Illnesses

Table of Contents
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Getting Sick
Spontaneous Illnesses
Illnesses from Breeding
Illness Spreading
Preventing Illnesses
Illnesses and Effects
Contagious Illnesses
Lethal Illnesses
Visible Illnesses
Most Severe Illnesses
All Possible Illnesses
Curing Illnesses

Illnesses are a persistent mechanic that add a level of unpredictability and challenge to the Wolvden experience! While playing casually, your wolves will be able to get sick and injured, and you will be able to assist them with the help of an Herbalist. Illnesses can catch you off-guard if you're not prepared to address them as they pop up, so understanding illnesses and herbalism can be very important to ensuring your pack's longevity.

Illnesses and herbalism are unlocked on your 4th rollover with a new unique quest, Sickness and Health. Upon rolling over, Tala will inform you that your lead wolf has fallen ill and will walk you through assigning an herbalist and treating the illness. Until your 5th rollover, after completing the Sickness and Health quest, your wolves will be incapable of developing illnesses and you will be unable to assign a wolf the herbalist role.

Getting Sick

Wolves can get through a variety of means, many unpredictable. Every wolf in your pack has the ability to get develop an illness, even pups, so it's important to keep an eye on your pack to make sure that everyone is healthy!

When a wolf develops an illness, an icon will be added next to their information on your Den page letting you know that they are unwell. They will also appear in the Action Required section of the home page, where you can quickly view which wolves need attention.

New players have a short period of immunity from illnesses while they are learning about the game. For your first 5 rollovers, your wolves will be incapable of developing illnesses. New players, however, can purchase or accept ill wolves into their pack, while still being unable to diagnose their illness or craft medicine. In order to prevent accidentally locking yourself into not being able to treat an ill wolf, be sure to avoid purchasing any ill wolves until after you complete the Sickness and Health quest.

Spontaneous Illnesses

Some illnesses will occur randomly throughout casual gameplay. When a wolf develops an illness, it will be noted by the game, sometimes alongside an illness icon, so reading through every log and message you get can be helpful in catching any illnesses that fly under your radar.

Developing an Illness on Rollover

Wolves of any age can randomly develop a small variety of illnesses upon rolling over. There is no way to prevent this from occurring besides the short period of immunity that giving a previously ill wolf a medicine will provide. When a wolf spontaneously develops an illness upon rollover, notice of this will be provided in your daily rollover summary.

All of the illnesses that wolves can get randomly on rollover are listed below.

Cough
Cystitis
Distemper
Heatstroke
Influenza
Pox

Exploring and Battling

Lead wolves can develop illnesses from exploring and battling. When a lead wolf gets an illness, you'll find a notice about it in the explore text box alongside an illness icon.

The interacting with certain encounters can give your lead wolf a specific illness.

Constipation (Joining the berry bear in foraging or chomping on the migrating monarch butterflies)
Cough (Enjoying the view of the glacier aurora)
Diarrhea (rolling in poop, licking the Rocky Mountain Toad, and snatching the American Robin.)
Fleas (Racing with the Dall Sheep)
Infection (Taking a chance and swimming in the flooding swamp)
Influenza (Chasing the gulls around the dead muskox)
Open Wound (Running in the desert snow, stealing from the hunting crocodile, or getting closer to the sperm whale)
Poison (licking the Rocky Mountain Toad)
Ticks (Attacking the Yucatan Brown Brocket)

Lead wolves can also get the following illnesses after losing a battle.

Ear Mites
Fleas
Infection
Influenza
Mange
Open Wound
Poison
Ticks

Completing Tasks

Pack wolves can develop illnesses and injuries from completing their role's tasks.

Illnesses that pack wolves can develop spontaneously after completing a hunt or scouting mission are listed below.

Ear Mites
Fleas
Infection
Influenza
Mange
Open Wound
Ticks

Befriended Wolves

Wolves you have befriended while exploring may join your pack with a random illness of the few listed below.

Influenza
Open Wound
Ringworm

Rotting Food

Food items don't last forever, as nice as that would be! Any carcass or other food item that you get from hunting, exploring, or otherwise, will rot 8 rollovers after you get it. On the last day of rotting, the food item will become dangerous to feed to your wolves.

When a food item has a red background in your Hoard, it has the chance of giving your wolf an illness when fed. This chance is per the number of times a wolf is fed, not per uses fed. So, if a wolf is fed a rotting food item with 10 uses, they have a lower chance of becoming sick than from consuming 10 rotting items with 1 use. Rotting food will not be fed to wolves if you use Feed All Play All.

The illnesses possible from feeding a wolf a rotting carcass are listed below.

Constipation
Diarrhea
Ear Mites
Fleas
Tapeworms

Illnesses from Breeding

Wolves can develop illnesses after breeding, both within a pair bond and with a breeding male. If one of the wolves being bred has a contagious illness, there is a chance for the illness to be spread to the second wolf. In addition to this, a few illnesses can appear spontaneously in the breeding of two healthy wolves.

