What the HAB Is & Getting One
The Hot Air Balloon (HAB) was Rust's first real air transport -- a slow, drifting basket that carries 4-5 players plus a small storage pouch. You find them parked in fields and other flat open ground, or buy one from the Air Wolf vendor at Bandit Camp for 150 scrap.
Like every vehicle, it has NO lock -- anyone can hop in and fly off with it, so don't leave a fuelled HAB sitting unguarded. It's slow and exposed, but for moving a group, scouting compounds, or dropping onto a base, nothing else gives you that lazy overhead vantage.
Flying It: Reading the Wind
The HAB is the trickiest vehicle to pilot because you CAN'T steer it directly -- you only control ALTITUDE, and the wind moves you horizontally. The skill is finding a pocket of air drifting the way you want and holding that height.
- Engage the burner (the red "Burn" button on the west side of the basket) to heat the air and RISE; disengage it and the air cools so you FALL.
- Read the wind with the three red-and-white flags on the basket (north/west/east) and the big windsock -- different altitudes have different wind directions.
- The 4-6 second rule: once you're drifting the right way, cut the burner for 4-6 seconds, then re-engage, and repeat to hold your pocket.
The burner auto-disengages after about 30 seconds, so flying the HAB needs constant attention -- you can't set it and look away.
Fuel & the Burner
The HAB runs on Low Grade Fuel. The burner tank holds up to 500 -- to refuel, stand in the basket, look straight UP at the central burner, find the rusted "FUEL STORAGE" tank, press E, and drop low grade in.
It burns 1 fuel every 5 real-world seconds, and ONLY while the burner is lit -- so a full tank lasts a good while if you glide between burns rather than holding the flame constantly.
The big tactical catch: while the burner is engaged, a large flame is visible from a long way off, and even more at night. If you're trying to sneak up on a base, every burst of the burner announces you -- glide in dark and burn sparingly on approach.
Armor, Health & Repair
A stock HAB has 1500 health and slowly decays over about 180 minutes. You can upgrade it with Hot Air Balloon Armor (bought from Air Wolf) while it's on the ground -- face the burn button and press E on the upgrade prompt (or hold B for the wheel menu). Armored, it jumps to 2500 health with reinforced slatting and an open doorway.
Repair it with a Hammer + Cloth (about 61 health per swing, starting 30 seconds after it last took damage).
Critical: damage doesn't just lower health -- it cripples PERFORMANCE. A damaged HAB moves drastically slower and loses its ability to climb, and near zero health it barely moves at all. Always repair to full BEFORE takeoff, or you'll be a sitting duck that can't gain altitude.
Raiding & Vulnerabilities
The HAB has no built-in weapons, but it's a flying FIRING PLATFORM: passengers can rain rockets, bullets, and grenades down on a base while the pilot holds position, and from the sky you get a clear read on a compound's weak points for planning a raid.
Know the dangers before you commit: - You're exposed from almost every angle with no cover, and another player can physically PUSH you out of the basket. - SAM Sites are the hard counter -- they shred slow air vehicles, so never drift over Launch Site (SAMs on the roof) or a base running one. (A handheld Homing Missile Launcher, however, can't lock onto the balloon.) - Landing hazard: touching the BOTTOM of the basket is instant death for anyone, moving or not -- always board and exit from the side, never underneath.
Flown carefully -- low, dark, repaired, and clear of SAMs -- the HAB is one of the best group raiding and scouting tools in the game.