Infestation Origins Beginners Guide – Weapons, Perks & Bosses

Infestation: Origins is an indie survival horror game where you need to take down Steamboat Willie among other creatures. Since you don't get too much of a tutorial, you may be looking for some helpful tips to get started.

Things to know before starting Infestation Origins

The basic cycle through indie horror games usually takes a while to complete, and Infestation: Originas is no different. Here are each of the steps to get yourself a completed contract.

• Select a loadout. Change weapons, outfits, and traps.
• Select a contract.
• Once inside the contract, you will collect keycards to get into new locations.
• Each new location needs to be cleaned out of enemies and spawn points
• Find a fuse and put it into the fuse box for the area you just cleaned out.
• Find another keycard for that area.
• Open up the maintenance room for that area.
• Use a crank on the pipes in the maintenance area to clean it out completely.
• Repeat those steps for all the areas.
• As soon as you begin to unlock later levels, it will release Willie into the map, and he will chase you. Opening the Common Room in level 1 will release Willie.
• Once all the areas are clear, you will be able to get rid of Willie and finish the contract.

In the Willie level, the first four keycards always appear in the same four spots. They will always be the same four keys in the same spots, but all the remaining keys will have randomized locations.

• The first key will always be in the Control Room on the desk with all the fuel canisters. This is the main A Keycard.
• The keycard to get into B is on a cart in room A. If you go inside the room, it will be on the right side.
• The keycard to the utility room A will be right inside section B on the floor to the left.
• The keycard to the Common room will be in the utility room A in the very center of the room.

All unlockable objects and weapons

There are currently four total weapons in the game, two upgrades to each of those weapons, traps, and outfits. Each one costs money to unlock. You can unlock one of three better fuel canisters and install one of three upgrades.

• Poison: Starting Gun - Base gun with mid overall stats.
  • Fuel Canister +: $50. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Fuel Canister ++: $300. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Fuel Canister +++: $650. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Lingering Odor: $150. +2 second DoT, but -25% overall damage.
  • Paralyzing Agent: $550. +10% chance to paralyze, -25% overall damage.
  • Contagion: $750. +20% spread chance between enemies, -20% overall damage.
• Flamethrower: $200 - Lots of damage, but the flamethrower has low fuel efficiency.
  • Fuel Canister +: $50. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Fuel Canister ++: $300. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Fuel Canister +++: $650. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Turn Up the Heat: $600. +15% damage, +15% fuel usage.
  • Lasting Impressing: $900. +2 second DoT, -25% damage.
  • Controlled Burn: $1200. -20% fuel cost, -10% spray area.
• Zapper: $400 - Zaps rats quickly and hits pretty hard.
  • Fuel Canister +: $50. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Fuel Canister ++: $300. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Fuel Canister +++: $650. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Go Electric: $950. -20% fuel cost, -10% damage.
  • Showstopper: $1250. +20% stun chance, -20% damage.
  • Static Shock: $1550. +30% spread chance, -30% damage.
• Cryogun: $800 - Slow but has some powerful stopping abilities. Freezes enemies.
  • Fuel Canister +: $50. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Fuel Canister ++: $300. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Fuel Canister +++: $650. Raises fuel capacity and raises reload time.
  • Frostbite: $1100. +15% slow enemies, +20% fuel cost.
  • Deep Freeze: $1350. 10% chance to deep freeze, -15% damage.
  • Blizzard: $1600. +20% spray width, +20% damage, -10% spray length.

The second thing you can buy and unlock are the different traps and their upgrades. There are three different traps, each with three upgrades you can buy. You can only have one upgrade on a trap at a time.

• Bear Trap: Starting trap. $25 for additional traps. Extra traps lost on death.
  • Sharp Teeth: $350. +20% damage, -30% trap duration.
  • Reinforced Jaws: $1000. +30% trap duration, -20% damage.
  • Coated Spikes: $1400. +3 second DoT, +25% traps break early.
• Area Spray Trap: $250. Extra traps lost on death.
  • Extended Nozzle: $700. +20% spray length, -20% rotation speed.
  • Rapid Dispersion: $1150. +20% rotation speed, -20% spray length.
  • Concentrated Burn: $1450. +50% damage, -10% spray duration.
• Lantern Trap: $750. Extra traps lost on death.
  • Tesla Coil: $1050. +20% stun chance, +20% recharge time.
  • Increased Voltage: $1300. +20% damage, -25% detection radius.
  • Fatal Attraction: $1500. +25% detection radius, -20% damage.

