How to Get and Use RUST Skins

For most RUST players, aesthetic matters.

When it comes to leveling up your RUST gaming experience, one sure-fire way to do it is to buy skins. After all, your character and the items they own are also a great way to emulate your real-life personality and preferences. 

However, not all RUST players, especially beginners, know how to get RUST skins. Hence, we created this guide to help you obtain cosmetic items through free and paid methods. This post will walk you through how to get RUST skins and how to equip them. We will also show you how to swap between skins should you have multiple cosmetics for one item. 

Different ways to get skins in RUST

RUST is a unique First Person Shooter (FPS) game because of its harsh open-world environment that focuses on resource gathering, base building, and, more importantly, surviving. 

The game is also best known for having a wide array of in-game cosmetics, which you can obtain for free or by purchasing them. You can buy some skins for as little as a few cents for common cosmetics to an upward of $500 for ultra-rare ones.  

Below are some ways you can obtain RUST skins: 

1. Item Store

The most straightforward way to get skins in RUST is to purchase them from the in-game item shop. However, do take note that the lineup of skins changes every week. Follow these steps to obtain skins through the item shop:

1. Open RUST. 
2. Go to the main menu and click the Item Store.
3. Next, choose the item you want to obtain from the list of those currently on display. If you click the item, it will also show you its description and the materials you can get if you break it down. 
4. Then, select the payment method you want to use to buy the item. You can use credit cards or other online payment platforms like Paypal. You can also use your Steam wallet provided that it has been topped up or has available credits. 
5. Click Continue. Some Payment Methods may also involve some verification process or typing One-Time Passwords (OTP). 

2. Steam Community Market

Another popular way of buying RUST skins and other cosmetic items is through the Steam Workshop. It has the most items available, especially since new items are released from RUST’s user base designs. Here’s how you purchase skins on the Steam Workshop. 

1. Open Steam. 
2. Next, click Community and drop down to Market.
3. Head over to the search bar and type in “Rust.” 
4. Then, click the first item on the search result that says RUST’s Workshop. 
5. Browse the item list for the type of skin you want to purchase. You can also type in the name of the item. For example, if you order “hatchet,” you will get a bunch of hatchet skins. Steam will also display its current market price plus its quantity. 
6. When you find an item you like, click the Buy Now button. 
7. Tick the Steam Subscriber Agreement and then click Purchase. 

The Steam Community Market has a wide selection of skins, plus it loads faster, which makes it easier to buy skins. Make sure you also have enough Steam credit or load to cover your purchase. 

3. Skin Crates

If you are the type of RUST player who likes to take risks, you can also gamble getting skins through crates. Unlike the previous ways of obtaining skins and cosmetics, this one is RNG-based, and you won’t know what you will get from each box. 

There are four types of skin crates:

• Low-Quality Bag – the cheapest of the bunch and requires ten wood to craft. It usually contains common skins. 
• High-Quality Crate – provides a high chance for profit and requires five cloth and ten pieces of wood to craft. This crate contains deployables, such as crates and sleeping bags. 
• High-Quality Bag – a bit expensive, but fun to open because of the wide selection of skins available. If you want to craft one, it costs 70 cloth, five wood, and one metal. 
• Weapon Barrel – is the most expensive of the skin crates. It contains skins for tools and weapons.  

You can either buy them on the Steam Market or craft them using specific in-game resources. Crafting the skin crate is the cheaper alternative, but it requires a lot of grinding to get the materials needed. Here’s how to do each method:

Buying a Skin Crate

1. Open Steam. 
2. Then, click Community and head to the Market section.
3. On the lower left part of the Steam window, scroll down the drop-down menu until you find RUST’s Workshop. You can also type in “Rust” on the search bar. 
4. Next, type in any of the types of skin crates you want to purchase.  
5. Choose the number of crates you want. 
6. Decide which payment method you want to use. 
7. Click Continue. Depending on what Payment Method you use, the following steps may involve some verification process or typing your OTP. 

Crafting a Skin Crate

1. At the bottom of the Inventory Page, you will see a Crafting option just below the Refresh Inventory button. 
2. Click the type of crate you want to craft. 

Make sure you have the necessary amount of wood, metal, or cloth for the skin you are trying to craft. Wood is used to make non-wearable items like doors. Meanwhile, metal is used for crafting weapons, while the cloth is for armor. 

If you don’t have enough materials, you can break down pre-existing skins. Breaking down a skin will give you precisely the material of its equivalent. Hence, breaking down non-wearable skins will provide you with wood, weapons are turned into metals, and armor will bear you cloth. 

