Most crews do not die to a monster on quota six. They die to a decision made on quota three: selling on the wrong day, hoarding everything on the ship, or spending the cycle on a moon that cannot pay what the quota now asks. This guide is about those decisions.
Figures below come from the community wiki and reflect the current version (v80, "The Blooming Update"). Where v80 changed something and the wiki has not fully caught up, this guide says so instead of guessing.
The short version
| Decision | What to do | Why |
|---|---|---|
| When to sell | On the deadline day (0 days left) | The Company pays 100% then, against 30%, 53% and 77% earlier in the cycle |
| How much to sell | The quota plus whatever credits you need; keep a modest buffer | Surplus on the ship carries over, but a full wipe deletes it |
| Small quota | Free moons: Assurance, Vow, Adamance | One average day covers it; no route fee |
| Quota beyond what free moons deliver | Pay for Titan, Rend or Dine and stay all three days | The route fee is paid once per stay, so it shrinks per day |
| First purchases | Flashlights, walkie-talkies, a shovel | Cheap, and they decide whether the crew finds the scrap and gets back |
| First big purchase | Teleporter (375) | Each unrecovered body costs an extra 12% of your credits |
How the quota works
The profit quota is the total scrap value you must sell to the Company before the deadline. Miss it and the whole crew is fired, which ends the run.
- A cycle is four days. Three are working days on moons; the fourth, with 0 days left, is when you must be at the Company Building (71-Gordion). You can technically land on a moon on day 0, but if you do not then sell enough, the run is over.
- The first quota is always 130.
- Every increase is bigger than the last. The size of the increase grows quadratically with the number of quotas you have already met, and is then multiplied by a random factor. Quota values therefore climb faster and faster: the early quotas feel generous, and the gap between what free moons can deliver and what the Company asks opens up within a handful of cycles.
The wiki's formula for the increase was revised after v80 ("quota increase eval changed" in the patch history), and its own notes say some of the supporting curves are not yet updated. That is why this guide gives no quota-by-quota table. Plan around the current number on your terminal and the trend, not a memorised list.
Luck from furniture
Since v55, furniture in the ship gives a small luck value that pushes the random factor toward smaller increases. The Disco Ball (0.06) and Television (0.02) give the most; the Signal Translator gives negative luck. The effect only applies to the quota after the one during which the furniture was placed. It is a nudge, not a strategy — never buy furniture with credits the crew needs for lights or a route.
Selling: the 30 / 53 / 77 / 100 rule
The Company's buying rate depends on how many days remain in the cycle:
| Days left | Buying rate | Overtime efficiency bonus |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 30% | +30 |
| 2 | 53% | +15 |
| 1 | 77% | 0 |
| 0 (deadline) | 100% | -15 (overtime cannot go below 0) |
Landing at Gordion does not consume a day, so you can visit at any time — to shop safely, for example — but there is almost never a reason to sell early. The +30 bonus for selling with three days left does not come close to covering the 70% of value you give up.
The overtime bonus
If you sell more than the quota, you earn an overtime bonus: one fifth of the excess, plus the efficiency figure above. On the deadline day that is (sold − quota) / 5 − 15, rounded down and never negative. The wiki's worked example: on the first quota of 130, selling 785 worth of scrap pays 785 plus a 116 bonus, or 901 credits — enough for a 900-credit Jetpack.
Should you sell exactly the quota?
This is the most repeated advice for Lethal Company, and it is only half right.
- For keeping surplus: unsold scrap stays on the ship and counts toward the next quota at full value.
- Against hoarding: if the whole crew dies or is left behind on a moon, all scrap is lost, including everything stored on the ship. A big hoard turns one bad day into a lost run.
- Credits are not quota. You cannot pay the quota with credits, but you need credits for routes and upgrades, and selling surplus earns a 20% bonus on it.
A practical rule: keep a buffer of roughly one good day's haul on the ship, sell the rest, and spend the credits. Holding a large credit balance has its own cost (see death fees below).
At the Company desk
Put scrap on the counter and ring the bell. The Company Monster behind the wall reacts to noise — the bell, shouting, anything loud. Too much noise after the door opens can make it attack, and a body it takes cannot be teleported back. Ring a few times, then be quiet and let it work.
