Every run feeds your lineage. Earn XP and levels, spend points across a three-branch skill tree, upgrade the Petri Lab, load run modifiers and chase hundreds of challenges, while new mechanics arrive one level at a time.
Level up
Every Infect Game Mode run earns XP for your lineage. Levels pay out skill points, and every virus you become shares the same level and tree.
Finishing an Infect Game Mode run pays XP for the cells you destroy and the rooms you clear, with a big bonus on top when the brain falls and the host is fully infected.
Every challenge you complete also pays XP when you collect its reward. The harder the challenge, the bigger the payout, from Easy all the way up to Legendary.
Early levels come quickly, so you feel progress right away, then each new level asks for steadily more XP. There is no level cap, so your lineage can keep climbing.
Every level hands you skill points for the tree, and the payout grows as you climb. Bigger payouts at higher levels keep the pricier deep rows of the tree affordable.
Challenges add skill points on top of levelling. Elite and Legendary challenges pay extra points, and organ-progress milestones pay a generous bundle weighted toward the earlier organs.
Milestone challenges for beating organ bosses and reaching new organs pay extra skill points on top of their normal reward. Pushing deeper into the host directly grows your skill tree.
Changed your mind? Refund every skill point in the tree for an RNA fee that scales with how many points you had spent, then rebuild your tree any way you like.
Every virus your lineage becomes shares one level, one skill tree, one Petri Lab, one gear bag and one record of reached organs, so switching virus never costs you progress.
Each finished Infect Game Mode run ends a generation and adds it to your lineage. Deeper skill rows and several features wait until your lineage has grown long enough.
Skill tree
One tree, three branches. Each grows from a root toward two capstone rows, and new rows open as you level up, grow your lineage and push deeper.
The offense branch: copy faster than antibodies can keep up. It pumps up damage, fire rate, critical hits, extra projectiles and pierce, and holds the Viral Burst active skill plus capstones like Shift Storm and Pandemic Spark.
Spread fast and strike unseen. This branch boosts speed, dash, stealth, ambush damage and ultimate charge, and holds the Aerosolize active skill plus capstones like Contrail Mines and Jet Stream.
Endure, recover and come back stronger. This branch builds health, regeneration, armor, healing and extra chances, and holds the Seasonal Rebound active skill plus capstones like Hibernation and Every Winter.
Shapes tell you what a node does: circles raise stats, hexagons add passive effects, squares are active skills for the SKILL button, and diamonds are capstones. You can equip one active skill at a time.
Each node needs a rank in the node above it in its column. Capstone rows accept either node from the row before, and the row after a capstone accepts either capstone.
The branch's single starting node and the first one you can learn, at the cheapest price per rank. Every path through the branch grows out of it.
Two nodes that branch off the root, opening soon after it at the same low price. This is where each branch first asks you to pick a direction.
Opens a little later, once your lineage has finished a generation. It is still cheap per rank and holds the first passive effect in each branch.
The row that holds each branch's active skill, alongside a passive or stat node. It needs a few finished generations and costs more per rank than the rows above.
The first capstone row offers a trait capstone that starts every run with a trait already taken, and a mechanic capstone that adds a brand-new mechanic. Both grow with each rank.
The deep part of the tree starts here, and it grows with how far into the host you have reached. This first deep row opens once your lineage has made it to the Lungs.
The next deep row opens after your lineage reaches the Bloodstream, alongside a higher level and a longer lineage. Its nodes keep sharpening each branch's specialty.
Opens once you have reached the Lymph Node with a higher level and more generations behind you. Ranks here still cost the same as the deep rows before it.
Opens after reaching the Gut. From here on each rank costs more, so the bigger skill point payouts at higher levels really start to matter.
Opens after reaching the Liver, with a high level and a long lineage behind you. A late row for players pushing deep into the host.
The last row before the final capstones, opening after you reach the Bone Marrow with a very high level and a long lineage. Learn it and only the deepest capstones remain.
The deepest capstones, opening only once your lineage has reached the Brain at a very high level. They offer elite versions of the trait capstones and the strongest mechanics in the tree.
Three active skills, one per branch: Viral Burst, Aerosolize and Seasonal Rebound. Equip one at a time from its node and fire it with the SKILL button; extra ranks make it stronger and recharge faster.
Hexagon nodes add always-on effects like kill bursts, counter shockwaves, first-strike bonuses, executioner damage on weakened cells and a once-per-run second wind. Matching effects from different nodes stack together.
Damage branch
Copy faster than antibodies can keep up. Harder hits, faster fire, more crits and extra piercing shots, with capstones covered in their own section.
The first node in Replication: each rank raises your damage a little. A simple, dependable start that makes every build hit harder from your earliest levels.
Each rank makes you fire a bit faster. More shots per second means more damage and more chances to trigger the on-hit effects in your build.
Each rank raises your critical hit chance, so more of your shots land as crits. It pairs well with Pandemic Spark, the capstone that turns crits into arcing lightning.
The first hit on each cell deals bonus damage, growing with every rank. It rewards spreading your shots across fresh targets and opening every fight with a punch.
A one-rank node that adds an extra projectile to every shot. More virions in the air means more hits and wider coverage across the room.
