If you’re new to Rust and starting out naked or you’re just beginning a new wipe, you’ll need something in the way of a weapon to fend off animals and people who want to kill you. It also is essential to be able to hunt. Here is a list of 10 of the best early game weapons that you can make. Note that I am only including crafted weapons in this list and won’t be including any of the above pictured (I understand that a couple of those can be crafted but for these purposes I will exclude them).
10. Bone Club
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The bone club is one of the first easily attainable Rust weapons… Therefore, it is also rightfully one of the weakest. While it is much better than simply having a rock to swing, it will take more than a few pummels from this weapon to down any full health player. Besides, if they are wearing armor and wielding anything (and I mean anything) else, your chances are slim.
What’s Good About the Bone Club?
You can swing it swiftly.
It is very cheap and easy to craft.
A close-range weapon, it can also be used to destroy more fragile things cheaply.
Bone Club Details:
Made purely from a small amount of bone fragments.
A very high rate of attack for a melee weapon.
Small but noticeable damage dealt per hit.
How to Get the Bone Club?
Find a corpse to harvest – even a human one.
Gather bone frags (you can crush skulls for a decent return of frags).
Craft the club wherever you are so long as you have 20 bone fragments.
9. Bone Knife
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The bone knife is very similar to the bone club. It costs about the same to craft, it does a similar amount of damage, and it also has a very quick attack time. Probably the greatest difference is that the knife is useful in terms of harvesting resources from dead animals while the club is not.
What’s Good About the Bone Knife?
The bone knife is a tool of choice for any tier player for harvesting dead animals.
With a quick swing and cheap and easy crafting, this might be a good weapon in a pinch.
Bone knives are so cheap to craft, but aside from that are relatively useful for a number of things.
Bone Knife Details:
It takes 30 bone fragments and 30 seconds to craft – easy.
It doesn’t lose durability while harvesting dead things.
This is such a cheap weapon; it actually seems smart to throw it sometimes… Try it!
How to Get the Bone Knife?
Same as the bone club; harvest bones from dead animals or people.
Crush human or wolf skulls for the extra frags.
Bone fragments are not used for much other than these two weapons.
8. Wooden Spear
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The spear is a common weapon throughout Rust, and it is one of the earliest in game weapons of choice. Rarely will you see a naked wielding a bone knife or club; far more often will you find the wood spear wielding noob. It only takes a little wood to craft, easily done for any player.
What’s Good About the Wood Spear?
Easy and cheap to craft.
Good for throwing at close range.
Is a go to for a tool to soft-side raid with.
Reasonably high damage.
Wooden Spear Details:
300 wood to craft in your inventory, no bench needed.
Hold right click and left click to throw.
If you see a soft-sided stone wall, you can pick through it with about 30 of these.
How to Get the Wooden Spear?
Simply farm 300 wood.
Craft it in your inventory.
Wait 30 seconds.
7. Stone Spear
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The stone spear is just like the wood spear, but with a stone tip. Who would have guessed? It has slightly higher damage in exchange for a wood spear and some stone and cloth. Most people won’t opt for the upgrade, but it’s worthwhile if you have the resources and time!
What’s Good About the Stone Spear?
All the benefits of a wood spear, plus damage and durability.
Not an ideal choice for soft siding, the stone spear makes you dangerous in close combat.
This spear has a high chance of causing critical bleeding upon impact.
Stone Spear Details:
The wood spear and 100 stone to craft (plus five cloth) turn many people off to this spear.
It takes 45 seconds to craft.
Like anything else, you can pick it up after you or someone else has thrown it with the use button.
How to Get the Stone Spear?
Craft a wooden spear for 300 wood.
Gather 100 stone and five cloth.
Craft the stone spear in your inventory using the above resources.
6. Hunting Bow
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Moving into the realm of true ranged weapons, we find the most used weapon for a primitive early game player. The bow should be respected – it is deadly within a hundred yards or so. The crunch of a headshot means likely death.
What’s Good About the Hunting Bow?
Probably the single most dangerous weapon for its crafting price.
Easy and cheap to craft, no bench required.
Arrows are also cheap and easy to craft and can be made on the fly.
With a little practice, one can turn into a radioactive Robinhood and start dropping foes.
Hunting Bow Details:
50 cloth and 200 wood needed to craft.
30 seconds to craft.
Can be outfitted with a variety of arrows, from fire arrows to high velocity and even stone arrows.
How to Get the Hunting Bow?
Get cloth by harvesting hemp, dead animals, or recycling various components.
Get wood by hitting a tree with a hatchet, axe or a rock.
Don’t forget to get the arrow materials – a minor amount of wood and stone each.
Craft the bow and arrows in your inventory.
5. Crossbow
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In terms of range and power, the crossbow is a solid upgrade to the bow. However, there is the trade-off of a much slower reload. It can also be said that the crossbow is more accurate, though some will dispute this.
