A beginner's guide to Lethal Company that includes strategies against each monster, info on useful early items, survival and gameplay tips, moons, and FAQ.

This guide has been published in collaboration with Twitch streamer Shho_1. If you find it useful, please support him by following his Twitch channel. As a variety streamer, he enjoys playing many different types of games. At the end of this guide, you will also find a list of FAQ answered directly by him.

More Lethal Company guides:

Basic tips

Moons

Personal preferred moon order

This is the best moon order for me and my crew and maybe you might like it to meet your ever-growing quotas:

1st-2nd quota: Assurance, Vow, Experimentation.
2nd-3rd quota: Offense or March.
3rd-4th+ quota: Dine (650), Rend (600), Titan (700).

Note that Dine, Rend, and Titan have a free for each routine, meaning once you wanna go there you have to pay credits to get on there, but as long as you don’t leave the moon and route to another one, you won’t have to pay the fee again until the next quota.

This way, you don’t run out of days before you get fired at the company for not meeting their impossible quotas.

Dine

Your best high hazard moon friend. It’s cheaper and holds a bunch of loot. It doesn’t spawn the Jester and Ghost Girl as much and can actually be pretty fun! Still be careful: just because it’s easier doesn’t mean it’s easy. Most of the time, this map is a mansion.

Rend

Don’t run it. It’s home to many unkillable enemies (Jester and Ghost Girl) that can just one shot you and completely end your run. Titan might be scarier and still have Jesters, but at least it’s not as bad as this place. Usually a 50/50 of being a mansion or bunker map (from my experience).

Titan

Hell on a planet. This place is an S+ in hazard level and will leave you crying by the time you leave it. Your ship operator will have a harder time seeing the map and where you guys need to go. It is crucial that you leave before 3 PM, unless you want to see Blind Dogs climb stairs.

I recommend buying a teleport and leaving the shovel and boombox behind, because every single run I had on this planet ended with a Jester stopping it.

If you are not critical, you can jump from the entrance and land near the ship to not have to deal with Blind Dogs climbing stairs. If not, please crouch and do not speak on your way down and pray no dog come up. This map is mostly the bunker map.

Weather

Best to find planets that don’t have any issues with weather. If they do, be prepared to have to deal with those specific events.

Rainy: Will leave dark patches of quicksand on the ground that kills you quick!
Stormy: Like the name implies, will thunder on you when you bring out loot.
Foggy: Outside the dungeon will be harder to see.
Flooded: It results in inundated areas on the planet's terrain, impeding movement and posing a drowning hazard. Take note that your character is unable to swim and the water level could rise gradually.
Eclipse: Please don’t land on a planet that has this. Eclipse allows all outside monster spawns to spawn immediately on a planet. This also means you may have to deal with all 4 at the same time!

If you don’t wanna lose a worker at the start of a mission or lose a whole day in general, best to just stay clear of these weather patterns and check your weather.

Useful early Items

The beginning quota items: You have 60 credits to spend to prepare to get enough money for the equipment for future quotas.

I recommend (if there is no discount) 2 flashlights and a shovel. The two flashlights will help you through the beginning moons, while the shovel will help you kill the bugs and other weak enemies on them.

If there is a discount on flashlight or shovel, buy a pro flashlight and a flashlight with the shovel to be in an even better spot.

Shovel: Best to keep one during a run in order to kill most of the common enemies in easy runs. The enemies that can be killed are Looter Bugs, Snare Fleas, Spiders, and Thumpers.

Boombox placement: If you don’t have someone to keep track of time and struggle to get back to your ship with all the blind dogs and worms, the boombox is the best way to go. It only takes a few seconds to set up in a secluded area and can potentially allow you to save an already doomed run. Days are limited.

Stun grenades: Buy Them! A spider is easily one of the most annoying monsters because of its hp and damage, and the way it blocks areas off. With stun grenades and a single shovel, they become a complete joke and die without any fuss. Just make sure you don’t miss…

Walkie-Talkie and Ship Duty

In the beginning runs, this guy’s job isn’t important, but as soon as walkie talkies are bought, the person doing this job makes everything easier, if they’re good at it!

