The short version
Roaming Locusts are harmless. They cannot hurt you, they fly off when you get near, and there is nothing to fight.
The only thing worth learning is a terminal typo, and it costs crews a purchase prompt they did not ask for.
What a Roaming Locust is
Also called Locust Bees or Docile Locusts, they are outdoor entities that move as a group in a spherical formation.
They are one of the two harmless entities in the game. The other is the Manticoil.
If you are learning the scanner or teaching a new crewmate what a non-threat looks like, these are the two the game itself uses as examples.
Where you see them
Base spawn chance by moon, from the game’s bestiary:
| Moon | Base spawn chance |
|---|---|
| 41-Experimentation | 35.14% |
| 68-Artifice | 34.9% |
| 20-Adamance | 24.56% |
| 220-Assurance | 23.0% |
| 56-Vow | 20.73% |
| 61-March | 20.21% |
They never reach the guaranteed levels some other entities do, so on a given landing you may not see any.
How they behave
They drift across the surface as a loose ball of insects.
Running through the formation makes them disperse. That is the full extent of the interaction.
There is no attack, no chase state and no reason to change your route because of them, which is why the correct play is to treat them as scenery.
The terminal typo that wastes your time
This is the one practical thing on this page.
If you search Locust on the terminal, the system treats it as a misspelling of Lockpicker and drops you into the Lockpicker purchase confirmation screen.
Search Roaming instead and you get the entity you actually wanted.
On a quota run with the clock running, an accidental purchase prompt is exactly the kind of delay that keeps someone in the facility after dark.
Why they are worth recognising anyway
Harmless entities matter because they teach you what a real threat looks like by contrast.
A new player who learns that Locusts and Manticoils never chase will notice faster when something on the surface does.
They also give you a baseline for the surface. When the only thing moving out there is a locust swarm, you can loot with your attention on the ground instead of the horizon.
Mistakes people make
- Wasting a weapon on them. They pose no threat, and the noise you make doing it is the actual cost.
- Typing Locust on the terminal. You get the Lockpicker purchase screen instead of the entity entry. Use Roaming.
- Reading a dispersal as a warning. They break formation because you ran through them, not because something else is coming.
- Assuming harmless means useful. Unlike Manticoils, there is no decoy value here. They are simply not a threat.
Related guides
- Monsters database — every entity with its location.
- How to beat Manticoil — the other harmless entity, and the one with a decoy use.
- How to beat Tulip Snake — a daytime flier that does change your situation.