Lethal Company throws you onto hostile moons with no tutorial, no tooltips, and no margin for error. Most crews spend their first several quota cycles dying to mechanics the game never documents. The 20 tips below cover exactly those gaps: the Terminal commands most players miss, the creature counters that only work if you know them in advance, and the economy habits that keep a four-player team solvent past the first deadline.
If you are brand new to the game, read our Lethal Company beginner’s guide before this list. For in-depth coverage of every creature’s detection type and survival counter, see our Lethal Company creatures guide.
Section 1: Ship Basics
Tip 1: The Terminal Knows Everything
The ship’s Terminal is your single most useful tool and most new players barely use it. Type moons to see every available moon with current weather, bestiary to read creature entries after encountering them, store to browse equipment, and other to access additional commands including scan. Everything your crew needs to make informed decisions lives in this terminal. Check it before every departure.
Tip 2: The Radar Map Updates in Real-Time — Use a Dedicated Operator
The radar display on the ship updates live as crew members move through the facility. One player staying aboard as a dedicated radar operator — calling out creature positions over the walkie-talkie — is the single highest-value role in a four-player team. The operator can warn about a Bracken closing on a solo player, confirm the path to the exit is clear, or call a full retreat before anyone inside knows a threat is incoming.
Tip 3: Charge the Zap Gun at the Ship Generator Before Every Mission
The Zap Gun runs on a charge that depletes in the field. There is no way to recharge it on the moon. Players who carry a dead Zap Gun into a facility have dead weight. Before every departure, run the Zap Gun to the ship’s charging station and top it up. Build this into your pre-departure checklist alongside gear checks and terminal weather review.
Tip 4: Store Expensive Items on the Ship Before Routing to Another Moon
Any item still on the moon surface when you route the ship to a different destination is permanently lost. Items do not persist across moon visits. Crew members who grab high-value scrap and then die before reaching the ship cost the team that item entirely. Stage valuable finds at the landing pad, hand them off to a runner, or carry them to the ship hold before any route change is confirmed.
Tip 5: All Four Players Should Own a Walkie-Talkie
The Walkie-Talkie is the most important item in the game by a wide margin. Four players with four Walkie-Talkies creates a full-mesh communication network: the ship operator can reach the whole interior team, the team lead at the entrance can coordinate with the crew going deeper, and every player can call a threat immediately on detection. No other equipment purchase returns more value per credit spent.
Section 2: Moon Exploration
Tip 6: Listen Before Opening Any Door
Almost every interior creature makes a distinct audio cue before it crosses into your space. The Bracken makes a faint rustling movement sound. The Jester has its winding-up music. Thumpers produce a heavy metallic scraping noise on approach. Pressing your ear to the game’s audio before opening any door — especially in deeper facility sections — gives you roughly one to three seconds of warning that changes the outcome.
Tip 7: Close Doors Behind You Actively
Doors significantly slow down most interior creatures. A Thumper or a chasing Bracken that has to push through a door loses several seconds per door in the chain between it and you. Players who run through doors and leave them open eliminate that buffer. Close every door you pass through. If you are being chased, each door you close buys measurable distance.
Tip 8: The Main Entrance Is Not Always the Safest Entrance
Every facility has a main entrance and at least one fire exit. The fire exit deposits you at a completely different exterior position, often closer to the ship or away from exterior creature patrol routes. Before splitting your team inside, all players should confirm the location of both exits via the radar operator. On extraction under threat, knowing the alternate exit route saves lives that a panicked sprint for the main entrance would not.
Tip 9: Crouch-Walking Silences Your Footsteps Significantly
Lethal Company’s sound system is granular. Standard walking produces footstep noise that carries through walls. Crouch-walking reduces that footstep volume substantially. Near sleeping monsters or in corridors where a creature is actively patrolling but has not detected you, transitioning to a crouch walk is often the difference between passing undetected and triggering an encounter. Build crouch movement into your default approach on high-threat moons.
Tip 10: Bring a Flashlight to Every Single Mission
The interior facility is genuinely dark. Players without a light source cannot see creatures until those creatures are close enough to attack. A flashlight reveals threats at the edge of the beam before they reveal you. The Pro Flashlight — available from the store — has significantly better battery life than the standard model and pays for the cost difference within a single safer run. Treat it as required kit, not an optional upgrade.
Tip 11: Check the Weather Before Landing Every Single Time
Moon weather changes between quota cycles and is never fixed. A moon that was clear yesterday can be Stormy or Eclipsed today. Stormy weather activates lightning that can kill players on the exterior. Eclipsed is the most dangerous weather condition in the game — creature spawn rates increase substantially and beginners should avoid it entirely. Run the terminal moon scan before every departure without exception.
Creature Response Quick-Reference
| Creature | Correct Response | Common Mistake |
|---|---|---|
| Bracken | Brief eye contact (1 sec), back away slowly | Running away — triggers instant aggression |
| Eyeless Dog | Freeze, go completely silent, crouch | Sprinting — footsteps lead it directly to you |
| Coil-Head | Maintain eye contact continuously, retreat | Breaking sight — it immediately rushes you |
| Jester | Run for exits the moment you hear winding | Trying to hide — the Jester ignores obstacles |
| Forest Keeper | Stay still behind cover, use obstacles | Running in open terrain — it outpaces all players |
| Thumper | Use doors — close one between you and it | Running in straight corridors — it catches you |
| Hoarding Bug | Retreat and abandon the item, or jump-stun | Fighting without a shovel equipped |
| Bunker Spider | Avoid web contact entirely, back out | Walking through webs — triggers instant aggro |
Section 3: Team Coordination
Tip 12: Agree on a Ship Stay-Back Plan Before You Land
Before anyone leaves the ship, the team should confirm three things: who stays on ship as radar operator, who goes into the facility, and who holds position at the main entrance as an emergency relay. Crews that land without this plan lose the radar operator role to whoever happens to stay behind by default — usually the last player without a reason to go in. The operator role is too important to fill by accident.
