Almost every Lethal Company death is a monster you reacted to the wrong way. The game never tells you that a Thumper is deaf, that a Bracken gets angrier the longer you look at it, or that shaking your head does nothing against a Snare Flea. Once you know what each creature reacts to, most encounters become survivable.
Facts below are checked against the community wiki for the current version, v80 ("The Blooming Update"). Monster names stay in English, as they appear in the game. "Danger" is our own rating of how likely a careless encounter is to kill you, not the in-game Bestiary percentage. Where the wiki gives no reliable number, this guide leaves it out.
Every monster at a glance
A shovel deals 1 damage per hit to monsters, so "hits" below equals the monster's health. "No" means it cannot be killed by players.
| Monster | Where | Danger | Detects you by | Kill it? | One-line counter |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Snare Flea | Indoor | Medium | Proximity (you walk under it) | 2-3 shovel hits | Look up in doorways; a crewmate hits it off your head |
| Bunker Spider | Indoor | High | Touching its webs or the spider | 5 hits | Walk around webs; do not fight it alone |
| Hoarding Bug | Indoor | Low | Getting near its nest; stealing | 2-3 hits | Do not take from the nest, or kill it first |
| Bracken | Indoor | Lethal | Always knows where you are; reacts to being watched | 5 health; shotgun best | Glance, then look away; never stare or touch |
| Hygrodere | Indoor | Medium | Knows where you are; follows the closest player | No | It is slow: walk or sprint-jump around it |
| Thumper | Indoor | High | Sight only (deaf) | 4 hits | Break line of sight at corners |
| Coil-Head | Indoor | Lethal | Sight; moves only when unwatched | No | Keep someone looking at it and back away |
| Jester | Indoor | Lethal | Sight; once popped, always finds the nearest player | No | Leave the building when the music starts |
| Nutcracker | Indoor | Lethal | Movement while its eye is out | 5 hits, only while the eye is out | Freeze when the head lifts; bait shots around a corner |
| Butler | Indoor | High | Sight; attacks a player who is alone | 8 hits (2 solo) | Stay in pairs; killing it releases Mask Hornets |
| Mask Hornets | Indoor | Medium | Swarm nearby players | No | Leave the area; they never go outside |
| Spore Lizard | Indoor | Low | Proximity | No | Leave it alone; it only bites when cornered |
| Masked | Indoor and outdoor | Lethal | Sight | 4 hits | Kill it quickly; watch for odd crewmate dots on the radar |
| Ghost Girl | Indoor; follows her target outside | Lethal | Picks a target; reacts to being looked at | No | Do not turn around; stay near the crew |
| Barber | Indoor | Lethal | Sight (if you cannot see it, it cannot see you) | No | Listen for the drums and break line of sight |
| Maneater | Indoor | Lethal as an adult | Baby: noise and handling; adult: anyone in its territory | Adult only, 1 damage per hit | Rock the crying baby; never hit it |
| Backwater Gunkfish | Indoor | Harmless | Proximity | 5 health | Ignore it; mind the slippery trail |
| Cadaver Growth | Indoor | High | Spore cloud | Weed Killer only | Never stand in the spores |
| Cadaver Bloom | Indoor and outdoor | High | Sight; noise after losing you | 4 hits of anything | Four hits from any weapon; avoid infection |
| Eyeless Dog | Outdoor, late | Lethal | Sound only (blind) | 12 hits | Crouch, stay silent, do not drop items |
| Forest Keeper | Outdoor | Lethal | Sight only (deaf) | 38 health; fire kills it | Stay low and keep cover between you |
| Earth Leviathan | Outdoor | Lethal | Finds you from underground | No | On the rumble, drop heavy loot and sprint away |
| Baboon Hawk | Outdoor | Medium | Sight; bolder in groups | 4 hits | Face them with a weapon; keep scrap off the ground |
| Old Bird | Outdoor | Lethal | Sight (traced from its ankles) | No | Stay crouched behind cover; pull the Apparatus last |
| Feiopar | Outdoor (Vow, March) | Medium | Stalks you out of sight | 4 health | Turn around often; charge and hit it if it attacks |
| Circuit Bees | Daytime | High | Approaching the hive | No | Keep away unless you plan to steal the hive |
| Giant Sapsucker | Daytime | High near the nest | Approaching the nest; egg theft | 28 health | Keep away from the nest and eggs |
| Kidnapper Fox | Daytime, near Vain Shrouds | Lethal | Entering its nest area | 7 health | Stare it down together; spray the shrouds |
| Tulip Snake | Daytime | Low | Pounces on players it sees | 1 hit | Swing a shovel to knock them all off |
| Manticoil | Daytime | Harmless | Flees from noise | 1 hit (shotgun-immune) | Ignore it |
| Roaming Locust | Daytime | Harmless | Scatters when you run through | No | Ignore it |
Outdoor monsters spawn later in the day, depending on each moon's spawn curve, and from the start on eclipsed moons. Daytime creatures appear earlier and tend to leave earlier. Indoor monsters crawl out of vents all day, and spawns rise toward night.
