Conquering Bio-Weapon Brutal Mode: A Detailed Plague Inc. Guide

Plague Inc.’s Bio-Weapon is notorious for its high risk, high reward gameplay. On Brutal mode, that risk is amplified to the extreme. A single misstep can lead to a swift cure, making it arguably the most challenging pathogen to master. This guide provides a detailed, step-by-step approach to help you conquer Bio-Weapon Brutal mode, ensuring you decimate humanity before they develop a cure. Prepare for a tense battle against time and medical science!

Understanding the Bio-Weapon’s Unique Challenges

Before we dive into strategy, let’s acknowledge the unique hurdles the Bio-Weapon presents on Brutal mode:

• Instability: The Bio-Weapon is inherently unstable. Its lethality increases over time, but this also causes the research progress on a cure to accelerate simultaneously.
• Rapid Cure Progress: The cure progress for a Bio-Weapon on Brutal mode is significantly faster than any other pathogen. You will feel the pressure to destroy humanity before the cure reaches 100%.
• Limited DNA Points: DNA points become precious commodities, especially at the beginning where you need to spend points wisely to get your disease rolling, as you don’t want to waste them on random symptom evolution.
• Starting Location: The location you choose can drastically impact your initial spread, and therefore your success with the Bio-Weapon.

Phase 1: The Initial Spread (Early Game)

The initial phase is crucial. We need to establish a solid foothold before the cure research picks up pace. Here’s what you should prioritize:

1. Choose Your Starting Location:
   • Saudi Arabia: This is generally the best starting point for a Bio-Weapon. It provides a hot and dry climate to help with initial spread, access to air travel hubs to reach Europe and Asia, and a sizable population to infect. It also faces challenges in medical infrastructure.
   • India: A close second, India offers a vast population to infect and a solid starting base with neighboring countries to continue your spread.
   • Avoid: Greenland, Iceland, and other isolated islands are terrible starting locations for a Bio-Weapon. Their low population and difficult access can significantly slow down your spread, making it easy for a cure to catch up.
2. Evolve the Right Traits (Initial DNA spending):
   • Air 1 and Water 1: These are your absolute priorities. These allow you to start spreading via air and water routes, which are critical for global domination. The Bio-Weapon requires rapid global spread.
   • Coughing and Sneezing: These two symptoms are inexpensive, give a slight increase in infectivity, and are useful to help increase your infectivity in the early game.
3. Avoid Lethality in the Early Game: Do not evolve lethality symptoms at this stage. Lethality will drastically accelerate the cure progress and put your game at risk right away. Focus exclusively on infectivity, as spreading quickly is the key early on.
4. Observe and React: Keep an eye on the world news. If any country is making a significant push on the cure, or if any particular country is remaining uninfected, act immediately to increase spread within this area by focusing the chosen transmission routes.

Phase 2: Global Domination (Mid-Game)

Once your disease has established a presence in most major continents, it’s time to focus on more effective and global spread. Here’s how to proceed:

1. Upgrade Transmission Methods:
   • Air 2 and Water 2: These upgrades are essential for speeding up spread around the world. You should now have almost full transmission across the globe.
   • Insect 1 and Rodent 1 (If you have spare DNA): These are good methods for spread in countries with poor hygiene. These should be purchased only if you have DNA remaining after acquiring the other essential transmission routes.
2. Increase Infectivity:
   • Rash and Sweating: Continue to focus on non-lethal symptoms that drastically increase infectivity.
   • Nausea: Another inexpensive symptom that has a good increase in infectivity.
3. Delay the Cure: This stage you can begin using the cure delay tools.
   • Genetic Hardening 1 and 2: A must in every Bio-Weapon playthrough. This greatly increases resistance to the cure research process and delays the speed of cure development.
   • Drug Resistance 1 and 2: This will increase disease resistance to research, and it will force researchers to begin working again on some areas of research which will again, delay the cure process.
4. Monitor Cure Progression: Keep a close eye on the cure progression bar. This is crucial, and you have to react accordingly.
5. Watch Out for the ‘Cure’ News: Always, keep an eye out for news that increases cure progress or decreases your disease’s effectiveness. React quickly and spend a few DNA to make sure your disease stays ahead of the cure progress.

Phase 3: Lethality and Endgame (Late-Game)

Once the world is almost entirely infected, it’s time to ramp up the lethality and finish off humanity. Be prepared, as this is where the cure will be at its most dangerous.

1. Evolve Lethality Symptoms:
   • Total Organ Failure: This is your go-to lethality symptom. It is cheap and very lethal.
   • Internal Haemorrhaging: A good lethality symptom that will work together with the Organ Failure symptom to kill as fast as possible.
   • Paralysis: Another lethal symptom that should help you bring humanity to the brink of extinction.
2. Increase Severity: Spend on any symptom that has the ‘severity’ tag, as this increases lethality and speed of death.
3. Gene Modification (Optional): If you have any DNA points remaining at this point, and you can purchase the ability to modify your genome, do so. It can help boost the lethality even more.
4. Use the ‘Symptom Shuffle’ (Optional): If you see that your disease is not killing fast enough, you can use a symptom shuffle. This will change your disease’s symptoms and might result in more lethal symptoms, but with the risk of changing to less lethal ones as well. Only use this method if you’re comfortable with the risk.
5. Final Push: Once the lethality kicks in, humanity will start dying off rapidly. The cure progress is going to speed up, but your aim is to kill everyone before the cure is completed. This is going to be close, you have to keep an eye on the cure and make sure no one survives.

Advanced Strategies & Tips

• Gene Upgrades: Gene upgrades are not essential for winning, but they can help you have an easier run. Consider gene upgrades such as the starting DNA boost, the cure slowdown, and the increased transmission routes.
• Adapt to News Events: Pay attention to news pop-ups regarding research and healthcare. They can tell you where to focus or if any countries are making big cure breakthroughs.
• Use Cheat Codes (If Necessary): If you are struggling, don’t be afraid to use cheat codes to boost your DNA or slow the cure, but remember that this might ruin the game experience for some players.
• Practice Makes Perfect: The Bio-Weapon is tough to master, even for experienced players. Be prepared for several attempts before you finally succeed.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Evolving Lethality Too Early: This is the cardinal sin of Bio-Weapon games. The cure will ramp up incredibly fast if you do this before spreading.
• Ignoring Transmission: Failing to invest in essential transmission methods early on, mainly water and air, will halt your global domination.
• Neglecting the Cure: You have to keep an eye on the cure progress at all times, neglecting it can lead to your downfall.
• Panic Spending: Do not spend your DNA on random stuff. Plan carefully what you will spend it on and don’t change it in the middle of the game. This also involves choosing carefully which lethality symptoms you should spend your DNA on.
• Giving up Early: It is an intense battle against time and it is going to be difficult, but never give up. The Bio-Weapon is a challenging disease, but it can be mastered if you put enough time and effort to it.

Conclusion

Beating the Bio-Weapon on Brutal mode in Plague Inc. is no easy task, but with this detailed strategy and careful planning, it is entirely possible. The key is to prioritize rapid spread, delay the cure, and then unleash devastating lethality. Remember to stay patient, adapt to changing circumstances, and don’t be afraid to experiment. With practice and perseverance, you’ll be able to conquer even the toughest of challenges that this unique pathogen provides. Now, go forth and bring an end to humanity!