"A giant virus, frozen deep in the Siberian permafrost, has thawed and infected a unknown victim. Dormant for over 30,000 years, it was last active at a time when mammoths and Neanderthals roamed the world. It's ancient genetic structure pre-dates homo sapiens but it's DNA has been severely degraded. Does it have what it takes to send humanity back to the stone age?" - Plague Inc., Frozen Virus introduction paragraph.
The Frozen Virus scenario was introduced in update 1.8.1 as a Scenario. It was later introduced to the PC as a beta build for Evolution 7 on May 20, 2014, along with the rest of the missing Mega Mutation 8 scenarios.
Like its real-life counterpart, it is called "Pithovirus" in-game.
Traits
The plague starts with Amoeba 1, Mandibular Strain, Drooling, Cold Resistance 1, Cold Resistance 2, and Cold Resistance 3. It automatically starts in Russia (Siberia).
Transmissions
- Amoeba 1 - Amoeba susceptible to viral infection and spreads primarily through freshwater and saltwater. Increases infectivity (can't be devolved, you automatically start with it).
- Amoeba 2 - Virus manipulates amoebal DNA, allowing host amoeba to thrive in warm body parts of animals. Increases infectivity.
- Amoeba 3 - DNA reshuffled to allow host amoeba to survive and spread in animal faeces, increasing infectivity in poor, rural countries.
- Bird 1 - Birds become susceptible to infection. Avian carriers increase infectivity, land transmission and mutation.
- Bird 2 - Avian brain tissue compromised causing birds to attack other species. Increases mutation, infectivity, and land based transmission.
- Rodent 1 - Common flea susceptible to infection. Increase infectivity, especially in urban regions and mutation.
- Rodent 2 - Rodents directly susceptible to infection. Increase infectivity, especially in urban regions and mutation.
- Livestock 1 - Livestock susceptible to infection. Increase infectivity, especially in rural regions and mutation.
- Livestock 2 - Wildlife susceptible to infection. Increase infectivity, especially in rural regions and mutation.
- Insect 1 - Insects susceptible to infection. Carrier insects increase infectivity, especially in hot climates and chance of mutation.
- Insect 2 - Increases rate of transfer between insects. Increase infectivity, especially in hot climates and mutation.
- Water 1 - Pathogen can survive outside the body in fresh, warm water. Increase infectivity, especially in humid environments and ship transmission.
- Water 2 - Pathogen able to survive in chemically treated water. Increase infectivity, especially in humid environments and ship transmission.
Symptoms
Tier 1
- Mandibular Strain - Moderate pain in mastication muscles, especially when eating, and periodical jaw clicking (can't be devolved, you automatically start with it).
- Drooling - Occasional intemperate drooling when sleeping or eating. Increases infectivity slightly (can't be devolved, you automatically start with it).
- Anaemia - Decrease in red blood cells or haemoglobin in the blood can lead to hypoxia in the organs.
- Cysts - Painful lumps containing pockets of the pathogen. Slight chance of bursting which can spread disease.
Tier 2
- Edentulism - Severe gum infection causes teeth to fall out.
- Memory Loss - Recent memories become nebulous in patients, replaced with vague historical recollections. Negatively impacts cure progress.
- Jaundice - Accelerated viral reproduction in the liver results in bilirubin build-up, causing yellowing of skin, eyes and mucus membrane. Increases infectivity.
- Skin Lesions - Breakdown in the epidermis causes large open wounds which significantly increase infectivity.
Tier 3
- Carnivorous Denticulation - Hormone changes trigger growth of carnivorous teeth and consumption of raw meat. Poor dental hygiene increases infectivity.
- Immaturity - Reduction in hormone levels causes immature and antisocial behavior, reducing cure research. Lower levels of hygiene cause infection.
- Malignant Ascites - Accumulation of fluid in abdominal cavity due to severe cirrhosis. Can be lethal.
- Abscesses - Pockets of infected flesh are painful and act as breeding grounds for the pathogen, increasing infection rates when burst.
Tier 4
- Bone Dysplasia - Relentless bone growth with high mineral density results in severe musculoskeletal stress; lethal in many cases. Broken skin increases infection. (can't be devolved)
- Aphasia - Progressive loss of brain cells damages parts of brain responsible for language and understanding. Makes cure development harder. (can't be devolved)
- Hepatic Failure - Chronic replacement of normal liver cells with scar tissue causes liver to fail, resulting in rapid death.
