In Call of Duty’s Zombies mode, the difficulty has always ranged from insane to laughable, depending on the game. For example, Black Ops IIII was universally agreed upon to be one of the easier Zombies iterations, while World at War's unpolished mechanics made it the most difficult. 

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By comparison, Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War’s Zombies mode lands somewhere in the middle, though who knows if that'll change after Firebase Z releases. That said, the zombies in the Die Maschine map really start to ramp up in damage and speed as the rounds keep climbing. So, to counteract that, here are some easily exploitable tips and tricks that should make it much easier overall. 

Trigger All Those Juicy Easter Eggs

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War: Triggering The Giant Skeleton Arm In The Dark Aether

There are quite a few Easter eggs in Die Maschine that consistently gift players with amazing rewards, which is great. The best part, however, is how easily repeatable they are. 

  • Coffin Dance: The easiest to pull off and nets tons of Salvage, a gun of any rarity, some random equipment, and a free perk or Wunder Weapon every single time.
  • The Skeleton Arm: The most difficult to pull off, since it requires someone to watch their back and for 15 Zombies to get caught by the arm in this hallway. The reward, however, is insane, as it immediately ascends the equipped weapon to Legendary Rarity.
  • The Free D.I.E Machine: Also pretty easy, as it only requires that players kill a Megaton and trick Zombies into getting their soul sucked near the closet in Living Room.

And that's only a few of them! In any case, getting all these Secrets triggered as early as possible easily sets players up damage-wise for the rest of the run.

Bring A Decked-Out Shotgun

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War: Using The 25.2 Task Force Barrel On A Shotgun

A nerf has to be coming for the shotguns in Zombies, there just has to be. Everyone’s talking about the Gallo SA12’s damage, but the Hauer 77 is a personal favorite. Both these guns are strong without any attachments, but the Task Force Barrel, in particular, is what pushed them into the realm of overpowered.

Players have tested it over and over and found that a Rare, single Pack-A-Punched and Ammo Modded Hauer 77 with Task Force kills Megatons faster than even the Raygun. 

Spend The Time And Get Multiple D.I.E Machines

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War: The Skeleton In Living Room, Holding The D.I.E Machine

This next one takes a bit of patience and expendable funds, so players probably shouldn’t attempt it until they’ve got the most crucial perks like Jugger-Nog and Quick Revive. But, basically, it involves leaving a zombie or two alive, then kiting it around while all four party members roll on the Random Box (or use one of the other methods) until they all have a D.I.E Machine.

Turns out that the suction function of this Wunder Weapon scales compared to the current Round, and if multiple players are using it on a crowd at once, the Zombies will never reach them. By the way, if rolling on the Random Box sounds too tedious, here are a few other ways to get the D.I.E Machine:

  • From the closet in Living Room (using the Keycard and Remote)
  • Going in and out of the Dark Aether and breaking the Purple Crystals until one pops out
  • Triggering the Coffin Dance Easter Egg and having the D.I.E Machine pop out of the Coffin
  • Earning a Legendary Reward from one of the Trials activated in Control Room

Combine Ring Of Fire With The D.I.E Machine

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War: A Look At Ring Of Fire's Upgrades

Speaking of the insane damage output of the D.I.E Machine, here’s a similar exploit that's more targeted towards solo players. It's the same process as the exploit above, but once the player has a single D.I.E Machine, just pull zombie aggro until a horde builds up, then create some distance, turn around, pop Ring of Fire, and start the suction.

Fans have tested this at Round 20, 30, and 40 to see if it still wiped out Zombies before they reached the player, and it absolutely does. 

Keep A Killstreak Ready Just In Case

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War: Pulling Out A Killstreak In Zombies

There are a number of ways to escape from being trapped in a corner in Zombies, almost too many to list. But, one of the most gratifying ways is with the Killstreaks obtainable at the Crafting Table by using High-Grade Salvage. In particular, this means the Chopper Gunner and the Cruise Missiles.

