Plague Inc. is a strategy simulation game where you aim to infect and eradicate humanity with a deadly pathogen. The Prion, a slow-acting and insidious disease, presents a unique challenge, especially on Brutal difficulty. Its slow onset and resistance to research make it tricky to master. This guide provides a comprehensive, step-by-step strategy to conquer Brutal Mode with the Prion.
Understanding the Prion’s Strengths and Weaknesses
Before diving into the strategy, it’s crucial to understand the Prion’s characteristics:
- Slow Incubation: The Prion incubates slowly, making it difficult to detect early on. This is both a blessing and a curse. It allows you to spread the disease widely before symptoms appear, but it also means you have less time to react once the world starts working on a cure.
- High Neuronal Affinity: The Prion targets the brain, leading to neurological symptoms. These symptoms, while debilitating, can also be slow to manifest.
- Genetic Hardening: The Prion is naturally resistant to research and has a slow mutation rate. This means it’s harder for the world to develop a cure, but it also means you need to be proactive in managing mutations.
- Weakness to Heat and Cold: Like other pathogens, the Prion’s transmissibility is affected by climate.
The Winning Strategy: A Detailed Walkthrough
This strategy focuses on maximizing early spread, delaying symptom onset until a large portion of the world is infected, and then unleashing a wave of deadly symptoms to overwhelm humanity. It emphasizes utilizing the Prion’s unique abilities to control mutations and resist the cure.
1. Gene Selection: Setting the Stage for Success
Gene selection is critical for a successful Prion run on Brutal. Here’s a recommended gene setup:
- DNA Gene: ATP Boost. This provides a crucial starting boost to DNA points, allowing for faster early evolution.
- Travel Gene: Aquacyte. Enhances transmission via water. This is vital for spreading the disease to islands and across continents early in the game. Alternatively, if you prefer, you could use Aerocyte, which increases air transmission, though Aquacyte is generally considered more reliable.
- Evolution Gene: Sympto-Stasis. Increases the cost of symptom mutation. This is *essential* for controlling mutations and preventing the world from detecting the disease too early. You *need* to keep your pathogen stealthy until it’s too late.
- Mutation Gene: Genetic Mimic. Slightly reduces the rate at which the cure progresses. Every little bit helps on Brutal!
- Environment Gene: Extremophile. Provides a small boost to adaptability in all environments. This is a good all-around choice, ensuring your Prion can thrive in various climates. Alternatively, if you are confident in starting in a specific environment, you could choose a gene that boosts infectivity in that climate (e.g., Cold Resistance for Russia or Canada).
2. Starting Location: Saudi Arabia
Begin in Saudi Arabia. Here’s why:
- Central Location: Saudi Arabia is centrally located, providing easy access to Africa, Asia, and Europe.
- Variety of Climates: It has both hot and arid regions, allowing for early adaptation to different environments.
- Seaports and Airports: It possesses both seaports and airports, facilitating rapid global spread.
- Population Density: Has good population density allowing for quick initial infection rates.
Immediately begin evolving the following transmissions:
- Water I
- Air I
These will enhance spread through ships and planes, rapidly infecting other countries. Do not upgrade Water II or Air II yet. They are more expensive and the initial boost from level 1 is more cost effective at this early stage.
3. The Stealth Spread Phase (Early Game): DNA Acquisition and Global Infection
The early game focuses on maximizing global infection while remaining undetected. Resist the urge to evolve symptoms at this stage. Your Sympto-Stasis gene will help keep random mutations under control, but you need to actively manage them. Any visible symptoms are a red flag to the world. Here’s the breakdown:
- Transmission Upgrades: After Water I and Air I, evolve Water II and Air II. Then, acquire Livestock 1 and 2 and Rodent 1 and 2. These enhance spread through animals and are relatively subtle. Focus on maximizing spread through all available vectors.
