Why did Rust add mortars without visual guide?

Rust’s latest update adds mortars, but drops a usability feature

Facepunch’s latest Rust update introduced mortars, adding a new artillery option for players. However, the coverage highlights a missing quality-of-life element: there’s no visual guide to help you land shells. That omission is expected to make mortar use significantly harder, especially for players trying to coordinate shots at range.

Why it changes gameplay

Mortars are inherently punishing when aiming feedback is limited. Without a landing/trajectory aid, players have to rely on less direct information—timing, observation of impacts, and iteration—to adjust fire. That can increase the learning curve for new mortar users and raise the stakes for group coordination in PvP.

The result is the “ready for some chaos” framing: more misses, more unpredictable outcomes, and a higher likelihood that mortar fights become a test of experience and teamwork rather than pure aim.

What’s confirmed

The update is described as part of Rust’s ongoing monthly patch cadence. The key concrete point from the story is the mortar addition paired with the absence of a landing-shell visual guide.

What’s not specified

Details such as whether the mortars can still be adjusted with existing UI elements, how long it takes to “learn” outcomes, or whether Facepunch plans to add a guide later aren’t provided.

Bottom line

Facepunch shipped a new artillery tool, but removed an important aiming aid, meaning mortars should play less like a controllable precision weapon and more like a chaotic, trial-and-error system until players figure out practical firing patterns.