Survival games can often be a brutal place, and Rust is no exception. Steam's top dog in the open-world survival crafting genre has always been a hardcore, ruthless experience – or at least it was until 2021, when developer Facepunch Studios introduced softcore Rust. The alternative, more friendly mode offers a slightly less punishing way to enjoy the multiplayer game with its roughest edges sanded down. Now, the mode is getting an overhaul, alongside some bee improvements and additional quality-of-life upgrades across the board in the Rust April update.
The new April update focuses on changes to softcore survival game's latest patch notes, many deployable base objects will now leave behind debris when destroyed that can be quickly repaired.
Upon their destruction, these objects (which include wooden boxes, storage barrels, lockers, fridges, vending machines, tool cupboards, and workbenches) will drop half of their contents, with the remaining 50% stored inside and only accessible by the item's owner. If the ground they were placed on becomes inaccessible, you can use a hammer to collect the debris and take it to a repair bench instead. Facepunch also notes that, although this is only a softcore change for now, "it's a bit of an experiment and we may bring it over to the vanilla game in the future."
Respawns have also changed. If you die outside of a building's privilege radius, you'll simply respawn with 50% of your inventory intact. The way lost items are calculated has been adjusted as well; rather than losing half of your item stacks, you'll now lose half of the contents of every stackable item, meaning you won't ever be completely stripped of any particularly valuable item.
In an attempt to discourage "massive, sprawling bases" and encourage players to raid more, the door upkeep rates have been changed for softcore mode specifically. "The average large base will now see door upkeep around 90%, compared to 30% in vanilla," Facepunch explains. "Smaller, tighter bases won't feel this as much, but honeycomb bunkers stuffed with doors will now come with a proper maintenance bill."
Rounding out the softcore changes, bullet damage between players has been reduced by 25% to "give fights more breathing room" and allow you a chance to react and either escape or fight back when PvP breaks out. Additionally, sleeping bags, towels, and beds will leave behind a unique 'destroyed' version if they are broken in softcore. This can be used for one final respawn at that spot, after which they will disappear for good.
Moving across to game-wide adjustments for the Rust April update, the recently introduced bee system has been upgraded. Bee swarms no longer stack on top of one another, instead dealing reduced damage for each additional swarm in the same space, and their attacks take all of your clothing protection into consideration. Beehives now work correctly in hostile environments, have an indicator to show when they're producing honeycomb, and have a more clear temperature readout, but they'll be a little less effective in the temperate biome.
Alongside this comes a wealth of additional quality-of-life changes. New indicators provide visualisation for area of effects and ranges for the likes of sprinklers, heaters, igniters, traps, and sensors. Bota Bags and Honeycomb can be placed in fridges; rugs can be placed under other objects; crossbow and bow turrets show the arrow type they're currently loaded with to other players; hanging banners can be placed from further away; and pole banners can be placed upon construction.
Facepunch also gives a tiny peek at its jungle biome, which will include "new early-game weapons and a whole cast of deadly wildlife including crocodiles, snakes, and more." The developer also checks in on its recently launched servers, which require players to have a $15+ Steam inventory for Rust to play on. "So far, the results speak for themselves," it concludes, "According to our internal review, players on servers encounter cheaters around four times less
The Rust April update is out now. You can read through the full patch notes courtesy of Facepunch Studios to check out all the individual details. It adds that public testing on the jungle biome is due to start this month, so watch out via the Rust socials and Discord for news about that.
If you're jumping back in, be sure to take a look through our list of best open-world games on PC right now.
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