- Ability Upgrades: Invest in Drug Resistance 1, then Cold Resistance 1 and Heat Resistance 1. These abilities improve the Prion’s survivability in various climates and make it harder to combat with medication. This helps spread to colder countries like Greenland, Iceland, and Canada, which are often difficult to infect. Follow this by Drug Resistance 2, Cold Resistance 2 and Heat Resistance 2.
- Managing Mutations: This is *critical*. As your Prion spreads, it will inevitably mutate. Open the News Feed frequently and check for new symptoms. *Immediately* devolve *any* symptoms that appear. This is why the Sympto-Stasis gene is so important; it makes it more expensive for symptoms to mutate, giving you more time to accumulate DNA points to devolve them. Do not hesitate to spend DNA on devolving – maintaining stealth is paramount. Prioritize devolving symptoms that cause visibility or severity (e.g., coughing, sneezing, fever, skin lesions).
DNA Acquisition Strategy: Initially, the DNA points come from infecting new countries. As infection rates slow, you’ll need to rely on other methods. Bubbles will spawn frequently as the disease spreads. Tap these bubbles diligently. Don’t be afraid to pause the game frequently to tap bubbles, especially when the game speed is increased. Countries with lower healthcare and higher populations will typically generate more DNA bubbles. Keep an eye out for orange DNA bubbles which yield significantly more points.
Infection Target: Your goal is to infect as much of the world population as possible before evolving any lethal symptoms. Aim for at least 60-70% global infection. The higher, the better. Monitor the world map and focus on infecting countries that are lagging behind. Use the transmission upgrades strategically to reach these countries. Watch out for countries like Greenland, Madagascar, and the Caribbean islands, which tend to be resistant due to their geographic isolation.
4. The Lethality Phase (Mid-Game): Unleashing the Prion’s Fury
Once you’ve reached a sufficient infection rate (60-70% or higher), it’s time to unleash the Prion’s devastating potential. Save your game at this point. This allows you to revert to this point if things go sideways.
The key to success in this phase is to evolve symptoms that rapidly increase severity and lethality. Here’s a recommended symptom evolution path:
- Initial Symptoms: Begin with symptoms that increase infectivity without immediately raising alarms. Evolve the following in this order: Nausea, Vomiting, Diarrhea. These increase infectivity through fecal matter and bodily fluids without immediately causing the world to panic.
- Neurological Symptoms: Now, target the brain with neurological symptoms: Headache, Insomnia, Confusion, Seizures, Paralysis. These symptoms will start to cripple the infected population, making it harder for the world to function and slowing down cure progress.
- Mental Deterioration: Further amplify the mental deterioration: Dementia, Coma. These symptoms are extremely debilitating and significantly increase the death rate.
- Total Organ Failure: Finally, push the lethality to its maximum with: Total Organ Failure. This is the deadliest symptom and will cause a rapid and catastrophic collapse of the infected population.
Important Considerations During Lethality Phase:
- Cure Development: As you evolve lethal symptoms, the world will start working on a cure. Monitor the cure progress closely. If the cure progress is too rapid, invest in abilities that hinder cure development. Evolve Genetic Hardening 1, 2, and 3. These abilities significantly slow down cure research. If cure progress is *extremely* rapid (e.g., due to lucky research events), consider evolving Cure Impede abilities (e.g., Code Fragment Interception) from the ability tree, but be aware that these are expensive and may not always be necessary. Only use these as a last resort.
- Symptom Management: Continue to monitor for random mutations. If new symptoms appear that are not part of your planned evolution path, devolve them. Focus on maintaining the lethality and severity of your chosen symptoms.
- Population Control (Optional): In some cases, the infected population may become so large that it slows down the spread of the disease or strains your DNA resources. If this happens, you can evolve symptoms like Cytopathic Reanimation followed by Cannibalism, which will help to control the infected population and spread the disease faster. However, use these symptoms with caution as they can also significantly increase the severity and alert the world sooner.
