Rust Heli Tiers Update: Call Your Own Patrol Helicopter Boss Fight

The Patrol Helicopter is one of the best fights in Rust.

The worst part?

Waiting around for one to actually show up.

So we built Heli Tiers — a new custom system available on RustAddicted PvE and Creative that lets you call your own Patrol Helicopter boss fight whenever you want.

Pick a difficulty.

Pay the Scrap.

And the helicopter comes looking specifically for you and your team.

Nobody else can steal the fight.

Nobody else can take your crates.

And if the normal Patrol Helicopter feels too easy, the higher tiers turn the encounter into something completely different.

To open the Heli Tiers panel, type:

/heli

Four Helicopters. Four Different Problems.

The system currently includes four difficulty tiers.

Each step increases the helicopter's health, rotor strength, damage, aggression and rewards.

The /heli panel shows the Scrap price, threat level and expected loot for every tier before you make the call.

SCOUT — 100 Scrap

SCOUT is the closest experience to fighting a normal Patrol Helicopter.

If you have never used Heli Tiers before, this is where we recommend starting.

It is still a proper Patrol Helicopter fight, but it is the most forgiving tier and gives you a chance to learn how the system works before moving on to the more dangerous versions.

Loot multiplier: 1.5x

GUNSHIP — 200 Scrap

GUNSHIP is where things start becoming more serious.

Expect:

• stronger rotors,
• tougher overall health,
• more dangerous weapons,
• and a noticeably harder fight.

You can still attempt it solo, but bringing a teammate starts making considerably more sense here.

Loot multiplier: 3x

WARBIRD — 350 Scrap

WARBIRD is designed as a proper team encounter.

It has heavier armor, more rockets, more aggressive attack patterns and significantly higher survivability.

This is also where Heli Tiers introduces one of its nastier mechanics:

MLRS strikes on your base.

When WARBIRD reaches approximately half health, it radios for support and calls in an MLRS barrage against your team's base.

More on that shortly.

Loot multiplier: 6x

HELLSTORM — 500 Scrap

HELLSTORM is the boss fight.

Huge health pool.

Relentless attacks.

Aggressive rocket runs.

And absolutely no interest in making your evening easy.

HELLSTORM does not simply lose interest and fly away when the fight gets inconvenient.

The encounter ends when either:

you kill it

or:

you give up.

It also calls multiple MLRS strikes during the encounter.

Loot multiplier: 10x

And if one HELLSTORM still sounds too reasonable, you can call three.

Good luck.

The Fight Gets Harder — But the Loot Scales Even Faster

Each Heli Tier increases the amount of Patrol Helicopter loot you can earn.

The current reward scaling is:

SCOUT

1.5x normal Patrol Helicopter loot

GUNSHIP

3x normal Patrol Helicopter loot

WARBIRD

6x normal Patrol Helicopter loot

HELLSTORM

10x normal Patrol Helicopter loot

That is already a significant increase.

But multiplied Patrol Helicopter crates are only part of the reward.

Every Heli Event Guarantees a Weapon

Every successful tiered Heli fight contains a guaranteed weapon reward.

An AK can appear at every tier.

Higher tiers can roll weapons including:

• LR-300
• L96
• HMLMG
• M249

And HELLSTORM goes one step further.

HELLSTORM Always Drops an M249

Every successfully killed HELLSTORM guarantees an M249.

That M249 is awarded in addition to the normal guaranteed weapon roll.

So yes, one successful HELLSTORM fight can potentially leave you walking home with considerably more than one serious weapon.

Supply Signals and Extra Scrap

The additional rewards also scale between tiers.

Each Heli Tier can provide Supply Signals:

• SCOUT: 1
• GUNSHIP: 2
• WARBIRD: 4
• HELLSTORM: 6

The crates also contain additional Scrap.

Inside the /heli panel, every tier has its own loot grade:

• GOOD
• GREAT
• PRIME
• EPIC

That makes it easy to understand the risk and reward before spending your Scrap.

Your Loot Is Actually Yours

One of the most annoying things about public Rust events is doing all the work and watching somebody else appear at exactly the right moment.

Heli Tiers prevents that.

