Three pickup routes
Sneak behind The Locust while he is facing away, reach through a small wall opening, or re-pick up the dropped Keycard after a death. Each route is documented in allthings.how.
Audio-driven retreat
Footsteps first, then breathing, then visual. Treat breathing as the hard retreat signal - after that, the Locust is in the same room or one wall away.
Sneak pickup timing
Walk, do not sprint. Sprinting raises the Locust Chase Risk Calculator score by 20 and often forces a retreat. The slow approach is also faster overall because it eliminates respawn loops.
Wall-gap approach
Reach through a small wall opening without stepping into his path. The wall-gap modifier in the Locust Chase Risk Calculator reduces risk by 60% when toggled.
Drop recovery
If The Locust kills you while you have the Keycard, the card can drop with an [E] Pick Up prompt. Respawn to the main lobby, return, and pick the card up. This skips a full restart.
Never wander with the card
Memorize the EXIT location before approaching. Wandering with the Keycard wastes a clean run and is the single most common run-killer after Locust contact.
Video References
