Shovel in Lethal Company

The Shovel is the cheapest weapon in the store, and it is the only store item that ends a threat instead of delaying one.

That is worth understanding before you spend money on anything louder.

What it does

The Shovel costs 30 credits and deals damage to entities. Its own description lists five exceptions: Coil-head, Ghost Girl, the Giant, the Earth Leviathan and the Jester.

Everything else you meet inside a facility can be hit. That makes the Shovel the default answer for the situations where something is between you and the door.

The five exceptions matter more than the weapon

Read the exclusion list again, because it is close to a list of the entities that actually end runs.

• Coil-head is solved by watching it, not hitting it.
• Ghost Girl is solved by leaving before she reaches you.
• The Giant and the Earth Leviathan are not fights.
• The Jester is solved by being somewhere else before it winds up.

So the Shovel solves the middle of the difficulty curve: the threats that chase, that block hallways, and that punish hesitation. It does not solve the threats that kill crews.

Crews that buy four shovels and no plan for Coil-head have spent 120 credits on the wrong half of the problem.

Where it earns its price

The Shovel pays for itself in three situations.

Something is standing in the only way out. A hallway entity that refuses to be walked around is a Shovel problem. One hit clears the route, and the whole crew gets through.

Something has taken a teammate. A Shovel in the right hands is the difference between a rescue and a recovery trip. The person who should be carrying it is the one walking behind, not the one in front holding the loot.

Something is guarding scrap. Some of the best loot in a facility sits next to an entity that would rather you did not take it. Killing it is cheaper than losing the trip.

When swinging is the wrong call

• Do not swing at Coil-head. You are spending time you do not have on an entity that does not care.
• Do not swing during a Jester wind-up. The Shovel does nothing to it, and the time you spend finding that out is the time it uses to reach you.
• Do not swing when the room has an escape. Leaving is free. Fighting costs battery, stamina and noise.
• Do not fight something you cannot finish. A wounded entity that keeps chasing is worse than an untouched one you walked away from.

The Shovel is a tool for clearing a route, not a way to make the facility safe.

Who should carry it

One person, and it should be the person walking last.

The player in front is carrying loot and reading the route. The player behind is the one who meets whatever follows, and that is the player who needs a weapon.

If your crew splits into two pairs, buy a second Shovel. A weapon only protects the person holding it, and a crew that splits while sharing one Shovel has effectively brought none.

How it compares

Two of these three cost the same. The Shovel is the one that leaves a corpse, which is why it is the first weapon a crew should own.

Scrap weapons versus the Shovel

You do not have to buy a weapon. Some scrap hits back, and it is already inside the facility.

The Kitchen Knife is the standout: it is worth 35 credits and weighs 0 pounds, so it is both a sellable item and a free melee weapon. The Stop Sign is worth the same 35 credits but weighs 24 pounds, which makes it a poor thing to carry out. The Shotgun is worth 60 credits at 16 pounds and kills what it touches at close range.

The difference is certainty. A Shovel is 30 credits spent before you land, and it works the moment you need it. A scrap weapon is something you have to find, and every one you swing is one you are not selling.

Crews that are comfortable fighting will often pick up a knife on the way in and sell it on the way out. Crews that are not should just buy the Shovel.

Related guides

• Best weapons — where the Shovel sits in the buying order.
• Best equipment tier list — what to buy after it.
• Best loadout — who carries which item on a four-person crew.