Below are the illnesses that can pop up randomly after a breeding of two healthy wolves.

Cystitis
Hepatitis
Pox

Illness Spreading

If a wolf in your pack has a contagious illness, there is a chance that it will spread to another wolf on rollover. Illness spreading only occurs on rollover, so you don't have to worry about a wolf catching the illness at a random point throughout the day. One ill wolf can spread their contagious illness to one other wolf each day. There won't be an occasion where one wolf's illness is spread to multiple wolves- the only way that multiple wolves could catch an illness on rollover is if multiple other wolves also have that same illness.

Illnesses, for the most part, can be contained within caves. To prevent a contagious illness from spreading, you can isolate a sick wolf in their own cave, and wolves in other caves will not be able to catch the illness. However, since they are not in caves, lead wolves and unsorted wolves are excluded and can spread illnesses to any cave.

Preventing Illnesses

There are a few approaches to preventing illnesses that you could consider if you are worried about your pack being taken off-guard by a plague.

When you give a sick wolf the medicine to cure their illness, the wolf will be given a 1 rollover period of immunity from any illness. If the medicine given was a Cure-for-All, the immunity will be extended to 3 rollovers. If you find that your wolves are extra susceptible to illness, you may choose to cure them each time with a Cure-for-All, to lessen the number of days that they are capable of catching an illness.

Some players choose a harsher method of preventing severe illnesses- illness farming. Giving every wolf in your pack a mild illness like Fleas will prevent them from developing a more severe or lethal illness like Distemper. This also gives you the opportunity to farm experience for your herbalist by diagnosing and curing the illness, only for the wolf to catch it again the next day from one of the many other wolves who still have it. There are some downsides to this method, like greater mood loss, but many players find it effective in fending off severe outbreaks.

Illnesses and Effects

There are currently 18 possible illnesses, each with their own set of effects. Based on these effects, some illnesses are much more severe than others. When a wolf develops an illness, a banner will appear on their page listing symptoms, to give you an idea of what the wolf might have before diagnosis. For some illnesses, like Tapeworms, this notice can also provide insight on the illness's effects.

Wolves can only have one illness at a time, and every wolf regardless of age is capable of contracting them. While some illnesses have a small chance of going away on rollover, most illnesses will remain until the wolf is cured.

Contagious Illnesses

Contagious illnesses are illnesses which can spread to other wolves on rollover. Each contagious illness has a percentage chance out of 100 that the illness will be spread to one other wolf, with some illnesses being much more contagious than others.

Upon rollover, one illness can only spread to one other wolf at a time. For example, if you have two ill wolves, a maximum of two healthy wolves might contract the contagious illness on rollover. If you have six ill wolves, six healthy wolves could catch the illness. With this in mind, contagious illnesses can spread very quickly and exponentially, so it's important to cure them as quickly as you can or isolate the ill wolves from others in your pack. When an illness is spread between wolves, notice of this will be included in your daily rollover summary.

Contagious illnesses, for the most part, are contained with caves. An ill wolf in one cave cannot pass their illness to a healthy wolf in another cave. Isolating a wolf with a contagious illness in their own cave will prevent the illness from being spread. However, lead wolves and unsorted wolves, since they are not in caves, are exempt from this and can spread illnesses to wolves in any caves.

If a wolf has an illness immunity from a previously given medicine, they will not be able to contract a contagious illness. This immunity alongside cave isolation are the only ways to prevent contagious illnesses from spreading.

Lethal Illnesses

Lethal illnesses are very severe illnesses that can kill a wolf. Lethal illnesses, with the exception of Pox in puppies, will only kill a wolf if the wolf has 0 HP going into rollover. If a wolf has a lethal illness, but more than 0 HP going into rollover, they will not die from the illness. If they go into the rollover with 1 or 2 HP and drop to 0 HP during the rollover, the illness will not kill them either.

An exception to the 0 HP rule is Pox. If a puppy (under the age of 6 months) contracts Pox, they will die the next rollover regardless of what their HP was at. Pox is not lethal to wolves 6 months and older.

Lead wolves and breeding males are immune to lethal illness and cannot be killed by illnesses. The only way to remove a lead wolf or breeding male early is to spend Gold Cones to retire them manually.

Visible Illnesses

Some illnesses add visible changes to your wolf's art. This does not necessary indicate that it is more severe but can make it easier to recognize what the illness is before you diagnose it. You can click on the images below to view the illness art for all stages.

Distemper

Fleas

Mange

Open Wound

Ringworm

Ticks

Most Severe Illnesses

While many illnesses won't cause too many issues if left alone for a little while, there are a few illnesses to keep an eye out for that you should try to cure as soon as possible. This could be due to their high contagiousness, possibility of death, or other extreme effects.

Distemper: -6 HP loss on rollover, lethal and contagious, slows energy regeneration, and the wolf cannot breed.
Influenza: -6 HP loss on rollover, extremely contagious, slows energy regeneration, and the wolf cannot breed. Wolf's energy is set to 0 on contraction.
Poison: -10 HP loss on rollover, lethal, and the wolf cannot breed.
Pox: -6 HP loss on rollover, will kill puppies on the first rollover they have it. Contagious through breeding and normal means.