Once your helicopter crashes, its crates remain locked to your team for:

15 minutes.

The burning wreck still behaves like a normal Patrol Helicopter crash.

The crates remain inside the napalm fire for roughly three minutes before they can be opened.

But once the fire disappears, you do not have to race another player to click the crate first.

You paid for the encounter.

You killed the helicopter.

The loot belongs to you.

This Helicopter Hunts You

A normal Patrol Helicopter patrols the island looking for targets.

A Heli Tiers helicopter has a much simpler mission:

Find you.

When you purchase an encounter, the helicopter locks onto the buyer and their team.

The map marker even identifies the active fight, for example:

HELLSTORM — called by YourName

The helicopter then travels directly toward your team.

Your Whole Team Becomes a Target

The helicopter does not only care about the player who purchased the event.

Your entire team becomes part of the encounter.

That includes teammates who might not exactly be prepared for what you just ordered.

Even naked teammates are valid targets.

So perhaps tell your group before purchasing three HELLSTORMs.

Respawning Somewhere Else Will Not Save You

Die during the fight and respawn on the opposite side of the map?

The helicopter does not forget.

It turns around.

And comes after you again.

The encounter is tied to your team rather than the location where you originally called it.

Safe Zones Do Not Save You Either

Running into a protected safe zone does not cancel the encounter.

Instead, the helicopter waits outside.

Patiently.

Armed.

Eventually, you still have to finish what you started.

How Does a Heli Fight End?

There are only two normal outcomes.

You Kill It

Destroy the helicopter and it crashes.

Its loot spawns and the crates are locked to your team.

Simple.

You Give Up

If things have gone badly enough, use:

/killheli

or press the GIVE UP button inside the Heli panel.

The encounter ends.

But giving up means:

• no crates,
• no loot,
• no Scrap refund,
• and the cooldown still applies.

Choose your tier carefully.

Call Up to Three Patrol Helicopters at Once

One helicopter is not enough?

Every Heli Tier card includes a quantity selector:

[-] x1 / x2 / x3 [+]

Choose x2 or x3 before purchasing the event and multiple helicopters will arrive together.

The price scales accordingly.

Call three and you pay triple.

But you also get three independent helicopters and three sets of rewards if you manage to destroy them all.

How Multi-Heli Fights Work

Every helicopter in a multi-call targets your team simultaneously.

That means you may have:

• three independent health pools,
• three sets of guns,
• three sets of rocket attacks,
• and eventually three separate crash sites.

Chat announcements track your progress throughout the fight.

For example:

dropped the HELLSTORM (1/3)

then:

dropped the HELLSTORM (2/3)

and finally:

dropped the HELLSTORM (3/3)

assuming you survive long enough to finish the job.

Three HELLSTORMs Means Up to 30x Normal Heli Loot

A single HELLSTORM offers approximately 10x normal Patrol Helicopter loot.

Call three simultaneously and you are potentially fighting for:

30x normal Patrol Helicopter loot in one encounter.

It is also one of the hardest PvE fights currently available on RustAddicted.

Risk and reward scale together.

Very aggressively.

WARBIRD and HELLSTORM Can MLRS Your Base

The upper Heli Tiers come with another problem.

They can call for support.

And support means rockets.

WARBIRD MLRS Strike

When WARBIRD reaches approximately half health, it radios for backup.

A full MLRS rocket barrage is then launched toward your team's base.

You receive a warning in chat before the rockets arrive.

That gives you a few seconds to reconsider whether standing on your roof was actually such a great idea.

HELLSTORM Calls MLRS Twice

HELLSTORM does not stop at one barrage.

It can call:

two MLRS strikes during a single fight.

And that scales with multi-heli encounters.

Call three HELLSTORMs and you can potentially trigger:

six MLRS strikes.

We warned you.

MLRS Targets Your Own Base

On PvE, the strike is deliberately restricted to your team's own base.

The system will not randomly destroy somebody else's compound because you decided that three boss helicopters sounded entertaining.

The encounter stays focused on the players who purchased it.

SAM Sites Can Save Your Roof

There is also a counter.

SAM Sites can shoot down incoming MLRS rockets.

