Weather is the variable most crews ignore, and it is the one that ends the most runs.
The reason is simple: bad weather does not raise scrap value. It only raises the chance you die carrying it. That asymmetry is why the forecast on the MOONS screen deserves more weight than it usually gets.
Clear
Nothing working against you. This is the baseline, and it is the only condition where a moon performs the way its spawn table suggests.
If your crew is learning a new moon, learn it on a clear day first. Everything you work out about routes and timing holds up afterwards.
Foggy
Fog removes sightlines.
It does not damage you, spawn anything, or block a path. What it does is take away the distance at which you can see a troop on the surface or a figure at the end of a corridor.
On open moons this is worse than on enclosed ones. Fog on March costs you the long sightlines that make the surface manageable. Fog on Experimentation costs you much less, because that surface was safe anyway.
The practical adjustment is to shorten the distance you are willing to travel without regrouping, and to keep the ship operator on the radar rather than the camera.
Rainy
Rain is mostly an audio problem.
It masks sound cues you would otherwise rely on — footsteps, the cranking of a Jester, the crying of a Maneater. On a moon where the correct response to a sound is to leave, not hearing the sound is the actual danger.
Compensate by relying on the radar and on callouts rather than on listening.
Stormy
Stormy is the one that kills people directly.
Lightning is drawn to conductive metal. If you are carrying conductive scrap on the surface during a storm, you are a target, and the item you refused to put down is the reason.
The rule is not subtle: drop conductive scrap before crossing an exposed surface in a storm. The haul you keep is worth less than the crew you lose.
There is a second-order effect too. Stormy conditions push crews to move fast across open ground, and speed on a contested surface is its own risk.
Flooded
Flooding changes where you can walk.
Routes you used on a previous visit may be underwater, which matters most when the route in question was your exit. Water also slows movement, which costs you the time buffer you were relying on for the walk back.
Re-scout the exit before you commit to going deep. On a flooded moon, the way out is not the way it was last time.
Eclipsed
Eclipsed is the one that changes entities rather than terrain.
Outdoor threat increases under an eclipse, and the spawn behaviour several crews rely on stops behaving the way the published tables describe. Flooded and eclipsed are the two conditions that most often turn a routine moon into a bad decision.
Treat an eclipsed moon as at least one difficulty tier higher than its name suggests. If you would not fly to it in fog, do not fly to it eclipsed.
How to decide
Read the forecast on the MOONS screen before every flight, then ask one question: does the quota force me to go today?
If the answer is no, pick a cheaper moon with better weather. The scrap on a stormy Titan is not worth more than the scrap on a clear Vow, and one of those two will cost you a crew member.
If the answer is yes, adjust the plan rather than ignoring the weather: shorter route, earlier turnaround, lighter loads, and a ship operator who is watching the radar.
Quicksand
Quicksand is filed under weather, and it kills the same way a bad storm does: you notice it too late.
Anyone caught in it is slowed down and sinks completely within a few seconds. Standing on the spot afterward kills, and nearby employees are flung back without taking damage.
Two things follow from that. First, do not walk into ground that is moving. Second, the flung-back effect means a teammate standing next to a sinkhole is not a rescue — they are a witness.
The Company Cruiser is not immune either. Driving into Quicksand is one of the listed ways to lose a 370-credit truck and everything in the bay.
Related guides
- Moons tier list — how weather interacts with each tier.
- Terminal commands — where to read the forecast before committing.
- Best moons for beginners — which moons to learn on clear days.