Vow is the last of the free moons worth farming seriously, and it has one defining feature: this is the Maneater moon.
What spawns here
| Entity | Base spawn chance | Threat |
|---|---|---|
| Manticoils | 51.81% | None |
| Roaming Locusts | 20.73% | None |
| Maneater | 13.98% | Severe if ignored |
| Baboon Hawks | 9.44% | Real |
| Tulip Snakes | 1.55% | Minor |
| Old Bird | 0.43% | Severe, but rare here |
Maneater at 13.98% is the highest figure for that entity on any free moon. It is more than three times the Assurance rate, and that difference is the whole reason Vow feels like a step up.
The Maneater clock
Maneater is not an ambush predator. It is a timer.
It starts as an infant. When it cries, that crying accumulates, and at 17 cumulative seconds it becomes an adult. The change is permanent — there is no way to calm it back down or undo the transformation.
An adult Maneater is the reason crews abandon facilities on Vow. It is not something you fight past with a shovel. It is something you leave.
So the rule on Vow is worth saying out loud before every landing: when you hear a Maneater crying, you have a limited window. That window is for walking out with what you are already carrying.
Not for finishing the room. Not for the item you saw on the shelf. The crying is the game telling you the clock started, and crews that treat it as background noise are the ones that describe Vow as unfair.
Two details make this manageable:
- It imprints on the first player it sees, and likes that player at 100%. Everyone it sees afterwards is liked at 50%. The imprinted player should be the one who talks least and walks most.
- Picking it up resets its follow timer. This sounds like a solution and is not. It resets the timer toward you, and it puts a 21-pound infant in your hands instead of scrap.
How to run it
Agree the Maneater rule before you land. Whoever hears it calls it, and the crew starts moving out without discussion.
Keep the group at four or more on the surface. Baboon Hawks at 9.44% are slightly less common than on Assurance, but the outnumber rule is unchanged.
Loot in one direction rather than doubling back. Vow’s facility is larger than Experimentation’s, and the temptation to return to a room you passed is how crews end up deep inside when the crying starts.
Leave the heaviest scrap for last. If you have to abandon a run, you want the thing you drop to be the thing you picked up most recently, not the thing you have been lugging for ten minutes.
What to carry here
A flashlight each. Vow’s facility is larger than Assurance’s, and unlit rooms are where the indoor entities get their opening.
One shovel. It handles Hoarding Bugs and Bunker Spiders. It does not solve Maneater — an adult one is not a fight, and an infant one should not be picked up.
A Radar Booster. Vow is the first free moon where the facility is big enough that losing track of each other is a real risk, and the crying clock means you cannot spend time regrouping.
Leave heavy scrap weapons behind. A Yield Sign is 42 pounds of load for damage you will not use against the thing that actually threatens this moon.
When to skip it
Skip Vow when you are not yet willing to abandon a facility on a sound cue. A crew that will not leave will lose more here than it gains, and the same crew will do fine on Assurance.
Skip it in bad weather too. Fog removes the sightlines you need to spot a troop before it spots you, and Vow’s surface is long enough for that to matter.
Related guides
- How to beat Maneater — the full crying mechanic, imprinting and the interior spawn multiplier.
- Offense moon guide — the fourth free moon, where Manticoils hit 100 percent.
- Best moons for beginners — where Vow sits in a five-day plan.