Rust: Complete Raiding Guide
Raiding is the ultimate endgame activity in Rust. Whether you're planning an offline raid or engaging in intense online PvP, understanding explosive costs, raid strategies, and base weaknesses is essential. This guide covers everything from basic satchel charges to advanced raid tactics used by veteran players.
Explosive Types and Crafting Costs
Understanding the raw material cost of each explosive is the first step to raiding efficiently. The figures below are the full from-scratch crafting costs on vanilla servers (default 1x rates).
| Explosive | Sulfur | Other Raw Materials |
|---|---|---|
| Satchel Charge | 480 | 720 Charcoal, 80 Metal Fragments, 10 Cloth, 1 Rope |
| Timed Explosive Charge (C4) | 2,200 | 3,000 Charcoal, 200 Metal Fragments, 60 Low Grade Fuel, 5 Cloth, 2 Tech Trash |
| Rocket | 1,400 | 1,950 Charcoal, 100 Metal Fragments, 30 Low Grade Fuel, 2 Metal Pipes |
| Explosive 5.56 Rifle Ammo (per round) | 25 | 5 Metal Fragments, 50 Charcoal, plus the gunpowder and sulfur folded into each round |
C4 needs a Level 3 workbench and is the most sulfur-efficient option per point of damage. Satchel charges are the cheap, low-tier pick but suffer from damage variance, so always bring spares.
Raid Costs by Wall Tier
Rust building blocks have fixed health, and each raiding tool destroys a wall in a set number of charges on a vanilla server. The counts below are for the hard (outside) face. Soft sides and door faces differ.
| Wall Tier | HP | Satchel Charges | C4 | Rockets | Explosive 5.56 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stone Wall | 500 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 185 |
| Sheet Metal Wall | 1,000 | 23 | 4 | 7 | 400 |
| Armored Wall | 2,000 | 46 | 7 | 15 | 799 |
Doors are usually the cheaper breach point. A sheet metal door (250 HP) goes down to roughly 4 satchel charges or a single C4, and an armored door (800 HP) takes 4 C4 from the strong side, so check whether blowing the door is cheaper than punching the wall before you commit sulfur.
Raid Strategy Fundamentals
Pre-Raid Reconnaissance
- Scout the Base: Observe the target for 24-48 hours to learn player activity patterns.
- Count Doors: Estimate the number of doors and walls between entry and loot room.
- Identify Weaknesses: Look for soft sides, weak spots, or poorly placed tool cupboards.
- Check for Traps: Watch for shotgun traps, turrets, and landmines.
- Plan Escape Route: Always have a backup plan if defenders counter-raid.
Online vs Offline Raiding
| Raid Type | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Offline Raid | No resistance, can take time, less explosives wasted | Defenders may have despawned loot, less exciting |
| Online Raid | Guaranteed loot, PvP excitement, psychological warfare | High risk of death, counter-raids, more explosives needed |
Advanced Raid Techniques
Soft Side Raiding
A wall's interior face is its "soft side." It has the same health as the hard side, but it accepts melee tool damage, so you can break in for zero sulfur if a builder leaves it exposed:
- Identification: The soft side is the face that points into the base. On stone it shows the rough, unfinished texture.
- Tools: Use a metal pickaxe, salvaged icepick, or jackhammer on the soft side. Explosives do the same damage to either face, so save them for the hard side.
- Efficiency: A stone wall soft side comes down to roughly 7 metal pickaxes, far cheaper than the 2 C4 (4,400 sulfur) a hard-side breach costs.
- Risk: Soft-side melee raiding is loud and slow, so it is best suited to offline raids.
Pro Tip: Always check if external walls have their soft side exposed. Many builders forget to rotate walls correctly, leaving easy entry points.
Choosing the Cheapest Breach
C4 sticks to and damages only the single object it is attached to, so there is no shortcut for hitting several walls with one charge. Efficiency comes from picking the cheapest path:
- Target doors first: A door usually has far less effective health than the wall around it, so breaching a sheet metal door (one C4) beats blowing a sheet metal wall (four C4).