Which moons pay at each quota size
The wiki estimates an average profit per visit for every moon, assuming you collect all regular scrap. It does not count special items (the Apparatus, bee hives, shotguns, knives), and some rows may predate v80's rebalancing, so use the numbers to compare moons rather than as promises. Paid moons charge the route fee only when you route there; staying in orbit for the next day costs nothing. The last column spreads that fee across a three-day stay.
| Moon | Route cost | Wiki avg. profit per visit | Per day over a 3-day stay | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 41-Experimentation | 0 | 301 | 301 | Learning moon only |
| 220-Assurance | 0 | 575 | 575 | Safe default for early quotas |
| 56-Vow | 0 | 622 | 622 | Good free earner; v80 added Old Birds and the Feiopar outdoors |
| 61-March | 0 | 567 | 567 | Below average now; v80 rebuilt it as a swamp |
| 20-Adamance | 0 | 639 | 639 | Good value, but v80 added far more spike traps |
| 21-Offense | 0 | 802 | 802 | Best free average; Mineshaft interior and an awkward fire exit |
| 5-Embrion | 150 | 639 | about 589 | Skip: Old Bird moon with mostly low-value scrap |
| 85-Rend | 550 | 1,228 | about 1,045 | First paid step up |
| 8-Titan | 700 | 1,547 | about 1,314 | Largest interior; you will rarely clear it |
| 68-Artifice | 1,500 | 1,811 | about 1,311 | Same return per day as Titan, much more danger |
| 7-Dine | 600 | 2,773 | about 2,573 | Highest yield by far, but 200+ mostly cheap items |
A fresh angle on the paid moons: once the route fee is spread over three days, Artifice earns about the same per day as Titan for twice the fee and the hardest hazard rating in the game (v80 also raised its maximum landmines from 35 to 60). Go there for the challenge, not for the quota.
By quota stage
Divide the quota by three to get what each working day must bring in, then pick the cheapest moon that clears that number with margin. The averages assume perfect collection, so aim for a moon whose average is well above your daily target.
- The first quota (130). Anything works. Spend day 1 on Experimentation or Assurance learning the ship and the terminal, then bank the rest.
- Small quotas (daily target a few hundred). Assurance, Vow and Adamance. Do not pay for routes yet; spend credits on lights, walkie-talkies and a shovel.
- Mid quotas (daily target around the free-moon averages). The free moons start to run out of margin. Offense has the highest free average if your crew can handle a Mineshaft. Start saving for a route and the Teleporter.
- Large quotas (daily target beyond what free moons average). Route to Titan or Rend and stay all three days. Titan's stairs keep the walk to the entrance short, but the interior is the biggest in the game. Rend's mansion is smaller and easier to clear.
- Very large quotas. Dine. Its scrap is mostly Dine-only body parts worth single or low double digits each; the Heart (up to 99) is the exception. Volume is the point, so you need people carrying, not exploring.
Weather does not change scrap amount or value. It only adds danger, so a free moon in clear weather often beats a paid moon under an eclipse. Eclipsed moons start with night-level indoor spawns and outdoor monsters active from the start; inexperienced crews should avoid them entirely.
What scrap to carry
You have four inventory slots. A two-handed item blocks the other slots until you drop it and stops you climbing ladders. Weight drains stamina faster and slows you down. So the question for every item is value per trip, not value alone.
Two more patterns are worth knowing. A single item day (about a 5.2% chance) fills a moon with one kind of scrap — great if it is something like Gold bars, poor if it is metal sheets. And conductive scrap (bells, metal parts, the Apparatus) can draw lightning in stormy weather.
