Main Quest · Urzikstan
Operation Deadbolt — The Acts
MWZ tells its story in Acts, each tiered mission chain ending in an isolated story mission on its own clock: Act One retrieves the defecting Dr. Jansen from Terminus Outcomes territory; Act Two builds her Aetherium Neutralizer; Act Three assaults Zakhaev’s stronghold, where the device kills the great Aether Worm Orcus — and the portal it opens takes Jansen instead. Season One’s Act Four, "Contact", follows her into the Entity’s lair, with later seasons continuing through the Dark Aether rifts.
Quick facts & reference
Preparation
Before you startedit Before you start
Prerequisites
- • Squad up or solo — story missions run on their own 45-minute deployments
Walkthrough
Step by step
- 01
Act One: Extraction
Pull Dr. Jansen out of Terminus Outcomes’ hands.
- 02
Act Two: Shepherd
Build and field-test the Aetherium Neutralizer.
- 03
Act Three: Defeat Zakhaev
Assault the stronghold; the Neutralizer kills Orcus, and the portal over its corpse takes Jansen into the Dark Aether.
- 04
Act Four: Ascension
Enter the Entity’s lair after the possessed Jansen.
- 05
The rifts
Seasonal Dark Aether rifts carry the story past the Acts — sigils in, schematics out, Greylorm waiting for the well-prepared.
Following along in-game? Switch to Guided Mode for one step at a time on a screen you can read at arm's length.
References
- 1.Operation Deadbolt Launch Content (Official) — Call of Duty (Activision). callofduty.com · Nov 7, 2023 · accessed Jul 22, 2026Official
Last reviewed Jul 15, 2026. Spotted an error? Suggest a correction.
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