Introducing El Padre Clan Base Design
El Padre clan base design video was created by our partner Rust Daddy.
Sometimes, the simplest solution is the best solution. For many RUST base designers, it’s incredibly easy to get lost in the details and labyrinth of decisions when planning and constructing a new base design, especially when enhancing it with RUST’s electrical system. With the introduction of the RUST+ Companion App, RUST clans can now rely on much smaller, but well-thought-out compounds. Players, now with the ability to receive live raid notifications to their phones, compounded with the ability to remotely trigger traps built into these newly founded designs —there’s much to consider.
This design is intended for vanilla servers and an active 12 man group. El Padre’s foundation, based on the common 5×5 footprint, offers a unique twist with its use of the multi-TC concept and intentional focus on active defense measures, gratuitous and spacious layout choices, and its ability to have complete turret coverage where it matters most. Inside the multiple levels of this base design, players will find many different advanced base design techniques that come together well in their own rusty symphony.
El Padre Costs
Raid Cost
- 39 Rockets to Main TC
- 168 Rockets for External TC
- 84 Rockets for Main TC & Main Loot
Building Cost
- High-Quality Metal: 2,500 +/-
- Metal Fragments: 180,000 +/-
- Stone: 28,000 +/-
- Wood: 55,000 +/-
Upkeep Cost
- High-Quality Metal: 700
- Metal Fragments: 52,000
- Stone: 7,000
- Wood: 200
Fortify Clipboard
Rustrician Clipboard
- Main circuit with backup generators: https://pastebin.com/4AdAcd55
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Video Transcript
What’s up guys, Rust Daddy here. Ever since the success of Colossus, many of you have been asking for yet another large group base design. To that end, I was intensively working on a number of large group bases, which at the end of the day never seemed to make the cut. Completely dissatisfied with the results, I came to a sudden realization that sometimes large group bases are not all about efficiency and intricate designs, and instead the most basic solution might be the answer.
In this context, a classic 5×5 is the most common all-square design for many larger groups and it has been known and used by the Rust community for quite some time. Its appeal lies in spacious and simplistic design that provides time-tested and robust online raid defense elements. On the other hand, being an all-square base, a 5×5 is relatively expensive and weak in terms of pure rocket defense. This alone testifies that efficiency and costs are rarely a concern for an active group that is ready to survive and dominate the server.
With that in mind, I present to you my take on the most popular all-square large clan base designs that I call el Padre. The design is most suited for an active 12-man group that typically find themselves defending an online raid. It utilizes multi-TC concept, combining a total of 9 TCs, where 4 side, and 4 corner TCs shape the shooting floor and peeks and serve as miniature flanking or furnace bases. Having external TCs is also beneficial, as it dramatically decreases the upkeep costs while at the same time prevents easy griefing.
In this design, each external TC is protected behind an armored door and a vending machine. This trick was originally shown to me by a player called crisp. Using this trick, the TC is easily accessible and is protected by approximately 13 rockets up front. Note, however, that the armored door may be damaged using explosive ammo, leaving the TC vulnerable to explosives and incendiary rockets. On the other hand, using explosives and incendiaries might not be that convenient during an online raid, which is what this entire design is maximized for.
The main base is accessed through one of the two entrances that lead under the internal peeks. From here, two entrances on the opposite sides lead into the spacious core that somewhat resembles a classic 5×5 layout. The main TC is on the first floor, where you will find your sleeping bags and main loot rooms. The 3rd floor houses more loot rooms and electricity rooms for internal turrets and lights. The 4th floor houses first set of bedrooms and exits into the internal peeks. These are designed to have minimal gaps that provide sneaky angles to counter the raiders and in addition come equipped with optional quick access chutes for dropping down to loot or even to seal the breach. Lastly, the 5th and final floor houses more bedrooms and exits into the shooting floor and the roof.
So without further ado, lets jump into the build. Before I begin, however, I would like to give a special thanks to Evils Wurst, Zedge, and LordDesert for invaluable feedback on the design and to Nagaz, Kosmuso and Legatus for starring in the cinematic.
