The D.I.E. Shockwave is the wonder weapon of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s first zombies map, Die Maschine. The weapon sucks in the life force energy of zombies and converts them into ammo to send back at the endless hordes of undead.
While getting your hands on the D.I.E. Shockwave for free can be done relatively quickly if you know what you are doing, getting its four upgrades requires some specific scenarios. All four upgrades need to be obtained to finish the map’s main Easter egg and can be swapped out anytime by interacting with the boxes that hold each upgrade. Here are the four upgrades for the wonder weapon and how to go about getting the upgrades.
Nova 5
The Nova 5 extension of the Shockwave is related to the Black Ops series Nova 6, which spells certain death for anyone who breathes it in. Nova 5, however, only affects zombies. This upgrade fires a lobbing splotch of Nova 5 that will remain concentrated for a few seconds, damaging any zombies that walk through, but not you or your teammates.
To get the Nova 5 upgrade, you need to take the Shockwave to the top of Nacht Der Untoten. Go to the spot in the screenshot below, and you will notice a canister across the gap that you cannot reach. If your Shockwave is full on ammo, you need to fire it once so you can start using the vacuum function on the gun. Aim at the canister and suck until it flies towards you. When it lands, you can pick it up.
Now that you have the canister, you need to take it to the Weapons Lab and jump into the under area where Deadshot Daiquiri is. When facing the perk machine, turn right, and you will see a spot on the wall where you can insert the canister.
When it is in place, you need to kill a Plaguehound right in front of it. It can be a few feet in front of it, but the range to the side is not as long, so keep that in mind. When done correctly, you will notice the gas from the Plaguehound sucked into the canister. Pick up the now filled canister.
In Crash Site, there is a crate with vines growing on it to the right of the entrance to the Stamin-up room. You need to place the gas canister on top of that and either melee or shoot it. It will destroy the vines and allow you to attach the Nova 5 upgrade.
Cryo-emitter
As you would expect with any cryo-named weapon, this upgrade will freeze and slow down enemies with a frost beam.
Earning this upgrade requires you to get a Megaton Zombie to shoot the fungus on the side of a tree in between Pond and Crash. Lead him to the area and position the fungus between the two of you. You will notice the gray fungus turn purple.
Now that that’s done, you need a flask to catch the liquid falling from the fungus. Go to Penthouse at the top of Nacht Der Untoten with the Shockwave and look to the right of the ramp that you take to go to the roof. There is a box here that you need to shoot to send it below. Go back to Pond and find the flask that has fallen out of the box. Pick it up and place it below the fungus. After some time, the flask will fill, allowing you to pick it up again.
With your flask filled, go to the Medical Bay (room with Speed Cola). Near the door to the Particle Accelerator is a crate with chains around it. Interact with it and the chains will freeze and break, letting you equip the Cryo-emitter upgrade.
Electrobolt
The Electrobolt upgrade is a lightning attachment that slightly stun enemies in their tracks and does a lot of damage to armored and Megaton Zombies.
To unlock it, you need to use the anomaly that appears at the bottom of the Particle Accelerator room to the left of the barrier. Any other one will not work. Before you jump into the Dark Aether, notice the box to the far right on the ground with three light bulbs attached. You will be returning to this box three different times.
After interacting with the anomaly and going into the Dark Aether, you need to find three orange crystals and use the vacuum on the D.I.E Shockwave to suck up their energy and shoot it at the box with light bulbs. You can hold only one at a time, so make sure not to fire the weapon until you shoot it at the chest. When hit with the energy, you will notice a light turn on. You need to turn all three on. If you run out of time in the Dark Aether, make it to the next round and use the same anomaly point to pick up where you left off. The three crystal spots are below.
To the left of the Juggernog machine in Crash Site.
Along the rock wall to the right of the mystery box location in Pond.
To the right of the Wunderfizz machine in Penthouse, above the Stamin-up machine.
As of November 23rd, we ran into a possible glitch of the box not turning lights on when fired with the crystal energy. To get by this, we were able to swap upgrades on the Shockwave to get to start registering.
Once all three lights have been turned on, go back to the box and interact with it to collect the Electrobolt upgrade.
Thermophasic
The Thermophasic upgrade fires out a giant fireball that travels through a train of zombies doing damage to everything it comes across.
To get this upgrade, you need to enter the Dark Aether from the anomaly that appears in Pond. When in the darker dimension, go to Crash Site where the plane’s cockpit will be lifted into the air with a tunnel. Near that tunnel on the ground is a small toolbox that you need to shoot to open up. Grab the fuse inside.
While still in the Dark Aether, make your way to the bottom of Weapons Lab (the same area where you put the canister for the Nova 5 upgrade). Along the wall across from the Deadshot Daiquiri machine is a familiar crate in a laser cutting machine. Interact with it to open the box, but you cannot interact with it here.
You will be sent back to the normal dimension and need to go back to Pond. Mantle on the back of the truck here, and the box you cut open is ready to give you your Thermophasic upgrade.