Replication's active skill blasts every cell near you and knocks them back. Each rank hits harder and recharges sooner, making it a great answer when cells crowd you.
Deals extra damage to cells that are already badly hurt, growing with each rank. Tough cells and elites go down faster once you've worn them down.
The first deep Replication node on the damage side: each rank adds more damage. It opens after reaching the Lungs and builds on either keystone capstone.
Each rank lets your shots pierce through another cell. Piercing shots can cut through whole lines of cells, which shines in crowded rooms.
Cells you kill burst and damage everything around them, with a bigger blast at each rank. In packed rooms, one kill can set off a chain reaction.
Each rank adds more critical hit chance, stacking on top of Epitope Shift. Together they make crits a regular part of every fight instead of a lucky bonus.
Each rank makes your projectiles fly faster. Speedier shots reach distant cells sooner and make it easier to land hits on fast-moving targets.
Each rank adds more fire rate, building on Polymerase Errors from earlier in the branch. It keeps your rate of fire climbing as your runs reach deeper organs.
Extra damage against badly hurt cells, growing with each rank and stacking with Escape Variant. Together they make finishing off tough cells and elites much quicker.
Another boost to your first hit on each cell, adding to Antibody Escape. With both learned, every fresh target takes a heavy opening blow.
Each rank raises your damage again. It is a late, steady boost for lineages that have reached the Liver, rewarding anyone who keeps investing in Replication.
A one-rank node that adds another projectile to every shot, on top of Segment Duplication. More shots per volley means denser fire and more hits on every cell in reach.
Each rank makes your ultimate charge faster, so you can unleash it more often during a run. A strong pick when your ultimate carries your build.
The last stat node in the branch: each rank adds still more critical hit chance. Paired with Pandemic Spark, a crit-heavy build can fill rooms with arcing lightning.
Speed & stealth
Spread fast, strike unseen. Move quicker, dash more often, stay hidden longer and hit harder from ambush, with capstones covered in their own section.
The first node in Transmission: each rank makes you move a little faster. Extra speed helps you dodge, reposition and slip between cells, and it sets up everything else in this branch.
Each rank makes your dash recharge faster. More dashes mean more escapes, more repositioning and more chances to trigger the dash effects in your build.
Each rank makes Detection rise more slowly. Staying hidden longer keeps Killer T cells off your back and gives you more time to line up ambushes.
Each rank boosts ambush damage, the bonus you deal to cells that haven't noticed you yet. Perfect for a sneaky style that opens every fight with a heavy first strike.
Cells you kill burst and damage everything around them, and the burst grows with each rank. Clearing one cell can soften up or finish off its neighbours.
Transmission's active skill turns you to mist for a few seconds: untouchable and much faster. Each rank lasts longer and recharges sooner, making it a perfect escape or repositioning tool.
Each rank makes your ultimate charge faster, so your biggest move comes around more often. A great fit for players who love leaning on their ultimate.
Each rank adds more move speed, on top of Droplet Spread. It shares its name with the Jet Stream final capstone, but this one is a simple, always-on speed boost.
Each rank widens the range at which you pick up drops, so you can grab loot from farther away and spend less time wandering back for it.
Each rank slows how fast Detection rises, adding to Quiet Shedding. Stack them and you can move through organs while the immune system is slow to notice.
Each rank boosts ambush damage again, adding to Unseen Entry. Hidden openers hit even harder, rewarding patient players who strike before cells notice them.
Each rank makes your dash recharge faster still, building on Sneeze Propulsion. A dash-heavy build gets to zip around the room far more often.
Each rank makes RNA strands more likely to drop. RNA is the rare purple resource from Pandemic Game Mode that unlocks advanced Lab upgrades and pays for respecs.
Each rank makes your projectiles fly faster, so your shots reach distant cells sooner and land more easily on fast-moving targets.
Cells you kill burst again, adding to the blast from Lytic Shedding. With both learned, every kill hits its neighbours harder and packed rooms collapse in a chain.
Each rank adds more move speed, stacking with the earlier speed nodes in the branch. Late in the tree, it helps a Transmission build feel truly fast.
Each rank earns you more nucleotides from the cells you destroy. More nucleotides means faster Petri Lab upgrades, more run modifiers and quicker gear progress.
Each rank makes your ultimate charge faster still, adding to Superspreading Event. Deep in the tree, it keeps your ultimate coming around fight after fight.
The last stat node in the branch slows Detection even more. Combined with the earlier stealth nodes, it lets a careful player go a very long time unseen.
Survival branch
Endure, recover, come back stronger. More health, steady regeneration, damage reduction, healing and second chances, with capstones covered in their own section.
The first node in Persistence: each rank adds max HP. A simple, sturdy start that lets you take a few more hits in every run.
Each rank lets you slowly regenerate HP over time. Small on its own, but it quietly keeps you topped up between fights and during long rooms.
Each rank earns you more nucleotides from the cells you destroy. A quiet economy pick that speeds up Petri Lab upgrades, run modifiers and gear progress.
Each rank boosts how much you heal after clearing a room. It rewards finishing fights cleanly and lets you start each new room healthier.