What’s Good About the Crossbow?
Not particularly expensive or difficult to craft.
A headshot will almost always yield a death, unless it is at high range or they are armored.
Fires all of the arrows the hunting bow will, making it a versatile weapon and tool.
While this is the first weapon on the list thus far to use metal or components to craft, it is still relatively cheap and easy to do so.
You can actually put sights on your crossbow for increased accuracy!
Crossbow Details:
Costs 75 metal frags, two rope, and 200 wood to craft.
This is a much higher range weapon than the hunting bow but lacks in reload speed.
Use the hunting bow for more up-close combat, the crossbow for more distant fights.
How to Get the Crossbow?
Find two rope in barrels.
Harvest 200 wood from trees.
Smelt metal ore into 75 metal fragments.
Craft the crossbow for a minute.
4. Eoka Pistol
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This is the first gun in rust, though it’s not much of a gun. Upon holding the fire button, your character will manually strike flint at the back of this weapon until it eventually goes off. The time this takes is entirely unpredictable and therefore leaves you at a significant disadvantage.
What’s Good About the Eoka?
This weapon can one shot an enemy to death from up close, provided it goes off when the time is right.
The gun and ammunition are cheap and easy to make, no bench is required.
The Eoka pistol can use any shotgun ammunition, including slug and incendiary shells.
Raiding tool and weapon all in one, the Eoka can be fired at a wooden door or locked TC to demolish it.
Eoka Pistol Details:
It costs 75 wood and 30 metal fragments to craft.
It takes a minute to craft without a workbench.
It can destroy a wood door in only a few minutes with 45 homemade shells.
How to Get the Eoka Pistol?
As mentioned above, gather 75 wood and smelt 30 metal fragments.
Craft for a minute wherever you are.
The handmade shells are a little trickier, requiring smelted sulfur ore and charcoal plus stone.
3. Waterpipe Shotgun
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Coming in close with the next spot on the list is the waterpipe, or pipey as some call it. This is a break action single barreled shotgun made from a pipe, hence the name. Don’t let the homemade appearance fool you – if someone gets close and places their shot well, you will be dead.
What’s Good About the Waterpipe Shotgun?
Extremely deadly at close range.
Can chamber any shotgun shell in the game.
This is the first reliable early game gun.
Another raiding tool, you’ll be able to knock down wood doors with it.
You can attach sights to this, though this only really matters with the slug round loaded.
Waterpipe Details:
This weapon has a very loud and recognizable bang.
It takes more than a couple of seconds to reload a shot, making it difficult to use if you botch your first blast.
While it requires a blueprint to craft, it does not require a workbench.
The crafting cost is 200 wood and 100 metal fragments.
How to Get the Pipey?
The tricky part here is researching the gun and attaining the blueprint.
After that is done, all you’ll need is 200 wood and 100 metal fragments.
For the ammunition, craft some gunpowder out of smelted sulfur ore (sulfur) and charcoal.
Depending on which type of ammunition you want, you may need metal fragments or stone.
Craft and wait!
2. Nail Gun
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The nail gun is a certain step up from the Eoka pistol. This is largely because it can rapidly fire and will fire on command. It can hold 16 nails in a magazine and fire them all very quickly, dealing fatal damage to any player if all the shots land true.
What’s Good About the Nail Gun?
16 nails are more than enough to end even a fully armored players life if accurately placed.
The nails are easy to craft, requiring only a few metal fragments to produce and no workbench.
The gun itself is cheap and easy to make.
Nail Gun Details:
This is the first weapon on the list to require a workbench, in this case a level 1.
This is one of the least used weapons in the game, although it is certainly effective when used well.
This is a very close-range weapon, not useful against heavily armed players typically.
How to Get the Nail Gun?
Requires a workbench level 1.
Requires scrap and metal fragments.
75 metal fragments and 15 scrap to be exact.
1. Revolver
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Say hello to my little friend! This gun is both small and powerful. When you hear the signature revolver bangs, you had better start running! Or turn and fight if you’re brave enough, I guess.
What’s Good About the Revolver?
You have a whole eight shots to kill your enemy with!
Cheap and easy to make, as with every single other weapon on this list.
This gun you can attach barrel attachments to, even a silencer.
Very easy to replace if lost in combat (or by any other means).
Revolver Details:
Requires 25 cloth, 125 metal fragments, and one pipe to craft.
This gun does not require a blueprint nor a workbench to make.
The bullets will need to be researched, however.
The pistol bullets do not require a bench to produce.
How to Get the Revolver?
It’s easy, you just gather the above-mentioned resources.
Hit craft in your inventory and wait one-minute cook time.
Long has Jonathan dwelt in the caves of living room and basement, hands wrapped around a controller or upon the mighty keyboard and mouse... Legend has it that he may sometime pause to write about it.
