Extended Synopsis

The First Day

On day 0, you likely won't notice much change. Once night falls, however, you'll begin to encounter Infected. These Mobs spawn naturally in dark places and are hostile to most life. Their attacks inflict Mycelium Infection. If a compatible mob dies while having this Effect, they'll be converted into their infected form. Furthermore, if an Infected kills a mob without infecting it (Skeletons and Spiders most commonly), they'll obtain something known as a Kill Point and an Evolution Point. These Points have many uses, but the primary one is Evolution.

Evolution is a complex system, allowing Infected to transform into Evolved forms. Evolved are noticeably stronger than Infected, being more durable, dealing more damage, and having unique abilities. By the end of the first day, you can expect to see swarms of Infected and Evolved.

Days 1 - 3

When Evolution for an Infected occurs, there's a 10% chance Evolution will fail, resulting in the Mob transforming into what's known as a Scamper. These creatures are quite weak on their own. However, once a Scamper has existed for 10 minutes, it will transform into multiple bulbs of flesh called Mounds. These are crucial for progression, as they serve as a major vector for infestation and will ultimately result in the creation of stronger Mobs later down the line.

Mounds will periodically 'puff', spreading the infection to nearby blocks, terraforming the terrain. They're also capable of aging as time passes, making them grow larger and stronger, as well as gaining new abilities. At some point, certain Mounds will become able to place a Reconstructed Mind block. If you wish to stop the infection before it gets too severe, now would be a good time. Destroying Reconstructed Minds and killing Mounds will keep the infection at bay. Though, this is assuming you can find them all and continually kill them as they spawn, making this strategy more than suboptimal.

Furthermore, it's likely you'll begin to notice Hyper Evolved spawning. These are the Evolution of Evolved forms, and they should not be taken lightly. Hyper Evolved are extremely durable and powerful, and should be avoided if you don't have at least iron armor and a bow.

Days 4 - 10

A Reconstructed Mind will call nearby Spore Mobs towards its location, forcing them to give it their Kill Points. This process is highly variable in regards to how much time it can take. Regardless, once a Reconstructed Mind has amassed 40 Kill Points, it'll transform into a Proto Hivemind. This is logged by the message "Endure..." being sent in chat.

Proto Hiveminds are the most common and main threat that can appear in your world, as they're extremely powerful and influential Mobs that serve as nodes for the infection. Proto Hiveminds can spawn Organoids to defend themselves, construct walls of Biomass, spread the Madness Effect to nearby players, and Link nearby Spore Mobs. Linked Mobs will act more coordinated together as a horde. Furthermore, when a Linked Mob dies close to a Proto Hivemind, it has a chance to create a Signal. When a Proto Hivemind receives a Signal, she'll respond by summoning a Womb. This is logged by the message "Prepare..." being sent in chat. Wombs will idly call over and consume any Spore Mobs that touch them. Once a Womb has gained enough biomass, it'll birth a Calamity.

When a Calamity is created, it'll immediately begin to travel to where the Signal occurred in order to deal with the threat that killed the Spore Mob. Calamities are extremely large and dangerous threats, as their only purpose is to destroy terrain and efficiently dispatch enemies. Living Armor is recommended for combating these behemoths.

Day 10+

Depending on how much you travel and linger in one spot, the Dimension may enter Proto World Modifier, which activates as long as there are 3 Proto Hiveminds in the Dimension. Multiple changes occur during Proto World Modifier, primarily: Infected and Evolved have a 30% chance to instantly Evolve, all applicable Spore Mobs will spawn as Linked, and Calamities will spawn with their Adaptations already enabled, though there are other changes. Proto World Modifier is the current peak of infection.

Notes

• Spore Mobs are debuffed in cold biomes, as they have a particular weakness to the cold (details can be found on the Cold Weakness page). Considering spawn chunks are always loaded, if those chunks are in a cold biome, then the Spore will progress slower there. Furthermore, if you spend a lot of time in a cold biome (likely constructing a base), the Spore will also progress slower in your general area. This is a good choice if you want to keep the Spore more at bay.

  • Installing mods that add more cave biomes (e.g. YUNG's Cave Biomes) is likely to result in more cave biomes beneath cold biomes, generally meaning more Infected will spawn there (see Cold Weakness page for details).

• If you never sleep, natural spawning of Infected will be split between the underground and the surface at night, making them actually progress slower. Sleeping results in pure underground development, resulting in faster progression.

• If you've installed a mod that allows strong mobs to spawn naturally (e.g. Born in Chaos), it's very likely for weaker Spore Mobs to die in attempts to fight these powerful mobs, making them have a harder time getting a foothold in the world.

• Naturally, any Config changes result in progression speed being susceptible to vary. Make sure you're aware of what changes you're making!