They have the ability to tell you where turrets and enemies are, what time outside is, open doors and disable turrets, tell you where any loot is, save a run if everybody dies and, most importantly, where the exit is.

I recommend letting everyone in the group try this role once to see who’s the best in directions and communication. Once you find that person, this game will almost be like a cake walk, and you won’t even be afraid to walk alone in the moons to get more scrap.

Once everyone leaves the dungeon and you have time, have this person go and help get the loot from the main entrance to make the trip to the ship faster!

Strategy and gameplay tips

Beehives: An easy way to get around 100 credits. When you’re about to leave, get it with a friend and run away so the bees don’t cause problems while you’re returning from a run.

Manticoils: They’re really relaxed from what I’ve seen. They are said to be hostile if you provoke them, but I have yet to see that. If anything, don’t pay them any mind.

Leave scrap outside the dungeons: Looter bugs will take them all back to their nest. To prevent an infestation of them and no loot, leave your valuables outside. This is also a great way to check the time so you don’t end up getting killed by the outside monsters.

Leave the Battery for last: This is pretty self explanatory. If you take the battery, one of your main sources of vision is completely gone. When trying to take it, make sure you remember the way back of the layout and be always looking around. The game gets a whole lot worse when you can’t see.

Turrets: They’re indestructible. It takes 2 shots for a player to die and a few seconds to wind up. The best way of dealing with these automated killers is just either not dealing with them at all or having a planned way out through them.

Note: Do not smack with shovel! This does not do anything and will only make the turret panic shoot in a 360 degree area.

Leave by 3 PM: All outside monsters have a chance of spawning when it’s afternoon to evening (2-12 PM). The longer you stay after that, the bigger chance you will run into a night enemy.

If your solo or your squad has died, it’s best to take your loot and get out before the nocturnal enemies come for you. These are mostly instant kills and run faster than the player. This is even more important on the last 3 moons.

Vents: If a vent is open near you, proceed with caution. 5 enemies I’ve seen come through vents are Flower Men, Snare Fleas, Thumpers, Looter Bugs and Bunker Spiders.

Flower Men and Bunker Spiders are a lot harder to kill. Thumpers and Snare Fleas are manageable, nonetheless, it will give you a sign that you are being watched by one of those. If you’re lucky, it’ll be a Snare Flea.

Rails and Boxes: Looks like you can avoid most of the low level enemies by jumping on specific higher ground like these! You can also hit them and kill them from there as well! It’s kinda unfair and broken and might get patched and make some enemies similar to a walk in the park, but it’s ultimately up to you. I say it’s cheap that a spider and Hygrodere can block my doorway out after coming through a vent at the same time…

Gaps: If you don’t know yet, most monsters can go across the room jumps. So don’t let your guard down when you jump over one! Otherwise, you may be in for a rude surprise on the other side.

Last resort quota meeting: Need an extra few credits? Use a shovel and kill your friends! Their corpses are 5 credits each and will allow you to meet the quota. As a loyal employee, you’ll have to do anything for the company quota, even if that means killing your friends.

Outdoor monsters guide (night spawns)

Blind Dogs (Eyeless Dogs)

A ship operator’s worst nightmare. Distraction noises and crouching will be your best friend. Crouch slowly and never panic when one is looking right at you. They don’t have eyes and are heavily sound dependent. If one does hear you and you don’t think you can close the door in time, do not go inside the ship! They can and will go inside the ship and make it harder for everyone else to get off the planet.

If you’re in a situation where you and your bud come back and find Blind Dogs sniffing your ship. Keep calm and don’t speak through the mic, don’t make any noise (including walkie talkies) unless you wanna attract them. If you have an item like a boombox or toy, turn it on and drop it.

As a ship operator, if you’re still alive, to get them away from you, buy an item (like 1 walkie) and use that noise from the delivery pod to occupy the dogs. Or if they are about to get into the ship, immediately close the door, then use a loud horn to direct them to the front of the ship. These ways will distract them for a small amount of time.