- Systemic Infection - Pathogen affects multiple organs and tissue types, causing body-wide infections that spread fast and can be fatal.
- Tumours - Pathogen disrupts cell growth pathways, causing uncontrolled, eventually fatal tumour growth.
Tier 5
- Cranial Elephantitis - Increased bone growth places pressure on the brain. Trauma makes cure development significantly harder and can be lethal.
- Aggression - Confusion and immaturity results in lethal primal aggression towards others. Cure progress significantly slowed.
Tier 6
- Neanderthal Regression - DNA recombination destroys logical and emotional brain function, leading to complete regression to Neanderthal state (can't be devolved).
Abilities
DNA Repair
These Abilities can only be taken by first taking the 'DNA Repair 1' trait, available at the start of the game.
| DNA Repair 1 | Initial repair of low-level protein strands damaged during dormancy. Restore ancient symptoms and ability to stabilize in warmer environments. |
| DNA Repair 2 | Partial repair of low-level protein strands damaged during dormancy. Restore ancient symptoms and ability to resist basic immune responses. |
| DNA Repair 3 | Full repair of low-level protein strands damaged during dormancy. Restore ancient symptoms and ability to withstand higher temperatures. |
| DNA Repair 4 | Initial repair of high-level protein strands damaged during dormancy. Restore ancient symptoms and ability to resist advanced immune response. |
| DNA Repair 5 | Partial repair of high-level protein strands damaged during dormancy. Restore ancient symptoms and ability to survive in hot environments. |
| Full DNA Repair | Viral DNA fully reconstructed, giving access to entire genetic code from Neanderthal era. Can now entirely reshape human temperament. |
Cure/Drug Resistance Abilities
These abilities will affect the plague's resistance against treatments and drugs. They will also slow down cure creation speed and increase more work required to create a cure.
| Drug Resistance 1 | Pathogen becomes resistant to class 1 and 2 antibiotics. Increase effectiveness in wealthy countries. |
| Drug Resistance 2 | Pathogen develops resistance to class 3 and 4 antibiotics. Increase effectiveness in wealthy countries. |
| Genetic Hardening 1 | Pathogen becomes harder to analyse in the lab. Decreases future research speed. |
| Genetic Hardening 2 | The pathogen does not reproduce in lab conditions. Decreases future research speed. |
| Genetic ReShuffle 1 | Pathogen DNA strands reassembled. More work needed to develop a cure. |
| Genetic ReShuffle 2 | A new strain of the pathogen now exists, increasing the work needed to develop a cure. |
| Genetic ReShuffle 3 | Multiple strains of the pathogen now exist, increasing the work needed to develop a cure. |
Other Abilities
| Cold Resistance 1 | Pathogen is naturally used to withstanding cold temperatures and climates. (can't be devolved) |
| Cold Resistance 2 | Hardened virus capsid ensures pathogen survival in extremely cold environments. (can't be devolved) |
| Cold Resistance 3 | 30,000 years of surviving beneath layers of ice have completely solidified virus's lipid covering, ensuring survival at sub-zero temperatures. (can't be devolved) |
| Heat Resistance 1 | Pathogen evolves to withstand hot temperatures and climates. |
| Heat Resistance 2 | Pathogen evolves some resistance to high temperatures. Increased effectiveness in hot climates. |
| Heat Resistance 3 | Pathogen avoids cellular breakdown in high temperatures. Increased effectiveness in hot climates. |
| Ice Resistance | Pathogen able to survive and spread in crystalline sea water when ice melts. Increases infectivity by sea, and is harder to detect. |
Tips
- If the player wants all symptoms available, they should keep evolving DNA Repair tree traits up to Full DNA Repair.
- If they evolve Neanderthal Regression, then countries which are 100% infected will not try to cure the virus, and will instead revert to a Neanderthalic state.
- Players should plan ahead, as the virus begins in Russia no matter what.
- The virus is already naturally resistant to cold climates, and annoying countries that are hard to infect such as Greenland should not provide any worries to the player. However, heat is still an issue, and as such, heat resistance abilities should be still be developed. Hot island countries like Caribbean and New Guinea could pose a threat.
Notes
- Sometimes, a rare bug happens. Airplanes might get filters and, since Air 1 and 2 does not exist in this scenario, the player ends up being unable to reverse its effects.
Trivia
- The Frozen Virus is part of a special group of viruses known as Giruses, or Giant Viruses, due to its sheer size. It is not known if it is actually infectious to humans in real life.
