You’ve got a useful weapon, but only one is inside the box, so you’ll have to choose whether you want to use it for your next run, spend some Scrap to research it, or move up the Tech Tree. This means you can now use two currencies.
Since the blueprint changes in November, the Rust Research Table has changed slightly. The Research Table now costs Scrap to progress in a Vanilla Rust Server. However, progressing through the Tech Tree will cost you Blueprint Fragments, Pages and Books. What you do here depends on what you have, what you can craft, and how fast you need it.
Changes To Learning Items In Rust
The blueprint rework changed what you spend on Tech Tree nodes and they no longer cost Scrap. Now, the Level 1 tree costs Blueprint Fragments, the Level 2 tree costs Blueprint Pages and the Level 3 tree costs Blueprint Books.
| Your Situation | Route To Consider | Main Trade-Off |
|---|---|---|
| You own a spare item and need its recipe now | Research Table | Spend Scrap and sacrifice the item |
| You cannot find the item | Tech Tree | Spend blueprint currency on the required path |
| Several recipes along the path would help | Tech Tree | Intermediate recipes have value too |
| You only have one useful weapon | Check whether you can replace it first | Researching removes that physical weapon |
Neither route supplies the materials for future copies. Learning a recipe and being ready to craft it are separate things. Rust November update covers the wider changes; here, the aim is deciding what helps your next session.
When Should You Use The Research Table?
Use the Research Table if you have an item you can research and it will help you solve a current issue. Extra weapons, ammo types and useful gear will help you get a recipe straight away and save you blueprint currency.
Before you pay any money, look at your crafting menu. If you have the recipe, it is pointless to research more copies for yourself as you'll be wasting Scrap. Check the workbench needed and ingredients, if you can't craft the weapon, then there's not much point in researching it.
Say you get an extra Semi-Automatic Pistol back with your group. You have the bench and materials to craft more, but you haven't researched the tree entry yet. This can be a good idea to research the extra, as you need the specific recipe.
To research an item:
Click on a Research Table. Put your researchable item into the table.
Look at the amount of Scrap needed. Add that amount.
Start your research.
Once finished, take the blueprint and learn it from your inventory.
This will consume your item and Scrap. Don't add your only functioning weapon into the table unless you are sure you want to lose it. Maybe keep it for your loot run so you can get another copy.
Make sure you look at the amount shown on the live table and not an old guide. Take into consideration how much it costs you to get a copy. If you buy something to research,, then you will have to pay the amount the seller wants plus the research cost.
To research an item:
- Open a Research Table and place the researchable item inside.
- Check the displayed Scrap requirement and supply that amount.
- Start research and wait for it to finish.
- Take the resulting blueprint and learn it from your inventory.
The process consumes the researched item and the required Scrap. Don't put your only working weapon in the table unless you're comfortable losing it. Keeping it for a loot run might help you bring home a second copy before you commit.
Use the live table's displayed cost rather than an old guide's item price. Factor in the cost of acquiring a copy, too: buying an item for research means paying both the seller's price and the research fee.
When Does The Tech Tree Make More Sense?
If you do not have access to an item, using the tech tree can help you make sure you have a clear path to recipe you want. This avoids any delays caused by having to search for or trade for the item.
Take a look at the entire chain to see if you want to invest more for something further down the chain. Whilst the amount you are investing is larger, if the recipes required are ones which would be useful to purchase anyway, as they have useful equipment in your group that you could require, you can have multiple plans going.
If you are building a combat set, you may find that progressing through the chain gives you some useful recipes. Whereas if you only need one recipe at the end of the chain, you may want to find an example for your table.
You can mix both methods. Find any useful discoveries and research them, but use the tech tree to fill in any gaps. You don’t have to stick to one method for your wipe.
Think about how long you will be using these recipes for. Before investing into general progression, check the servers blueprint reset policy. A Rust wipe schedule doesn't automatically tell you whether learned blueprints will reset alongside the map.
Why Won't The Workbench Take My Scrap?
On updated vanilla PC servers Scrap is no longer used. Check what blueprint currency you need to make your workbench level, and ensure you have unlocked all previous entries in your selected progression.
Do not get confused between currency items and the specific item blueprint that is created on a Research Table.
Workbench upgrades no longer cost as much. Salvage has a 20% chance to not require any blueprint currency. Prototype has a guaranteed 25% success rate.
Neither of these add Scrap back as a currency for progression.
If your server is different, double check what rules are applied and what progression plugins are installed.
Try The New Progression With Pine Hosting
Upgrade your existing useful items, use the progression tree to get any recipes you need, and keep your sole weapon until you are ready to change it.
Using Pine Hosting Rust server hosting, you will have your own server to play on. We'll take care of the hosting for you. Choose one of our Rust hosting plans, decide on your wipe rules, and work towards getting the equipment you want to use.
