New Rust update brings a bigger wipe than usual, as a dramatic progression rework demands that you "pivot or die"

"Pivot or die." That's the message from Facepunch Studios as it unleashes the November Rust update, which takes last month's controversial, meta-shifting patch and ramps up the stakes even further. Holding onto the most-played spot among Steam's best survival games requires a fine balance between familiarity and freshness, and the new patch is all about rekindling the sense of discovery that made it special in the first place. As it continues "to make meaningful experimental changes to Rust's progression," Facepunch COO Alistair McFarlane says the team is "taking things a step further […] by making progression easier."

That statement might not make sense immediately, but it's all about bringing back the feeling that Rust gave you the first time you played it. McFarlane explains that one of Rust's biggest progression problems is that "the majority of servers don't blueprint wipe, including our Facepunch servers." What's the point in a freshly-wiped map if you step into it with everything unlocked? "You're effectively skipping the entire early and mid game," he remarks, "which completely breaks the sense of progression on a wipe. Given the current state of the game, we may as well unlock or remove blueprints, which seems crazy."

Facepunch's new solution is to wipe everything, while dramatically reducing the cost of tech tree and research unlocks. All blueprints and servers are being cleared, and the new costs are 15 for common (down from 20), 30 for uncommon (down from 75), 60 for rare (down from 125), and 120 for very rare (down from 500). Scrap crafting costs have been removed from workbenches entirely, leaving just the blueprint fragments that were reintroduced last month.

"By drastically reducing unlock costs and removing scrap from workbench crafting, the progression curve will feel smoother without removing that sense of effort or reward," McFarlane continues. "Rather than skipping straight to the end, players will be encouraged to actually use early-tier items first and naturally progress upward. Blueprint wipes bring back that sense of discovery, structure, and early-game pacing that Rust was built on." The faster unlocks should keep things from turning into a grind, so I'm all for this.

"Does this mean we'll be force-wiping blueprints every month? Maybe," McFarlane muses. "We're not committing to anything yet. We're going to play, watch, and listen before making any long-term decisions based on the past two months of changes." While this latest revamp to progression is certainly the most impactful change, there's of course plenty more to dig through in the November update, so let's find out what else has been brought to the table.

Storage Adaptors that have been attached to boxes can now be powered up, enabling a range of sorting options. You're able to choose between alphabetical, condition, count, or category, or you can set up a layout you like and 'snapshot' it. This last option will force the sorter to do its best to recreate your desired organization. There are also separate toggles for reversing the order and stacking.

A new Mini Fridge deployable is ideal in the (now refreshed) early game and a great option for anyone who likes building compact base designs. It has 18 slots, requires three power, and "fits comfortably under half-height floor builds." Maybe you could use it for your secret stash, then. The number of cameras that can be added to a computer station has been expanded, and there are new CCTV spots to snag at the Cargo Ship and Ferry Terminal.

Monument puzzles are back in fashion after the October update, which has led to an upswing in players waiting around the hotspots to ambush anyone attempting to grab gear. "That's a classic strategy in Rust and not something we would want to disallow," Facepunch says, but notes that "some players were camping so close to monument puzzles and loot rooms that they were inadvertently preventing the loot from respawning." It's therefore reworked how keycard monuments refresh, and you'll be forced away prior to these reloads with temporary bursts of "severe and unsurvivable" radiation.

Elsewhere, medical syringes have been made available to use on horses, just as you would on other players. Along with the heal, they'll gain a brief boost to their max gallop speed and a small amount of stamina recovery, helping you escape from any serious threats. Vending machines on the main map will clearly mark if they're accessible by drones. Elevators have been sped up and now use power input plugs on each floor, and you need just one of these to be connected for it to work.

Helicopter pilots and crews should also take note of the new update. "There's no question that attack helicopters are at the apex of offensive vehicles," Facepunch admits, and the homing missile launcher should be the go-to counter, but even that was struggling to bear fruit. In an attempt to fix this, you'll no longer be able to supplement the attack helicopter's built-in flare launcher by throwing out flares of your own as homing missiles will simply ignore these.

Additionally, helicopters can no longer be repaired while in flight, and pilots are unable to use healing foods while piloting them (this latter change applies to all vehicles). To help the lesser helicopters compete in the wake of this trio of nerfs, both the minicopter and scrap transport chopper have been given flare launchers of their own, which will come ready-equipped when you buy one.

There are plenty more smaller tweaks, too. The painting menu has been given a long-needed overhaul with the introduction of a full color wheel and picker, with additional copy/paste support for hexcodes. You're able to store up to ten of your favorite hues that you can call on at any time. Off-ground foliage now pushes away from moving objects, including players, as they brush into it. Be careful if you're trying to hide behind some tree branches, then.

The Rust November update, 'Pivot or Die,' is live now. Read through the full patch breakdown courtesy of Facepunch Studios if you want a detailed list of everything that's changed. The post also goes into some additional improvements for workshop scenes, experimental server optimizations, and a new way to spawn vehicles without needing to remember Rust console commands and the correct entity names.