All Possible Illnesses

The table below details every illness and its associated effects. You can also view a similar table in image form here.

The HP effect column indicates how much HP is lost every rollover due to this illness. The energy effect and breeding effect indicates the effects the illness has on energy regeneration and breeding respectively. Contagiousness details the percent chance of the illness passing to one other wolf on rollover. Other Effects might include lethality, an illness's special effects, chance to cure on rollover, etc.

Illness	HP Effect	Energy Effect	Breeding Effect	Contagiousness	Other Effects
Constipation	None	Slows Regeneration	Can't Breed	Not Contagious	Won't eat, Low chance to cure on rollover
Cough	-2 HP	None	Contagious	21%	Low chance to cure on rollover
Cystitis	-2 HP	Slows Regeneration	Can't Breed	Not Contagious	Low chance to cure on rollover
Diarrhea	-4 HP	Slows Regeneration	Can't Breed	Not Contagious	Low chance to cure on rollover
Distemper	-6 HP	Slows Regeneration	Can't Breed	18%	Lethal
Ear Mites	None	None	Contagious	60%	Can't hunt or scout
Fleas	None	None	Contagious	36%	-3 HP on contraction unless from breeding
Heatstroke	-4 HP	Slows Regeneration	Can't Breed	Not Contagious	Lethal
Hepatitis	-6 HP	None	Contagious	18%	None
Infection	-4 HP	None	Can't Breed	Not Contagious	Lethal
Influenza	-6 HP	Slows Regeneration	Can't Breed	90%	Energy set to 0 on contraction
Mange	-6 HP	None	Can't Breed	18%	None
Open Wound	-6 HP	None	Can't Breed	Not Contagious	HP set to 0 on contraction
Poison	-10 HP	None	Can't Breed	Not Contagious	Lethal
Pox	-6 HP	None	Contagious	18%	Lethal to pups after 1 rollover
Ringworm	-2 HP	None	Contagious	18%	None
Tapeworms	None	None	None	Not Contagious	Additional -10% hunger at rollover
Ticks	Keeps HP max at -3 from full	None	None	Not Contagious	None

Curing Illnesses

In order to cure a wolf's illness, you must use a specific medicine designated for that ailment. After diagnosing the wolf at the herbalist, you can give them the cure from the Sick Wolves page or your Hoard. There are some illnesses- Constipation, Cough, Cystitis, and Diarrhea- which have a small chance to cure themselves on rollover, but every illness otherwise will remain until you cure it with a medicine.

Medicine	Use	Recipe
Antidote	Cures Poison	Chaparral (3)
Constipation Cure	Cures Constipation	Bearberry (1) Buffaloberry (1) Burning Bush (1)
Cough Cure	Cures Cough	Goldenseal (1) Kava (1) Pineapple Leaf (1)
Cure-for-All	Cures any illness and gives illness immunity for 3 rollovers.	Aloe (1) Arnica (1) Boneset (1) Carrionflower (1) Cedar Bark (1) Ginger (1) Mullein (1) Spoonwood (1) Tansy (1) Turmeric (1)
Cystitis Cure	Cures Cystitis	Dandelion (1) Kava (1) Redwood Sorrel (1)
Diarrhea Cure	Cures Diarrhea	Charcoal (3)
Distemper Cure	Cures Distemper	Goldenseal (1) Guaiacum (1) Mullein (1)
Ear Mites Ointment	Cures Ear Mites	Carrionflower (1) Tobacco (1) Winterfat (1)
Fleas Remedy	Cures Fleas	Tobacco (3)
Healing Salves	Restores 20 HP	Charcoal (1) Dandelion (1)
Heatstroke Remedy	Cures Heatstroke	Feverfew (1) Ginger (1) Winterfat (1)
Hepatitis Cure	Cures Hepatitis	Boneset (1) Dandelion (1) Spoonwood (1)
Infection Balm	Cures Infection	Feverfew (1) Oregano (1) St. John's Wort (1)
Influenza Cure	Cures Influenza	Guaiacum (2) Pineapple Leaf (2)
Mange Salve	Cures Mange	Arnica (1) Tobacco (1) Yarrow (1)
Open Wound Salve	Cures Open Wound	St. John's Owrt (1) Winterfat (1) Yarrow (1)
Pox Balm	Cures Pox	Oregano (1) Redwood Sorrel (1) Yarrow (1)
Rich Healing Salve	Restores 50 HP	Aloe (3) Buffaloberry (3) Burning Bush (3) Chaparral (3) Charcoal (3)
Ringworm Salve	Cures Ringworm	Aloe (1) Oregano (1) Turmeric (1)
Tapeworm Remedy	Cures Tapeworm	Bearberry (1) Garlic (1) Tansy (1)
Tick Remedy	Cures Ticks	Cedar Bark (1) Garlic (1) Tobacco (1)