Rust PT Boat Turret Changes: Less Damage and Fewer Oil Rig Boats

Facepunch commits from November 2 make PT boat turrets weaker: both the front and rear 50 cal guns deal 25% less damage, and the front guns get a much wider aim cone. Another commit cuts the large oil rig from 2 boat groups to 1, and a set of small fixes cleans up boats in general.

We wrote this from commits dated up to November 3, a couple of days before the November update was due. The commits alone do not tell us what shipped in it, so check the official Rust news page or our blog for the patch notes. The turret change was on its own branch when we looked, so it can still change.

PT boat turret damage and aim cone

The main commit is short and clear. On the PT boat turret balance branch, Ian Henderson changed two values:

• Front 50 cal guns: aim cone goes from 0.2 to 1.
• Front and rear 50 cal guns: damage scale goes from 1 to 0.75.

A damage scale of 0.75 means 25% less damage per shot. A bigger aim cone means shots spread more, so the front guns get less accurate at range. The commit does not say whether this applies only to players on the guns or to scientist crews too. Our guess is both, since the commit changes the guns themselves and does not split them up.

The front turret also gets the regular crosshair instead of a dot, which fits a gun that no longer shoots in a tight line.

Fewer boats at the large oil rig

A separate commit says to only spawn 1 boat group at the large oil rig, not 2. That branch was merged into main. The commit does not explain what kind of boats these are. Our guess is scientist boats, since those are the boat groups Facepunch has been working on. If so, trips to the large rig should mean fewer boats to deal with on the way in.

Boat fixes worth knowing

Several smaller fixes landed at the same time:

• Storm audio. Boat splash effects were ignoring their time limit, and the commit says this caused audio to cut out when driving through storms. The limit now sits on the boat's main buoyancy part, with at least 0.1 seconds between splashes. It was merged into main.
• RHIB driver arms. RHIB drivers were reaching for nothing with their arms stretched out, because a reused driver seat remembered its old boat and sent the hands to that boat's wheel. It was merged into main.
• PT boat legs. Player legs no longer freak out after swapping between the two turrets, also merged.
• Turret camera. Camera animations on PT boat turrets now play even with head bob off, which stops hands clipping and flying away. This was merged too.
• Rejoining a server. A boat error after rejoining is fixed on a branch. Boats removed when you disconnected were staying in an effects list.

PT boat loot changed too

If you read our roaming scientist boats post, one earlier commit gave the PT boat a chance to drop a blueprint book. On October 29, Rin removed the blueprint book chance, with the note "this was too good". The commit says the blueprint page remains. It is part of the blueprint rework, which is still changing.

What it means for players

PT boats should be less scary to run into if the turret change sticks, and less of a sniper at long range from the front. If you like taking the guns yourself, you will do less damage too, but the regular crosshair may help you see where shots go. Together with the oil rig change, Facepunch seems to be turning down boat pressure at sea. That last part is our guess. The commits do not give a reason.

FAQ

Did Rust nerf the PT boat turrets? The commits do. Damage scale drops from 1 to 0.75 on the front and rear 50 cal guns, and the front aim cone widens from 0.2 to 1. It was on a branch as of November 3.

How many boat groups spawn at the large oil rig? The commit changes it from 2 to 1 and it was merged into main. The commit does not say when it ships.

Why did audio cut out when driving a boat in a storm? Splash effects ignored their time limit. The commit says this starved the audio system, and the fix is in main.

Do PT boats still drop blueprint books? A commit removed the book chance on October 29. The commit says the page remains.

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Source: Facepunch commits