How to Beat Bio–Weapon Brutal Mode in Plague Inc.

Last Updated: May 7, 2022

Plague Inc. is a strategy video game available on iOS, Android, PC, and Mac. In the game your player must create a deadly pathogen and destroy the world with the plague that ensues. Throughout the game you will come across enemy groups attempting to thwart your master plan. The Bio-Weapon is the deadliest plague in the game and also the last of the challenges. This weapon is unique in that it has an incredibly powerful ability that can quickly kill anyone that is infected. The goal for the Bio-Weapon challenge is to minimize the lethal effects of your virus until everyone in the world is infected, and then unleash the horror of the Bio-Weapon on everyone at once.

Part 1

Part 1 of 3:

Creating Your Virus

1
Choose your genes. When starting the game, you will be able to choose a few upgrades for your virus. What you choose here will have a huge impact on how the game plays out, so choose wisely. There are a few suggested upgrades that you should pick to make this game easier:
- DNA Gene - ATP Boost. This will give you extra DNA points at the beginning.
- Travel Gene - Aquacyte. Basically required to infect difficult islands like Greenland, Iceland, and New Zealand.
- Evolution Gene - Patho-Stasis. This will make your upgrades much cheaper.
- Mutation Gene - Genetic Mimic. This slows the cure progression, offsetting the negative effects of the Patho-Stasis upgrade.
- Environment Gene - Extremophile. This boosts the infection rate in every environmental condition.
2
Buy some initial upgrades. Before choosing a starting country, use your ATP Boost bonus to purchase a few starting upgrades. These upgrades will increase ineffectiveness while keeping lethal mutations from showing up too early.
- Coughing
- Gene Compression 1 and 2
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3
Choose a starting country. Your starting country is very important, as this will determine how quickly the virus starts spreading. Most guides recommend starting in India due to the large population and proximity to China, though others suggest Saudi Arabia.
- Work will begin on the cure shortly after the game begins.

Part 2

Part 2 of 3:

Infecting the World

1
Evolve essential upgrades. At the start of the game, you should prioritize certain upgrades to give you a much better chance later on. As you start collecting DNA, evolve the following upgrades, in order as soon as you can afford them:
- Water 1
- Air 1
- Gene Compression 3
- Deactivated Modified Genes - This combined with Gene Compression 3 will slow the lethal effects down significantly.
- Water 2
- Air 2
2
Devolve random symptoms. Occasionally, your virus will randomly mutate. It's highly recommended that you devolve these symptoms as they appear, as they can start killing people before the infection spreads to everyone.
3
Evolve your second set of upgrades. This next set of upgrades is designed to greatly increase the infectivity of your virus. Evolve these in order as soon as your have the DNA to afford them:
- Cold Resistance 1
- Extreme Bioaerosol
- Cold Resistance 2
- Drug Resistance 1 and 2
- If people start dying from your virus during this period, get Deactivated Modified Genes 2 as soon as possible.
4
Wait for the world to get infected. At this point, you need to wait for everyone on the planet to be infected with the virus. Once you receive the message that there is no one healthy left, you're ready to flip the switch on the virus.
- If people start dying while you're waiting for everyone to get infected, get Nucleic Acid Neutralisation 1. If more people keep dying, evolve Nucleic Acid Neutralisation 2. If it kills again, evolve Nucleic Acid Neutralisation 3.
- You will need to unlock the three Nucleic Acid Neutralisation abilities no matter what, so you may as well get them while you're waiting for everyone to get infected. in order to unlock the Annihilate gene.
- Remember to keep devolving any random mutations that pop-up. Your only symptoms should be Coughing, Rash, Cysts, Sneezing, or Sweating.

Part 3

Part 3 of 3:

Destroying the Population

1
Activate the Annihilate gene. This is the ultimate symptom, and will start killing people incredibly quick. It is essential that everyone in the world be infected before you activate this gene.
2
Slow the cure. At this point, everyone in the world is going to die, unless the cure arrives first. Your only remaining challenge is to ensure that the cure does not get finished. The following abilities will put a serious damper on the cure's progress:
- Genetic Hardening 1 and 2
- Insomnia
- Paranoia
- Seizures
- Insanity
- Inflammation
- Paralysis
- Coma
3
Shuffle the genes. If the cure is still progressing, upgrade Genetic ReShuffle 1 and 2. it shouldn't take much to watch the whole world burn at this point!^{[1]
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Community Q&A

Question

Why don't you don't activate HEAT 1? I've followed the steps, but the hot, arid countries are the last to get infected, and are much slower when they do. What should I do?

Community Answer

Start in a hot country such as Saudi Arabia. When you start in a hot country, you automatically get some heat resistance.
Question

Which is the Annihilate gene?

Community Answer

The Annihilate gene is the gene in the middle of the three ability columns, it has a biohazard symbol on it.
Question

I can't find the Annihilate gene?

Community Answer

You need to get all of the bio-weapon’s special abilities. These are Deactivate Modified Genes 1-3, Nucleic Acid Neutralization 1-3, and Gene Compression 1-3. Once you get all of those abilities, the Annihilate gene is unlocked and shows up on the abilities. This ability immediately makes your bio-weapon extremely lethal, even without normal lethal symptoms.