Indoor monsters
Snare Flea
Hangs on the ceiling and drops onto the head of anyone walking under it, suffocating them and muffling their voice. You drop everything you carry when it latches on. Shaking your head does nothing. It lets go only when it takes damage, when its target leaves the building or dies, or, in solo play only, when you reach critical health. A crewmate's shovel hit knocks it off; walking out of an exit or being teleported to the ship kills it outright. A small gap in the top right of your screen lets you find your way while it is attached.
Bunker Spider
Spends its time laying webs and ignores you until you walk into a web, break one or touch the spider. Then it hunts that player, and two hits can kill you. Breaking a web with a shovel also alerts it. It has 5 health, so two crewmates with shovels can kill it; one player alone should go around. A player it kills is wrapped in silk at its nest and cannot be carried until the ship leaves, although the Teleporter can still recover the body.
Hoarding Bug
Carries scrap back to a nest. It gets mildly aggressive if you linger near it, much more aggressive if you hit it, and relentless if you take anything from its nest: then it chases you until one of you dies or you return the same item. It dies in 2-3 shovel hits and you can out-damage it in a straight fight. A common plan is to kill it last and take its whole stash on the way out. Version 65 added rare Hoarding Bug infestation days (2.9% per round on moons where they spawn).
Bracken
The most misunderstood monster. A Bracken always knows where every player inside is and which way they face, and it sneaks up from behind. When someone spots it, it retreats. If you keep staring while it stands still, it builds anger; with enough anger it may enrage and chase the nearest player. Touching it is instant death.
The fix is a glance, not a stare: look, let it back off, look away. Do not stun it: a stun grenade holds it for only about 1.25 seconds and fills its anger meter. Shovel hits enrage it instantly, which makes a five-hit melee fight a bad idea. The wiki's recommended kill is a Double-barrel at close range. Only one Bracken can spawn per day, and on Factory maps the terminal operator can lock it behind a secure door. A door opening with no footsteps behind you is often a Bracken.
Hygrodere
A slow slime that always knows where the players are and creeps toward the closest one. It cannot be killed, and contact hurts badly. Hitting it makes it faster and bigger for a while (bigger since v80). It is slow enough to walk around or sprint-jump over in open space. A playing Boombox draws it: it dances on a Boombox on the floor and speeds toward a player holding one.
Thumper
Deaf, with sharp eyes and enormous straight-line speed. Once it sees you it roars and accelerates beyond your sprint speed, but it handles corners badly and loses all speed when it hits a wall, gets hit or switches target. Break line of sight around corners. It dies to 4 shovel hits, and every hit resets its speed, so two players with shovels handle it well. From full health it takes four bites to kill you. A spot higher than the railings is out of its reach.
Coil-Head
Moves only when nobody is looking at it, and kills in moments when nobody is. It cannot be killed. Keep one person watching it while the others move, take turns, and never have everyone look away at once. Closed doors slow it badly, a stun grenade freezes it for about 16 seconds, and after chasing for 35 seconds it rests for about 15. Fire exits are risky: you come in facing the door, with whatever is behind you out of sight.
