LOCKDOWN Protocol Guide: Beginner Tips, Tasks, Weapons, and Dissident Strategy

LOCKDOWN Protocol is a first-person social deduction game where the hard part is not only finding the traitor. Employees have to finish real-time tasks before the timer wins, while Dissidents need to slow that work, create confusion, and avoid being caught. Good players are useful under pressure; great players are useful without becoming predictable.

This guide is written as a practical beginner and strategy guide for live matches. It covers the round plan, room layout, the most confusing tasks, weapon cases, item control, C4, employee habits, and Dissident counterplay. It does not pretend that every lobby plays the same way. LOCKDOWN Protocol changes a lot when player count, task settings, voice comms, and patch state change, so treat the task logic here as a strong route plan rather than a script you follow with your eyes closed.

Best Article Route: What To Learn First#

If you are new, learn the game in this order:

1. Open the map and task list immediately. Know which rooms are active before wandering.
2. Learn the room names: Cameras, Offices, Machine, Storage, Medical, Restaurant/Pizzushi, and Botanic.
3. Start with simple tasks such as Computers, Delivery, Vents, and Scanner before taking over Pressure, Analysis, Pizzushi, or Alimentation.
4. When a task needs shared items, move those items toward the room where they are used. Loose task items are easy sabotage targets.
5. Pair up for long or isolated work, but do not let one partner silently control every critical item.
6. If you find a weapon, weapon case, keycard, C4, or detonator, say enough to protect the team without giving a Dissident free information.
7. After a bad round, ask which task lost the most time. Most beginner losses come from one misunderstood task, not one brilliant betrayal.

How A Round Is Won#

The official Steam description frames LOCKDOWN Protocol as a 1 to 16 player first-person social deduction game built around real-time action and communication. Most players are Employees. Their job is to cooperate and complete the assigned tasks before time runs out. A smaller group are Dissidents. Their job is to stop that progress without being identified.

Side	Main Goal	What Good Play Looks Like
Employees	Complete tasks in time.	Move efficiently, share task items, verify suspicious behavior, and protect players doing slow tasks.
Dissidents	Prevent task completion without being caught.	Delay key items, fake plausible work, isolate targets, and create disagreements that waste time.
Everyone	Use communication carefully.	Short, specific callouts beat noisy accusations. Say what you saw, where, and when.

The most important rule is that time is a resource. Employees who chase every suspicion can lose even when they are right. Dissidents who kill too loudly can lose even when they create a lead. Every action should either finish a task, protect a task, delay a task, or make someone else explain themselves.

Room Map Basics#

You can open the map and task list during a session. Learn room names by color, icon, and what tasks usually touch them.

Area	How To Think About It	Common Work
Cameras	Red camera area near spawn.	Vents, Alimentation, Delivery, Computers, and information checks.
Offices	Yellow computer area with A1 and A2 rooms.	Computers, Vents, Delivery, and Alimentation.
Machine	Blue wrench area near Storage.	Pressure, Vents, filter washing, Alimentation, Delivery, and Computers.
Storage	Orange package room between Machine and Medical.	Task item hub for Pressure, Delivery, Alimentation, Pizzushi, Analysis, and Vents.
Medical	Light-blue cross area.	Scanner, Vents, Alimentation, Delivery, and Computers.
Restaurant / Pizzushi	Food area between Medical and Botanic.	Pizzushi, Delivery, Vents, Alimentation, and Computers.
Botanic	Green plant and microscope area.	Analysis, plant collection, canister washing, Pizzushi ingredients, Delivery, and Alimentation.

Employee Game Plan#

The best Employee route is boring in the right way. You want steady progress, clear item control, and enough pairing to stop quiet kills without turning the match into a crowd walk.

• Call the first task split. Assign one or two players to hard tasks, one player to item movement, and the rest to short tasks.
• Do not hoard items in your bag. If you carry batteries, fuses, filters, boxes, or canisters away from their task room, you may look like a Dissident even when you are innocent.
• Keep hard-task items local. Pressure canisters should stay near Machine. Pizzushi and Analysis canisters should stay near Restaurant or Botanic.
• Pair for danger, not comfort. Two players on Pressure or Analysis can be good. Four players watching one task is usually wasted time.
• Report facts, not speeches. “Red fuse missing from Storage after Alex left Machine” is useful. “Alex is weird” is not.
• Watch exits after sabotage. Dissidents often create a delay and then leave before anyone asks why the task stopped moving.