Tip 13: Call Out Monster Types Immediately — Not Just “Monster”
Shouting “monster” into the walkie-talkie tells your team nothing useful. Shouting “Bracken behind me in the east corridor, I’m backing out” lets the radar operator track it, tells nearby crew to clear that corridor, and gives the team lead a threat picture. Build the habit of naming the creature first, then location, then your action. It takes one extra second and saves lives.
Tip 14: Do Not Run From a Bracken — Stare and Back Away
Running from a Bracken is the action that triggers its attack. The Bracken’s aggression system specifically punishes fleeing. The correct response is to make brief eye contact for roughly one second, then maintain awareness of its position while backing away slowly toward a door or teammate. Staring for too long also triggers aggression — the window is approximately one second of direct eye contact, then avert and back off. A team lead who knows this counter can handle Bracken encounters in facilities where solo players die repeatedly.
Tip 15: Two-Person Buddy System Past the Main Entrance
Never send a single player deeper into a facility past the main entrance area. The Bracken specifically prioritizes isolated crew members — it waits for lone players. Two players together are significantly harder for it to pick off without the other crew member calling it out. The buddy system also means one player can maintain sight on a Coil-Head while the other retreats. Solo runs deeper than the first corridor section are how experienced players die on bad moons.
Tip 16: Dead Players Can Still Communicate Via the Terminal
When a crew member dies, they can observe the map via the ship’s terminal monitor and relay that information to the living crew. A dead player watching the radar feed calling out “Bracken is moving toward the north stairwell” provides active intelligence. Do not write off dead teammates as contributors — assign them the terminal observer role explicitly and make sure they have a way to communicate the intel back to the crew.
Section 4: Economy Tips
Tip 17: Small Items Count Toward Quota — Never Leave Them Behind
Bottles, Fancy Cups, Hairdryers, Magnets — small common items that look worthless contribute to quota just like high-value scrap. Players who only pick up items above a certain visual size are leaving quota on the floor every run. If it is a scrap item, it counts. The difference between hitting quota and falling short is frequently a handful of small items that got left at the entrance because someone decided they were not worth carrying.
Tip 18: Sell Everything Before the Day 3 Deadline
Quota progress resets if the crew fails the deadline. Items stored in the ship hold do not carry over to the next cycle — the new quota starts at zero regardless of what is in storage. Any crew that dies on Day 2 with a ship full of scrap and does not make it to the Company moon before midnight loses all of that value. Sell early, sell often, and do not hold scrap in reserve waiting for a better price. For full quota strategy, see our Lethal Company quota guide.
Tip 19: The Company Moon Is a Selling Location Only
Gordion (the Company moon) has terrible creature density and low scrap value relative to risk. Players who land on the Company moon expecting a productive scrap run come back dead or empty-handed. Route to the Company moon only to sell what you have collected. Get in, hand over the scrap, get out. Do not explore. Do not try to scavenge the exterior. The Company moon is a vendor stop, not a mission destination.
Tip 20: Buy Walkie-Talkies Before Any Weapon
New players gravitate toward the Shovel or Zap Gun as first purchases because the game frames combat as a solution. Communication prevents more deaths than combat does. Spending the first available credits on four Walkie-Talkies gives the entire team an information advantage that compounds every run. Weapons are useful — but a fully-connected four-person team with Walkie-Talkies and flashlights will consistently outlast a team with shovels and no communication infrastructure.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you pause Lethal Company?
No. Lethal Company does not have a pause function in multiplayer, and the game is designed to be played online with others. Time continues to progress, quota deadlines tick down, and creatures continue to patrol whether or not your attention is on the screen. Plan your sessions around the three-day quota cycle and do not start a run you cannot finish.
Can you play Lethal Company solo?
Yes, solo play is supported, but the game is significantly harder alone. The radar operator role is eliminated, the buddy system cannot apply, and creature counters that rely on two players (Coil-Head staring, Bracken awareness) become much more difficult to execute. Solo players should start on low-risk moons like Experimentation and Assurance, prioritize the Terminal flashlight scan to avoid bad weather, and treat every run as a resource-gathering exercise rather than a quota push.
How do you survive Day 1 in Lethal Company?
On Day 1, land on a beginner-safe moon (Experimentation or Assurance), assign a radar operator before leaving the ship, use the Terminal to scan the moon before landing, bring flashlights and at least two Walkie-Talkies, and set a hard exit time — get back to the ship with whatever you have before attempting to push deeper. Day 1 is not a maximum-scrap run. Day 1 is a survival run that sets up Day 2.
What is the hardest moon in Lethal Company?
Titan is widely considered the most challenging moon due to its high creature density, valuable scrap, and layout that favors ambushes. Dine is also extremely dangerous. Both should be avoided until a crew is comfortable with creature counters, has reliable communication infrastructure (four Walkie-Talkies plus a dedicated radar operator), and has accumulated enough credits to equip properly before landing. Starting on Titan is one of the fastest ways to lose an entire quota cycle.
Sources
- Lethal Company Wiki. Lethal Company Mechanics and Entity Database. Fandom
- Zeekerss. Lethal Company. Steam
- Reddit. r/lethalcompany — Community Tips and Guides. Reddit
I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.