Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Zombies mode has been a fun long-standing challenge for fans of the series. Going all out to set yourself up for success has always been a big draw in this horde mode, and now there are more ways than ever to do so. With how many changes Zombies received for the launch of Black Ops Cold War, both veterans and new players have questions and concerns about reaching higher levels. Here are some tips and tricks for surviving as many rounds as possible in Die Maschine, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s first zombies map.
Aim for the head, or melee
In any zombies media, you always hear advice to go for the head to take a zombie down for good. In Call of Duty Zombies, however, body shots kill them as well. We say to go for the head anyway because collecting points has been slightly altered in Black Ops Cold War.
In previous games, you would receive points just for doing damage to zombies, but in Cold War, you are only rewarded for the kill. Headshots and melee kills reward you with 115 points per kill, while kills with any other kind of damage rewards 90. It may not seem like a big difference, but it will add up throughout the game with the hundreds of zombies you will be killing. Combine the 115 with using stun or decoy grenades on zombies, and you will earn even more points quickly.
Upgrade your weapons before getting perks
While it is important to protect yourself against the endless hordes of zombies, the sooner you Pack-a-Punch your weapons, the better off you will be. There are now three new levels of Pack-a-Punch. You should ideally save your points for the first level before you grab Juggernog. From there, maybe grab Quick Revive or another perk, but you will want to save up the 15,000 points needed to Pack-a-Punch your weapon to level two, and then finally 30,000 for level three. Get your gun ready to quickly take down the Megaton Zombies as well as regular zombies, and you will be able to get points even faster for the rest of your perks and purchases.
Use the Arsenal
The Arsenal is a new feature in Zombies that lets you build armor and upgrade the damage tiers on your weapons with salvage dropped by enemies. Like with the previous section, we recommend upgrading your weapons before your armor. The first two tiers require uncommon (green) salvage and the last two require rare (blue). Get your weapon upgrades to at least epic (purple), and then focus on your armor. There is also a chance you can find armor drops from enemies, making the prospect of crafting level one armor completely irrelevant.
Upgrade your perks first
Upgrading perks cannot be done during a match. Instead, you earn Aetherium Crystals when you pass milestone rounds. In between games, you can spend these crystals to make the perks you buy more potent in future matches. You won’t be able to upgrade all of the perks until you reach higher levels, but doing so as you can is highly recommended. First, buy Juggernog for extra health, then Quick Revive for more health benefits. Speed Cola becomes faster when upgraded, and Stamin-up will make your traversal so much easier. While you can spend Aetherium Crystals in other areas, if you are able to buy perk upgrades, definitely do them first.
Good training spots
Training zombies is the act of leading a group of undead along a path that you can repeatedly follow without taking damage. This is the oldest method in Zombies for making it to higher rounds, with each map having specific areas players like to exploit for safely maneuvering. In Die Maschine, there are multiple spots useful for this.
First is the Yard, the beginning area, because of how wide open it is. As long as no one gets in your way, you can move freely around the trees here all day. Crash Site is another wide-open area around the plane wing. You can quickly circle zombies around and run to other areas if needed.
While not as recommended as the previous two, Pond can be used to train zombies as well. Just make sure you don’t get caught in the narrow pathways between rocks.
The Coffin Dance Easter egg
The Coffin Dance Easter egg is easily the most useful side quest you can do in Die Maschine. No matter the situation, it always will aid you in getting better gear or more resources. When opening the weapons crate left behind by the zombies, make sure the smiley face screen is colored orange to denote legendary status. You will earn one Juggernog perk for free as well as either a legendary tier weapon/ray gun/D.I.E. Shockwave, along with some equipment and salvage. The items you get from this side Easter egg are very beneficial.
Do trials
Trials are activated in the Control Room on the computer at the end of the room, and they’re more useful the sooner you can do them. Starting at 500 points and increasing in points the later in the game you get, you can combine your reward tiers between trials to earn legendary and epic items. Included in the possible rewards are legendary tier weapons, epic level Pack-a-Punched weapons, free perks, ammo mods, support streaks, and more. Most of the trials are fairly easy to do, making increasing your reward tier a walk in the park that should be done on the side.
Visit the Dark Aether
When doing the Die Maschine main Easter egg, you will be traveling into the Dark Aether a lot through anomalies. Even if not doing so, it is useful to explore the area as well. While in the Dark Aether, you can unlock shortcuts between above ground and underground regions that can get you out of sticky situations.
Also, the crystals you find in the Dark Aether should be destroyed as much as possible when you teleport in. When broken, a crystal drops an item. While they will mostly drop pretty standard items like armor plates, salvage, a small sum of points, or ammo, some great things will drop too. Weapons have been known to fall from the crystals — even a ray gun if you are lucky enough. You can also get a self-revive from these crystals for free.
Use Brain Rot and Dead Wire for ammo mods
Ammo mods can be added to your guns at the Pack-a-Punch machine and give your weapons an additional effect. Our favorites to use are Brain Rot and Dead Wire. Brain Rot will turn a zombie into an ally for a short while. It will attack other zombies until it dies and can be upgraded to explode on death. Dead Wire’s main effect stuns zombies for a short duration, but the better use case for this mod is against Megaton Zombies. Depending on the weapon you have, these boss zombies can be challenging to take down, but Dead Wire will output more damage on Megatons.