If you plan to regularly challenge WARBIRD or HELLSTORM, the SAM Site sitting on your roof might finally earn its keep.

Shoot the Rotors

Higher-tier helicopters have significantly more health, but that does not mean the fight becomes nothing more than shooting into a giant health bar.

The familiar Patrol Helicopter weak points still matter.

Aim for the rotors.

Destroying a rotor removes a significant amount of overall helicopter health.

A coordinated team accurately targeting weak points can therefore finish the encounter much faster than players simply spraying the hull.

Skill still matters.

Do Not Fight HELLSTORM Next to Your Loot Room

This probably should not need explaining.

But it does.

WARBIRD and HELLSTORM MLRS strikes target your base.

If you have a giant compound containing everything you have collected during the wipe, think about where you want to fight before starting the encounter.

Your best helicopter fighting position and your most expensive loot room do not necessarily need to be the same building.

Bring Your Team

Higher Heli Tiers are designed to become proper group fights.

Because the helicopter can spread its attacks across team members, multiple players can divide its attention while attacking from different positions.

A solo HELLSTORM attempt is possible.

Whether it is a sensible life decision is another question.

Watch the Burning Crates

After the helicopter crashes, the crates remain inside the familiar napalm fire.

They generally become available after approximately:

3 minutes.

Your team's exclusive access lasts considerably longer:

15 minutes.

There is no need to stand inside the fire waiting to click the crate before somebody else does.

Take your time.

You earned it.

Heli Tiers Rules and Limits

To keep the system balanced — and to prevent the entire RustAddicted sky from becoming one enormous helicopter convention — there are several limits.

One Active Call per Player

Your current Heli encounter must finish before you can start another one.

15-Minute Per-Tier Cooldown

The cooldown begins when the fight ends.

If a helicopter leaves without being killed, the cooldown may be reduced.

Up to 30 Calls per Player per Day

That is already a considerable number of helicopters.

Maximum of Nine Paid Helicopters Server-Wide

There can be at most nine paid Heli Tiers helicopters in the air simultaneously.

Multi-heli calls count toward that limit.

No Refund for Giving Up

Giving up does not refund your Scrap.

Neither does allowing the helicopter to leave without killing it.

Once you purchase the encounter, you are committing to the fight.

Heli Tier Kills Are Tracked on the Leaderboard

Heli Tiers also integrates with our RustAddicted statistics and leaderboard systems.

Every successful tiered helicopter kill contributes to your server statistics.

Multi-heli victories are tracked separately.

Multi Heli Statistics

The Multi Heli statistic records how many times you successfully completed encounters involving two or three helicopters in a single purchase.

Your player statistics can therefore track the breakdown between:

• x1 fights,
• x2 fights,
• x3 fights,
• and multi-heli completions.

If you manage to kill three HELLSTORMs simultaneously, people should probably know about it.

Why We Built Heli Tiers

The Patrol Helicopter is already one of Rust's most recognizable PvE encounters.

We did not want to replace that fight.

We wanted to turn it into something players could deliberately challenge whenever they felt ready.

Instead of waiting for the server to decide when a Patrol Helicopter appears, Heli Tiers lets you decide:

• when you want to fight,
• how difficult the encounter should be,
• how much Scrap you want to risk,
• whether you want one, two or three helicopters,
• and how large the potential reward should become.

The encounter is still recognizably Rust's Patrol Helicopter.

Just significantly more dangerous.

And significantly more rewarding.

Available on RustAddicted PvE and Creative

Heli Tiers is live now on RustAddicted PvE and Creative.

Type:

/heli

in-game to open the interface.

Choose your tier.

Choose whether you want one, two or three helicopters.

Pay the Scrap.

And wait for the sound of rotor blades.

Like the rest of our custom systems, Heli Tiers will continue to be tuned and improved based on actual player fights.

If you encounter any unusual behavior or edge cases, report them to us on Discord.

Call the Sky Down

Start with SCOUT if you want to learn the system.

Move to GUNSHIP when you are comfortable.

Bring your team for WARBIRD.

And when you have finally convinced yourself that your base has too many walls and not enough incoming MLRS rockets:

Call HELLSTORM.

Or three.

Your Scrap. Your fight. Your loot.