Initial starter
Let us begin building the base from the initial starter. Depending on available resources and blueprints, you can choose to build it in smaller steps and upgrade it gradually or proceed directly to the final build and tier.
First, find a flat piece of land such as an ice lake or a beach and lay down a 3×3 footprint, making sure that the first foundation is slightly off the ground. Upgrade 3 foundations to stone and surround them with walls as shown. Then place 3 wall frames on the middle foundations, fit them with double doors that open outwards to make your first airlock and then seal the roof.
Inside the base, place the TC in the far-left corner of the right room and then proceed with the temporary deployables. For now, you can place a level 1 workbench in front of the TC (tip: this will block the code lock), form a loot room opposite to the TC room, and place a few furnaces and sleeping bags in the middle. Lastly, place a triangle shelf in the TC room and fill it with containers of your choosing (tip: do not forget to break the twig).
Once you have gathered enough resources, replace all wooden doors with sheet metal double doors and proceed shaping the rest of the first floor. I will leave the roof off for now for demonstration purpose. Upgrade the remaining foundations of the 3×3 and surround them with walls as shown. Then, place two wall frames fitted with sheet metal double doors facing outwards to form an additional airlock, form two more loot rooms at the top and bottom right corners of the base and lastly, close the loot rooms with sheet metal double doors to form a corridor in the middle. You can now make a temporary furnace room in front of the new entrance and place a research table and sleeping bags in the corridor for the rest of your team.
Once you have acquired reinforced glass window and garage door blueprints, expand the starter by forming a shelved chute up to the second floor. Before you begin, replace at least the entrance door with garage door, and then form the chute with a shelf jump-up. On the second floor, place a window frame fitted with a reinforced glass window to the left, and follow up with two more walls, a shelve at half height and a wall frame with a garage door in front. Place three more wall frames in front of the chute and fit them with sheet metal double doors for the time being to form an airlock and assist against potential door campers. Lastly, seal the roof and place stairs at a preferred side of the base for easier access.
The starter is now complete. However, you should not rest and quickly proceed claiming the surrounding area, as anyone with enough resources and dedication may stop you from expanding by simply placing TCs all around the base. For this reason, we will continue by building the external TCs.
External TCs
While making the necessary preparations, you should start gradually upgrading the starter to its final tier. Eventually, the entire core should be upgraded to armored. However, if the resources are still scarce, you may choose to upgrade the entire starter to metal for the time being.
Let us claim the area and at the same time complete a part of the main footprint. For simplicity, I will build the external TCs in final tier. The left and right side external TCs will eventually become main base entrances, so let us start with those.
Starting from one side build out a total of 10 foundations from the center (tip: including the foundation with stairs). Break all but the outermost foundation and come back with 4 triangle half-moons. Then, break all but the last two triangle foundations and add additional 3 triangles to form a line of triangles as shown. Upgrade the inner triangles to armored and outer triangles to metal and proceed extending outwards with 5 pairs of square foundations. Then form a 4-triangle cap at the distal end. Note that the middle and leftmost triangles should be armored.
To shape the external TC, place two armored walls, a triangle floor tile on top, and an armored doorway as shown. Place the TC in the resulting room by pushing it against the right wall and leaving a small gap between the TC and the doorway (tip: in front of the white mark). You can fit the doorway with a sheet metal door and enclose it with a metal wall on the left, a metal triangle floor on top, and a stone window frame fitted with reinforced glass window in front.
Repeat this process on the adjacent side and the two more time on the perpendicular sides,… only this time keep the 3 middlemost foundations wooden, as you will have to pick them out later. Once done, proceed forming 4 additional external TCs by offsetting foundations from two adjacent external TCs, which will form the entrances into the main base. Starting with one side, offset the foundations as previously described by building out 10 square foundations sideways from the distal end of the external TC as shown. Then come back with 4 triangle half-moons and place 3 armored foundations to cap the corner of the main base.
Once done, continue building towards the external TC. To do that, use the future entrances as a reference line. Find the corner square and build out a sequence of triangle and square foundations, exactly as shown. Then finish the sequence with a 2×2, a 4-triangle cap at the distal end, and form the external TC as previously described. Now mirror these steppes on the opposite side across the reference line and lastly, build 2 more external TCs on the adjacent side to finally complete all 8 external TCs.
