2:40pm EST - The update and devblog are out!

2:00pm EST - Our update stream is live!

12:00pm EST - Helk is rocking out a bunch of QoL and balance changes today. Here are some highlights:

• Codelock no longer unlocks when first entering a code, just whitelists you
• Cost reduction of: ladder, floor grill, prison wall/gate, chain link fence/gate, shopfront, all window bars and embrasures
• Salvaged tool blade cost tripled
• No more sewing kits in weapon crates - now there's turret parts, hqm stacks, and pipe stacks
• Wood boxes no longer produce barrel content
• Slightly more tech parts and roadsigns when found
• Satchel charge requires 1 rope

1:10am EST - December is upon us, and with it comes a forced wipe. Today's patch features the launch of a long awaited natural cave system, new military grade pistol, exploit fixes, and some significant changes to weapons in general.

As always, we don’t know exactly when the update will hit, but the normal time recently has been between 3pm to 5pm EST. Tune in for our update stream which goes live at 2pm EST and follow @Rustafied for news throughout the day. Let’s get into it…

Update summary video

Check out this weeks update summary video from Puddy!

Natural caves are in

The new underground network of caves - which almost made it in last month, but was delayed due to performance - is in today. With the addition of several optimizations including a new culling system, this collection of spelunker wet dreams no longer causes every video card to shit a brick (notice, I didn't say all video cards).

The 9 caves range in sizes from small, to medium, to fucking huge, and feature building zones, traps, ladders, various parkour-esque challenges, and even a bucket elevator. For more information, check out this video (and disregard the prerelease stuff):

M92 has been added

The newest pistol in Rust is here. The M92 is a military grade gun which fires pistol bullets (who’d a thunk) and features a 15 round clip. The fire rate is high and the damage is greater than the P250 given our tests. That said, the aimcone seems a bit looser and you can only find the fucking thing in helicopter loot (like most other military grade weapons now - see below).

Long and short: It looks and sounds cool, and will be nice to have, in the rare case you can get your hands on one.

Edit: You'll also have a chance at getting one in supply drops.

Clip
15 rounds

Ammo type
Pistol

Rate of fire
Very fast

Recoil
Low

Damage per hit

Naked Head
90

Bucket Helmet
63

Face Mask
45

Naked Chest
45

Road Sign Chest
36

Chest Plate
33

LR-300 is no longer craftable

LR-300 lovers might be taken aback: Most military grade weapons are no longer craftable - they can only be found in helicopter loot. This holds true for the LR-300, the new M92, and the already uncraftable, M249.

The MP5, however, is still able to be crafted, as the team doesn't want to fuck over any skin owners. Enjoy it while it lasts though, plans are to add functionality to apply skins via the repair bench. Once that happens, crafting an MP5 won't be long for this world.

Spear changes

In one of the more unpopular changes of late, spear throw damage was nerfed earlier this week. Graciously, Helk has reverted that change. Also, handheld spears have received a buff in several ways: They yield more melee damage, it’s easier to hit targets, and the melee range has been increased slightly.

Edit: It does look like spear throwing actually was still nerfed by 20% (less than the original nerf, but still a nerf).

Foundation stacking exploit fixed

"EAT SHIT AND DIE EXPLOIT BUILDERS HAHA NOW U CAN GET FUCKED BY MY ROCKETS" said MehsyGames on Reddit, in response to a commit which fixed a foundation stacking exploit. I dig the enthusiasm, Mehsy, but I have bad news: Wall stacking is very much still in play.

Although this fix does stop foundation stacking - and subsequently certain methods of wall stacking - our tests show it is still very much possible to stack multiple walls next to each other (although stability does take a hit). This is definitely a step in the right direction, but unfortunately, as Alistair told me, a definitive fix for wall stacking is much more complicated.

No more campfires through walls

If you’re a fan of going deep, this update might make you go soft. Campfire raiding is now a thing of the past as Andre fixed deployables being placeable partially inside constructions - thus eliminating the ability to feed items to your partners in crime via a campfire placed halfway in a wall.

Other stuff

• Default world size increased from 3000 to 3500 (30% more space)
• Rapid fire exploit fixed
• Improved SFX for survey charge, beancan, and F1 grenade
• New sounds for bota bag and water bottle
• Bone knife slightly cheaper
• AI branch - exciting, but nothing making it in today. Hopefully more info on devblog.

Our guides are up to date!

I'm happy to announce, along with the release of our newest guide on the component system, all of our other guides are once again up to date! We also have launched a new guide index page. There is still work to be done, and we will be growing and improving our guides over the next several weeks - stay tuned...

Last chance for Rudolph's Revenge

The Christmas skin contest run by the guys over at Xtab Studios is winding down this week, with Friday (Dec. 2nd) being the last day for entries. Head over to the Facepunch forums to get your submissions in!