In Lethal Company, one of the first decisions you’ll face is what moon you’ll have to land on. This might feel like a simple decision where you choose the last one on the list to get the most money, but each moon has its pros and cons, with some being incredibly difficult for a ton of money, some being easy with very little scrap, and everywhere in between.
There are only eight moons to choose from, so I get to go in-depth on each one, what modifiers they can have, and what you should be going for under ideal conditions. Some moons are better than others, but the way weather conditions work may leave you with very few options. This guide will detail everything you need to know about your new workplace.
Bottom Line Up-Front
Each moon has its qualities, but due to accessible entrances and great rewards, I’d say go to Offense when you have no money, go to Dine when you do have money, and use your best judgment if either has a weather condition on. (Also, bring a ladder.)
Weather Conditions
Before we start talking about the moons, let’s talk about why there will never be a moon you always go to. Weather conditions show up in parentheses next to the moon you want to go to on the terminal, and each one has a different effect. Still, they’ll always be moderately more difficult (and rewarding (citation needed)) than the regular moon, so here’s what each one does:
- Rainy is the most manageable weather condition, and it’s usually okay if you get this one. It’ll just randomly create small pools of quicksand on the map, so look out for dark spots, and if you fall in one, move towards solid ground as quickly as possible and hope you don’t die—pretty non-lethal and not the worst.
- Stormy moons are not great. You’ll get random lightning strikes that can kill you occasionally for no reason, but you’re far more likely to get struck when carrying metal. Half the scrap in the game is metal, which puts you at a significant detriment. If you must go on stormy, drop your metal items whenever you see sparks, and hope you don’t die.
- Foggy is primarily a game knowledge check, giving the game Resident Evil fog. This will make the map more challenging to navigate if you don’t know the layouts and make enemies more difficult to see.
- Flooded will force you to play quicker and also actively screws you out of some maps. Any maps with cliffs are a big no-no, but most will make you leave before 5 PM. Only go for this if you feel it’s necessary cause that’s some lethal time pressure.
- Eclipsed is the worst. It’s like the spawns you’d be getting at 11 PM, but even worse, throughout the whole day. Landing on a planet to die to a dog or a giant immediately is terrible. I’d only recommend this if you can’t make quota otherwise since these weather conditions boost profits (citation still needed).
Some Details
Alright, some more preamble. Each moon has some universal factors that change across each moon, and I’ll be bullet-point listing these factors so you can tell at a glance what that moon will be like. These factors are going to heavily impact which moon you want to hit up, so here’s what to look for:
- Enemies are pretty self-explanatory. Each moon has a specific list of which enemies can or can’t spawn, and knowing what you’ll be dealing with when you land is half the battle. I’ll be listing outside enemies first and indoor enemies second.
- Risk Level sounds synonymous with difficulty, but the difficulty in this game is useless. In contrast, the risk level gives you a decent indication of what kind of trickery is going on. It goes from D to S+, and the higher the grade, the harder the map, namely in terms of enemies.
- Cost isn’t a thing for the first five maps, but it is for the last three. The latter three maps cost some money, but once you’re there, you can land on them repeatedly without any further cost until you have to go back to the company, at least.
- Layout is currently only varied between the Mansion and the Facility maps. Under certain conditions, you can get either on any map, but there’s a big chance you’ll get a certain one on a certain map. The facility is probably a bit harder than the Mansion, but the Mansion scares me.
- Power Count is a bit difficult to understand, but essentially, the game has a budget on what enemies it can order, and enemies like the Bracken are more expensive than the Slime. Each map has a different budget; the higher that budget, the more enemies that can spawn, and the stronger enemies will be more frequent. I’ll list the outdoor power count first and the indoor count second.
- Scrap is a minimum and maximum, meaning there’s a particular amount of scrap that can spawn. The game will never generate under the minimum and over the maximum, and if you’re a nerd, you can count and know when you’re in the range of running out of scrap.
Experimentation
- Enemies – Dog, Worm, Locusts, Circuit Bees – Spider, Snare Flea, Slime, Hoarding Bug, Spore Lizard, Thumper, Bracken, Ghost Girl, Nutcracker
- Risk Level – B
- Cost – 0
- Layout – Facility
- Power Count – 8, 4
- Scrap – 8-12
Experimentation is the starter map, and it definitely feels like it. It’s meant to show you the ropes, with the entrance just requiring you to go forward, get on the ladder, and then head to the right, where you’ll easily find the entrance, the fire exit atop a set of stairs to your left. It’s straightforward, and you can just fall down and beeline to the ship when you’re leaving.
This map’s biggest threat is the Bracken, but it only has a 1% chance to spawn, on top of the low Power Count, making sure that if practically anything else spawns, none of the last three enemies on the list will appear. You can’t get much loot here because sometimes only eight pieces of scrap spawn are usually underwhelming things like sheet metal or bolts.
I’d only recommend this map during the first quota when you’re new to the game. Otherwise, go anywhere else, the low risk isn’t worth the low reward when you’d just be wasting your time on this, especially since the map will be tiny. If you get a gold bar on this map, though, good for you, I guess; nice flex. Can I have some of that luck one day?
