Hello CERC Recruits! We’re excited to be sharing some intel about what’s happening on the island and a couple of other tips and frequently asked questions that will help you find and defeat Patient Zero. This also includes recommendations on team dynamics, more info on the story, Factions, upcoming vehicles, and more.
Guide Contents
Beginners Guide
Note: Credit goes to torbsy
How to Kill Patient Zero
Patient Zero is an incredibly powerful foe. Since becoming infected with the Pangu Virus, all that drives her is the spreading of the virus to as many hosts as possible, and the transformation of our world to something more suitable to her. With each day that passes, Patient Zero becomes stronger as the virus is evolving her into something unnatural and far from the human being she once was.
Research and development are the most effective way to stop Patient Zero from expanding her control. With each piece of virus DNA that is found, the CERC slowly comes to understand the Pangu Virus and discovers the most effective way to fight it. When enough DNA has been found, specially designed ammo known as Shredder Rounds are powerful enough to penetrate Patient Zero’s defenses and deal enough damage to put her down for good. When she is defeated, her control over those already infected comes to a halt, ending the threat once and for all.
Formations
Understanding formations are incredibly important if you want to survive more than a few hours out in the field. While each soldier is a capable fighter on their own, together, they are far more powerful and dangerous to Patient Zero.
There are eight formations to choose from. Each formation is useful under different circumstances. Out in the open, you might want to select the V or Wedge Formations as this option allows all the soldiers in your squad to have a clear line of sight. While moving down streets, you may consider the File or Staggered Columns. When protecting an asset or you find yourself surrounded, the Circle Formation is your best option. It is essential to experiment and determine which of the eight formations works best for you.
Team Setup and Dynamics
Your team is your greatest weapon while combating the Pangu Virus and hunting down Patient Zero. Captain Winter is your hero character. As commander on the ground, she is the most powerful and effective fighter the second you step off the helicopter. She has special abilities such as the ability to toss a stun grenade and an advanced cloaking device that can be used so she can escape when the heat is on.
Each class in your squad is designed to work closely together and perform an independent function that strengthens your overall effectiveness in the field. Engineers are experts at close combat with their powerful shotguns while being able to deploy turrets and walls. Heavy gunners can hold down an entire horde on their own with their fire suppression ability, while snipers have a greater optical range and stopping power. Spec-Ops soldiers are naturally stealthier and harder for the infected to detect, while medical officers can heal injured units. Assault units are your go-to offensive force while also being able to build sandbag and barbwire defenses to slow the enemy down. Scientists are critical as they are the only units that can collect DNA samples from defeated infected and can be equipped with powerful flamethrowers.
If you rely too heavily on one class over another, you are weakening your ability to fight the virus properly and each units’ shortcomings will become very noticeable. So, diversifying your squad is extremely important. Furthermore, the longer your soldiers survive, they will level up to a max of 5, which increases their health, target accusation, and aim. You can also purchase more potent firepower for each soldier in your squad, with each class typically have two firearms in the weapons market to choose from.
Story / Lore
In 1998, a Chinese expedition to Antarctica discovered what seemed to be an ordinary meteorite. After further evaluation, it was determined that the object was 4.8 billion years old, making it older than our Solar System and the earliest known object from space ever discovered. It was believed the meteor struck the earth in the late 1700s and laid dormant until its discovery. Most astonishing was that microscopic alien organisms were found deep within the rock in what could best be described as hibernation, providing the first conclusive evidence that life exists beyond the earth. However, before the findings could be made public, the Communist Chinese government ceased control of all research relate to the object and silenced the scientist responsible for the discovery, which they had come to call, the Pangu meteorite.
In 2008, after a decade of research entirely done in secret, under the watch of the Chinese Army, the alien organisms that were determined to be a viral strain was weaponized and released in the Kaixian District, one of the poorest regions in China. The controlled experiment resulted in unusual mutations to all organic life, including plants, animals, and humans, resulting in each subject’s DNA being radically altered by the alien virus. After a week, fearing the infection would grow out of their control, the Chinese military had most of the population exterminated, and the survivors moved. A few months later, the Kaixian District was flooded due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam, leaving all evidence of what happened under hundreds of feet of water.