The area is now claimed so you can finally focus on expanding the main base. If you haven’t done so already, this is the point where you are going to gather enough scrap to build a level 3 workbench and ultimately turn your starter setup into a more secure compound.
First expansion: core honeycomb and second floor with entrances
By now you should have gathered enough resources to upgrade your base, so now is a good time to upgrade the foundations, outer walls, and ceilings of the starter to armored and then add a layer of square honeycomb around the base as shown (tip: you can break the wooden stairs). In addition to that, upgrade the inner wall guarding the TC to armored as well. Once done, begin forming the second floor.
Go up and replace all double doors with garage doors. Then surround the entire second floor perimeter with metal walls and two doorways in the opposite corners as shown. Fit the doorways with sheet metal doors for now and shape the airlocks by placing a wall in front of the door and sheet metal double door on the side. The sheet metal doors and double doors should eventually be replaced with armored counterparts.
Now form a chute at the opposite side to the core entrance. Place two walls (tip: right wall hard side facing inward), a shelf for a jump up, and a window frame fitted with a reinforced glass window to the left. Finally, cap the chute on the third floor by placing three walls, a shelve at half height and a wall frame fitted with a garage door in front.
The remainder of the second floor may be formed in the following way. First, seal the backs of the chutes and add internal metal honeycomb on the perpendicular sides. You may choose to move the furnace room from downstairs to the rooms closest to the outside entrances, and then form 4 additional loot rooms at the top right and bottom left corners of the base as shown. Finally, fill the remaining slots with metal wall frames and garage doors and seal the roof, making sure that the ceiling of the original 3×3 outline is armored.
Your level 2 and level 3 workbenches may be placed flush against the walls on the adjacent sides of the second floor. In addition to that, there is now plenty of space to replace your research table and place other deployables like a repair bench and lockers all around the base. Lastly, you can place ladders or oil refineries in front of the base entrances to be able to get inside the base.
The first expansion of the base is complete so you can start planning for the next building stage. With level 3 workbench in place, this is the perfect time to start compounding the area and turning your external TCs in to flanking and furnace bases, while at the same time making them stronger.
Compound and external TCs
There are many techniques and tricks for building a compound. For the most basic setup you may consider shaping your compound in a square, with an airlocked external stone gate on each side. To create the airlocked gates, stand in front of the external TC and place a square and two triangle twig foundations outwards as show. Using the resulting twig and the adjacent armored wall as a guide, hold and align the external stone gate as close to the twig as possible, making sure that the roof structure of the gate is facing outwards (tip: press and hold alt key to lookup). Once done, open the gate, break the twig foundations, and use the gates as a guideline to place an external stone wall between the external TC and the gate to form an airlock. Now repeat this process 3 more times around the base.
If you are confident in your wall placement technique, place 6 walls on both sides of the gates in a straight line. However, you may use the following technique to place the said walls as straight as possible. Pick a gate and build out 5 triangle foundations from the external TC’s outermost triangle as shown. Then follow up with two foundations outwards and 9 more foundations to the side. Once done, break all but the last square foundation that will be used for setting up the guide.
Place a wall on the outermost side of the guide foundation, parallel to the gate and deploy a blocker on the center edge of the resulting wall. Now starting from the gate, place your first external wall as parallel to the gate as possible. Here you can use the metal bar on the gate as a guide for aligning the wall.
Once placed, deploy the second blocker in the center of the wall, and then connect the two deployables using a wire tool. Now you can use the wire as a guideline to place 5 remaining walls in a straight line. When making the placement, make sure that the wire remains visible through the entire stretch of the wall or at least at the leading edge and does not get engulfed in the blueprint outline (tip: pick up the electrical components and break the twig once done). When placing the LAST two walls, simply press them against the twig buildup. You can repeat this process around the base to complete the compound, and then proceed upgrading your external TCs to turn them into furnace or miniature flanking bases.
