A Beginner's Guide to Call of Duty Zombies

The core loop

Kill zombies to earn points. Spend points to open doors, buy weapons, turn on the power, buy perks and upgrade a weapon at Pack-a-Punch. Every round adds more zombies and more health, so the game is really a race: build your setup faster than the rounds outgrow it.

Almost every map in the series runs on these same systems. Learn them once on a simple map and you can walk into most of the catalogue with a plan.

Points, and why you should not shoot too much

You earn points for hitting a zombie and more for killing it. That means bullets are income, and how you kill matters more than that you killed. The classic beginner mistake is emptying an assault rifle into a round-3 zombie: you spent five bullets to earn what two bullets and a knife would have paid.

• In the early rounds, shoot a zombie a few times in the body and finish it with a melee hit. You get the hit points and the kill points, and you barely spend ammo.
• Headshots pay more than body shots. Once your aim is reliable, go for them.
• Do not open doors you do not need yet. Every door is points you cannot spend on Jugger-Nog.

Doors and the power switch

Maps unlock outward from spawn through bought doors and debris. Somewhere along that path is a power switch. Until you flip it, perk machines are dead, most traps do nothing and on many maps Pack-a-Punch cannot be reached at all — so getting to power is usually your first real objective.

Opening the map also has a cost you feel later: more open space means more paths for zombies to reach you. On a first run, open what you need to reach power and perks, and leave the rest closed.

Perks, in the order that matters

Perks are permanent buffs bought from vending machines, and you lose them all when you go down. That single fact drives the buying order.

The Mystery Box and Pack-a-Punch

The Mystery Box gives a random weapon for 950 points. It is a gamble, and it moves: after a number of uses a teddy bear appears and the box relocates elsewhere on the map. Wall weapons are worse but predictable, and predictable is what a new player wants.

Pack-a-Punch upgrades a weapon for 5000 points, typically giving far more damage and a larger magazine. It is the difference between a gun that stops working at round 15 and one that carries you well beyond. Do not rush it at the cost of Jugger-Nog — upgrade once your survival is already handled.

Training: the skill that actually matters

Zombies walk towards you and try to surround you. If you stand still, they succeed. Training is the answer: you move in a large loop through open space so the horde collects into a single trailing line behind you, which you can then turn and clear in one burst.

1. Pick an open area with at least two ways out. Dead ends kill you.
2. Walk a wide circle rather than a tight one. Tight circles let the group cut the corner and cross in front of you.
3. Keep moving while the group forms behind you. Do not stop to shoot every individual zombie.
4. When the line is long, turn and fire down it, then keep moving before the next wave arrives.
5. Watch for sprinters coming from a direction the group is not.

Ammo and knowing when to stop shooting

There is no ammo to pick up off the floor. You get more from a Max Ammo power-up, from buying refills at a wall weapon you already own, or by swapping weapons entirely. Running dry in the middle of a round is one of the most common ways a good run ends.

• Keep one weapon in reserve rather than firing both dry.
• Buying ammo at the wall for a weapon you own is far cheaper than buying the weapon again.
• If a Max Ammo drops while you are full, it is wasted — spend a little before grabbing it.

Going down and getting revived

When your health runs out you are downed rather than killed: you crawl, you can still fire a pistol, and a teammate can revive you. If nobody does before the timer ends, you die and respawn at the start of the next round having lost every perk and, depending on the game, your weapons.

Solo, Quick Revive picks you up automatically the first time, which is why it is such good value at 500 points. In co-op, the important habit is to clear the zombies around a downed teammate before starting the revive — starting it too early just downs you as well.

Game-specific systems

Individual titles layer their own systems on top of the fundamentals. Black Ops III has GobbleGums, consumable buffs you equip before a match. Later titles have their own equivalents, along with field upgrades, armour and rarity systems. None of them replace the basics above — a GobbleGum will not save a player who cannot train.

Where to start

Pick a map with a simple layout, cheap power and no mandatory buildables. Kino der Toten is the traditional answer and still the best one: one clear power switch, a good training space in the theatre, and nothing exotic to learn. Die Maschine and Liberty Falls are the modern equivalents.

Avoid starting on maps built around a long buildable chain or a complex Pack-a-Punch unlock. They are excellent maps, but they teach you the map instead of teaching you the game.

Common mistakes

• Spending points on the Mystery Box before buying Jugger-Nog.
• Opening the whole map early, then having nowhere safe to train.
• Emptying magazines into low-round zombies instead of meleeing them for points.
• Backing into a room with one exit.
• Reviving a teammate before clearing the zombies around them.
• Standing still in a corner and calling it camping.