The Kaixian Incident did not go unnoticed by the United States. After years of collecting information from those few survivors and defectors about the Pangu Virus, it was determined that all attempts needed to be taken to ensure that such a weapon would not remain in the control of China.
12 days before San Francisco widespread outbreak
After years of careful planning, the Pentagon sent into Chinese territory an elite force to take a sample of the Pangu Virus before destroying all research related to its creation.
Midnight, September 17th, 2020, three Navy SEAL teams attacked the man-made island military base located in the South China Sea. Using Vietnamese pirates as a decoy, which pulled a substantial portion of the base’s personnel away from the facility; the NAVY SEALs completed their mission with no loss of life and destroyed the entire base using a miniaturized nuclear warhead, ensuring that no samples of the Pangu Virus could be released, and all research related to it destroyed. The SEALs withdrew to an offshore oil tanker named the Voyager Dawn.
The nuclear detonation on the island would be blamed on the reactor that powered the base, drawing world attention to the incident. Because of this, the Chinese military would be on full alert and the hunt for any U.S. naval vessels in the area. Thus, it was determined to be safer for the virus sample to be brought back to the United States through slower means, not to draw any unwanted attention. However, just two days from reaching the West Coast of the United States, where the oil tanker was supposed to dock at the Port of Oakland, something happened on board the tanker that resulted in a portion of the virus being released, infecting the crew.
Two Days before San Francisco widespread outbreak
The Voyager Dawn beached in Half Moon Bay after a week and a half at sea. As the vessel was supposed to maintain radio silence, the U.S. government was not aware of the outbreak on board the ship until after it was beached. Before a search and rescue team could be sent, 24-year-old Chelsey Trader, who had been visiting her grandmother that weekend, was walking along the beach when she noticed a body washed up on shore early in the morning, not too far from where the ship had beached. Working as a nurse, she rushed over to render aid, finding the man still alive, but close to death. The man tried to warn Chelsey, but his words were distorted. Inadvertently, Chelsey was infected as the man died in her arms.
When emergency personnel arrived on the scene, Chelsey gave her statement before leaving. Soon after, government vehicles arrived and took control of the area. Due to the outbreak, the salvage would take time. Chelsey, meanwhile, returned to her home that afternoon.
A few hours later, Chelsey arrived in San Francisco’s Treasure Island, where she worked at Treasure Island Community Hospital. Within a day, patients that Chelsey was treating became violently ill, becoming enraged, some escaping the hospital that night and disappearing into the surrounding communities. By midnight that same day, police sealed Treasure Island off from the nearby Yerba Buena Island, which connected to the Bay Bridge to prevent those sick from escaping.
As an emergency personally searched for the infected, Chelsey returned home following her shift, unknowing that she was the one responsible for spreading the virus. While asleep later that night, Chelsey began to toss and turn as strange voices and haunting images filled her mind. Overcome with impulses that weren’t her own, she violently attacked and murdered her parents. Two police officers arrived and were attacked, with one of them killed, and the second seriously hurt. Chelsey then fled into the city, instinctively needing to hide as she unwittingly began to spread the virus.
One Day before San Francisco widespread outbreak
Now aware that containment had been broken when the Voyager Dawn had been beached, the government was alerted to what was happening on Treasure Island and ordered a complete shutdown of the whole region. Ferries were stopped from coming or leaving the island, along with civilian air traffic. Access to Gateway Island was prohibited, and the Bay Bridge was shut down in both directions as the Center for Epidemic Research and Control (CERC) was instructed to take over the crisis and prevent the spread of the infection. The CERC, coming up from their west coast headquarter in Los Angeles, took control of Alcatraz Island to use as their base of operations and ordered their elite military and scientific teams into Pearl Island to track down Patient Zero, and to stop the infected from spreading.