Dissident Game Plan#

A strong Dissident does not need to sprint around attacking everyone. The better route is layered delay: hide one item, create one false explanation, then let Employees spend a minute untangling it.

• Sabotage the task, not only the player. A hidden pressure canister, missing filter, stolen battery, or misplaced fuse can cost more time than a risky attack.
• Move like you have a reason. Carry a box toward Storage, a canister toward Botanic, or a battery toward Machine. Random hallway movement creates suspicion.
• Do not overuse the same trick. If every round you hide filters, the lobby will start checking filter spots first.
• Use isolation naturally. Analysis, Pizzushi, Scanner, and Alimentation can pull players away from the group. Do not force it when cameras or witnesses are nearby.
• Weapon information is dangerous. If players know where C4, the detonator, or a firearm went, they can narrow the suspect pool fast.
• Leave a plausible trail. If you sabotage Pressure, be ready to talk about Storage, canisters, or another task you were supposedly helping with.

Task Difficulty Table#

The task list below is ordered by how much confusion it tends to create for new players, not by absolute time. Lobby settings can change the workload.

Task	Core Idea	Main Risk	Best Habit
Computers	Send files from A1/A2 computers to another room, verify them, then return to confirm.	Running one file at a time wastes travel.	Sweep both office rooms first and combine computer trips with other tasks.
Vents	Find filters, clean them, and place them in vents that need work.	Filters can be hidden or moved after cleaning.	Keep filters near Machine or the active vent route and say when one is missing.
Delivery	Move packages from Storage to the requested rooms.	Boxes are simple to steal, hide, or misdeliver.	Finish deliveries early while Storage is still busy and witnesses are nearby.
Scanner	Locate scan points using the monitor/audio cues and complete the circles.	Solo scanning narrows your vision and hearing.	Have someone watch the door or check behind you between scans.
Pressure	Fit numbered canisters into two machines and test pressure safely.	Wrong canisters can explode, and missing canisters can stall the task.	Use yellow/red/blue logic and keep all eight canisters accounted for.
Pizzushi	Match table recipes using rice, fish, plant-filled canisters, and the assembly machine.	Too many ingredients moving at once causes mistakes and theft.	Build one order at a time unless the team has spare canisters and clear comms.
Analysis	Use plant samples, extraction, mixing, analyzing, and canister washing.	It is isolated, canister-heavy, and easy to sabotage.	Use two or three canisters and keep one player watching movement through Botanic.
Alimentation	Charge panels with batteries and matching fuse color chains.	It spans multiple rooms and relies on batteries/fuses that Dissidents can hide.	Keep batteries charging in Machine and return unused fuses to a known location.

Pressure Task Guide#

Pressure is the task most likely to waste a beginner lobby. It uses two machines in Machine, each with four canister slots. The canisters are usually found in Storage or already placed near the machines. Community task guides consistently describe eight total canisters: yellow 1, red 2, and blue 3.

The useful rule is this: each slot secretly needs a pressure value. Yellow is the lowest canister, red is middle, and blue is highest. The machine has half pressure and full pressure. A canister that cannot handle the needed value pops out or causes a dangerous failure.

Test Result	What It Means	What To Do
Yellow fails at half pressure	That slot needs blue.	Replace the yellow 1 with a blue 3.
Yellow survives half but fails full	That slot needs red.	Replace the yellow 1 with a red 2.
Red fails at full pressure	That slot needs blue.	Replace the red 2 with a blue 3.
Red survives, but you never tested yellow	The red may be overkill.	Test a yellow before locking the slot, or the second machine may run short.

If you have a partner, one player should watch the canisters while the other presses the buttons. If you are solo, do not lean around the machine to stare at the canisters while testing. Stay near the controls, listen for failures, and replace the canister that was thrown off. Once a machine is correct, do not wander away and let someone remove the canisters.

