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Here comes the plague.
—Virus

The Virus is Epsilon's elite sniper, armed with a poison-laced gun that spreads a deadly poison cloud throughout enemy infantry ranks.

Official description[]

Beautiful yet deadly, these female snipers, code-named Virus, are an offshoot of the genetic manipulation project originally meant to create beings with superhuman strength. However, Viruses are specifically trained in marksmanship and are effective assassins, picking off multiple infantry with great ease.

Originally members of Rashidi's elite guard force, the Viruses fire special darts filled with a biologically engineered pathogen, causing the victim to rapidly develop large sores and blisters, as well as severe organ damage and necrosis. When the pathogen has reached critical mass within a victim’s body, the skin ruptures, ejecting toxic gasses and killing the host. The produced gas clouds can spread to other soldiers who will become infected when inhaling it. Luckily, the gas clouds dissipate as the pathogen cannot exist for long outside of a host. Through further body enhancements at Yuri's genetic labs, Viruses have become immune to toxins, and even seem reinvigorated when near it.[1]

Overview[]

For a detailed list of changes from the original game, click here.

VirusCountdown

A Soviet Flak Trooper infected due to a recent Virus attack

The Virus returns as Yuri's long range anti-infantry unit, but they are more balanced in Mental Omega. First off, their cost is more than doubled, and they require a Cloning Vats instead of Tier 2 to become available, though the Cloning Vats can mitigate this cost somewhat by duplicating any trained infantry. Another change is that the Virus' weapon now has a delay before its victims explode and release poison clouds, but only the Virus' proselyte can see the green bar that ticks down and indicates when this will happen.

Nonetheless, Viruses remain snipers that excel in eliminating crowds of enemy infantry. Their weapon fires darts that have good range and immense killing power, at the cost of a short timer attached to it. Once the timer ends, not only does the target take enough damage to outright kill most infantry, but it also spreads poison clouds. In addition, any infantry killed by the dart will explode, spreading even more clouds and dealing burst damage to nearby allies. With proper micromanagement, a few Viruses can clear out groups with a combination of cloud, dart and explosion damage. Since their attacks don't reveal their position, the enemy commander will have a hard time locating them, especially if they're placed outside of a main attack force. In a pinch, they can use poison clouds to heal themselves, but be aware that the initial explosion will still damage them.

Proper utilization of Viruses is somewhat difficult. While their individual attacks are quite potent, they do not stack or boost each other's, so individuals need proper micromanagement or positioning to get the most out of their attacks. Along with that, lone Viruses are near-useless against non-organic units (vehicles can still release poison clouds, but only take minimal damage from them), so it's generally advised to keep them away from tanks and aircraft without a proper escort as they lack speed or health to withstand those attacks.

AI behavior[]

Viruses controlled by the AI have the following attack patterns:

Medium/Hard[]

  • 1x targeting infantry
  • 2x targeting infantry
  • 2x guarding Inferno Towers, Tank Bunkers and Gatling Cannons

Hard[]

  • 2x guarding Chimera Cores or deployed Hazequads

Appearances[]

The Virus is a powerful sniper that can kill groups of infantry from a distance.
—Epsilon intel during Operation: Scrapyard

Act One[]

  • Viruses are first seen in the ranks of Rashidi's Scorpion Cell in Scrapyard. They'll fall under control of the player alongside the rest of the Scorpion Cell forces after the first objective is complete.
  • An elite Virus accompanies Malver and later a PsiCorps Trooper in Singularity. In this mission, the Virus does not automatically acquire targets, has an increased range of 13, and must survive the mission.
  • The Virus debuts as a trainable unit in Moonlight. In this mission, they can be trained from the Soviet Barracks (requiring a Cloning Vats) once the MCV is deployed.

Special Ops[]

  • In Blood Rage, after the Infiltrator finishes preparing the tranquiliser for the berserk Libra in the Field Bureau, a Virus will be delivered near the Field Bureau via Driller. The Virus, equipped with the tranquiliser, is tasked with pacifying Libra by firing the sniper rifle at her, making her darts deal no damage and Libra herself susceptible to be captured by a Drakuv Prison Vehicle. This Virus has a large arrow pointing over her head, and must survive until Libra is pacified.
  • In Survivors, the Tech Secret Lab near the top right Scorpion Cell base will give access to Viruses when captured, as that base doesn't have a Construction Yard so the Cloning Vats can't be built.

Assessment[]

Pros Cons
  • Deadly against infantry, killing most in one or two shots.
  • Effective range far greater than that of standard infantry units.
  • Successful infection of the pathogen releases poison clouds, harming nearby units.
  • Exploding victim also harms nearby infantry.
  • Heals in poison clouds.
  • Does not reveal position when attacking.
  • Useless against buildings and vehicles.
  • Fragile, vulnerable against anti-infantry weapons.
  • Slow reloading rate and movement speed.
  • Pathogen takes time to infect and kill the host.
  • Multiple Virus shots increase neither damage nor infection rate.
  • Released poison clouds may cause friendly fire.
  • Cannot attack air units.
  • Only available in later stages of the game, after building a Cloning Vats.
  • Despite being able to heal in poison clouds, Viruses can actually be killed by their own medicine if their affected target(s) perishes in close proximity to them.
  • Expensive.

Behind the scenes[]

  • In 3.0 the Virus was available as an Epsilon stolen tech infantry available after infiltrating a rogue Epsilon Pandora Hub.[2]

External links[]

See also[]

References[]

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