When one is alerted, most of the other Blind Dogs around it will also be alerted. They leap at any noise multiple times to attack it. If you are heard and one charges at you directly, run horizontally and you may dodge their leap, then crouch quickly while they recover. You can hide on top of the ship (careful of giants) or hide under the ship on some planets to dodge these guys.

Lastly, these guys are now killable! Proven by the patch notes (V40) … Wouldn’t recommend trying it! But if you see them die, send me a video!

Forest Keeper

Run! These things may not be smart, but they’re stronger than anything you’ve seen before. Unlike the blind dogs, these things have eyes and get alerted by most movements.

You’ll hear them before you see them and if you do see them, your ship will protect you. Get inside immediately and stay away from the entrance. They can’t grab inside, but they are said to have Blind Dogs accompanying them from time to time.

If you get grabbed, from patch V40 you can still save your crew mates! You can teleport your friend before he gets eaten or stun the giant. Stunning the giant will momentarily stop them and drop your friend before he gets turned into a paste.

Giant Worms

Hear the ground shaking under your feet or a giant moaning noise? Drop your two handed item and run before the dessert worm kills you. It gives you a second but I mean; it is best to lose an item over the item and you (20% credit loss). On the camera, these things will appear as giant red dots.

Baboon Hawks

The in-game equivalent of “Bullies”. A nocturnal monster that varies in size and doesn’t kill you on sight! But it does square up!

Most of the time you find it, they’ll be alone at first. During this time, it will jump around you and quickly go into its “threatening stance”. If you do find one alone, you can easily just walk around and as long as you don’t go inside its territory or near it (cornering it) it won’t try to kill you.

However, if they see you alone walking back to the ship, it may try to take your in-hand item away by punching you until you drop it. If it does take your item, you and a friend will have to walk towards it until it drops it.

If you outnumber the amount of Baboon Hawks they will also back up until against a wall. When against the wall, they take a threatening stance and will attack you if you come near them. You may feel all big and tough during this time, but it won’t last for long. These guys are pack hunters. Meaning if they have more numbers than you, they will “jump you” and 2-3 shot you.

They can be stunned and outran, but if you have things, they will keep coming after you until you drop them. If you make them mad and they chase you, run and hope none of the other nocturnal monsters are in your way! But then again, if you’re out when these guys are grouped up, you kinda deserve what comes to you next.

Speculation: These guys were introduced on the same patch blind dogs can be killed. In their bestiary, it says they will hunt animals bigger than them if they are desperate. So It may be possible to get them to kill blind dogs somehow but I don’t know if that’s possible yet.

Indoor monsters guide

The Bugs (spiders not included)

If no shovel, proceed with caution and try not to get in their range. With a shovel, looter bugs and snare fleas are easily disposable. Looter bugs get mad if you loot in front of them, go near them, or walk towards their nest. Like their name implies, they take any loot on the ground.

Snare Fleas will suffocate you when jumping onto you. They make you drop all your items, so make sure you pick them back up! If you have a shovel on you and some friends, drop your shovel to your friend and let him smack the bug before you die. Snare Fleas take a few shovel hits while a Looter bug takes 4-5.

Spiders

If you see a cobweb, there is a spider nearby! Don’t touch it or you will alert the spider! Don’t get caught by the spider or you’re dead in 1-2 hits.

Unlike other monsters, it gets aggroed only if you go near it or its territory. These little creepy crawlies are slow, so that means run and pray that nothing else is in between you and your exit! They are also able to go through vents, so don’t be surprised if they’re blocking your way out.

The best way to handle these little buggers are stun grenades and a shovel. So if you desperately need to, you can kill it in 6-7 hits. However, from my experience, it’s often best to run around or not bother them at all.

Thumpers

These legless sprinters excel at chasing their prey through long corridors and try to make you run through them by making loud noises. They struggle to turn, so make sure you take many turns to get away from them and make the distance between you and them longer.

These guys usually 2-3 shot you, but with a shovel you can also 3-4 shot them back. Have one person lure them and take 1 hit, while the other stun locks them and kills.