Pizzushi Route#

Pizzushi uses Storage, Restaurant, the Restaurant side room, Botanic, fish vending, rice dispensers, canisters, and the assembly machine. That sounds ridiculous until you split it into ingredients.

1. Check the restaurant table placemats to see the recipe targets.
2. Find the needed rice: white, brown, or black. Rice can be in Storage or the Restaurant side room.
3. Use a clean canister on the correct rice dispenser, then place that filled canister in the left side of the assembly machine.
4. Use the fish machine in Restaurant to select the needed fish, then place the fish in the middle of the assembly machine.
5. Take a clean canister to Botanic, fill it with the needed plant, then place it in the plant canister slot.
6. Press the assembly buttons from left to right, waiting for each process before pressing the next.
7. Place the completed order on the matching table.

The plant code is easier if you use the first letter as a color clue. W means white, R means red, B means blue, Y means yellow, and G means green. Do not carry three unfinished orders at once unless your team has canisters under control. One missing canister can freeze both Pizzushi and Analysis.

Analysis Route#

Analysis lives in Botanic. The room has an analysis machine, an extraction machine, and a mixing machine. The monitor tells you which plant sample is needed. Some blocks need one plant; others need two plants mixed together.

A clean route is:

1. Read the monitor and convert plant codes into colors.
2. Take one or two clean canisters to the plant room.
3. Fill the canister with the needed plant color.
4. Run it through extraction.
5. If the monitor shows two plants, extract both and mix them before analyzing.
6. Analyze the final sample.
7. Wash dirty canisters in the canister washing room before reusing them.

Analysis is one of the best places for a Dissident to waste time because it is canister-heavy and partially isolated. If you work it with a partner, make the roles explicit: one player reads and processes, the other gathers and washes. If plants or canisters disappear only when your partner is present, say that plainly.

Alimentation Route#

Alimentation uses batteries and fuses. Batteries can be recharged in Machine. Fuses have color combinations, and panels need a chain that matches the colors shown around the fuse slots.

Do this slowly until the fuse logic clicks:

1. Find an open panel with a red indicator.
2. Check the battery slot and charge bar. Replace or recharge the battery if needed.
3. Read the left and right colors around the fuse slots.
4. Find fuses in Storage, Machine, or already attached to panels.
5. Place the two fuses so their color chain connects the requested colors.
6. Wait until the panel completes and turns blue.
7. Recover reusable batteries and fuses when safe, especially if other panels remain.

The biggest Alimentation mistake is letting batteries vanish. Keep at least one charged battery moving with the active worker and leave spares charging in Machine. Dissidents like completed panels because players forget to check them for hidden or stranded fuses.

Weapon Cases and Password Rules#

Readable Steam guides describe weapon cases across the main areas, including Cameras, Machine, Storage, Medical, Restaurant, Botanic, and Offices. Patch state matters, but the current community pattern is that some cases are locked and must be opened with a four-digit code puzzle.

Use the password colors like a Wordle-style deduction puzzle:

Color	Meaning	Next Step
Gray	The digit is not in the password.	Stop using that digit.
Yellow	The digit is in the password but in the wrong position.	Keep the digit, move it elsewhere.
Blue	The digit is correct and in the right position.	Lock that digit in place.

A common safe opener is 0123, then work upward while preserving known digits. Community guides also note that codes do not repeat digits, so guesses like 0000 waste information. If a case opens empty, that does not mean the round is weapon-free. A weapon may have spawned elsewhere, or another player may already have it.

Weapons, C4, and Item Control#

Weapon and item spawns can change with patches, and community spawn-rate guides are based on observed samples rather than official tables. Still, the item categories are useful for match planning.