Getting hit releases a shockwave that damages cells around you, growing with each rank. Cells that crowd you pay for it, turning every hit you take into payback.
Persistence's active skill heals a share of your HP and makes you take much less damage for a few seconds. Each rank heals more and recharges sooner.
Once per run, survive a hit that would have killed you and keep going with some HP left. A one-rank node that buys you a safety net for the hardest moments.
Each rank adds more max HP, building on Thick Capsid. It opens after reaching the Lungs and builds on either keystone capstone, giving deep runs a bigger buffer.
Each rank makes you take less damage from every source. Total damage reduction from all sources has a ceiling, so it works best alongside health and healing.
Each rank adds more HP regeneration on top of Repair Enzymes. Together they keep you steadily healing through longer fights and deeper organs.
Each rank boosts your healing after every cleared room again, adding to Recovery Season. You walk into each new room in better shape.
Cells that touch you take damage, more with each rank. Cells that try to swarm you hurt themselves on contact, which makes crowded rooms a little less scary.
Each rank heals you a little HP for every kill. In busy rooms the healing adds up fast, rewarding aggressive play with steady sustain.
Enter every room behind a shield that blocks one hit. A one-rank node that gives you a free mistake at the start of every fight.
Each rank earns more nucleotides from cells, adding to Host Harvest. A deep economy pick for lineages that want faster Lab upgrades and gear progress.
Each rank adds a larger chunk of max HP than any other health node in the branch. Ideal for lineages pushing toward the deepest organs.
Each rank makes you take less damage again, stacking with Mucus Bunker up to the shared damage reduction ceiling. A sturdy late pick for tanky builds.
Once per run, survive a lethal hit and come back with some HP. Learn it alongside Endemic Persistence and the two add together for a much stronger comeback.
Getting hit releases a shockwave that damages nearby cells, growing with each rank and adding to Fever Response. Together they turn every hit you take into a real counterattack.
Capstones
Each branch has two capstone rows: keystone capstones midway down the tree and final capstones at the very bottom, which open once your lineage reaches the Brain.
Start every run with the Pyrogenic Fever trait already taken, so your shots set cells burning from the very first room. More ranks start the trait at a higher tier.
Every few volleys you also fire a ring of bolts in every direction, using your current shot type. More ranks fire the ring more often, which is perfect when you're surrounded.
Start every run with the Lytic Burst trait at an elite tier, so your shots burst on impact from the start. Ranks push it from Legendary to Mythic and finally Prismatic.
Critical hits arc lightning to nearby cells, dealing part of the crit's damage to each. More ranks let the lightning reach more cells, turning a crit build into a storm.
Start every run with the Cold Adaptation trait already taken, so your shots can slow cells from the very first room. More ranks start the trait at a higher tier.
Every dash drops virion mines that burst when a cell touches them. More ranks drop more mines that hit harder, turning your escape routes into traps.
Start every run with the Cell-to-Cell Spread trait at an elite tier, so your shots jump to more cells right away. Ranks push it from Legendary to Mythic and Prismatic.
Keep moving to build up speed and damage; stop and it fades away. More ranks raise the ceiling, rewarding players who never stand still.
Start every run with the Stolen Membrane trait already taken, giving you a recharging shield from the very first room. More ranks start the trait at a higher tier.
When your HP drops low, you wrap yourself in a cocoon that nothing can touch and heal a little, once per room. More ranks keep you safe longer and heal more.
Start every run with the Glycan Armor trait at an elite tier, giving you regrowing armor from the very first room. Ranks push it from Legendary to Mythic and Prismatic.
Once in every organ, survive a lethal hit and come back with a burst that blasts nearby cells and gives you a moment of safety. More ranks bring you back healthier.
Petri Lab
Spend nucleotides on permanent upgrades across Core Genome, Signature Ability and Ultimate. Core and some ultimate upgrades help every virus; the rest belong to one virus.
Each upgrade has its base levels, then bonus levels at a gentler rate, then hidden mastery tiers that only appear once you reach the top of what is shown. A few upgrades have no extra levels.
Most upgrades unlock a special effect every few levels, with a major milestone at regular intervals. Hidden mastery milestones stay a mystery until revealed, and all milestones apply automatically at the start of every run.
Advanced upgrades need RNA strands to unlock, and every few levels of any upgrade also asks for RNA. Since RNA only drops in Pandemic Game Mode, it is the key to pushing upgrades high.
More starting HP every level, shared by every virus. Milestones add regeneration, a shield that blocks the first hit in each room, damage reduction and Last Stand, a burst of power when your health runs low.
More damage every level for every virus. Milestones add critical hit chance, kill bursts and extra projectiles, topped by Viral Snowball, which grows your damage for every room you clear without being hit.
Faster movement every level for every virus. Milestones speed up your dash, add Hit and Run for big damage right after dashing, widen your pickup range and leave a damaging ring when you dash.
A faster fire rate every level for every virus. Milestones make shots fly faster, add pierce, heal you a little on kills and grant an extra projectile, finishing with Ricochet for even more pierce and speed.
Longer dashes every level for every virus. Milestones speed up your dash recharge, keep you untouchable a little longer, make cells spot you later and add Hit and Run plus a damaging Shockwave on dash.
Widens your ultimate's radius every level, shared by every virus but named to match each one. Milestones widen it further, start every run with your ultimate charged and make it charge faster.
Makes your ultimate charge faster every level, shared by every virus under a virus-specific name. Milestones speed it up further and add healing on kills, ending with Feast, which heals you on every kill.
Influenza A's signature upgrade makes your shots mutate sooner each level. Milestones let you start every run with Antigenic Shift ready, add critical hit chance and even start with your ultimate charged.
Antigenic Shift fires more bolts with every level. Milestones make it charge faster and add big batches of extra bolts, ending with Endless Shift for a much quicker recharge.
An RNA-locked Influenza A upgrade that lets piercing shots pass through more cells. Milestones add even more pierce, extra damage and critical hit chance, then make the cells you kill burst open.
An RNA-locked Influenza A upgrade that makes infection last longer and burn hotter. Milestones keep raising the heat, with Wildfire making it burn much hotter and Contagion bursting the cells you kill.
Influenza A's priciest RNA unlock: infected cells pass the infection on when they die. Milestones stretch the infection and add jackpot nucleotide drops, ending with Gold Rush for even more jackpots.
Retrovirus's signature upgrade lets you store more captured cells for Integration Surge. Milestones keep raising the store and make your allies fight longer, ending with Standing Army for a much longer fight.
Latency lasts longer with every level. Milestones help you stay hidden by slowing Detection and letting cells spot you later, and finish with Ambush Master, which makes ambush hits much stronger.
An RNA-locked Retrovirus upgrade that keeps your allies fighting longer. Milestones add HP regeneration and Blood Bank, which heals you whenever you kill an elite.
An RNA-locked Retrovirus upgrade that makes allies explode when their time runs out. Milestones make cells that touch you take damage, add damage reduction and end with Rupture, which bursts the cells you kill.
An RNA-locked Retrovirus upgrade that makes Integration Surge hit bosses much harder. Milestones weaken bosses outright and end with Overload, a huge extra hit against bosses.
Retrovirus's top RNA unlock keeps Integration Surge allies around until the room is cleared. Milestones speed up your ultimate and let you start runs with your ultimate charged or Latency ready.
Filovirus's signature upgrade raises your chance to make cells bleed with every level. More bleeding means more steady damage ticking away on everything you hit.
Bleeding deals more damage with every level. Pair it with Hemorrhagic Strain so more cells bleed and each bleed hurts more, the core of a Filovirus build.
An RNA-locked Filovirus upgrade that makes Hemorrhage reach farther with every level, so it catches more cells each time it spreads.
A single-level RNA unlock that makes bleeding deal a hefty chunk of extra damage. One purchase, one big permanent upgrade for every Filovirus run.
An RNA-locked Halovirus upgrade with just a couple of levels. Each one makes spike volleys fire a shot sooner, so your volleys come around more often.
Halovirus's signature upgrade makes Variant Surge last longer with every level, giving you more time to make the most of each surge.
Another Halovirus signature upgrade: Detection rises more slowly with every level, letting you spread quietly and keep the immune system's hunters away for longer.
A single-level RNA unlock that slows Detection even further. Stack it with Asymptomatic Spread for a Halovirus that slips through organs almost unnoticed.
Run modifiers
Craft one-run modifiers with nucleotides and materials, then load up to three before a run. Every modifier has an upside and a drawback.
Crafted modifiers go into your stock; load up to three different ones before a run. Some add a whole new mechanic instead of just bigger numbers, and mechanic-tied ones unlock once you've met that mechanic.
Modifiers also drop during runs and go straight into your stock. Cleared fight rooms occasionally drop one, bosses drop them far more often, and rarer elite cells have a better shot too.
Detection rises much more slowly, so you can stay hidden longer, but you collect fewer nucleotides. A great pick for stealthy runs where avoiding Killer T cells matters more than loot.
Immune cells have less HP, so fights end faster, but every cell moves quicker. You hit them down sooner, as long as you stay sharp while they close in.
A big boost to max HP in exchange for moving a little slower. Ideal when you'd rather soak up hits than dodge them.
Start the run with your signature ability and ultimate already charged, and your ultimate charges faster all run. The catch: your dash recharges more slowly.
A big nucleotide boost for the whole run, but cells hit harder. Perfect for funding Lab upgrades if you trust your dodging.
Elite cells show up far more often and every elite kill heals you, but cells have more HP. Great for hunting elites and their better loot once Elite Cells & Affixes has unlocked.
Reveals every organ's full map and makes mutation orbs appear more often, but Detection rises faster. Plan your route perfectly, just don't linger.
More damage and a faster fire rate, paid for with less max HP. A glass-cannon pick for players confident they can avoid getting hit.
Every room you clear without getting hit adds a damage stack for the rest of the run, up to a cap, while every hit you take knocks one off. Rewards clean, careful play.
When your HP runs low you deal much more damage and move faster, but clearing rooms heals you less. Built for daring players who like fighting on the edge.
For a moment after every dash your shots hit much harder, but you fire a bit slower overall. Rewards weaving dashes into every fight.
Some nucleotide drops become jackpots worth far more than usual, but elite cells show up more often. A gamble that can pay off big for your Petri Lab.
Every kill heals you, but you slowly lose HP while cells are hunting you, though never enough to finish you off. Keep killing and you stay healthy.
Mutation orbs roll much rarer traits, but cells have more HP. A strong pick when you want big trait rolls and can handle tougher fights.
Every organ starts with a CRISPR power-up right beside you, and CRISPR shows up more often, though each one wears off sooner. More moments of invincibility, just shorter ones.
CRISPR lasts much longer, but CRISPR power-ups appear less often. Fewer moments of invincibility, but each one goes a long way.
Tumors take much more damage and pay out much more, but every organ grows one. Turns tumor hunting into a reliable payday once Tumors & Metastasis has unlocked.
Tumors pay out far more, but they grow faster and start bigger. High risk, high reward for players who can take tumors down quickly.
Every organ starts with a random elemental power-up beside you, and they appear far more often, though each wears off sooner. Expect a steady stream of big, brief effects.
Elemental power-ups last much longer, at the cost of some max HP. Makes every power-up you grab count for more.
The Cytokine Storm meter fills more slowly, so a strong build stays unchallenged longer, but Detection rises faster. Handy once the Cytokine Storm has unlocked.
The immune system resists your favourite shot type much less, but cells move a little faster. Lets you lean on one shot type once The Immune System Learns has unlocked.
Killer T cells have less HP, making those relentless hunters easier to destroy, but Detection rises faster. Expect to meet them more often, and to beat them quicker.
Rival viruses show up far more often, bringing their rich loot with them, but cells hit harder. A treasure hunt with a sharper edge once Rival Viruses has unlocked.
Ground hazards slow you much less, but you deal a little less damage. A comfortable pick for organs packed with cilia, clots and fibres once Hazards has unlocked.
Elite cells drop gear far more often, but all cells hit harder. Great for gearing up quickly once Elite Cells & Affixes has unlocked.
Rooms roll a tier higher, bringing more boons and more drawbacks, and cells have a little more HP. Turns every room up a notch once Room Tiers has unlocked.
The host takes medicine far less often, so treatments interrupt you less, but you collect fewer nucleotides. Useful once Treatments has unlocked.
Start the run with an extra life, at the cost of some max HP. A safety net for risky runs once Extra Lives has unlocked.
Key guardian hooks miss far more often, but your dash recharges a little slower. A must when key guardians keep reeling you in.
Run modifiers
Load the right modifiers together for a combo bonus on top of their effects. Pairs and trios work, and each combo rolls a tier that can rarely mutate.
A newly active combo rolls a tier once, from Common up to Prismatic, adding damage, max HP and nucleotides at the higher tiers. Unloading and reloading can't reroll it.
A freshly rolled combo has a small chance to mutate into something much stronger, like Hypermutation for damage, Giant Capsid for HP, Latent Copy for an extra life or Golden Genome for nucleotides.
Pair Viral Snowball with Replication Burst and your Viral Snowball stacks can climb much higher. A glass-cannon setup that rewards clean, untouched rooms with snowballing damage.
Pair Jackpot Genome with Nutrient Cache and jackpots show up far more often. A serious nucleotide farm for funding Petri Lab upgrades.
Pair Bloodthirst with Inflammatory Bait and every elite kill heals you a much bigger chunk. With elites more common, you stay healthy by hunting them.
Pair Hit and Run with Primed Polymerase and your dash recharges much faster, more than making up for Primed Polymerase's slower dash and feeding Hit and Run more often.
Pair Adrenal Hijack with Capsid Reserve and Adrenal Hijack kicks in earlier, while your health is still higher. More HP plus an earlier power spike makes risky play safer.
Load both CRISPR modifiers together and every cell CRISPR cuts heals you. Your moments of invincibility now patch you up too.
Pair Oncolytic Strain with Carcinogen Exposure and destroying a tumor heals you fully. Tumors everywhere, paying out big, and each one is a full refill.
Pair Elemental Flux with Overcharged Capsid and picking up a power-up heals you. With power-ups everywhere, each pickup also works as a heal.
Pair Mutagen Surge with Tropism Map and mutation orbs appear far more often. Rarer traits, more orbs and a full map make it a trait hunter's dream.
Pair Anti-inflammatory with Antigenic Drift and both the storm meter and shot resistance build even more slowly. Your favourite build stays effective for much longer.
Pair Rival Pheromone with Scavenger Enzyme and gear drops even more often. More rivals, more elite gear drops and a fast track to better gear.
Pair Latent Reservoir with Capsid Reserve and you start with yet another extra life. Combined with the extra HP, it makes a very forgiving setup for tough runs.
Pair Mucin Coat with Tropism Map and ground hazards stop slowing you entirely. See the whole map and move through it freely.
Pair Perforin Block with Cytokine Decoy and Killer T cells lose even more HP. Stay hidden with the decoy, and when the hunters do arrive they fall fast.
Pair Immunosuppressant with Immune Exhaustion and the host takes medicine even less often. Weaker immune cells and rare treatments make for smoother runs.
Pair Slick Envelope with Hit and Run and key guardian hooks miss even more often. Dash, strike and slip free while the guardian keeps whiffing.
Pair Hot Zone with Nutrient Cache for a big extra nucleotide bonus. Tougher, richer rooms that pay out even more for braving them.
Load Capsid Reserve, Replication Burst and Adrenal Hijack together for extra damage and max HP on top. A brawler's trio that hits hard and takes a beating.
Load Nutrient Cache, Jackpot Genome and Inflammatory Bait for more nucleotides and jackpots on a huge share of drops. A farming loadout built for big hauls.
Load Bloodthirst, Inflammatory Bait and Adrenal Hijack for bigger heals on every kill and a large heal on elite kills. Fight on the edge and feed to stay alive.
Load Primed Polymerase, Hit and Run and Immune Exhaustion and your ultimate charges much faster while your dash recharges quicker. Fast, aggressive and relentless.
Load Cytokine Decoy, Hit and Run and Tropism Map and Detection slows down again while your dash recharges faster. Map in hand, slip through organs unseen.
Load Mutagen Surge, Tropism Map and Viral Snowball for even rarer mutation orbs and Viral Snowball stacks that climb far higher. A build that keeps getting stronger room after room.
Load both CRISPR modifiers plus Mutagen Surge and CRISPR appears much more often, with every cut healing you. Plenty of invincible, healing moments.
Load Elemental Flux, Overcharged Capsid and Replication Burst and power-ups last even longer, with a solid heal on every pickup. A stream of big effects that also keeps you alive.
Load Oncolytic Strain, Carcinogen Exposure and Nutrient Cache and tumors pay out even more, with each one destroyed healing you fully. Tumor hunting at its most profitable.
Load Anti-inflammatory, Antigenic Drift and Cytokine Decoy for no shot resistance at all, a slower storm and slower Detection. The immune system barely gets a read on you.
Load Rival Pheromone, Scavenger Enzyme and Inflammatory Bait for heals on elite kills and even more gear drops. Hunt rivals and elites for a steady flow of loot.
Load Latent Reservoir, Capsid Reserve and Bloodthirst for yet another extra life and bigger heals on every kill. A deeply stubborn setup that refuses to go down.
Load Mucin Coat, Slick Envelope and Capsid Reserve and hazards stop slowing you, guardian hooks never land and cells hit softer. A defensive trio that shrugs off almost everything.
Load Hot Zone, Mutagen Surge and Nutrient Cache and rooms roll yet another tier higher, with a big nucleotide boost on top. Maximum risk, maximum reward.
Load Perforin Block, Immunosuppressant and Cytokine Decoy and Killer T cells lose even more HP while the host barely takes medicine. A trio for quietly dismantling the immune response.
Challenges
Daily, weekly and permanent milestone challenges. Finished ones wait on the Rewards tab until you collect them, one at a time or all at once.
The smallest reward tier: a modest bundle of nucleotides, some Polymerase Shards and a little XP. Easy challenges are quick wins you can tick off on almost any run.
A step up from Easy: more nucleotides, more Polymerase Shards and more XP, plus Chaperone Proteins for enhancing your gear.
A big reward that adds a Rare gear piece for the virus you're playing, on top of plenty of nucleotides, materials and XP.
A major reward with an Epic gear piece and a bonus skill point, plus a large haul of nucleotides, materials and XP. A welcome boost for your skill tree.
The biggest reward of all: a Legendary gear piece, bonus skill points and the largest haul of nucleotides, materials and XP. The top of the difficulty ladder.
Reward gear is always a random piece for the virus you're playing, and its tier is capped by the deepest organ your lineage has reached. Push deeper to unlock better reward gear.
Every day brings a fresh Easy, Normal and Hard challenge, chosen from that day's date. New ones arrive at local midnight, and progress only counts within the day.
Every week brings a Normal, a Hard and an Elite challenge, with new ones arriving each Monday. Progress only counts within that week, and the Elite weekly pays a skill point.
Permanent challenges come in chains: only the next unfinished step shows, and finishing it moves you on to a tougher target. They cover everything from combat and bosses to gear and progression.
Challenges
Dailies and weeklies are drawn from these pools, one per difficulty, so there's always something different to aim for.
A pool of light daily tasks, the kind you often finish just by playing: destroying cells, clearing rooms, taking traits, dashing and grabbing pickups. One is picked as the Easy daily.
Meatier daily goals that ask a little more of a run: beating a boss, flawless fights, hunting elites, solving receptor puzzles or exploring a whole organ. One becomes the Normal daily.
Tough daily goals for confident runs: going deep, beating bosses without a scratch, taking down Killer T cells and rival viruses, or staying hidden through an organ. One becomes the Hard daily.
Week-long goals that add up over many runs: destroying lots of cells, clearing rooms, taking traits, finding gear and opening vesicle chests. One becomes the Normal weekly.
Bigger weekly goals built around the game's toughest systems: bosses, Killer T cells, Immune Sieges, tumors, rival viruses and stealthy organs. One becomes the Hard weekly.
The toughest weekly goals, from diving deep and winning a run to hunting Mythic cells. The Elite weekly is worth an Epic gear piece and a bonus skill point.
Challenges
Permanent challenges grouped by theme. Each chain climbs in difficulty as its targets grow, from Easy all the way to Legendary.
Milestones for everything you do in a fight: destroying cells, clearing rooms, flawless fights, elite kills, ambushes and using your abilities. Chains run from your first kill to truly huge totals.
A Hunter, Bane and Extinction chain for every immune cell type, from Neutrophils and Macrophages to Astrocytes and Thymocytes, plus milestones for bursting host cells.
Milestones for organ bosses, key guardians and tumors, plus boss feats like flawless and speedy kills. Each organ boss has its own Slayer and Nemesis challenges.
Milestones for taking on the immune system: destroying Killer T cells, surviving Immune Sieges and treatments, provoking the immune level and slipping through organs unseen.
Beat the other viruses competing for the host. Chains reward rival kills overall, beating each of Rhinovirus, Norovirus and Adenovirus, and facing rivals that have grown stronger within a run.
Milestones for reaching each organ, exploring every room, finding special rooms and solving receptor puzzles. A great way to be rewarded for exploring every corner of the host.
Turn each organ's terrain to your advantage: trigger nerve reflexes, dive down drop shafts, burst red blood cells, snap reticular fibres and use hazards to kill cells.
Milestones for everything you collect: nucleotides, mutation orbs, vesicle chests, genes, trade-offs, power-ups, CRISPR, RNA strands and enhancement materials. Every element has its own chain too.
Milestones for taking, stacking and collecting traits, from a single run packed with mutations to a lifetime library. Rare finds like Legendary, Mythic and Prismatic traits get their own.
Milestones for finding, forging, enhancing, combining, mutating and recycling gear, from your first find to a full wardrobe of boss set pieces.
Long-term milestones for Petri Lab levels, skill ranks, runs played and wins, including a Victory and a Dynasty challenge for winning as each virus.
Unlock schedule
A new save isn't buried in systems. Mechanics unlock as you level up and arrive one per run, each announced by a NEW MECHANIC UNLOCKED notice.
The first few cells you kill in a fight can drop an elemental power-up that grants a big effect for a short time. CRISPR, the rarest, makes you invincible. It also opens power-up traits and modifiers.
Trade-off altars, receptor puzzles and event rooms like sieges, gambles, harvests and refuges start appearing, each marked with a coloured border on the minimap so you can plan your route.
Cells can now come in stronger tiers, green, blue, purple and up, with affixes like Shielded, Swift or Vampiric. They hit harder but drop better loot.
Dormant Virions can drop from tough cells, and each one is an extra life. It also opens the Incubation Period trait, another way to cheat death.
When Detection fills up, elite hunters start following you from room to room until you destroy them. Staying hidden suddenly matters a lot more.
Most organs grow a tumor that spreads and sends assassins after you. Destroy it for a big reward, or it follows you into the next organ.
Each organ gets its own terrain hazards, from cilia, vents and clots to fibres, pits and the occasional drop shaft. Learn them and use them against cells.
Other viruses want this host too. Beat a rival for rich loot, or chase it down before it escapes and comes back stronger.
When Detection stays high, the host may take antivirals, a vaccine booster or interferon. Walk out of the room to escape the dose, or survive it for a reward.
Rooms now roll a tier, shown as a coloured border on the minimap. Higher tiers carry more boons and more drawbacks, so every door becomes a choice.
If your build gets too strong, the storm meter fills and the immune system sends crimson adapted cells that resist your build. Power has a price.
Lean on one shot type and cells start resisting it, while the immune level rises with every organ and Killer T pack. Variety keeps you ahead.
Each host gets a genome of hidden traits, good and bad, revealed when you infect it. Rarer hosts carry stronger traits and richer rewards. This one opens with lineage length, not level.
Early runs use smaller rooms and shorter fights, growing to full size as your best level and your lineage climb. Fights gain more waves and rooms open up to several screens of floor.
Unlock schedule
The main menu starts with just Infect a Host and grows one feature at a time, teasing the next lock and tagging new arrivals NEW.
Both the Skill Tree and the Codex open as soon as you finish a run, so your lineage has somewhere to grow right away.
The Shift button for your signature ability appears once you've finished a run, adding your virus's signature move to your controls.
The gear menu opens right after a run where you found gear, or a run later if you came home empty-handed. Either way, it arrives very early in your lineage.
The ultimate button arrives after a couple of finished runs, just behind the signature ability button, adding your virus's ultimate to your controls.
Burning, poison, chill and shock traits like Pyrogenic Fever, Cold Adaptation and Ion Surge can start showing up in runs, adding elemental flavour to your shots.
The permanent upgrade lab opens early, letting you spend your hard-earned nucleotides on lasting boosts that carry into every run ahead.
The Challenges and Store menus open early on, adding daily, weekly and milestone goals with rewards to collect between runs.
Skip ahead to any organ you've already reached, drafting a set of head-start traits however deep you start. Perfect for jumping straight to the organs you want to push.
Bursting, chaining, bouncing, returning and orbiting shots join the trait pool, with traits like Lytic Burst, Cell-to-Cell Spread and Satellite Virus changing how every shot behaves.
Mutations that turn your lineage into Retrovirus can now be offered, and a newly opened virus is guaranteed to appear once in your next generation pick.
Story mode: infect the world city by city, with more of the map opening as you level up. It's the only place RNA drops, though its runs give no XP or generations.
Lineage offers can now include mixed strains that bundle a boon with a curse, adding a little risk and reward to each generation pick.
Endless waves in the deepest organ you've reached. It's the only place Ribozyme Cores drop, and its runs stand apart from your lineage.
Traits can now roll purple Epic tier. Before this they top out at Rare, so your runs get noticeably stronger from here.
Craft and load one-run modifiers with trade-offs, new mechanics and combos, letting you shape each run to your style before it begins.
Mutations that turn your lineage into Halovirus can now be offered, opening another virus with its own Lab upgrades and organ adaptations.
Lineage offers can include curses that pay out bigger rewards, a tempting gamble for lineages ready to take on more risk.
Stolen Membrane shields, Glycan Armor and the Incubation Period extra life join the trait pool, giving your runs far more ways to survive.
The strongest boons can be offered, including Twin Genome, Ancient Memory, Overcharged, Fortunate Strain, Mutagenic and Lysis Cascade. Big upgrades for an established lineage.
Traits can roll orange and red tiers and go all the way up to Prismatic, opening the rarest and most powerful trait rolls in the game.
Mutations that turn your lineage into Filovirus can now be offered. It is the last virus to open, built around bleeding and Hemorrhage.
Pandemic Game Mode continents open one by one as your best level and finished generations grow, starting in North America, moving through Europe, Asia and beyond, and ending in Antarctica.
Reached organs
Your lineage remembers the deepest organ it has reached. New organs open deeper skill rows, better gear and, for every virus but Influenza A, permanent adaptations.
The deepest organ your lineage has reached opens new starting points, deeper skill tree rows and better gear tiers, so every new organ makes the whole lineage stronger.
Once your lineage reaches the Lymph Node, Retrovirus's captured cells hit harder and take less damage. Your converted allies become a far sturdier fighting force from here on.
At the Gut, Retrovirus's captured cells get a little more damage and health, and every cell your shots kill adds a kamikaze to your store.
At the Liver, Retrovirus's captured cells gain a big boost to damage and health, and Latency and Integration Surge hit much harder.
The final Retrovirus adaptation, earned by reaching the Brain. Captured cells deal far more damage and have far more health, and Latency and Integration Surge hit harder than ever.
Filovirus adapts early: reaching the Lungs makes Bleeds, Hemorrhage and Viral Hemorrhage hit much harder in every organ and every Game Mode.
At the Bloodstream, Filovirus's bleeds and hemorrhages hit harder still, and bleeding cells deal less damage. Offense and defense in one adaptation.
At the Gut, Filovirus's bleeding gets a little stronger and Hemorrhage weakens cells further, softening tough targets for the rest of your build.
At the Lymph Node, Halovirus's infection, spike volleys, outbreaks and ultimate all hit much harder, its first big power jump.
At the Gut, Halovirus's spike volleys gain extra damage, and the damage bonus from the Fury variant grows a little too.
At the Bone Marrow, Halovirus's infection, spike volleys, outbreaks and ultimate hit harder again, stacking with its earlier adaptations for a deep-run power spike.
The final Halovirus adaptation, earned by reaching the Brain. Infection, spike volleys, outbreaks and the ultimate get their biggest boost yet, stacking with everything before.
Resources
Nucleotides pay for most things, while RNA and Ribozyme Cores are rare drops tied to Pandemic Game Mode and Endless Game Mode.
The most common of the nucleotide bases, making up the biggest share of every nucleotide drop. You'll spend it on Petri Lab upgrades, gear combining and run modifiers.
The second most common base, close behind Adenine in nucleotide drops. Like the others, it pays for Petri Lab upgrades, gear combining and run modifiers.
A less common base that shows up in a smaller share of nucleotide drops. It's needed for Petri Lab upgrades, gear combining and run modifiers.
The scarcest base, appearing in only a small slice of nucleotide drops. Advanced upgrades and many costs lean on it, so it's often the one you run short of.
Nucleotide piles drop from every cell you kill, plus chests, challenges, Endless Game Mode sets and dismantled gear. Small drops gather into bigger pickups, and anything you miss waits in its room.
A rare purple drop that unlocks advanced Lab upgrades, is needed every few Lab levels and buys skill tree respecs. It only drops in Pandemic Game Mode, so infecting the world is how you earn it.
The common enhancement material, needed for every enhancement level. Shards drop from kills, elite cells, vesicle chests and every challenge, and many run modifiers use them too.
The uncommon enhancement material, earned from Killer T cells, bosses, vesicle chests, puzzles and tougher challenges. Many run modifiers need it as well.
The rare enhancement material needed to push gear into its higher enhancement levels. It only drops in Endless Game Mode, where every set pays at least one; elsewhere these drops become Chaperones.
Each enhancement level costs more materials than the last, and rarer, higher-level gear costs more again. Early levels need only Shards and Chaperones, while higher ones also call for Ribozyme Cores.
A golden ancient retrovirus fragment that a solved receptor puzzle sometimes releases. A small, shiny reason to stop and solve every puzzle you find.
Next up
Each run is a generation: strains, legacies, host genomes and animal hosts.