Assurance
- Enemies – Worm, Dog, Baboon Hawk, Giant, Locust, Circuit Bees – Snare Flea, Hoarding Bug, Spider, Slime, Thumper, Bracken, Spore Lizard, Ghost Girl, Nutcracker
- Risk Level – D
- Cost – 0
- Layout – Facility
- Power Count – 8, 7
- Scrap – 13-17
Assurance is a weird one. You’d think it might be worth it due to that low-risk level and higher scrap counts, but the indoor power count is almost double that of Experimentation, on top of Brackens being at about a 4% spawn rate instead of only 1%. On top of this, the outdoor map has confusing cliffsides that are tricky to navigate, especially at night.
To get to the main exit, you first go forward for a bit, then go to the left under a pipe, through the rocks, and then turn right after walking forward for a bit. If anything is blocking this valley, you’ll have to go around to the right of the pipe. The fire exit requires you to go right after exiting the ship, up a ladder inside some scaffolding, climb on a rock, jump down onto a pipe, and then head left to find the exit.
Overall, I’d say this map gets a solid eh. It’ll give you more loot in the same inner-map size as Experimentation, but it’ll also be quite a bit more dangerous, throwing more dangerous enemies inside and every outside enemy in the game at you. At that point, I’d say go to one of the intermediate moons if you can, but if you can’t, this one is okay.
Vow
- Enemies – Giant, Baboon Hawk, Worm, Dog, Locusts, Bees – Bracken, Hoarding Bug, Snare Flea, Spider, Slime, Spore Lizard, Thumper, Coil-Head
- Risk Level – C
- Cost – 0
- Layout – Facility
- Power Count – 6, 7
- Scrap – 10-13
Vow sucks, don’t go here. It’s a confusing map made up entirely of a massive, open forest, and navigating it is difficult because there are no identifiable landmarks. On top of that, you get barely more scrap than Experimentation, with everything being more spread out due to a bigger internal map size, an offensively high 26% Bracken spawn chance, and a chance of Coil-Heads.
To navigate this confusing map, get out, face the back of the ship, turn left, walk forward, and you’ll end up at the rickety bridge. This one is closer to the entrance but may crumble if too many players or too much weight is on it. The fire exit is underneath the more stable Dam, and you can walk down the ravine to get to it.
If you have absolutely no other option, then I guess go here, but it sucks, man. The collapsing bridge has led to some hilarious moments with friends, but I think this map offers nothing of value because after going into the building and getting Little Ceaser’s and a glass of water, the last thing I want to see is three giants stalking the ship.
Offense
- Enemies – Dog, Baboon Hawk, Worm, Giant – Thumper, Spider, Slime, Snare Flea, Coil-Head, Hoarding Bug, Spore Lizard, Bracken, Nutcracker
- Risk Level – B
- Cost – 0
- Layout – Facility
- Power Count – 8, 12
- Scrap – 14-18
Now we’re getting somewhere. Offense is a great option and my go-to for early game because it gives you quite a lot of scrap on an inside map that’s only a bit bigger than Vow, with enemies that aren’t the worst to deal with. The biggest drawback is that there aren’t bees for some free money, and there is usually a Thumper inside, and an 11% chance for Coil-Heads is terrifying.
To get to the main, you go forward and left from the start, go under the large scaffold, go behind the next set of scaffolding, and climb up the hill (or go around) to reach the entrance. If you want to hit up the fire exit, you’ll need to jump on a large pipe while the ship is landing (you probably won’t take fall damage if you mess up) or go all the way right from the ship and use an Extension Ladder.
This map is pretty dangerous (still less so than the next moon) but is really rewarding. Plus, the power count isn’t the highest, so you’re not likely to get more than 3 to 5 enemies at a time. If you nail the fire exit jump, this is also a quick one to loot and get back, literally a straight line to the complex and back, which is incredible.
March
- Enemies – Baboon Hawk, Forest Keeper, Dog, Worm, Circuit Bees, Locusts – Thumper, Spider, Bracken, Snare Flea, Hoarding Bug, Slime, Coil-Head, Spore Lizard, Nutcracker, Jester
- Risk Level – B
- Cost – 0
- Layout – Facility
- Power Count – 12, 14
- Scrap – 13-17
March is another open, foresty map similar to Vow, and just like that moon, it also sucks. It’s got all the same qualities as Offense on an inside map that is 60% larger and has less scrap, making it hard to find much of anything. Also, Baboon Hawks are common, and those enemies only thrive in groups; also, you can get Jesters, the most brutal enemies in the game.
Be wary of permanent quicksand on this map when navigating to the main, which is immediately visible by just exiting the ship and looking outside, but don’t fall in the water. There are three fire exits: one in a straight line from the ship’s door past some obstacles, one far away to the right, and one to the left of the main down in a ditch.
