points over the surrounding objectives.

Trophy Systems are nearly a requirement here, along with any other defense you can muster against incoming grenades, particularly when battling over the inner three points. Pushed up against the Tower, these Hardpoints are primed for bombardment. You can always move back to the space below the Tower to get out of sight as you reposition to flank the enemy and secure the objective.

Cutthroat

On a map this small, expect the outcome of many Cutthroat matches to be determined through total elimination. Your squad needs to balance aggression with patience here. Take too long to engage and you risk being outplayed by a fast-moving team; run into combat too quickly and you risk getting squeezed by both enemy teams.

Keep close tabs on the overtime flag, as it's always a possibility to win through a capture. This works well in rounds where Operators aren’t moving as much, whether they’re in a stalemate over control of the Tower or the competing squads are evenly matched, and nobody wants to make the wrong move.

Search & Destroy

Starting from Trucks, the attacking team is slightly closer to the B Bomb Site than A. Completely exposed, A is a riskier play, though it does favor mid-range combat where CQB reins near the confined B site. If you’ve got the close-quarters advantage, take the fight to B, but if you’d rather draw the enemy out, A is your best bet.

Of course, on a map this small, many rounds will end with a team elimination. This again brings the infamous Tower into play, providing the perfect angles to wipe out the enemy. Just don’t forget about the bomb sites, lest you become the latest victim of the ninja defuse.

Top 10 Tips

1. Let them have it. While the other Operators battle for dominance over the Tower, take up a position by the southwest Oil Pump. Get on top of it to enjoy great visibility over this corner of the map and drop down below when under fire from the Tower, or if you need to draw enemies into close quarters under the Pipeline.

2. Watch your back. A Sniper Rifle won’t do you much good at the top of the Tower if an enemy comes climbing up the central ladder. Choose a Handgun or Melee weapon for your Secondary so that you have something to quickly swap to when the fight comes up close.

3. It’s not (always) a race. Frenetic combat is the name of the game on Rust, but it doesn’t always have to be. Sometimes the best tactic is to slow down and hold your position. Try setting up near the western Blue Containers or around the various obstacles at Trucks to keep the enemy at a greater distance, or move along the underside of the Pipe, eliminating enemies moving in and around the Tower.

4. Get on the fuel tank. Just west of the Tower, the fuel tank platform offers a great vantage point over the left half of the map. Jump onto it from the Tower’s middle platform or drop down to it from the upper floor. You’re quite exposed here, so don’t overstay your welcome, but you’re also likely to gain the element of surprise against enemies expecting an attack from the Tower or ground floor.

5. From the hip. While careful precision has its moments, so does fast movement and a stream of bullets. By customizing your weapon to focus on its hip fire attributes, you won’t have to slow down when engaging the enemy. Take them down and move onto the next, all while maintaining that forward momentum.

6. In the guts. You can be just as deadly underneath the Tower as on top of it and often more so. Climb up onto the raised platform by the ladder to take out enemies coming from the west, or crouch below to check the east, and when you can’t resist a bird’s eye view any longer, the ladder here will take you straight to the top.

7. Aerial bombardment. The skies are wide open over Rust, and though there are some cover opportunities around the map, aerial streaks are generally very effective here. Consider grabbing the Mission Control Comlink Gear piece for a leg up in reaching higher tier streaks like the Overwatch Helo or Chopper Gunner. On the receiving end, equip a Launcher to take down enemy aerial threats ASAP.

8. Bullseye: For those moments when you turn the corner straight into an enemy, the Throwing Knife is invaluable. It deploys instantly, it’s a one-hit elimination, and you can pick it back up again before moving on.

9. Go small. Larger weapons may have more stopping power, but carrying a small one gives you greater mobility around the map. Climb up the Tower like a cat; get ahead of your opponent and flank; be the first to the objective: whatever your goal, you’ll get there fast.

10. A gift from below. Can’t seem to outshoot that pesky enemy in the Tower? Turn the flooring against them by tossing up a Drill Charge underneath their feet. You’ll end up either blasting them off their perch or causing them to evade in a panic, making them an easy target. You won’t have to step back as you do when tossing a grenade, either, allowing you to keep out of their sight line.

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