To do that, first replace the sheet metal door guarding the TC with armored door that opens outwards. Then, place a vending machine in front of the armored door, right at the center (tip: practice placing the vending machine on a build server). You can fit a small box in front of the vending machine as well. Do this for all 8 external TCs (tip: turn off broadcasting).
To build the furnace base, we will start by placing the large furnaces. First, place down 4 metal triangle foundations and two layers of stone walls on top as shown and then proceed placing the large furnaces. The goal is to fit two furnaces in 3 square foundation lengths, which was shown to me by Vice. This is best done by aligning the feet of the furnace as close and flush to the side metal and adjacent wooden foundations as possible (tip: practice placing the furnaces on a build server). Once you have two large furnaces placed, destroy the wooden foundations, and place two more large furnaces on the opposite side. Now surround the TC with metal walls and a garage door in front as show.
To the right of the TC you can place a locker or better yet a large battery and seal it with window frame and reinforced glass window. Then form a loot room on the neighboring square and place a garage door in front. Once done, seal the roof with corresponding metal tiles and honeycomb the triangle above the TC with metal half walls. To complete forming the large furnace chamber, level the front and back of the base by placing additional stone walls, making sure to place a garage door in front for an entrance. The roof of the furnace chamber may be sealed with respective floor frames and grills… and the sides with high external stone walls. When placing the walls, make sure to not clip them too far in, as this may prevent replacing floor frames if destroyed. Lastly, place boxes or other deployables in between large furnaces to allow easier movement around them, and the repeat the entire process at the adjacent TC.
To build the miniature flanking bases surround the foundation outline with walls of corresponding tier as shown. Then place a doorway fitted with a sheet metal door in front and a sheet metal double door on the side to form an airlock. Once again, place a locker or a battery to the right of the TC, seal it with a window frame and reinforced glass window and form a loot room in front. Once done, fill the remaining slot inside the base with a garage door and use the open area to place down sleeping bags for yourself and your teammates. Lastly, seal the roof with corresponding tier tiles, honeycomb the triangle above the TC with metal half walls and then repeat the entire process to upgrade the remaining external TCs.
The compound is now more or less complete, with the external TCs now accounting for 23 rocket protection each if raided from the back or the top. However, I should note that it would require only 19 rockets to reach the TC from the left side, as the armored foundation holding the vending machine is exposed. If you see this as a problem, feel free to hide the armored foundation behind a metal triangle foundation like so to slightly increase the rocket protection from this angle. (tip: you can always upgrade or honeycomb the wall to increase rocket protection even further).
The next building stage will require a good chunk of resources. While waiting for the large furnaces to generate enough metal, we can setup an auto turret perimeter inside the compound.
Electricity
If needed, each external TC is prepared to house a wind turbine and a large battery, which should be enough to run 4 to 5 auto turrets each. For demonstration purposes, however, I will only use 4 TCs to setup straight-forward electrical circuits.
To that end, deploy your auto turrets around the compound. Here, I chose to place 10 auto turrets that will be powered from corresponding entrance TCs and 8 more that will be powered from the furnace bases. Starting with one external TC, buildup at least 5 or better yet 7 levels of metal wall frames raised from the half wall honeycomb atop the TC (tip: build higher for more consistent power). You can use ladders or netting to continue building up. Once done, cap the framework with two floor triangles as shown and then jump on top. You can place an additional twig triangle to stand on and the deploy the wind turbine, with the interface facing towards you. Now connect the turbine to the large battery downstairs and follow the schematic to set up the auto turret network. I suggest deploying your electrical components on the window frame guarding the large batter, as this is the least likely wall to be destroyed during a raid.
Proceed building the wind turbines and connecting the auto turrets as described, and you should soon have a relatively secure compound. By this time, you should have gathered enough resources to proceed to the next building stage where we will focus on expanding and completing the main base core.
Second expansion: third, fourth and fifth floor
While making the necessary preparations, replace all sheet metal doors and double doors guarding the two main base entrances with their armored counterparts. Once ready go up on the roof and surround the perimeter with a layer of metal walls. As before, form a metal shoot leading up to the next floor (tip: side walls’ hard sides facing inwards), opposite of the current roof entrance… and place internal honeycomb on the middle side squares. Then, use the resulting area to form loot rooms or even electricity rooms. Here, I chose two opposite rooms that will house the main batteries and electrical circuits for running main base auto turrets network, lighting and more. I will come back to this at the end of this video. Lastly, fill the remain slots with garage doors, seal the roof and proceed to the next floor.