Item	Why It Matters	How To Play Around It
Shorty, pistol, revolver	They turn isolation into immediate danger.	Report known firearms without giving away every team plan. Avoid solo hard tasks if a gun is missing.
Knife and screwdriver	They make close movement risky and can double as self-defense tools.	Respect corners and body-blocking around isolated task rooms.
C4	Dangerous when paired with a detonator. It can be carried or hidden as a delayed threat.	If C4 is found, track who touched it and whether a detonator has been seen.
Detonator	Community guides describe it as rarer than C4 and able to trigger C4 at distance.	Do not assume the C4 holder is the only dangerous player.
Batteries and fuses	They decide Alimentation speed.	Keep batteries charging and return fuses to Storage or Machine when panels finish.
Canisters	They are shared by Pressure, Pizzushi, and Analysis.	Never let clean canisters scatter. Name the room where you leave them.
Filters and packages	They are simple task items, which makes them perfect sabotage targets.	If one disappears, check hiding spots before accusing the loudest player.

One readable weapon guide also describes gun recharging through the armory: find an access keycard, enter the armory, and use the weapon recharge station. The same guide identifies RU2 red, BO4 blue, and Y8Z yellow plants in Botanic as reload resources. Treat that as a patch-sensitive mechanic: verify it in your current build before building a whole round plan around it.

How To Read Suspicion#

The best suspicion is tied to a task state. Do not accuse only because someone is quiet, loud, new, or standing still. Ask what changed.

• Missing item: Who was near Storage, Machine, Botanic, or Restaurant when it vanished?
• Failed Pressure: Did someone remove a canister, skip the yellow test, or power the machine while another player was checking?
• Slow Computers: Did the remote verifier press the wrong prompt repeatedly?
• Broken Alimentation flow: Are batteries being recharged, or are they being left in dead panels?
• Fake help: Is a player always carrying useful items away from the task that needs them?
• Over-explaining: Is someone giving a long story without naming a room, task, item, or witness?

For Employees, the goal is to turn suspicion into a test. Ask the suspicious player to bring back the missing item, finish a visible task, or pair with a trusted worker. For Dissidents, the goal is to make those tests expensive. If the team spends forty seconds arguing about who should verify a computer, you have already bought time.

Beginner Mistakes To Avoid#

• Taking every item you see. Shared items are not loot. If you move them, say where they are going.
• Doing Pressure blind. Learn half pressure and full pressure before powering random canisters.
• Ignoring canister washing. Dirty canisters slow Pizzushi and Analysis until someone cleans them.
• Leaving hard tasks half-finished. Pressure and Alimentation can be reset or sabotaged if everyone walks away.
• Trusting one partner forever. Pairing is good, but rotate witnesses if the same player keeps being present when items vanish.
• Chasing kills instead of tasks. Employees lose by wasting time. Dissidents lose by making obvious plays when subtle delay was enough.
• Using old guide facts as law. Weapon cases, spawn rates, and item behavior can change. Use guide facts as a starting point and verify in live matches.

Quick Role Checklists#

Employee Checklist

• Open map and task list at the start.
• Announce your first task and who, if anyone, is pairing with you.
• Move batteries, fuses, canisters, filters, and packages toward their task rooms.
• Use two-player coverage for Pressure, Analysis, Scanner, and long Alimentation routes.
• Report missing items as soon as the task state proves something is wrong.
• Do not let one suspicious event stop all task progress.

Dissident Checklist

• Learn the real task routes so your fake route looks normal.
• Delay critical shared items before making a risky attack.
• Hide filters, boxes, canisters, batteries, or fuses only when you have a reason to be near them.
• Use C4 only when the detonator situation and witness pattern make sense.
• Spread suspicion with concrete observations, not random accusations.
• Leave enough task progress visible that you do not look like you are doing nothing.

Patch and Source Caution#

LOCKDOWN Protocol has active community guides from different patch windows. Some readable Steam guides include update notes or comments suggesting mechanics changed, especially around weapon cases, spawn behavior, and C4/detonator frequency. The strategy above uses only facts that were either official, repeated across readable references, or framed as community observations. If a current match contradicts an older guide, trust the live build.

Sources and Credits#

Official game metadata and screenshots are from the official Steam page for LOCKDOWN Protocol. Task, item, and strategy details were cross-checked against readable community guides. Blocked or verification-only pages were recorded but not used as article evidence.