See, what the game doesn't tell players is that when they are controlling the Gunner or the Missile, their body is invincible and Zombies (usually) stop paying attention to it. This becomes an even easier tactic past Round 30 since Essence and Salvage become pretty expendable at that point.

Abuse Those Aether Tunnels

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War: Hopping Into An Aether Portal In Zombies

All the Aether stuff is so useful! The Aether Portals in Die Maschine actually cause Zombies to stumble or fall over after the transition happens (both in and out), while the Tunnels purely cause them to lose their target.

Therefore, if a player feels like they’re about to get surrounded, ride an Aether Tunnel down, wait 5-10 seconds while Zombies re-instance, then take it right back up. This works really well to reset the Zombie positioning and give the player some breathing room.

Join A Friend’s Game Right After It Starts for Free Essence

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War: Dropping Into The Die Maschine Map By Helicopter

This is sort of a cheap/lame exploit, but early-game Zombie Essence means getting to power faster, which means an earlier Coffin Dance and Pack-A-Punch. Basically, Cold War's Lobby System lets players join Zombies games at any time, which is really nice. And, the game even gives them a lump sum of money based on the Round level.

That said, it’s not recommended to join this late. Rather, let a friend start the game, then join after the first round or near the end of the second. This way, the host gets all the kills for the first round or so, while the other players spawn in with 2000 Essence instead of the default 500.

Getting Deadshot Daiquiri To Work Better On PC

black ops cold war deadshot daiquiri upgrades

To most PC players, Deadshot Daquiri feels like the least useful Perk found in Die Maschine by far. However, console players love it! On a controller, the Auto-Aim towards headshots this Perk grants is pretty noticeable. Yet, with a mouse and keyboard set-up, it barely seems to work.

Turns out, if PC players just pop in and out of the aiming-down-sights, the Auto-Aim is much more obvious. It's not as user-friendly as the console players have it, but it's still a lot better than not working at all. 

Ammo Mods Cost Less Than Pack-A-Punch Resupplies

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War: Reloading The Ray Gun

Again, this is probably something that will be quickly patched in the coming weeks/months, but it works at the moment, so take advantage of it! Players might notice that Pack-A-Punched weapons cost a bit more Essence to refill their ammo at the Resupply Crates all around the map. So, depending on the P.A.P rank, this price can range from 1000 Essence to 5000, which is quite a lot in the mid-game.

Now, on the higher rounds, Essence cost really doesn’t matter anymore, but players should still try to save up whenever they can. Turns out that putting Ammo Mods on a gun actually refills its Ammo completely, so players can just change the Ammo Mod whenever their P.A.P'ed weapon starts to get low on Ammo. Though, players should only utilize this trick for weapons Pack-A-Punched to level 2 or 3. 

Set A Permanent Spawn For The Aether Portal

Call Of Duty Black Ops Cold War: What The Aether Portals Look Like

Lastly, this is a trick for players who don’t really care about the Seal the Deal sidequest. At multiple points throughout this elongated optional secret, Dark Aether Portals will spawn in specific locations. Normally this Portal hops all over the map at random; however, purposely ignoring the task these specific Portals want players to complete, such as collecting the Aetherscope Parts or Vogel's Spectral Reflections, basically locks them to that specific spot. Here are a few points in the sidequest the Portal has specific spawns so that players can pick and choose:

  • Particle Accelerator Room: In the back-left corner of the lowest floor when players need to charge the Electrobolt Weapon Crate with the Golden Crystals. It moves once the Weapon Crate is fully powered. 
  • Particle Accelerator Room: Right in front of where the Pack-A-Punch machine would be, but it moves as soon as the P.A.P is built.
  • Med-Bay: At the exit leading to Particle Accelerator, and the Portal moves once players activate the Spectral Reflection of the Soldiers stealing the Decontamination Agent.
  • Pond: This one may not spawn. In any case, it's right near the Fungus Tree near the exit to Crash Site and seems to move once players put the Fuse in the Plasma Cutter.

NEXT: Call Of Duty Warzone: 5 Guns That Have Been Overpowered (& 5 That Are Well Balanced)