While you are free to design the different floors the way you like, I suggest to use the next two floors for bedrooms, as these will become the entry points for internal and external peek downs, the shooting floor and the roof. To start off, make a chute to the next floor as previously described (tip: side walls’ hard sides facing inwards) and then surround the two perpendicular sides with metal walls and seal them with wall frames and garage doors as shown. These will become the first bedrooms. Now finish closing the perimeter with wall frames and fit them with shop fronts and armored double doors in the middle. These will become the entry points to the internal peeks. To prevent easy splash damage into the bedrooms, I suggest placing two doorways on each bedroom side as shown. You are free to fit these with doors and spam garage doors everywhere else. However, make sure to keep an eye on the upkeep.
Once the fourth floor is complete, repeat the process on the fifth floor, only this time, instead of a chute leading up to the roof, build a simple loot room for drop chests. Then proceed building the bedrooms as previously described and seal the remaining perimeter with wall frames fitted with shop fronts and garage doors as shown. These will become the entry points to the shooting floor and the roof. Lastly, place doorways on each bedroom side as previously described, place additional garage door where appropriate and then seal the roof. Ideally, the entire roof should be upgraded to armored.
The main base solid core is now complete. However, it is quite exposed as it lacks online raid mitigation elements. For this reason, you should gather enough resources and prepare for the next and final expansion where we will build the peeks, the shooting floor and access to the roof.
Peek downs and shooting floor
Since structures from all 8 external TCs and the main base must be built in full and come together to form functional peeks, there is no obvious or logical sequence of building them. Herewith, for simplicity, I will show how to build each part individually.
Starting with the main base, add metal floor tiles and wall frames on each side of the base as shown. Then, starting from one of the corner TCs’ distal armored foundations, build up the following structure. On one of the sides place a metal doorway, a wall, and a window frame on top, and then repeat it on the other side. You can fit the doorways with sheet metal doors that open outwards for strategic sectioning (tip: can be kept opened). At the pit, build 2 sets of 2 wall frames and then a set of window frames on top to level the structure. Later, the window frames may be fitted with vertical metal embrasures. Once done, place 3 sets of 2 wall frames on the center foundation and one more wall frame fitted with a garage door, leading towards the external TC. Now place 3 more metal triangle foundations outwards and form 3 levels of metal honeycomb on top (tip: fill with metal floor triangles for more stability).
Inside the structure, form a metal shelf at half height, intersecting the window frames. This may be done by building twig from the outside to create the half height socket. Once complete, place an additional floor tile on the center square and a floor tile overhang on each side of the structure. For convenience, place twig tiles to level the floor and break the twig on the outside. Now finish building the chute and then cap off the remaining 3 of the metal honeycombs.
For the two final levels, build 2 sets of 4 stone wall frames outlining the distal edge and then two metal wall frames in front of the chute. The corner stone wall frames may be fitted with sheet metal double doors for strategic sectioning. Once in place, seal off the 4th floor with metal walls and floor tiles. On the 5th floor, once again place a metal floor tile overhangs on each side of the structure and fit the stone wall frames with garage doors, so that the bulky part is facing towards the gaps. Follow up with three window frames and a doorway on the right side. Fit the window frames with reinforced glass windows and the doorway with an armored door and proceed shaping the roof access.
Form a stone shelf on the corner square and place a window frame fitted with reinforced window bar to the left and a wall frame fitted with a garage door right in front. Then jump on the shelf and place two metal walls in the right corner, a floor tile on top, and then one more floor tile at the half height of the metal walls. Lastly, seal the roof with metal tiles, making sure that they clip on the external TC and then repeat the process on the remaining 3 corners.
