MM2 of The Locust how to survive starts with reading the lobby side panel, breaking line of sight from the Locust, and treating the dropped gun as a fixed pickup rather than a chase target. The Sheriff should grab the gun at the start of the gun-grab phase; Innocents should collect keys, then hide in rooftop cubes, lockers, or behind walls as of 2026-09-04. The survivor play loop is three named beats — orient, collect, hide — and the hide-spot archetypes (rooftop cubes, lockers, walls) are consistent across every map in the pre-alpha roster.
MM2 of The Locust how to survive: the survivor play loop
Every survivor plays a loop that has three named beats: orient, collect, then hide. Treating those three beats as separate phases (instead of a continuous stream) is what keeps a round winnable for Innocents and the Sheriff as of 2026-09-04. During orient, during the lobby, identify the Locust's side-panel slot and remember which direction they will run when the timer ends — do not commit to a spawn route until you know that direction. During collect, move to the nearest key spawn or to the dropped gun if you are the Sheriff; the 30-key side objective rewards key collection but does not end the round. During hide, break line of sight from the Locust's likely path and stay still — movement is what gets survivors caught; stillness is what gets them to the timer.
Hide spot taxonomy in MM2 of The Locust
Maps in MM2 of The Locust only ship a small number of confirmed hide-spot archetypes as of 2026-09-04. Learning the archetypes is more durable than memorizing any single tile because new maps tend to reuse the same categories. Rooftop cubes and elevated terrain are the safest family of hide spots because the Locust's default patrol path runs along the ground floor. Climbing a rooftop cube removes the silhouette from the Locust's eye-line, but it costs a sprint to reach and an unavoidable drop to escape. Use rooftops only when the alternative is a confirmed ground-floor chase. Lockers and small props are the densest hide spots on every confirmed map. They hide the survivor's silhouette entirely, but they also freeze them in place until the Locust walks past. A common pre-alpha bug worth reporting on the creator Discord is a Locust that walks straight toward a locker the survivor is hiding in — the AI is improved every patch but is not yet perfect. Walls, corners, and break-line-of-sight angles are the most underestimated category because they only require the survivor to break line of sight for two to three seconds. After that the Locust's pathing usually reroutes toward louder targets. Pair this category with a sprint commit and you have the cheapest escape in the game.
Sprint discipline as of 2026-09-04
Sprint is the single most overused tool in the pre-alpha build, and it is the one most often blamed when a survivor gets caught. The PC binding is E and the cooldown is short but not zero. The discipline below is the community consensus as of 2026-09-04, not a guarantee. When to sprint: crossing an open courtyard that the Locust can see across; diving into a confirmed hide spot after the Locust has lost your silhouette; and rejoining the Sheriff after the gun has been fired. Sprint cooldown traps: sprinting on spawn burns the cooldown before the Locust reveal and leaves the survivor slower than every other player; sprinting in a straight line down a hallway telegraphs the path (zig-zag instead); and sprinting past a locker you intended to enter is a common mistake — slow down a tile before the entrance.
Gun-grab timing and the Sheriff shot
The dropped gun is the only confirmed weapon that ends a round, and the Sheriff's shot is the only confirmed one-shot kill. The Sheriff should grab the gun the moment the gun-grab phase starts, not after, because the Locust is already moving. The Sheriff should walk, not sprint, to the gun so the cooldown is fresh if a chase opens up. Innocents should avoid the gun tile unless the Sheriff is already dead, because a missed shot wastes the round. Aiming should lead the Locust by half a tile at close range and a full tile at long range — the projectile travel time is short but not instant.
Key collection routing
The 30-key side objective is not required to win but it rewards the team that completes it with cosmetic progression. The efficient routing pattern as of 2026-09-04 is a clockwise sweep from the spawn tile, picking the nearest key first and re-routing only when a confirmed Locust patrol blocks the path. Collect in pairs when possible — one trip past two keys is faster than two trips past the same danger tile. Drop a key only if the Locust is on your tile; an uncontested key is never worth abandoning. Routes change with the map, and the [MM2 of The Locust maps reference](/maps) page lists the confirmed key spawns per map.
FAQ
Can the Sheriff lose the gun in MM2 of The Locust?
Yes. The Sheriff can drop the gun by sprinting into a wall, by being hit by the Locust before the shot, or by switching to the interact tool. Picking up the gun is not permanent until the Sheriff pulls the trigger, so the safest play is to grab, position, then aim.
What is the best hide spot in MM2 of The Locust as of 2026-09-04?
There is no single best hide spot. Rooftop cubes are safest from patrol but cost a sprint, lockers hide the silhouette entirely but freeze the survivor in place, and walls are the cheapest break-line-of-sight option. Mix the three archetypes rather than committing to one.
Do Innocents respawn after the Locust kills them?
No. Once the Locust eliminates an Innocent, that player is out for the rest of the round and watches the remaining players from spectator view. Survival is the only way back into the round.
Should I follow the Sheriff to the gun as an Innocent?
No. Following the Sheriff telegraphs the gun spawn to the Locust and turns two players into one kill. As of 2026-09-04 the recommended Innocent play is to ignore the gun tile unless the Sheriff is already dead, and to spend the round on keys plus hide spots.