Hazard Levels Lethal Company: What Every Rank Means

Hazard Levels in Lethal Company provide a general estimate of how difficult a moon will be during a specific trip. The scale runs from D, the least threatening rank, to S+, the most threatening. A higher level generally means more enemies, a greater chance of dangerous creatures, and more valuable loot, but a low rank does not guarantee safety. (TheGamer)

What Hazard Levels Mean

The Hazard Level is assigned when you stop orbiting and load onto a moon. It can change between trips, so the same destination may not always have the same rating. The level is best treated as a quick risk estimate rather than an exact prediction of everything you will encounter.

A moon’s rating affects three broad aspects of the expedition:

• The amount of loot, including how valuable the available scrap may be.
• The number of monsters likely to appear inside the complex and on the planet’s surface.
• The likelihood that more dangerous enemies will spawn.

Dangerous creatures can still appear at lower ranks. For example, a Bracken may spawn on a moon with Hazard Level C. Therefore, Hazard Level D or C means that danger is generally lower, not that the expedition is harmless.

Hazard Level Ranking

The difference between neighboring ranks is mainly the expected level of danger and enemy density. A C-rated trip is more threatening than a D-rated trip, while B and A indicate increasingly dangerous expeditions. S and S+ represent the highest end of the scale described by the source material.

These rankings do not identify the exact monsters that will spawn, nor do they guarantee that a particular enemy will be absent. They summarize the overall conditions generated for that visit.

What Changes a Moon’s Hazard Level?

A moon’s Hazard Level is primarily influenced by three factors:

1. The moon’s base difficulty
2. The current weather
3. A random factor

Each of the eight moons listed in the source has a base difficulty that influences its most likely rating when weather is not affecting the trip. However, a moon can sometimes receive a lower rating than its usual one.

The table describes typical or most likely ratings, not fixed outcomes. A moon’s generated Hazard Level can vary from one trip to another.

How Weather Affects Hazard Levels

Weather generally raises a moon’s Hazard Level. The source divides weather into lower-hazard and higher-hazard conditions, but every named weather condition can create additional danger.

Lower-hazard weather

• Rainy
• Foggy with light fog

These conditions are considered lower hazard compared with the other weather categories, but they are not safe. Rain, for example, can cause quicksand pools to appear on the surface.

Higher-hazard weather

• Foggy with heavy fog
• Stormy
• Flooded
• Eclipsed

These conditions tend to increase the difficulty more significantly. Heavy fog can make visibility more difficult, while stormy and flooded conditions may turn an otherwise manageable moon into a more dangerous destination. The provided source does not give exact numerical increases for these effects.

Fog Types and Their Impact

Fog is described as having three forms:

• Light fog
• Heavy fog
• Stinkcloud

Light and heavy fog each add their own amount of difficulty toward the moon’s Hazard Level. Stinkcloud is treated differently and does not add difficulty in the same way. Because the source does not provide exact values, the practical takeaway is that the type of fog matters when judging the danger of a trip.

Example: Experimentation

41-Experimentation is an easy moon and most often appears at Hazard Level D or C. However, weather can raise its rating. Loading onto Experimentation during Stormy or Flooded conditions can produce Hazard Level C or even B.

This example shows why the rating should be checked after loading rather than assumed from the moon’s usual base difficulty. An easy moon can become substantially more dangerous when weather and random generation push its Hazard Level upward.

Is a High Hazard Level Always a Reason to Leave?

Not necessarily. A high Hazard Level indicates a greater expected number of enemies and a higher chance of dangerous creatures, but the rating is still a general guide. It also corresponds with more valuable loot, creating a risk-versus-reward decision.

The important mistake is treating either extreme as an absolute guarantee:

• A low rating does not rule out dangerous enemies.
• A high rating does not specify exactly which enemies will appear.
• A moon’s usual rating may change because of weather or random generation.
• Weather can be dangerous even when it belongs to the lower-hazard category.

In short, Hazard Levels in Lethal Company describe the likely difficulty of the current trip, not a complete forecast of every threat. Check the rating after loading, consider the moon’s base difficulty and weather, and remember that even a D- or C-rated expedition can still contain serious danger.