Depth Spelunking Lurker Guide — Nausea Fog & Close Range

Verified against v0.7.0b. Lurkers are the “stay out of the green cloud” exam on many mid floors. Use this with priority and fear and the beginner guide movement basics.

How Do You Deal With a Lurker on the Floor?

Short answer: treat Lurkers like landmines — wide berth while idle, burst speed if you misstep. They are common, slow when patrolling, and extremely fast once provoked. The green fog is the real tax: even survivors lose time to Nausea and Blindness.

How Does a Lurker Spot You?

Lurkers sit in the Dens genus with Warden and Echovore — wheezing audio is your early warning. Wiki taxonomy lists them as Common (some community guides mislabel them uncommon in voice-over). Mechanics with sourced numbers:

• Limited sight — aggression starts when you hug their idle radius, not when they roam past you.
• Green haze trail — contact inflicts Nausea + Blindness briefly (community gameplay page).
• Persistent chase — they keep chasing several seconds after losing sight; sprint alone often fails without consumables.

Priority interaction (0.7.0a): official patch text says Lurkers may fake idle; standing too close while your priority is high can randomly enrage them. Running, flashlight, high fear, and certain items all raise priority under Recode rules — see the dedicated priority page.

Step-by-Step: Disengage Safely

1. Audio check. Wheezing/growling means a Lurker is on the segment — assume idle unless you see locomotion.
2. Mark idle bodies. Idle Lurkers look harmless; give them a full room width.
3. Crouch-pass only with margin. Crouch lowers priority, but fake idle punishes greedy paths.
4. Spend speed deliberately. Break line of sight, then keep sprinting through a door line — stopping early re-triggers memory chase.
5. Do not stun for style points. After 0.7.0a, a stunned Lurker spews 10 damage gas for 45 seconds across a large area (DevForum entity section).

In co-op, call idle positions before splitting tasks — one player kiting a Lurker through a teammate’s hallway is a common wipe. Daily mode runs reward clean routing practice without revive tax.

Common Deaths and Mistakes

• Cutting corners on idle Lurkers — false idle makes “quick peek” RNG deadly after 0.7.0a.
• Standing in post-stun gas — 45 seconds is longer than most task interactions.
• Chasing consumable drops through haze — Nausea hides trip hazards and Warden audio cues.
• Ignoring priority spikes — sprinting away from one threat into another Lurker idle zone.
• Legacy video habits — pre-Recode clips show shorter gas; trust patch notes 0.7 over old montages.

0.7.0a / 0.7.0b Patch Impact

Wiki infobox numbers were not copied here. If your run feels different, log gameVersion and compare with /guides/patch-notes-0-7/.

Contrast hearing threats: once you pass floor 5, pair this page with /entities/warden/ and the broader /entities/ index. For revive planning when trauma stacks, see how to revive.

Legacy 0.6.6.6 rewrote Lurker alongside Warden before the Recode gas changes landed in 0.7.0a. If a clip shows instant gas on stun without a lingering hazard, assume outdated footage and re-check the published patch notes before you practice the wrong habit.