Hygrodere

This pile of goo is easily dodgeable. Don’t open any door this slime is behind and don’t walk through it. If anything, jump on an elevated object like rails or boxes, and if trapped, try to jump through it. You won’t escape unharmed, but you will escape with your life.

Coil Head

Remain calm and stare at them. These guys will kill you the second you look away from their creepy bodies. As long as they are in your field of vision, they can’t move.

They also move depending on the light level around them, and how well you see them. Meaning, if it’s dark, you may get a little more close and personal with them. Closing doors are said to help, but from my experience they go through doors.

Do not hit them with a shovel! They do not like that and will move slightly to kill you, even when looking at them. If they block your doorway, look away slightly and turn back immediately to get them in a more favorable position.

Later levels will find you having to deal with multiple of them at the same time, so it’s best to get used to them now. Sometimes, if you’re unlucky, multiple will spawn in around your surrounding rooms while you’re going about your business. When you do look away, you have at most a second before they B-line it to snap your neck.

If you’re stuck at the end of a level trying to get out with a Coil Head watching you, position the Coil head or heads so they’re in your peripheral vision while you exit the area. These guys are usually manageable under a calm mind. If you did die to one, it’s often due to your own panic or somebody else’s panicking.

Flower Man (Bracken)

A humanoid that lives in the dark. The only thing announcing his presence is his footsteps, eyes, and when he opens doors. Constantly looking around you will help you not die from this guy, as videos prove that sometimes it looks like he just spawned out of thin air.

Just like Spiders and Snare Fleas, this guy can travel through vents and run at you. When he runs, it’s slower than a Coil Head but definitely as fast as a Thumper. Like a Coil Head, he can snap your neck in stalking mode if you don’t ever look at him, but there are a few ways he’ll go from stalking mode to attacking mode:

If you approach him too closely.
If you stare at him for too long.
If you corner it with your buddies.

Once he’s in attacking mode, he won’t stop until you’re either out of the dungeon or you’re dead! When seeing Flower man, run away while looking at him and hope he doesn’t get triggered.

If you have a Zap Gun, you can kill these nightmares with the shovel or stop sign. Make sure you don’t miss it when you use the stun gun, otherwise, you may see him putting his hands around your head.

Spore Lizard

These giant catfish looking monsters will almost 100% give you a scare your first few times playing. These giant things tend to run around dungeons and open their gaping mouth to intimidate any company employee that walks in sight of one. However, this is basically just a threat, and it’s basically pretty harmless.

It will slowly crawl back into the shadows, unless you corner it. If you corner it, it will spray out pink fumes from its mouth that will mess with your visibility.

This guy does little damage with a bite, but ultimately, this guy is like your little goofy walking friend in the dungeon and you’ll definitely be happy you didn’t run into a more hostile monster wanting to kill you.

Run enders monsters

The two monsters below are basically run enders that are best handled by just leaving that moon. These are more common and have only been seen on the higher hazard moons (Titan, Dine, and Rend)

Jester

A small jack-in-the-box with legs. It’s so small, some would even call it cute. Well… it’s not. Run out of the dungeon as soon as possible. When it generates, it wanders around until it comes across a worker, and when it does come across a worker, that is when its gimmick begins. Like Flower Man, this thing has two different modes.

In-the-box mode: This is when you first find the jester. It comes walking at you slowly and follows you around for sometime. It knows your location from here on out, so it’ll always be tagging along. You can’t kill it and you can’t leave it. It sits in this state for a small amount of time (around 20-40 seconds) until it stops and starts to wind itself up. After it has finished winding itself, it has entered its killing mode.

Killing mode: This is the run ender. When in its killing mode, a giant skeleton head pops out of the box after it finishes winding. This nightmare still knows exactly where you are and will head for the closest player’s location. When it’s chasing, it will slowly build up in speed and end up eventually being faster than the player. When it does reach you, it is an instant kill.

It’s a run ender for exactly this reason. There’s no hiding nor running, and in the end you’ll be chased down and killed unless you leave the dungeon.

Best way to deal with this little guy is just nope out of the run before he turns into his kill phase. The only reason I could see a team sticking around is if the run is so good and they know the way out as quickly and efficiently as possible. But be careful, if you run the wrong way in a higher hazard moon or just mess up going to the exit, you might end up in between a deadend and kill mode jester.