Jester
Follows a player it has seen for about 13-18 seconds, then stops and winds itself up to "Pop Goes the Weasel" for roughly 42 seconds. Once the winding starts it will not stop. After it pops, it always knows where the nearest player is and keeps accelerating until it outruns a sprint, killing instantly. It cannot be killed. Everyone leaves the building during the wind-up; when nobody is inside, it closes up and goes back to roaming. A coordinated crew can let it pop, lead it to one exit and re-enter by the other.
Nutcracker
Patrols with a double-barrel shotgun and is invulnerable until it lifts its head to scan, showing a single eye. While the eye is out it shoots anything that moves, and turning your camera, crouching or emoting all count as moving. Stand completely still and it will not pick you. Touching it means a kick that kills instantly. To kill it, let it fire at you as you step around a doorway, then hit the eye: 5 shovel hits. It drops its Double-barrel with two guaranteed shells, the best weapon in the game. Rend is its favourite moon.
Butler
Sweeps the floor harmlessly while it can see two or more players. If it catches one player alone for a while, it draws a knife and stabs them to death. Hitting it, bumping into it or letting it see a body it just made sends it berserk. It takes 8 hits in multiplayer (2 solo). When it dies, it pops for 30 damage, drops its Kitchen Knife and releases Mask Hornets. Stay in pairs on Dine and Artifice and kill it only in an open area you can leave.
Mask Hornets
Spawn only from a dead Butler. They cannot be killed and stay until the ship leaves, but they never leave the building. Kill Butlers away from rooms you still need to loot.
Spore Lizard
Mostly harmless. It backs away from you and only puffs a pink cloud or bites (20 damage) when cornered. The spores block your view but do not hurt you. It cannot be killed, so just let it go.
Masked
Looks like a crewmate in a mask, shows on the radar as a blue crewmate dot and grabs anyone it reaches, turning them into another Masked. It can leave the building, but only through the main entrance, never a fire exit. It dies in 4 shovel hits and each hit staggers it briefly. If one grabs a crewmate, you have a few seconds to kill or stun it. Watch the radar for "crewmates" that spin in place or ignore scrap, and be careful teleporting a converted player into the ship.
Ghost Girl
Haunts one player at a time and is visible only to that player. Signs: flickering lights, giggling or breathing, muffled hearing and faint clock chimes. She cannot be killed or stunned. Never turn around to look at her; the wiki notes you can safely look about twice, after which each sighting can start a chase. A chase lasts 20 seconds, or ends if you get far enough away, for example by leaving or entering the building or being teleported.
She picks targets by points, and the player with the highest insanity gets a large bonus. Insanity rises when you are alone in the building or the ship, and drops fast when you stand near a crewmate or listen to them on a walkie-talkie. The cheapest defence is to not work alone.
Barber
A clay figure with giant scissors that moves in jumps to a drum beat and kills instantly. It is invisible from far away and becomes visible up close. It starts following a player who can fully see it from the front; if you cannot see it, it cannot see you. A snare roll means it is aiming, the snare hit means it lunges. Its jumps get faster through the day, from every 2.75 seconds in the morning to every 1.25 by 11 p.m. It cannot be killed and cannot open double doors.
Maneater
Spawns as a baby that follows players, cries and can be carried (two-handed). Rock it while it cries, keep it indoors and never hit it: after 17 seconds of total crying, or a melee hit while it cries, it turns into an adult. Loud noises, dropping items, seeing a body or being carried outside all make it cry. An adult guards a territory and lunges with an instant kill, and twice as fast outdoors. It has 5 health, but every source of damage, shotgun included, deals only 1 per hit. If a Hoarding Bug is hauling the baby around, deal with the situation fast or leave.
Backwater Gunkfish (v80)
A small cloaked fish that sprays slime on players who get too close and leaves a slippery trail as it flees. It deals no damage. The danger is sliding while something else chases you.
