How quickly you are able to finish is dictated by how effectively you move zombie hordes in the late stages of the game and where Z-Com establishes their first base. Several factors also affect the success of this strategy such as sterilization events, Z-Com expansion rate, and country infection order.
I'll try to explain, in as much detail as possible, the ways to make this strategy work for you.
Latest Game Stats
As already stated above, the main objective of this strategy is to finish within 365 days. The screenshot above are the stats I had on my most recent game using this strategy.
Recommended Gene Setup
- ATP Boost - 8 DNA at the beginning of the game would help evolve a symptom that could potentially boost infection rates.
- Suppression - As soon as you start activating zombies, countries will start to close every possible point-of-entries they have, having this gene will let you easily infect countries close-by who close their borders early
- Spliced Activation - We'll make full use of the zombie horde ability in this strategy, so having this gene, which stops the constant increase of active-ability costs, is very beneficial
- Darwinist - You actually want symptoms to mutate, any symptom mutation will greatly help, especially zombie combat symptom mutations.
- Xerophile - We'll be starting our plague in an Arid country. We want this gene to slightly increase infectivity.
Pre-Zombie Stage
We'll be starting our plague in Saudi Arabia. Evolve the following symptoms as soon as you can:
- Hyper Salivation
- Polyphagia
- Gastroenteritis
Something you do not want to happen during this stage are the sterilization events. Airplane sterilization won't really affect anything, but Ship sterilization will lessen your plagues ability to infect other countries. It's still fine, though, if ship sterilization happens, but you will finish much later.
Continue by evolving the following transmissions
- Blood 1
- Air 1 & 2
After the above transmissions are evolved, we'll now rush to activate zombie mode as soon as possible. Evolve the following as soon as possible.
- Cannibalism
- Cytopathic Reanimation
- Blood 2
- Air 3
Let the Zombie Apocalypse begin
After evolving Cytopathic Reanimation, zombies will now start to appearing. After evolving Air 3, quickly continue by evolving the following in this order.
- Anaerobic Resuscitation
- Enhanced Motor Control
- Peptide Surge
- Acidic Reflux
- Naja Mortis
- Autothysis
The symptoms above will significantly boost both zombie infectivity and combat abilities. You won't have to worry about your zombies being quickly decimated by Z-Com for some time. Now we move into evolving Horde abilities to make our zombie hordes as big, and as fast, as possible.
- Horde Instinct
- Stuctured Travel
- Drifting Fermentation
- Dyskinetic Movement
- Echopraxia
- Engorged Quadriceps
- Horde Mentality
- Horde Vocalisation
- Horde Pheromones
Horde abilities above will greatly increase the effectiveness of our zombie horde active ability. Hordes will contain millions of zombies and move as quickly as it possibly can.
Effective Usage of Zombie Hordes
This part of the strategy will dictate if you're going to be able to finish fast. Obviously, you'd want to send your zombie hordes to uninfected island countries first, then focus on Z-Com bases if possible.
There is no fixed way in moving zombie hordes, countries are infected in different ways and you'll have to adapt accordingly. Here are some tips that I think could help you use zombie hordes better
- Play the game on normal speed. This helps because you'll be able to easily oversee the countries you need to focus on.
- Pause the game if you plan to use multiple zombie hordes. Pausing could be of great help in planning where to send your zombies. Also note that when you use zombie hordes while the game is paused, the horde bubble won't appear yet, it'll only appear once you resume the game.
Now, a few tips in moving zombie hordes
- Greenland could be infected from Brazil. Do this if Brazil has a reasonable amount of zombies.
- Madagascar is easily infected from East Africa or Saudi Arabia
- Philippines can be easily infected through China. The same can be said for Japan and Korea.
- Indonesia can be infected through India, and New Guinea through Philippines or Indonesia
- Move zombies from Mexico to USA and Caribbean, if necessary.
- The European cluster countries will be hard to infect so be sure to send zombies there as soon as you can.
- From Libya and Morocco, you could easily infect the southern part of the European countries(Spain, Italy, etc.)
- From Turkey, you can infect Central Europe and Ukraine
- From Russia, sending zombies to Finland is a very good idea.
- You might also want to send zombies to Norway and Sweden from Canada or Greenland and Iceland
- Finally, if you're close to Z-Com base, especially if it's the first one, send one or two zombies there immediately
You won't only have to move zombie hordes, but also evolve some more combat symptoms. This is totally up to you on when you think you need to evolve the following. As advice, wait until you have 40~50 DNA before evolving.
- Dermal Calcification
- Cranial Elephantitis
- Bone Dysplasia
- *Masticatory Tension
- *Lumbrical Hypertrophy
Symptoms marked with (*) are optional, evolve these only when you're sure you'll be able to gain more DNA.
If you're able to effectively move your zombies, you'll be able to destroy Z-Com easily. If Z-Com begins their base in Greenland, you're extremely lucky, because sending one zombie horde from a country with millions of zombies will quickly destroy Greenland.
The worst place for Z-Com to start is in any country in Europe. Why? Personally, I find it hard moving zombie hordes in that continent. They're so close together--and I have big fingers so it's hard dragging zombies there.
This part of the strategy requires some experience--I think. So be patient, and try to get familiar with the best possible ways to move zombie hordes. I had like a hundred games looking for the most effective ways to move zombies to other countries, don't worry though, you won't have to play as many games to realize the best way to move zombies
Closing Statements and Credits
First of all, I want to thank everyone who has commented and shared some of their tips in the original mega-brutal Necroa Virus guide that I've posted. I don't think I would be able to find an effective strategy if you guys haven't posted your tips and strategies.
This guide was made while playing Plague Inc. on an iOS device. I can not provide support for those who're using this strategy for Plague Inc.: Evolved.
Thanks for reading and I hope this strategy has helped you. HSG!
