How to deal with the Old Bird in Lethal Company

A robot with the voice of a screaming child? No thanks.

An Old Bird on Embrion
Screenshot by Dot Esports

Visiting the new Artifice will quickly end in tears as this Lethal Company Moon’s streets are paved with rusted-over Old Birds, waiting to be activated. You’ll surely meet your demise, choosing to stay on this Moon for far too long.

Recommended Videos

But, if you’re feeling brave, here is how to deal with the Old Bird in Lethal Company.

Lethal Company: How to deal with the Old Bird

Old Bird stationary beside the Home Base on Embrion
Escape before these activate. Screenshot by Dot Esports

The Old Bird is a terrifying Lethal Company monster with impressive weaponry and verticality. Its bizarre and downright awful battle cry can be heard across the Moon’s surface, taunting its victims with its child-like screams. Aside from Eclipsed Moons, Old Birds won’t activate as soon as you dock. Instead, Old Birds sit, collecting rust, as haunting statues, waiting for their call to service.

Old Birds activate around 3pm. I have seen Old Birds activate at three, half four, and sometimes as early as one o’clock on Embrion. Their activation time seems to vary, with different mechs waking at different times. While this gives you a short period to worry only about Facility monsters, the outdoor springs to life once the afternoon inevitably arrives. Use this time to loot as much as you can and bring all high-value items to the ship in case you get caught out on your returning trip after 3pm.

Activated Old Birds by picking up the Apparatus on Embrion
Removing the Apparatus will wake the Old Birds early. Screenshot by Dot Esports

The only other way the Old Birds activate is by picking up the Apparatus. If you do this too early, all Old Birds will come to life and plague the Moon’s surface, waiting for blissfully unaware players to pass them by.

Can you kill Old Bird in Lethal Company?

Old Bird searching for an employee in Lethal Company
Is this Gundam? Screenshot by Dot Esports

It is impossible to kill the Old Bird in Lethal Company. Instead, it’s best to avoid fighting this monster altogether. But doing so can be incredibly tricky due to its ranged missiles. The Old Bird can also illuminate its surroundings with its headlight, making you an easy target to spot. It can also quickly hone in on you using its rocket thrusters if it spots you from afar.

Old Birds can get distracted by other outdoor monsters. In fact, the Old Bird will often kill Forest Keepers, Eyeless Dogs, and Baboon Hawks. Because of this, it is best to loot up as much as you can inside the Facility and begin moving items back after 5pm if you accidentally stay out past 3pm. This will increase your odds of survival as a fight ensues outside the Facility, giving you an opportunity to sneak by.

We recommend using TZP Inhalants and the Jetpack to avoid the Old Bird. You cannot simply outrun the missiles, nor can you fight back. Getting too close will result in being grabbed and killed almost instantly. The Jetpack is incredibly helpful for scrap runs and to avoid outdoor threats completely, whereas the Inhalant helps in dire moments where stealth often fails.

Where to find Old Bird in Lethal Company

Looking at the Home Base with the forest and moon in the background on Adamance
The Old Birds swarm the hidden Moons. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Old Bird most frequently spawns across the new moon maps introduced in the Version 50 beta. Embrion and Artifice appear to be this mechanical beast’s home because they always spawn in abundance on these maps. Thankfully, there is a chance that the Old Birds are locked away in the Artifice Warehouses when you dock at 8am.

Outside of their common spawns, Old Birds can also appear on:

  • 8-Titan
  • 7-Dine
  • 21-Offense
  • 41-Experimentation
  • 20-Adamance

Although the chances of seeing these outdoor monsters are far smaller than Embrion and Artifice.

Author
Image of Hadley Vincent
Hadley Vincent
Writer for Dot since Oct. 2023. Just a Psychology graduate trying to find the meaning of life through gaming. An enthusiast of indie horror and anime, where you'll often find them obsessing over a great narrative and even better twists that'd make M. Night jealous. Their shocking twist? They think The Last of Us II is a masterpiece.