Cadaver Growth and Cadaver Bloom (v80)
Cadaver Growths are indoor plants, most common on Adamance, that release a spore cloud. Stand in it for a few seconds (about 4 in multiplayer) and you can become infected. Infection shows as coughing and yellow petals, and infected players spread spores when they talk. A crewmate spraying Weed Killer (20 credits) at your face removes infection, at a small health cost. Never spray someone already at the burst stage: it kills them instantly. An infected player who dies past a certain point bursts into a Cadaver Bloom, a fast, erratic hunter that deals 30 damage per hit. It takes exactly 4 hits from any weapon. The growth itself can only be destroyed with Weed Killer.
Outdoor monsters
Eyeless Dog
Blind, hunting by sound alone, and kills on contact. Talking aloud, walking without crouching, dropping items, flashlight clicks, melee swings and noisy scrap (airhorns, clown horns, robot toys) all draw it. The wiki notes that walkie-talkies do not. When a dog hears enough it howls, alerting the pack, and lunges at the last noise. Dash sideways out of the lunge, or climb a boulder or the ship's roof, which dogs cannot reach. A dog takes 12 shovel hits; in storms a lightning strike kills it in one go. Furniture does not keep dogs out of the ship; only the closed door does.
Forest Keeper
Huge, fast and completely deaf: it hunts by sight. Each Keeper fills a suspicion meter while it can see you, faster when you are close, standing (twice as fast as crouching) or moving. Crouch, stand still and keep trees, rocks or the ship between you; since v80 this works better at a distance, and beyond a certain range it cannot see you at all. If it catches you, you are eaten whole: no body, no items, and the Teleporter cannot bring you back. A stun grenade or a Teleporter during the few seconds after the grab can save you. It has 38 health, but an exploding Easter egg or Jetpack, Old Bird missiles or lightning sets it on fire and kills it.
Earth Leviathan
A giant worm under the ground. The warning is a loud distorted growl, then black particles rising: that is where it will burst out. Drop heavy items and sprint out of the area immediately. It cannot be killed and swallows anything in that spot, including other monsters. On Assurance and Experimentation, where it is common, staying on pipes and rocks on the walk back helps.
Baboon Hawk
Troops that roam in daylight, steal scrap left on the ground and attack only when you crowd them or when their fear is low. Looking at them and holding a weapon keeps them at a distance; shouting does not scare them. A single hawk dies to 4 shovel hits and an experienced player wins one-on-one; a troop is dangerous. They fight Eyeless Dogs, which can cover your escape.
Old Bird
Giant mechs that stand dormant until activated. Pulling the Apparatus activates every one on the moon. An active Old Bird fires inaccurate missiles, stomps, lands on targets and grabs with a flamethrower claw. It cannot be killed. It sees from its ankles, so if you cannot see its ankles, it cannot see you. Crouching or hiding under cover (the ship, buildings) avoids its landing attack. Embrion and Artifice are full of them.
Feiopar (v80)
A big black cat on Vow and March that climbs trees and stalks you out of sight. Looking at it freezes it and, if you keep looking, makes it hide or give up; very close eye contact can make it pounce. Each scratch deals 7 damage, but it keeps attacking for several seconds, so do not let it work on a wounded player. If it attacks, sprint at it and hit it (it has 4 health) to scare it off. A player waiting at the ship should step outside and look around now and then, because it can sneak up on them there.
Daytime creatures
Circuit Bees
Guard a hive outdoors and electrify anyone who comes near. They cannot be killed or stunned, and shovels do nothing. The hive is valuable scrap: one player lures the bees off, another sprints with the hive, and the ship door is closed behind them, because bees cannot pass doors.
Giant Sapsucker
A large bird with 28 health that guards a nest of eggs. Leave the nest alone and it ignores you. Take an egg and it locks onto the thief and can even break into the ship. If you want the eggs, take them right before leaving and lift off.