5. The Endgame: Eradicating Humanity
With Total Organ Failure unleashed and the cure hindered, the world will quickly succumb to the Prion. Here’s what to focus on in the final stages:
- Cure Suppression: Continue to monitor the cure progress and invest in abilities to slow it down if necessary. Prioritize Genetic Hardening and consider Cure Impede if the cure is progressing too quickly.
- Maintaining Lethality: Ensure that your lethal symptoms remain dominant. Devolve any non-lethal symptoms that may randomly appear.
- Patience: The Prion is a slow killer. Be patient and let the disease run its course. The death toll will steadily climb until humanity is eradicated.
Alternative Strategies and Considerations
While the above strategy is highly effective, here are some alternative approaches and considerations:
- Starting Location Variations: While Saudi Arabia is recommended, you can also start in other locations like India or China, which have large populations and easy access to multiple continents. However, these locations may be more challenging due to higher healthcare levels.
- Aggressive Symptom Strategy: Some players prefer a more aggressive strategy, evolving symptoms early on to cause chaos and disrupt the world’s response. This approach can be risky, as it can alert the world to the disease sooner and lead to a faster cure development. If you choose this strategy, focus on symptoms that cause social unrest and economic disruption (e.g., Insanity, Paralysis) to hinder the world’s ability to combat the disease.
- Zoonotic Shift: Using Zoonotic Shift earlier can help with transmission, though not as useful as the recommended strategy.
Troubleshooting Common Problems
Even with a solid strategy, you may encounter challenges. Here are some common problems and how to address them:
- Greenland/Iceland/Madagascar Resistance: These countries are notoriously difficult to infect due to their geographic isolation and proactive quarantine measures. Ensure you have maxed out your air and water transmission, and consider investing in abilities that improve infectivity in cold climates (if necessary). Regularly monitor these countries and focus your efforts on infecting them.
- Rapid Cure Development: If the cure is progressing too quickly, prioritize Genetic Hardening and consider Cure Impede abilities. Also, ensure that you are devolving any symptoms that are not part of your planned evolution path, as these can increase awareness and accelerate cure research.
- Low Infection Rate: If your infection rate is stalling, focus on evolving transmission abilities that target the countries that are lagging behind. Consider investing in special abilities like Drug Resistance to overcome resistance to medication.
- Constant Mutations: If you are struggling to control mutations, ensure that you have the Sympto-Stasis gene selected and that you are actively devolving any unwanted symptoms.
Tips and Tricks for Prion Brutal Mode
- Pause Frequently: Pause the game frequently to tap DNA bubbles, manage mutations, and monitor the world map. This is especially important on Brutal difficulty, where every decision counts.
- Prioritize DNA Spending: Focus on spending DNA on abilities that are essential to your strategy, such as transmission upgrades, resistance abilities, and cure suppression abilities. Avoid wasting DNA on unnecessary symptoms or abilities.
- Monitor News Feeds: Pay close attention to the news feeds, as they can provide valuable information about the world’s response to the disease and any emerging threats.
- Adapt to the Situation: Be prepared to adapt your strategy based on the situation. The game is dynamic, and unexpected events can occur. Stay flexible and adjust your approach as needed.
- Save Frequently: Save your game frequently, especially before making any major decisions. This allows you to revert to a previous state if things go wrong.
- Use Game Speed Wisely: Use the game speed control to your advantage. Slow down the game when you need to make precise decisions or manage mutations, and speed it up when you are waiting for the disease to spread.
- Restart if Necessary: Don’t be afraid to restart the game if you make a mistake or get off to a bad start. Brutal mode is challenging, and it may take multiple attempts to succeed.
Conclusion
Beating Prion on Brutal Mode in Plague Inc. requires careful planning, strategic execution, and a bit of luck. By following this step-by-step guide and adapting your strategy to the specific circumstances of the game, you can increase your chances of success and eradicate humanity with this insidious pathogen. Remember to focus on maximizing early spread, controlling mutations, and unleashing a wave of deadly symptoms at the right time. Good luck, and happy infecting!