How to Beat Virus Brutal Mode in Plague Inc.

Last Updated: February 16, 2022 Tested

The virus-type plague is one of the 7 standard plagues in Plague Inc. It is unlocked by finishing bacteria in Normal or Brutal difficulty. The virus-type plague mutates symptoms more frequently than other plague types. Its unique ability, Viral Instability, increases the chances of mutation, which can make spreading the virus before it gets lethal difficult.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Creating Your Virus

1
Assign genes you prefer for your virus. You can assign any Genes you'd like, as they don't affect the strategy too much. A few recommended Genes include:
- DNA Gene - Metabolic Jump
- Travel Gene - Native Biome/Teracyte
- Evolution Gene - Sympto-Stasis
- Mutation Gene - Genetic Mimic
- Environment Gene - Extremophile (Or any unlocked)
2
Choose China as your starting country. China is one of the most ideal starting locations when you need to spread quickly as it has one of the highest populations, and infects surrounding countries quickly. China's airport and harbor mean the virus spreads to other countries quicker and easier.

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3
Be ready to devolve lethal symptoms. The virus will mutate quickly, so you need to be ready to devolve any lethal symptoms if they appear too soon.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Infecting the World

1
Start with basic infectious symptoms. These will help spread your virus as quickly as possible, which is important as you are racing against your own mutations. Focus on the following symptoms first:
- Rash
- Skin Lesions
- Sweating
- Sneezing
- Coughing
2
Evolve Transmissions. You need to spread the plague fast before the mutating starts, so start working on some basic transmission abilities. Upgrading Air and Water makes your virus effective in crossing countries by airplane or ships. Evolve the following transmissions, in order:
- Air 1
- Water 1
- Drug Resistance 1
- Air 2
- Water 2
- Extreme Bioaerosol
3
Get more infectious symptoms. Return to your Symptoms screen and load up on every symptom you can that's not lethal.
4
Devolve lethal symptoms. Make sure that you are always devolving lethal symptoms before they have a chance to cause too much damage.
5
Increase your resistance. You'll want to start hardening your virus to help it travel to more hostile climates as well as slow down the cure. Evolve the following:
- Cold 1
- Heat 1
6
Add some more transmissions. You'll want to start actively spreading the virus now, and a large portion of China as well as some other countries should be infected. Evolve the following:
- Bird 1 and 2
- Livestock 1 and 2
- Blood 1 and 2
7
Increase the symptoms. It's time to get a little lethal. Evolve a few symptoms that have minor lethality, such as Paralysis or Coma. These will give you access to the really deadly symptoms.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Destroying the Population

1
Harden the virus. Before you unleash the full effects of the virus, make it a little more resistant to slow down the cure. Evolve the following:
- Genetic Hardening 1 and 2
2
Pile on the symptoms and transmissions. At this point, most of the world should be infected and you should have a large reserve of DNA points. Load up on the symptoms with low-lethality, and keep upgrading your transmission capabilities.
3
Wait until the entire world is infected. You don't want to go full-lethal until everyone in the world has been infected. If you start too soon, the sick will die off before they can infect the last healthy people.
4
Evolve every lethal symptom possible. Once everyone is infected, it's time to let loose with every lethal symptom you can evolve. Start with Total Organ Failure and Necrosis, and move on to Internal Hemorrhaging and other highly-lethal symptoms.
5
Fend off the cure. If the cure starts sneaking up on you, use the Genetic ReShuffle ability to slow down the progress. You likely won't need to worry too much about the cure, but it may be an issue if you had difficulty spreading the infection early on.

Community Q&A

Question

How do I get Genetic Hardening in a Virus? I'm on step 3.1.

Brandon 567123

Community Answer

Tap the disease button, then go to abilities. First you must have drug resistance, which is the drug-looking thing. Upgrade the bottle with liquid in it.