Kidnapper Fox
Spawns only where several Vain Shroud weeds grow. Step into its nest area and it drags you toward it with its tongue, dropping all your items, and kills you within range. The whole crew staring at it shrinks its territory. It has 7 health, and the tongue itself deals no damage, so a crewmate can kill it while it holds someone. Spraying the Vain Shrouds with Weed Killer stops it from spawning.
Tulip Snakes, Manticoils and Roaming Locusts
Tulip Snakes latch onto your helmet and, in numbers, lift you into the air for about 10 seconds. One swing of a shovel kills all of them on you. Manticoils (flying birds) and Roaming Locusts (swarms) are harmless.
What your tools do to each monster
Most guides list shovel hits only. The stun numbers matter as much: a stun grenade stuns for 5 seconds times each monster's multiplier, and some monsters cannot be stunned at all.
| Monster | Stun grenade | Shovel | Double-barrel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hygrodere | 20 s | Cannot kill | Cannot kill |
| Coil-Head | 16.25 s | Cannot kill | Cannot kill |
| Snare Flea | 15 s | 2-3 hits | Kills; can knock it off a head |
| Barber | 6.75 s | Cannot kill | Cannot kill |
| Forest Keeper | 6 s | 38 hits | At least 8 shots |
| Thumper / Bunker Spider | 5 s | 4 / 5 hits | Usually one close shot |
| Masked | 3.75 s | 4 hits | Usually one close shot |
| Eyeless Dog | 3.5 s | 12 hits | Up to 5 damage per close shot |
| Jester | 3 s | Cannot kill | Cannot kill |
| Nutcracker | 2.5 s | 5 hits (eye out) | One close shot |
| Bracken | 1.25 s, and it gets angrier | 5 hits, enrages it | Best option, close range |
| Maneater (adult) / Cadaver Bloom | 1.25 s | 5 / 4 hits | 1 damage per shot |
| Ghost Girl, Earth Leviathan, Circuit Bees, Tulip Snake, Roaming Locust | Cannot be stunned | - | - |
The Double-barrel deals 5, 3 or 2 damage depending on distance, so "one close shot" means point-blank. It only comes from a dead Nutcracker. The Zap gun (400 credits) holds most indoor monsters as long as you fight its pull, but needs a partner with a shovel to be worth carrying.
Which monsters each moon favours
The wiki lists base spawn chances per moon. They shift with time of day and v80's per-moon "diversity" limit, so read them as what to prepare for, not a guarantee.
| Moon | Most likely indoors | Most likely outdoors |
|---|---|---|
| 41-Experimentation | Bunker Spider, Snare Flea, Hygrodere | Eyeless Dog, Earth Leviathan |
| 220-Assurance | Snare Flea, Hoarding Bug, Bunker Spider | Earth Leviathan, Eyeless Dog |
| 56-Vow | Bracken, Hoarding Bug, Maneater | Forest Keeper, Feiopar |
| 21-Offense | Thumper, Bunker Spider, Hygrodere | Eyeless Dog, Baboon Hawk |
| 61-March | Thumper, Backwater Gunkfish, Bunker Spider | Forest Keeper, Eyeless Dog, Feiopar |
| 20-Adamance | Cadaver Growth (by far), Bunker Spider | Baboon Hawk, Eyeless Dog |
| 85-Rend | Nutcracker, Jester, Bracken, Coil-Head | Eyeless Dog, Forest Keeper |
| 7-Dine | Butler, Cadaver Growth, Barber | Forest Keeper |
| 8-Titan | Nutcracker, Jester, Bracken, Coil-Head | Eyeless Dog, Forest Keeper |
| 68-Artifice | Even mix: Nutcracker, Bracken, Bunker Spider | Old Bird, Forest Keeper |
| 5-Embrion | Hoarding Bug, Hygrodere, Barber | Old Bird (very high) |
For routing, prices and what each moon pays, see the Moons and Equipment Guide and the Quota Guide.