For the side TC buildup, we can start with the two sides that will contain the main entrances. Begin by placing 3 doorways leading from right outermost triangle foundation towards inner center triangle foundation, as shown and fit them with armored doors, so that the middle door forms an airlock towards the outside. Then build 3 levels of metal honeycomb and cap the tops with triangle floor tiles where appropriate (tip: fill with metal floor triangles for more stability). Once done, enclose the 4th floor with metal walls and 5th floor with window frames fitted with reinforced glass windows (tip: make sure to clip the building blocks on the side TC).
Lastly, to make the entrance a bit more flexible, enclose the first two square foundations with stone window frames, a doorway at the front left and a wall frame in the middle. You can fit the window frames with reinforced glass windows and wooden shutters on the inside and then form an airlock by fitting a sheet metal door and double door in their respective slots. The empty triangle is a good spot for a locker. Enclose it with a metal floor triangle on top and a stone window frame with reinforced glass window and horizontal embrasure in front, and then finally seal the roof.
Repeat this process on the opposite side and for the remaining two sides simply skip the entrances and build a solid honeycomb instead (tip: fill with metal floor triangles for more stability).
Shooting floor
The main base is now almost complete. The only thing that is missing is a shooting floor and perhaps even a humble battlement on the roof. To that end, go onto the 5th floor and make the following buildup. Place a metal triangle at the door, two metal wall frames under to the right for support, and then follow up with 3 more metal triangles. Now, place 3 floor tiles in the center, making sure that they all clip on the side and not the center TC. Then follow up with 4 more floor triangles on the other end. Once done, place 3 doorways where shown and fit them with sheet metal doors that open towards the gaps.
Lastly, seal the perimeter with window frames fitted with vertical metal embrasures and the roof with corresponding floor tiles. To prevent access from the top, place siren lights atop the left and middle sheet metal doors, like so, and then repeat the entire process on the remaining 3 sides to complete the shooting floor.
On top of the roof you can place slanted roofs facing outwards. First, place the roofs on the corner TC sides and then place the middle roofs, making sure that they clip onto the main base. Continue placing the roofs as described and you should now have yourself a simple battlement. Note, however, that these will easily collapse once the main base solid core is breached. If you see this as a drawback, consider building an alternative battlement to suit your needs.
Electricity, Traps, and Upgrades
The base is now fully built and the only thing that is left to do is to reinforce it with auto turrets and additional upgrades.
For one, the 4 corners of the main base are ideal locations to raise 4 additional wind turbines. I suggest building them a bit higher up to get a more consistent power output. With these wind turbines up and running you can easily power several auto turrets and still have some juice remaining to power lighting and even heating inside the base. Each of these turbines may power its separate circuit. As an example, here is a schematic for a single turbine that feeds into a large battery and includes two automatic backup generators. Four of these circuits may be fitted into two separate rooms and easily power a total of 12 turrets and numerous other appliances. With this setup, I recommend placing the auto turrets at the 4 corners of the base, on the roof, inside the internal peeks, and on the ground floor. However, you do not have to stop there.
There are also a few places throughout the base that may reinforced by upgrading the metal parts to armored. Namely, the two first center walls of the internal peek downs, which will assist with stability during a breach. In addition to that, the entire core perimeter may be upgraded to armored as well. A fair warning, however, this will push the upkeep costs of the core to 500+ HQM per day.
Lastly, note that the shooting floor and internal peeks that belong to the side TCs are the biggest weakness during an online raid, as they will easily collapse once the walls supporting the shooting floor are destroyed. For this reason, you may consider a little bit less flexible, but more robust alternative. In this version, even the internal peeks are honeycombed and the shooting floor makes use of double doors and triangle frames to create the peek-down gaps.
And there you have it, my take on an all-square base design with convenient and spacious layout and online raid defense capacity, which will hopefully make every large group’s dreams come true.
Bear in mind that this is only a standard build that may be improved and modified in many ways and will largely depend on your imagination, dedication, and available resources.
So if you liked what you saw, do not forget to give it a thumbs up and subscribe. And whether you did or didn’t enjoy the video, please do leave a comment in a comment section below, as I would really like to know what you think.
As always, this was Rust Daddy, and may the next wipe be ever in your favor.