4. Trading with Another Player

Several trading platforms cater to RUST players. These websites allow players to trade skins and even earn money from the transactions. Some platforms even offer discounts and other promos to provide the best deals possible. Meanwhile, other sites even offer numerous withdrawal options such as Cryptocurrencies or Payoneer to ensure smooth purchases. 

Some of the highly-rated trading sites for RUST players include: 

• SkinSwap.com is a full-featured marketplace with fast, secure methods to sell, trade, and buy RUST skins
• Skinport is a premium skin marketplace for buying, selling, and trading skins
• BitSkins, which implements up to 2-percent decreased commission based on total sales
• DMarket, which has a referral system and occasional giveaways
• Swap.gg offers a 3-percent reduced commission to players who add “swap.gg” to their Steam names
• Tradeit.gg is another great skin marketplace where you can browse a wide array of items.
• CS.Trade rewards players a 2-percent bonus if they add “CS.TRADE” to their nickname

5. RUST Skin Drops (Steam’s Playtime Item Grant System)

Often referenced as a “Random Item Drop System”, RUST players are rewarded through Steam’s Playtime Item Grant System for playtime in-game. This is an optional system that game developers can choose to enable. RUST has opted into using this system to reward its players with free skins and items.

The frequency of rewards varies for each game that utilizes this system and is ultimately based on the developer’s specified settings. For RUST, in particular,  the automatic grants were set to 720 minutes (12 hours) and the maximum grant frequency set to 1440 minutes (1 day) according to Garry Newman’s posts in 2018.

So, whether you’re a casual player or a total chad, you can acquire free random skins or even skin crates, just for spending time in your favorite survival game, RUST. However, the items that drop for you are completely randomized, so it’ll require a bit of luck on being on your side.

According to some veteran players, you can get a random cosmetic item every 50-100 hours, on average. Uniquely-designed skins are not dropped as you play the game and require a purchase.

6. RUST Twitch Drops

During special RUST Twitch Drops events, a dozen or so free RUST skins are made available for players to earn while watching specific RUST streams on Twitch. During the drops period, you will be able to earn skins just by tuning in to drops-enabled streams. All you have to do in order to start earning is enable Twitch drops between your Steam account and your Twitch account.

1. Visit the Twitch Drops page on the Facepunch website.
2. Link your Twitch account
3. Link Your Steam account
4. Activate Twitch Drops for your Steam account

7. Designing Your Custom Skin on RUST Workshop

RUST players can also design their skins using the Workshop feature. However, developing good skin requires a bit of creativity and at least a few hours of your time. It also needs first to be approved by the Steam Workshop. 

Furthermore, you need to have prior knowledge about drawing and editing programs like Photoshop to edit textures and other design elements. It is for these reasons that very few players obtain skins this way. 

On the flip side, if you get to create an excellent skin that got approved, you will get a portion from the sales of the skin on the store. Once you have finished your design, submit it to the Workshop as a “New” item.

How to Use RUST Skins in Game

After buying some skins, the first thing you want to do is to restart the game. Skins usually don’t show up until you leave the game and re-enter RUST. Once you are in-game, you may notice that the skins you have obtained aren’t equipped by default. 

Here is how you can apply the skins to their respective RUST items:

Crafting

1. Open your Inventory.
2.  Browse through the item list and select the Item type where you want the skin to be applied. 
3. Next, select the specific item (i.e., a Revolver) and click the skin you want to apply. Then, click Craft to make the skin. 

Do take note, however, that the skin obtained through crafting is not always permanent. Moreover, as you enter the Crafting window on Steam, there’s a warning that if you break down an item, even if by accident, RUST won’t help you with the issue. 

Repair Bench

1. Head over to a repair bench and the item which you want to apply the new skin on. 
2. Click the skin you want to equip from what’s currently available. 
3. After leaving the repair bench, the game will use the new skin. 

Remember that the repair bench is currently the only method of applying skins to uncraftable items like the LR 300 assault rifle. If you want to check out the details of your tools or weapon, press the N key, which will activate the admire function. 

Note: Whatever skin you usually equip the most or the one you used recently will become your default skin in your quick craft menu.  

Outwit, Outgun, Outlast

While skins offer little to no advantage in improving your RUST skills, it makes the game more enjoyable. Aside from showing off your sick skin collection to other players, it’s also a way to express yourself. For some players, acquiring the most expensive RUST skins is an achievement in itself.

Some skins also blend well with specific terrains making it harder for your opponents to spot you, especially from afar. Often, it’s a big waste if you own cool skin that you don’t use. However, be smart with spending money on skins, especially if you try gambling with skin crates.