Traps
| Trap | What it does | How to survive it |
|---|---|---|
| Turret | Spots you, turns, and fires after 1.5 s; 50 damage per bullet | Break line of sight, or have the operator disable it from the terminal (about 4.5 s) just as you pass. Never hit it with a shovel: it goes berserk and sprays for 9 s |
| Landmine | Beeps and flashes red; clicks when stepped on and explodes when you step off. Kills within about 5.7 units and can chain to nearby mines | If you hear the click, stand still and let the operator disarm it or teleport you. Throwing an item onto it (a used stun grenade, an Easter egg) sets it off from a distance |
| Spike Trap | A ceiling press that kills instantly. Most slam on a timer; some only when you cross a line in front of the support beam | Note where it is and time your crossing; the detection type can be jumped. The terminal can disable it briefly. It also kills killable monsters lured under it |
What to do when you hear...
| You hear | It is probably | Do this |
|---|---|---|
| A door opening behind you, no footsteps | Bracken | Turn, glance at it, look away |
| A roar, then fast thumping toward you | Thumper | Turn a corner and break line of sight |
| A music-box tune that speeds up | Jester winding up | Head to the nearest exit now |
| A snare drum roll, then a hit | Barber aiming and lunging | Step aside and break line of sight |
| Giggling, breathing, clock chimes, flickering lights | Ghost Girl haunting someone | Do not turn around; regroup with the crew |
| A baby crying indoors | Maneater baby | Pick it up and rock it, or leave the area |
| A rumble that grows louder near a vent | Something spawning | Move on and warn the crew |
| A rising buzz from a Hoarding Bug | It is aggressive | Back off, return what you took, or kill it |
| Frantic music near a Butler | Butler attacking a lone player | Get to a crewmate |
| A howl outdoors | Eyeless Dog charging | Dash sideways, then crouch and stay silent |
| A distorted growl underfoot | Earth Leviathan | Drop heavy items and sprint away |
| Heavy footsteps that shake the screen | Forest Keeper or Old Bird | Crouch behind cover |
| A low purr in the trees | Feiopar | Turn and look at it |
| A click under your foot | Landmine | Freeze and call the operator |
Common mistakes
- Staring at a Bracken, or stunning it. A glance makes it retreat; a long stare or a stun fills its anger.
- Everyone looking away from a Coil-Head at once. Agree out loud who keeps watching.
- Crouching from a Thumper or shouting near a Forest Keeper "because it can't hear". Both are deaf and hunt by sight; cover matters, not noise.
- Sprinting and talking near Eyeless Dogs. They are blind and track sound. Crouch-walk and use walkie-talkies.
- Shaking your head to remove a Snare Flea. It does nothing. Get a crewmate to hit it, head for an exit, or ask for a teleport.
- Hitting a turret. A shovel hit sends it berserk.
- Killing a Butler in the middle of the building. Its Mask Hornets stay there until you leave.
- Hitting a crying Maneater baby. It speeds up the change into an adult that kills in one lunge.
- Pulling the Apparatus first. Every Old Bird on the moon wakes up, and indoor spawns may rise.
- Working alone. Butlers target lone players, the Ghost Girl targets the most isolated mind, and nobody can knock a Snare Flea off your head.
Related guides
New crews should start with the Beginner Guide for first purchases, terminal commands and the easy moons. The Quota Guide covers when to sell and why the Teleporter pays for itself, and the Moons and Equipment Guide covers each moon and the gear to bring. Still deciding whether the game suits your group? Read our Honest Review.
★Honest Take — fair monsters, unfair first meetings
Almost every Lethal Company monster is fair once you know its rule: one sense, one weakness, one clear sound cue. The Thumper's corners, the Coil-Head's stare and the Eyeless Dog's silence are excellent horror design because the counter is learnable and the panic is real. The weak side is that the game teaches none of it, and some rules feel arbitrary until someone explains them: the Ghost Girl's hidden targeting, the Bracken's anger meter, or the Maneater's crying timer. v80 adds more of these systems (infection, the Feiopar's stare-down), which deepens the late game but makes the first contact with each new creature a near-certain death. Our advice: read the table once, call monsters out by name on walkie-talkies, and treat every first death as the lesson it is.
