Lethal Company: How to Deal with Maneater

Learn how to tackle the new Maneater entity in Lethal Company version 60. Read on to get all the tips and tricks you need to survive.

Lethal Company has introduced a terrifying new entity called Maneaters, also known as Cave Dwellers. These bug-like creatures spawn indoors and pose a constant threat if their needs are ignored.

Maneaters go through three distinct phases, and if players manage them properly, the team can successfully clear the planet without losing any players or valuable loot.

How to Deal with Maneater in Lethal Company

Maneaters in Lethal Company have three phases: Quiet, Crying, and Adult. The key to survival is to keep the Maneater in its Baby form by calming it down or trapping it. Here’s a guide on how to effectively handle Maneater’s phases.

Quiet Phase

During the Quiet Phase, the Cave Dweller remains in their harmless Baby form, wandering the map until they spot an employee. Once a Baby locks onto a target, they will follow the employee around.

Players can pick up, carry around, and rock the Baby during this phase, occupying one inventory slot. Even with a shovel, Cave Dwellers cannot be killed while they’re in baby form.

Baby Cave Dwellers will observe junk or items found on the ground with a 20% chance of eating it. Each time the Baby eats an item, it will become slightly chubbier.

Note: Hoarding Bugs consider them as loot and will follow them. If players pick up Cave Dweller, the Hoarding Bug will be enraged.

Crying Phase

The Crying Phase is also considered harmless, but employees must pick up and rock the Cave Dweller like a baby to calm it down, or there will be grieved consequences.

Cave Dwellers go from the Quiet Phase to the Crying Phase with these conditions:

They heard a loud sound: Employees talking too loudly, Stun Grenades, Items dropped, Whoopie-Cushion, etc.
Being left behind by their favorite (target) employee.
Seeing an employee’s dead body.
Illuminated by a Flashlight.
Dropped or falling from a certain height.
Being attacked by melee weapons.
Attacked by entities while being held.
Rocked too much while in Quiet Phase.
Taken outside the Facility.

Cave Dwellers go from the Crying Phase to the Quiet Phase if:

Players rock them at least once while indoors to calm them down.
Crying from being rocked too much, they will stop once dropped.
Crying when taken outdoors, bring them back inside the facility.

Adult Phase

The Adult Phase of a Maneater is extremely dangerous and must be avoided at all costs. If the Baby Maneater becomes too agitated during the Crying Phase, it will rapidly “grow up” into its Adult form, which is irreversible. In this phase, the Cave Dweller becomes highly aggressive, attacking players with lethal, instant-kill damage.

Cave Dwellers go from the Crying Phase to the Adult Phase with these conditions:

Crying Baby was attacked with melee weapons.
Was not rocked during the Crying Phase for 8-16 seconds.
Was taken outside the facility for too long.

Strategy

Nanny: The maneater in Lethal Company is harmless and will remain so if taken care of. The safest strategy is to have their favorite employee keep an eye on them and rock them whenever they start crying.
Trap Baby Phase: Alternatively, you can trap the Cave Dweller while they’re still in the Baby Phase by dropping them into the large Factory Room pit, sticking them into the ceiling of the Apparatus Room, or throwing them into deep water. There’s a chance it will teleport somewhere else.
Trap inside the Cruiser: You can lock the Cave Dweller inside the rear of the Company Cruiser.
Eliminate: While you can’t kill a Cave Dweller during its Baby Phase, elimination is possible once it reaches its Adult form. The Adult Maneater has 5 Shovel HP, meaning it takes five shovel hits to defeat. Note that the Maneater is immune to Stun Grenades. Only the most experienced players can evade its fast, leaping attacks (Like the Eyeless Dogs), and chances of survival increase if you use TZP-Inhalant. However, attempting to eliminate a Maneater is highly risky due to difficult terrain and the potential presence of other hostile entities.

Occurrence Chance

Cave Dwellers have an increased chance of spawning when the moon’s interior is a Mineshaft. Below is a table outlining the base and increased chances of a Maneater spawn: