Infections

Virology 101

Firstly, as with any guide, we need to start with the basics. The basics here being what each chemical does, the effects and purposes.

Chemicals

Bases:

These are the very base chemicals virology will start with, and have access to.

1. Viral Food: The base chemical, viral power of 1-2, easiest to get. Usually used for mutating harmless/annoying symptoms for the express purpose of transmission and resistance stats.

2. Unstable Mutagen: 2-4, Usually used to mutate much more annoying, and lethal symptoms. You should /probably/ not be using this in excess, other than to roll level 3 healing symptoms.

3. Plasma (Pure): 4-6, This will be your bread and butter roundstart, able to mutate a multitude of both healing ( and deadly ) symptoms for the general bases of your disease. Usually better when stabilised, but still highly versatile.

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Advanced Bases:

These are specifically chemicals designed to target certain symptom levels.

1. Virus Rations: Exclusively used for rolling level 1 symptoms. This is almost exclusively used to grab sneezing and other transmission traits to neuter them for resistance and stage speed.

2. Mutagenic Agar: Exclusively used for rolling level 3 symptoms. Used to grab more lethal and annoying traits, and the occasional healing. Not usually worth it unless you are again, neutering symptoms for stats.

3. Sucrose Agar: Exclusively used for rolling level 4 symptoms. Used to grab the midpoint between Mutagenic and Weakened Virus Plasma. Not usually worth it.

4. Weakened Virus Plasma: Level 5 symptoms. Not too useful compared to its beefed up cousin, Virus Plasma, however, contains very powerful transmission and lethal symptoms that are worth grabbing and neutering.

5. Virus Plasma: Arguably the best thing to make shift-start. A majority of the level 6 symptoms are powerful healing, or utility symptoms. This should be your go-to for most symptoms.

Expensive Bases:

A word of precaution - many of these are not worth making - and are used exclusively for niche symptoms.

1. Decaying Uranium Gel: A step-up from Virus plasma, capable of rolling level 6-7 symptoms. Usually almost exclusively used to roll lethal, or neutral traits such as nano-symbosis, or metabolic boosts, both of which have neutral, or downright annoying effects. Not worth making, at all.

2. Unstable Uranium Gel: Can only roll level 7 symptoms - Used exclusively for rolling annoying symptoms, unlike Decaying. Not worth unless traitor.

3. Stable Uranium Gel: Level 8 symptoms - Gives you access to the highest tier of healing symptoms, Such as regen coma. Many of these are rather useless, if downright detrimental, if the virus is not focused around it. (Regen Coma)

Misc Chemicals:

These are chemicals you will often encounter, and use as a virologist, but may not be directly related in other circumstances

1. Synaptizine: Removes a random symptom.

2. Formaldehyde: Neuters(Removes the effects of) a symptom. Used for making harmful things harmless.

3. Spaceallin: Stops the advancement of the virus while its in your system.

Virology Methodology

Bruteforcing

Bruteforcing is the act of deliberately trying to roll certain traits, usually to get a specific combination. This is what is referred to as 'normal virology' and is usually one of the slower ways to do so.

Example number one - Regen coma, two random neutered level 1's, two level 3's.

Example number two - Flesh mend, Toxolyisis, Metabolic boost, Spont Combustion (neutered).

This is as said /usually/ the slower methods of doing virology, once mastered however, it can be still relatively quick depending on the type of disease you are /trying to make/, taking anywhere from 3 minutes (assuming you have the chemicals on hand) to about twenty.

Stacking

Stacking is the act of disregarding such things as 'symptom thresholds' for things like regen coma, and simply deciding to stack as many of the lower level healing abilities as possible, while avoiding the high tier. This is /arguably/ the fastest way to play virologist, with my current (personal) record being 4 minutes from shift-start and having an amazing healing disease ready.

The entire reason stacking works as a valid method to play virology is due to how symptoms can stack atop each-other, such as fleshmend and regeneration, etcetera, this is usually also much more efficient, as you are no longer /trying/ to roll specific traits, but instead using what comes to you, and stacking. There is usually zero desire to grab neutered things, as you are looking to stack exclusively positive traits, regardless of thresholds.

Example 1 - Fleshmend, Mind Restoration, Nocturnal Regeneration, Radioactive Resonance, Self Respiration.

Example 2 - Fleshmend, Starlight Condensation, Nocturnal Regeneration, Tissue Hydration, Aptoxin Filter.

Threshold Hitter

This is more of a custom, much more free way to play virologist, where you try to roll one high tier healing symptom, and then exclusively focus around it, with maybe another bundled in for the sake of it. For example, hitting all of the thresholds on Regen Coma, which make it heal /much faster/ and actually make you appear dead. This is arguably one of the best ways to play virologist, should you have the time and resources to do such a method. Usually done after using method 2 (Stacking) to produce a cheap and effective virus, and then releasing your much more personalised version afterwards.

Example 1 - Regen Coma, Viral Self Adaptation, Facial Hypertrichosis(Neutered), Disfiguration (neutered), Eternal Youth.

Example 2 - (LETHAL, DO NOT MAKE THIS UNLESS A TRAITOR) - Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome - Sneezing, Viral Evolutionary Acceleration, Coughing, Fever, Shivering. (THIS WILL GET YOU ANTAGONIST BANNED EVEN AS A TRAITOR IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ADMINISTRATOR PERMISSION TO USE IT)

Example 3 - (Lethal, eventually.) Vomiting, Fever, Shivering, Viral Evolutionary Accelerant, Sneezing.