High Quality Metal
High-Quality Metal is a crucial building and crafting resource item in RUST and is acquired through many in-game means, but also spawnable via the F1 console. It is considered a core resource due to player reliance on using it for endgame progression and base security.
The primary purpose of high-quality metal is its utility for providing the highest protection structures available to be built in-game. It takes roughly four times the number of explosives to blow through a high-quality wall as it would a Stone wall. It is also a primary component in the endgame best doors, the Armored Double and Single doors.
Alternatively, high-quality metal is absolutely essential for anyone wanting to craft weapons instead of scavenging or PVPing for them. Everything from the popular low-tier Python Revolver to the must-have top-tier Bolt Action Rifle requires substantial amounts of high-quality metal to craft. Couple this with nearly all weapon attachments being crafted almost exclusively out of this material, and you begin to understand the overwhelming need to keep it around.
One of the more overlooked aspects of high-quality metal demand comes from electrical parts.
As the game progression continues, the need for more technical base defense becomes warranted, and teams find themselves lacking the ability to create Auto Turrets and all that goes into setting up a proper electrical system. One of the primary bottlenecks in this acceleration would be high-quality metal.
Almost all high-tier electrical parts require high-quality metal to craft. After it is crafted, the need to make more guns for said turrets increases the needed total.
How do teams supplement all of these needs when there is such high demand? In addition to farming and smelting it from High-Quality Metal Ore gathered as a byproduct of mining metal nodes in the wild, it can also be acquired by mining the defeated remains of the Patrol Helicopter and Bradley APC.
The most lucrative way to acquire high-quality metal is through recycling components farmed through barrels and crates. If you find yourself with a surplus, it is worth mentioning that Bandit Camp will buy it at a rate of 2 Scrap per 1 high-quality metal.
For more information on quick collection methods for high-quality metal, check out our High-Qual guide!