Overall, this map is fine if Offense and Assurance are unavailable and you don’t have the money for the complex maps, but it should be way better than it is. It’s more complicated to navigate than Offense and has similar, if not more difficult, enemies, but it gives you less loot and has a map with more obstacles, as well as being larger and more challenging to loot. Why.
Rend
- Enemies – Dog, Giant, Worm – Nutcracker, Jester, Bracken, Spider, Coil-Head, Snare Flea, Masked, Ghost Girl, Spore Lizard, Slime
- Risk Level – A
- Cost – 550
- Layout – Mansion
- Power Count – 6, 10
- Scrap – 18-26
Rend is easily the most terrifying map in the game, taking place on a planet permanently afflicted with a snowstorm, and for the massive cost of 550 credits, it’s not really worth going for. This is mainly for the high chance of a Jester and every other dangerous enemy, on top of the relatively low scrap count and the large map outside.
To get to the main, you follow the lights (or turn left and book it in a straight line if you know what you’re doing), but the fire exit is more complicated. I like to stand on the ship’s railing, go around the left edge, and look to the corner of the railing. Jump off this, head in a straight line, and if you’re aligned correctly, you should make it to the out-there fire exit after walking up some hills.
Despite the tiny inside map making it easy to find the decently large quantity of scrap, the incredibly long walk back to the ship, and the perilous enemies, on top of only being 50 credits cheaper than the following map, make Rend a bad financial decision. You can definitely make back what you spend on this; just be really careful.
Dine
- Enemies – Dog, Worm, Giant – Jester, Spider, Nutcracker, Coil-Head, Snare Flea, Thumper, Hoarding Bug, Slime, Bracken, Ghost Girl, Spore Lizard
- Risk Level – S
- Cost – 600
- Layout – Mansion
- Power Count – 6, 15
- Scrap – 20-28
Dine is, by all means, an alternate version of Rend, and I think it’s a bit better at the cost of being a tad more overwhelming. It’s not necessarily more dangerous, as the less threatening enemies are more common, but you’ll be on a similar map size that has a bit more scrap, so it’s a bit better for the money you’d be spending on it in my opinion.
To get to the main, you could either follow the lengthy, winding string of lights or go straight forward from the ship, moving to the right of the rocks you’ll find in your way, ending up right at the main. You can find the fire exit by going behind the ship until you hit a wall, then heading left, but you’ll need an Extension Ladder to get up there.
The main issue with this map is that it has a higher spawn cap, and Jesters are more common, so you’ll have to leave the complex often and communicate with your teammates frequently if you want to live. Other than that, though, the enemy list feels tame compared to Rend, and you get a ton of great loot that’s not as hard to bring back when you can just beeline to the ship for only 50 more credits.
Titan
- Enemies – Dog, Giant, Worm – Jester, Nutcracker, Bracken, Spider, Coil-Head, Snare Flea, Thumper, Hoarding Bug, Masked, Ghost Girl, Slime, Spore Lizard
- Risk Level – S+
- Cost – 700
- Layout – Facility
- Power Count – 7, 18
- Scrap – 23-38
Titan is the peak of this game’s difficulty, but that risk isn’t as worth the reward as you might hope. It’s only got a bit more scrap than the other complex maps while costing 100 credits more and having the internal map be 75% larger, causing stuff to be super spread out. The enemies are a bit more intimidating than Dine but less so than Rend, plus it’s tiny.
Titan’s entire map is empty space and a set of stairs next to the ship. Just go up them, and you’ll find the main, and to the left of the main, you’ll find the fire exit. The big issue with this is that you have to walk down at least some of the stairs each time you want to go back and forth, though you used to be able to fall the entire thing and live, but sadly, that funny ass move is no longer viable.
The main issue with this tiny map is that every outside enemy will be grouped up on your ship and the stairs, meaning you’re probably not getting a break from the Jester inside since there can be a dog right outside. The jetpack can make this more tolerable, but I’d only recommend Titan if you’re in a group of four and trying to min-max.
Questions and Answers
Question: How do I change moons in Lethal Company?
Answer: Moons in Lethal Company can be gone to by going to the terminal, typing “moons,” then typing the name of the moon you want, though the last three cost money.
Question: Are the hard moons worth it in Lethal Company?
Answer: For the first few quotas, no, but once your quota gets higher and higher, going to the more challenging moons will be more and more worthwhile and necessary.
Question: What are the best moons in Lethal Company?
Answer: Dine is definitely up there in terms of bang for your buck, but the best free moon is Offense; just be wary of Coil-Heads.
Conclusion
Lethal Company’s moons are cool concepts that all vary the game, but I wish they were better balanced. Some moons feel like they’re designed as beginner traps, others feel incredibly underwhelming, and Offense and Dine blow every other one out of the water for no good reason. Balancing everything else around these two would be better.
Either way, once you get a hang of the moons in this game, they tend not to feel so scary anymore. I know in my time playing this game, I’ve gone from being certifiably lost on any moon that didn’t show me the main door immediately to being able to jump over cliffs and get there in record time. Don’t go to Rend when it’s eclipsed; Scariest thing I’ve ever seen.
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