When to buy what
| Item | Price | When to buy | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flashlight | 15 | Day 1 | About 140 seconds of battery; cheap backup light |
| Pro-flashlight | 28 | Day 1 for the scouts | About 300 seconds of battery, brighter and wider; 5 lb. v80 slightly reduced night-vision range, so lights matter more |
| Walkie-talkie | 10 | Day 1 | Battery lasts about 13 min 40 s, longer than an 11 min 40 s workday. Turning it on or talking attracts nearby monsters |
| Shovel | 30 | After the first sale | 14 lb and conductive. Pair with a Stun grenade (30) or Zap gun (400) before fighting |
| Survival Kit | 138 | First sale with a full crew | 4 flashlights, 4 walkie-talkies, 2 shovels — 22 credits cheaper than buying them separately |
| Teleporter | 375 | As soon as you can spare it | Pulls the monitored player to the ship; they drop what they are holding. Recovers bodies |
| Extension ladder | 60 | When a moon's shortcuts need it | Offense's fire exit is the classic case |
| Belt bag | 45 | Mid run | Holds 15 store tools in one slot; scrap cannot go in it |
| Jetpack | 900 | Late | 52.5 lb and easy to crash. A luxury, not a quota tool |
v80 also added a utility slot for most store-bought tools (not the shovel), which frees a regular slot for scrap. Check what fits there before deciding how many tools each person carries.
You start a new contract with 60 credits. A sensible opening is a pro-flashlight for whoever goes inside first and walkie-talkies for the rest, then flashlights or a shovel with what is left.
Death fees are why the Teleporter comes early
Each death charges the crew 8% of its credits, and each body not brought back costs another 12%, for 20% in total. With a few hundred credits banked, two lost bodies cost more than a Teleporter. The Teleporter cannot recover a body eaten by a Forest Keeper or Earth Leviathan, sunk in quicksand or taken by the Company Monster, but it handles most cases. The same logic argues against sitting on a huge credit balance: fees are a percentage, so spend credits on things that keep people alive.
Team roles
-
1
Ship operator (one player)
Stays at the terminal and monitor. Watches the radar, opens security doors and temporarily disables turrets and landmines through the terminal, calls out monsters over the walkie-talkie, and presses the Teleporter button. Also places orders so the dropship lands while the crew is near the ship.
-
2
Scouts (one or two players)
Carry the pro-flashlights and go deep first. Their job is to find the high-value rooms and report them, not to haul everything themselves.
-
3
Haulers (everyone else)
Move scrap from the facility to the ship in relays, dropping it near the entrance for others to carry. Two-handed items go last, when nobody needs a free hand.
-
4
Quota keeper (can be the operator)
Tracks the quota and the haul on the terminal, decides whether to stay or leave, and decides how much to sell on the deadline day.
A crew of two can still play these roles by alternating: one inside, one on the ship. A solo player has no operator, which is the strongest argument for staying on free moons longer.
Common mistakes
- Selling before the deadline day. 30% on day one, 53% on day two, 77% on day three. There is no reason to sell early.
- Paying for a moon and leaving after one day. The route fee is charged per trip, so a one-day visit to Titan pays the full 700 for one day of scrap.
- Hoarding everything on the ship. One full wipe deletes the entire stockpile. Keep a buffer, not a museum.
- Leaving bodies behind. That 12% extra fee per body adds up faster than any purchase.
- Pulling the Apparatus early. Power goes out, spawns can rise, Old Birds wake up. It is an end-of-day item.
- Filling slots with heavy, cheap scrap. A Yield sign is 42 lb for about 27 credits. Leave it for the last trip if at all.
- Staying too late. The ship leaves at midnight. If everyone is still out or dead, every item on the ship goes with them.
- Making noise at the Company desk. Ring, wait, stay quiet.
For the moons themselves and every store item in detail, see the Moons and Equipment Guide. The monsters that cut runs short are covered in the Monster Guide, and the first days of a new crew in the Beginner Guide. If you are still deciding whether the game is for your group, read the Honest Review.
★Honest Take — the quota is a spreadsheet wearing a horror mask
Under the screaming, Lethal Company is a resource-management game, and the quota is where that shows. The good part: the rules are simple and readable — sell on the last day, count route fees per day, bring bodies home — and a crew that follows them goes noticeably further. The weaker part: the random factor in quota growth and the luck of the moon you land on can still sink a careful run, and the game tells you little of this itself. Expect a few runs to end on numbers rather than monsters. That is not a flaw so much as the design; just do not let a crewmate convince you it was the Bracken's fault.