Day One
Captain Winter and her Alpha and Beta teams, consisting of soldiers and scientists are instructed by Doctor Juliet Wu, head of the CERC’s efforts to contain the outbreak tells Captain Winter to take control of the Coast Guard base on Yerba Buena Island as a staging area before he begins his search for Patient Zero.
After a few days, Captain Winter tracks Patient Zero down the abandoned Grissom Military Barracks on Treasure Island. Captain Winter finds Chelsey alone and afraid. Winter’s attempts to bring her back with her, but the virus inside fights back as she conflicts with her humanity and whatever has taken control of her mind and body. Chelsey battles Captain Winter and his team as she summons all the infected in the area to her aid. However, Captain Winter manages to kill Chelsey with great effort and readies to bring her to a medical ship offshore where she can be studied. However, shortly after Chelsey is loaded onto a helicopter, it is shot down by a surface-to-air missile over the Bay by an unseen adversary hidden in San Francisco.
Vehicles
As part of our Development Road Map over the next year, we will be including combat and support vehicles. This will make getting around the map much easier and faster while bringing to the table a new level of firepower to use against Patient Zero and her infected. These vehicles include both land and air, each of which will be entirely under the control of the player.
Here is a list of some of the vehicles we have planned for the game in no particular order:
- Apache attack helicopter
- Little Bird transport chopper
- V-22 Osprey
- Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV)
- Cougar transport vehicle
- MRZR light scout vehicle
- Stryker (4 variants)
Some vehicles will be locked behind our three doctrines that players will have to pick when they begin the game, giving each doctrine unique advantages while in the field. Other vehicles will be available once the motor pool has been built at your base and can be used for direct combat against the infected, or as transport and scout vehicles to plan your next assault.
Factions
As you combat Patient Zero and her infected, you’ll come across two factions that are also fighting for their survival against a system that has all but forgotten about them.
One faction represents the local police, under the command of Captain Pierce. Having already been fighting the infected for days before the arrival of the CERC, Pierce and his people have been left to fend for themselves. Determined to save as many people as he can, as each person he can protect is one less infected he has to worry about, Pierce is willing to accept outside help, but will not tolerate any hostile aggressive taken against his people or the innocent civilians trapped on Treasure Island.
Natalie Washington, a former US Marine who was dishonorably discharged, is an anarchist. She and many that fight with her have been waiting for the day that society broke down, and they are free to live as they deem fit. Hard as nails and determined to survive at all costs, Natalie and her people are experts at scavenging and survival but will cut the throats of anyone that dares cross them.
It is up to you to decide which faction best serves your needs as the CERC’s only interest is fighting the virus and stopping Patient Zero at any cost, even if that means innocent people have to suffer in the process. Bend too far, and you can quickly become the enemy of these factions, or their friend.
Enemies
The infected come in a variety of types. As the virus continues to change and evolve those infected with the Pangu Virus, new classifications for the infected arise each day, with some of them defying imagination.
Type OO: These are the most basic class of infected; those people caught up in the outbreak and transformed into mindless killing machines that due to the bidding of Patient Zero.
Type 01: Are a fast-moving class that attacks in packs. They have acid over a considerable distance that can burn through body armor and even bring down aircraft.
Type 02: Are large, powerful infected that are powerful melee fighters. However, when near death, their buss-filled sacks on their back mix from a chemical reaction that has explosive results, capable of killing anyone caught in the blast.
Type 03: Are massive behemoths of incredible power and durability. This type represents one of the ultimate evolutions of the infected as they can charge through anything in their path, man or machine. They also can summon other infected to their area if not brought down quickly enough.
New classes of infected are being seen all the time as each day the virus becomes more toxic and the environment altered. We do plan to introduce a few more infected classes, so make sure to stay tune for those updates.
Calling this a guide is a joke.
I Have never seen a more incomplete starters guide.