Lethal Company Beginner Tips - Quota, Scrap, and Crew Survival

Lethal Company is Zeekerss’ Early Access co-op survival horror game about scavenging scrap from abandoned moons, getting it back to the ship, and selling enough to meet the Company’s quota.

Content warning: Lethal Company includes horror, monster attacks, blood/gore descriptors, online voice interactions, and fictional reckless medical-drug use. This guide keeps discussion non-graphic and focused on play.

Current version note: This guide is written for the Version 80 Early Access era. Check the current build, moon list, entity behavior, quota math, item prices, mod compatibility, and Steam Deck behavior before planning exact routes.

This is a beginner guide for vanilla quota runs. It is not a full moon route, exact monster counter guide, scrap price table, terminal command reference, speedrun plan, or mod setup guide.

Essential Tips

1. Learn Vanilla Before Expanding the Lobby

The base game is balanced around a small crew.

Normal play supports up to four players. Larger lobbies are a modded-community feature, and V80-era mod-loader detection does not mean mods are officially supported or recommended. Learn the basic four-player rhythm first so you know which problems come from Lethal Company and which come from mods.

2. Treat Quota as the Real Timer

Every day should answer the same question: how do we meet quota safely?

Quota cycles give you a few work days to gather scrap before the sale deadline. Do not turn the first days into sightseeing. Pick a moon, gather enough value, get it back to the ship, and keep track of how much you still need before day 0 forces the Company sale decision.

3. Check Moons and Weather Before Routing

Bad weather adds danger without making scrap worth more.

Before landing, use the terminal’s moon list and weather information. Beginner crews should usually avoid Stormy, Flooded, Foggy, and especially Eclipsed conditions until they understand the routes. A low-risk moon with clear weather is often better than a richer moon that kills the whole crew.

4. Use Terminal Scan Before Leaving the Ship

Know whether the run is worth the risk.

The terminal’s Scan command can show how much scrap is available on the map, while personal scanning helps find nearby scrap and threats inside the facility. Use both. A weak scrap total or ugly weather should change how deep you push.

5. Scan Rooms Before Grabbing Everything

Scrap value matters, but so does knowing what is near you.

Right-click scanning can reveal nearby scrap values and can flag monsters. Use it in dark rooms, side halls, and before rushing toward a shiny item. It also helps outline spaces when visibility is poor, but it is not a replacement for leaving before the run turns bad.

6. Carry Value, Not Just Volume

Inventory slots and weight are part of the economy.

Employees have limited inventory, and heavy or two-handed scrap changes what you can do on the way back. If two items have similar value, the lighter or safer-to-carry one is usually better. If a large item slows you down too much, stage it near an exit before going deeper.

7. Stage Scrap Outside the Facility

A pile near the exit is easier to rescue than a pile in a monster hallway.

When you find several items, move them toward the main entrance, fire exit, or another safe pickup point instead of carrying each piece all the way immediately. This saves time late in the day and reduces how often one person has to run deep into the building alone.

8. Keep at Least One Employee Alive

A full team wipe can erase the haul.

Scrap on the ship is not secure if everyone dies or goes missing on the moon. When the run is messy, stop chasing one more item and make sure someone gets back alive. A partial haul beats a perfect pile that disappears with the crew.

9. Put Someone on Ship Support When It Helps

The ship is a control room, not only a waiting room.

A ship operator can watch the monitor, call out danger, guide lost players, use terminal support, and warn the crew when outside monsters or weather make return routes worse. This role is strongest when the rest of the crew communicates clearly and reports what entrance, route, and hazards they are using.

10. Respect the Evening

Night is when small mistakes get expensive.

Danger rises later in the day, and weather can make the outside route dangerous earlier. If the crew is heavy, split up, lost, or already short on people, leave before the return trip becomes the real monster.

11. Sell With a Plan

Do not panic-sell every item unless quota demands it.

A practical beginner rhythm is to sell on the final quota day for best value, bring scrap to the Company sale window, and avoid bell spam. If you are above quota, consider keeping extra safe scrap for the next cycle, but only if the crew can afford the risk of carrying that value forward.

12. Learn Monsters by Behavior

Not every entity is a fight.

Entities can be passive, aggressive, killable, stunnable, or effectively impossible to remove. Scan creatures into the bestiary, call out what you see, and leave space for the player who knows the counterplay to explain it. Early on, surviving and reporting the monster is better than testing a shovel on everything.

Quota and Scrap Habits

Habit	Why It Works
Check quota before routing	Keeps the crew focused on needed value, not random exploration
Scan from the terminal	Shows whether the moon has enough value to justify a deep push
Carry lighter high-value scrap first	Protects stamina and return speed
Move piles toward exits	Saves time when the day turns dangerous
Leave with partial value	Prevents a full wipe from deleting the whole run
Sell carefully at the Company	Prevents bell panic and lets the crew decide whether to bank surplus

Crew Roles

1. Ship operator: Watches the monitor, uses terminal support, calls hazards, and keeps track of time.
2. Lead scavenger: Picks the route, opens doors, and decides when to turn around.
3. Hauler: Moves staged scrap from entrances to the ship and avoids overloading.
4. Floater: Helps whoever is in trouble, carries tools, and swaps into ship support if the operator leaves.

You do not need fixed roles every run. You do need someone responsible for quota value, someone watching the return route, and someone willing to call the run when the risk stops being worth it.

Risk Checks

Risk	Beginner Response
Stormy weather	Avoid it early, especially with conductive scrap or tools
Flooded routes	Leave earlier and keep elevated paths in mind
Fog	Use ship guidance, landmarks, and conservative routes
Eclipsed moon	Skip it until the crew knows the moon and monster spawns
Heavy scrap	Stage it near an exit instead of dragging it deep through danger
Hoarding Bugs	Do not casually steal from them in front of them
Ship door panic	Watch the door and monitor instead of assuming the ship is perfectly safe
Modded lobby	Make sure everyone has the same setup and expect compatibility issues

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Routing to bad weather because the moon looked profitable.
• Entering the facility without checking quota, weather, or terminal Scan.
• Carrying low-value heavy scrap while leaving better items behind.
• Letting every player go deep inside with no one watching the monitor.
• Waiting until late evening to start hauling the pile back.
• Spamming the Company bell while selling.
• Keeping surplus scrap on the ship when the next landing is already falling apart.
• Fighting unknown entities instead of scanning, calling them out, and retreating.
• Joining a modded lobby and assuming vanilla player-count, UI, or monster behavior.
• Staying for one more item after a teammate dies, the route floods, or outdoor monsters appear.

Summary

Lethal Company gets easier when the crew treats quota as a logistics problem first and a horror problem second. Check the moon, check the weather, scan for value, stage scrap near exits, keep one employee alive, sell deliberately, and learn monsters by observation before trying risky counterplay.