Ghost Girl

After all the unspeakable horrors we’ve seen in this game. This girl might top it. She wears a red dress with polka dots and haunts a single player at a time. Nobody else can see the girl, not even on cams, until they start to get haunted.

There are for sure signs that you are being haunted by said ghost girl:

Flickering lights.
Giggling or heavy breathing.
Hearing becoming muffled or distorted in any way.

From how my friends and I saw it, she doesn’t immediately go for the kill and will have a period of time when she just haunts and toys with you. It’s after this time when she becomes dangerous.

When she’s skipping at you, run in the other direction! This is when she’s going in for the kill/decapitation! She’s not extremely fast but not slow either and if you find yourself with too much loot, you might wanna drop it to save yourself!

Unlike Jester, you can continue the run because she haunts a single player, but because of that, your attention will be on her most of the time instead of the dungeon itself. It is also said that she can go outside and continue to haunt and kill you, making her the only monster to be able to kill anywhere on the planet.

This is why she is basically a run ender. Nobody wants to continue a run where you’re getting stalked the whole mission and lose your scrap because of a domino effect she caused. Especially in the higher moons she spawns in. Focus is key when it comes to those moons, and spending it on her is an easy way to die.

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Shho_1 answered personally to these questions following the release of the guide, so I recommend reading them if you are looking for further info and in-depth explanations.

Can you beat the game? Is there an ending? Or multiple?

Sadly no... You keep going until you’re eventually fired and the cycle repeats. This really is a never-ending cycle. At Least it’s addicting.

Anything we can do about leeches or slimes?

For Snare Fleas (leeches) have one person use a shovel and another person walk at the flea to get it from the ceiling. These guys often take around 3-2 hits and are easily disposable. If no shovel, make sure you keep scanning around to see if one is above you and run away from that area.
If you are close to an exit, you can leave with the snare flea on your head to kill it (Fleas just die if you leave the bunker with the flea on your head). If you try this, make sure you remember the exit.
Hygrodere (slimes) are unkillable but easily avoidable. Don’t let it corner you and block your exit. If it does, use any high ground like railings or boxes to avoid it and jump over. If you’re desperate, you can also just sprint and jump over them since they don’t instant kill.

So I want to leave the loot right outside the entrance to the dungeon and not in my ship?

You want to drop it off outside the dungeon while you’re still exploring it. This is to prevent loot bugs from pathfinding your loot and taking them back to their nest. If you’re going back to the ship, then bring your hard earned scrap!

Can you use the turrets to kill other monsters?

Nope. Mines are the only machines from the bunker that can damage other monsters right now.

What early moons do you recommend?

I recommend learning Experimentation because of its easy nocturnal spawns, close entrance, and easy to get to fire exit. It may have a higher hazard rating and you may see some crazy monsters, but it’s best to get used to them here and prepare yourself for the bigger moons. Ultimately, you should go to all 3 of the early moons because of weather or just personal preference.

Can you avoid the ghost girl indefinitely if you stay on a ladder? Like halfway up a tall ladder and just staying there? Can she still reach you even if you’re not on solid ground?

Her pathfinding has her climbing ladders at super speed to chase you. (If you stand on top of the ship you can see this in action) You can potentially just out run her and take one for the team, but being in the bunker while she’s chasing you is just a death sentence / really annoying.
Best way to avoid her may just be to sit at the door of the bunker and wait for her to haunt you and just go either inside or outside (depending on where she’s haunting you). Or just outrun her outside in front of the ship and try to stall her out. She will keep chasing you till you’re dead though.

How do you counter the instant kill thing that happens randomly when you’re outside? Everything rumbles and you can’t do anything but explode and die before even seeing anything.

These guys are extremely telling in their attack. If you hear loud moaning and the ground shakes from under you, just drop your things and sprint. You have a few seconds to get out of their range.

Still don’t know how to load big scrap that fills inventory on the ship.

Drop it anywhere on the ship to make it be “collected”.

Header and images: developer and publisher Zeekerss