In addition to the seven starting colors of suits, there are about 60 unlockable suits. These range from $50 to $275; they do nothing for you except change the color of your outfit.

How to unlock Perks

There is a list of perks in the upper left-hand side of the opening menu. While you will start with Tier 1 unlocked, you will need to unlock the next four levels by completing contracts and playing the game. More information will be coming on the perks soon!

• Tier I Haste
  • Dexterous: +20% reload speed.
  • Healing Touch: +20% healing from Medkits.
  • Interactive: +20% interaction speed.
• Tier II Sight - unlocks at level 4.
  • Locksmith:
  • Resourceful:
  • Priority:
• Tier III Pest Off - unlocks at level 9.
  • Peppermint:
  • Bug Spray:
  • All-Purpose:
• Tier IV Weapon Expert - unlocks at level 16.
  • Hot Shot:
  • Cryo Specialist:
  • Electrified:
• Tier V Teamwork - unlocks at level 25.
  • Encouragement:
  • Cover Fire:
  • Superior Numbers:
• Tier VI Ignorance is Bliss - unlocks at level 36.
  • Bear Hug:
  • Undeterred:
  • Grounded:
• Tier VII Heavy Hitter - unlocks at level 49.
  • Firepower:
  • Impact Bracing:
  • Enduring:

Best loadout in Infestation: Origins

I have found a couple of load outs on the internet for this game, but this one so far has been the best in my opinion. Thanks to Hurrynd from the Steam community for this amazing loadout; I am looking forward to tweaking it in the future for myself though.

• Weapon
  • Flamethrower
    • Wide-tip Nozzle (+20% Spray Width / -20% Spray Length)
    • Fuel Canister+++ (+30% Fuel Capacity / -30% Reload Time)
    • Modifier: Controlled Burn (-20% Fuel Cost / -10% Spray Area)
• Perks
  • Tier I: Haste – Dexterous (Gain 20% Reload Speed)
  • Tier II: Sight – Locksmith (Keys and keycards are highlighted through walls when you’re nearby)
  • Tier III: Pest Off – Peppermint (Rats are slowed by 20% when you're nearby)
  • Tier IV: Weapon Expert – Hotshot (Gain 10% increased damage when using Flamethrower)
  • Tier V: Teamwork – Cover Fire (Take 10% less damage from pests per nearby teammate)
• Trap
  • Area Sprayer
    • Upgrade: Extended Nozzle (+20% Spray Lenght / -20% Rotation Speed)

Holding objects and using them

You can hold up to three different kinds of objects at a time. You have room for one medkit, one extra fuel canister, and one fuse or crank. You can also hold as many keys as you want at a time.

• Medkits are automatically used.
• You can hold more than one keycard, but keycards are only used once.
• When putting fuses in, make sure to aim for the right room, or else you might waste it. It won't automatically go into the spot of the room you just cleared.
• You can only hold one crank or one fuse at a time.

How to kill bosses

You cannot kill Willie or the Moth Man without clearing all the areas first, but you can chase them off. The best way to chase them off is to use your weapon; most traps don't work as well as just firing a weapon at them to get them off your back.

Fastest way to earn money in Infestation: Origins

There isn't really a fast way to earn money in Infestation: Origins. The only thing you can do to get coin is to complete contracts. You don't get partial money for half completing contracts, so make sure you make the contract easy enough that you can complete it. I would not recommend taking yellow or red contracts until you are able to buy some upgrades for your weapon. Contracts have five different metrics, and each metric can have a level of one to five (one being the easiest while five is the highest.

• Pest Health: Non-boss enemies' health bar size.
• Respawn Rate: How fast non-boss enemies respawn in nests.
• Nest Quantity: How many nests there are for pests to respawn in.
• Pest Speed: How fast the enemies move around the map.
• Nest Growth: How difficult it is to break the nests with your weapons.

The easiest of all the contracts will have a green label on them, and they will get you around $270. There are also orange contracts that medium difficulty, then hard contracts are red. The highest difficulty red contracts can pull in almost $600 for Willie's level.

For more indie games, check out Best Indie Games On PC You Should Play (2024) on Pro Game Guides.