diff --git a/Assets/Scripts/ServerShared/Scenarios/LockOn.cs b/Assets/Scripts/ServerShared/Scenarios/LockOn.cs
index 0aab7dabe..4734ab8ef 100644
--- a/Assets/Scripts/ServerShared/Scenarios/LockOn.cs
+++ b/Assets/Scripts/ServerShared/Scenarios/LockOn.cs
@@ -10,10 +10,11 @@ public sealed class LockOn : Scenario
     public override uint Seed => 113;
     public override bool Ambient => false;
 
-    // The hostile starts far beyond the player's sight and the hostile's own, 4000 m ahead facing the player. Stepping the
-    // arena headlessly, it closes to about 3000 m, sees the player after some eight seconds, and locks two ticks later;
-    // at Duel's 900 m (and at 600 m) it sees and locks within a second.
-    public static readonly CultMath.float2 HostileAt = float2(0, 4000);
+    // The hostile starts about 4000 m off, to the side of the player's axis, facing the player. At that range its passive
+    // sensors hold no track of the player (the test asks the sim's own PassiveInfo against the detection threshold); the
+    // player sees the hostile a little sooner, at about tick 20. The hostile closes, sees the player some eight seconds in,
+    // and locks two ticks later. At Duel's 900 m (and at 600 m) it sees and locks within a second.
+    public static readonly CultMath.float2 HostileAt = float2(1500, 3700);
 
     public override Galaxy Generate(GalaxyStage stage) => stage.Prelude(DemoTerminus.Cast);
 
@@ -38,6 +39,6 @@ public sealed class LockOn : Scenario
             ("Store-All Plus", int2(2, 8), None));
 
         stage.Player(fighter, float2(0, 0), facing: float2(0, 1));
-        stage.Place(fighter, HostileAt, facing: float2(0, -1), stance: ScenarioStance.Hostile, piloted: true);
+        stage.Place(fighter, HostileAt, facing: normalize(-HostileAt), stance: ScenarioStance.Hostile, piloted: true);
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Aetheria.Shared.Tests/LockOnScenarioTests.cs b/tests/Aetheria.Shared.Tests/LockOnScenarioTests.cs
index 3af2fef45..36c0136da 100644
--- a/tests/Aetheria.Shared.Tests/LockOnScenarioTests.cs
+++ b/tests/Aetheria.Shared.Tests/LockOnScenarioTests.cs
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+using System.Collections.Generic;
 using System.Linq;
 using Xunit;
 using static CultMath.math;
@@ -6,9 +7,9 @@ using static CultMath.math;
 // test launches the scenario the way New Game does and steps what it staged.
 public sealed partial class RunStartTests
 {
-    // Lock On: the hostile starts piloted, beyond its sight of the player, and the player has no incoming paint. Stepped at
-    // .1 s, it closes, finds the player and locks: a Track paint reaches the player bearing toward the hostile, and not at
-    // once, because the hostile had to find the player first. The tick is the lock's, at seed 113 it is 83 (8.4 s).
+    // Lock On: the hostile starts piloted, facing the player, beyond its own sight of the player, and the player has no
+    // incoming paint. Stepped at .1 s, it closes, finds the player and locks: a Track paint reaches the player bearing
+    // toward the hostile, and its Strength rises from nothing as the lock tightens.
     [Fact]
     public void LockOnSituation()
     {
@@ -19,25 +20,38 @@ public sealed partial class RunStartTests
         Assert.True(player.IsHostileTo(hostile) && hostile.IsHostileTo(player), "the hostile is hostile both ways");
         Assert.Equal(1, AgentsOf(arena, hostile));
 
-        arena.Update(0f);
-        Assert.DoesNotContain(hostile, player.VisibleEnemies);
+        var toPlayer = normalize(player.Position.xz - hostile.Position.xz);
+        Assert.True(dot(normalize(hostile.Direction), toPlayer) >= cos(radians(5f)), "the hostile faces the player");
+
+        // The first real sensing tick: the hostile holds no track of the player, and the sim's own passive sensing, asked for
+        // the player's signature at the staged place, settles below the detection threshold: the staging is out of its sight.
+        arena.Update(.1f);
+        Assert.DoesNotContain(player, hostile.VisibleEnemies);
         Assert.DoesNotContain(player.IncomingPaints, paint => paint.Mode == PaintMode.Track);
-        Assert.DoesNotContain(player, hostile.VisibleEnemies); // it starts without a track of the player
+        Assert.True(player.Visibility > 0f, "the player shows a signature to be seen by");
+        var threshold = player.ItemManager.GameplaySettings.TargetDetectionInfoThreshold;
+        var settled = hostile.PassiveInfo(player.Position.xz, player.Visibility);
+        Assert.True(settled <= threshold, $"the hostile would settle at {settled} on the player, above the detection threshold {threshold}: staged inside its sight");
 
         var lockedAt = -1;
         var bearingDot = 0f;
-        for (var tick = 0; tick < 600 && lockedAt < 0; tick++)
+        var strengths = new List<float>();
+        for (var tick = 0; tick < 600 && (lockedAt < 0 || tick < lockedAt + 40); tick++)
         {
             arena.Update(.1f);
             foreach (var paint in player.IncomingPaints.Where(paint => paint.Mode == PaintMode.Track))
             {
-                lockedAt = tick;
-                bearingDot = dot(normalize(paint.Bearing), normalize(hostile.Position.xz - player.Position.xz));
+                if (lockedAt < 0)
+                {
+                    lockedAt = tick;
+                    bearingDot = dot(normalize(paint.Bearing), toPlayer * -1f);
+                }
+                strengths.Add(paint.Strength);
             }
         }
         Assert.True(lockedAt >= 0, "the hostile never locked the player within 600 ticks of .1 s");
         Assert.True(bearingDot >= cos(radians(5f)), "the warning points at the hostile");
-        // Not at the staging: the hostile had to close and find the player first (a hostile staged inside sight locks within 10 ticks).
-        Assert.InRange(lockedAt, 40, 200);
+        Assert.True(strengths.First() < strengths.Last(), $"the lock tightens: Strength went {strengths.First()} to {strengths.Last()}");
+        Assert.True(strengths.Zip(strengths.Skip(1), (a, b) => b >= a).All(rising => rising), "the lock never loosens while it holds");
     }
 }