- Avoid wasted boom: Plan your path to the loot room so you never blow a wall into an empty honeycomb cell.
- Mix tools: Soften a target with the cheap option (satchels or soft-side melee) and finish stubborn cells with C4 only where needed.
Tool Cupboard Hunting
Finding and destroying the tool cupboard is often more valuable than reaching the loot room:
- Listen for Placement: Tool cupboards make distinct sounds when accessed.
- Common Locations: Usually in airlocks, central rooms, or near main entrances.
- Authorization Denial: Once TC is destroyed, you can build and block defenders.
- Grief Potential: Control of TC allows you to seal the base or add your own defenses.
Raid Defense Counter-Strategies
Defending Against Raids
- Roof Access: Build roof access to shoot down at raiders.
- External TCs: Place tool cupboards outside your base to prevent raider building.
- Shotgun Traps: Place at head level in doorways and corridors.
- Auto Turrets: Position with overlapping fields of fire.
- Landmines: Place around common approach routes.
Honeycomb Defense
Honeycomb is the empty ring of cells built around your loot room. Each cell a raider has to cross is another full wall to blow, so the goal is to make the path expensive rather than to make any single wall stronger. With sheet metal walls costing four C4 each, every honeycomb cell roughly adds the price of one more wall to the bill:
- No honeycomb: One sheet metal wall (four C4) stands between a raider and your loot. Weak, easy target.
- One layer: Raiders must blow through two walls, doubling the C4 needed to reach the core. Deters opportunists.
- Two or more layers, armored core: Multiple cells plus armored walls (seven C4 each) push the cost into clan-raid territory.
Use the wall-tier table above to total your own layout, since the real cost is simply the sum of every wall on the shortest path to the loot.
Raid Timing & Server Dynamics
Best Times to Raid
- Early Morning (3-7 AM): Lowest player activity for offline raids.
- Mid-Wipe: Players have resources but haven't fully honeycombed yet.
- Pre-Wipe: All-out chaos, perfect for practicing raid strategies.
- After Monument Runs: Catch players with fresh loot before they store it.
Wipe Cycle Strategy
| Phase | What to Do |
|---|---|
| Day 1-2 | Focus on building and farming. Stick to cheap door raids while most bases are still wood and stone. |
| Day 3-5 | Prime raiding window. Bases hold loot but are often not fully honeycombed or upgraded to armored. |
| Day 6 onward | Established clans and armored bases. Expect large coordinated raids and heavy C4 or rocket counts. |
Common Raiding Mistakes
| Mistake | Why It's Bad | How to Avoid |
|---|---|---|
| Not Bringing Enough Explosives | Get stuck mid-raid with no way to finish | Always bring 50% more explosives than estimated |
| Raiding Alone | Easy target for counter-raids | Bring at least 2-3 teammates for security |
| Ignoring Surroundings | Counter-raiders can ambush you | Post lookouts and watch for approaching players |
| Blowing Wrong Walls | Waste explosives on empty rooms | Use game sense to predict loot room locations |
| Not Securing Loot | Lose everything if you die | Have a nearby stash or base to store loot mid-raid |
Raid Loadout Checklist
Essential Gear
- Explosives: C4, rockets, or satchels based on target
- Weapons: AK-47 or LR-300 for PvP defense
- Armor: Full metal or hazmat suit
- Medical: 20+ syringes and bandages
- Tools: Building plan, hammer, and extra materials
- Utility: Sleeping bag nearby for respawns
Important: Always place a sleeping bag near the raid location. If you die, you can respawn and continue the raid or defend your progress.
Before you spend a single sulfur, run the numbers with the Rust Raid Cost Calculator: exact sulfur, C4 / rocket / satchel counts, and placement time for any door, wall, or tool cupboard.
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