Zombies Guide

Season 4–6 Timeline

After Totenreich (Season 3 Reloaded, covered in the Season 3 guide), Black Ops 7 Zombies added two more round-based maps, which finish the Dark Aether story. It also added two Survival maps, a roguelite mode, and a Super Easter Egg that ties all six round-based maps together.

Kowakujō (Round-Based)

Released June 25, 2026 (Season 4 Reloaded). The map is a ruined castle of the Masaki family, Takeo's childhood home, surrounded by active volcanoes. Dravakar sends the crew to recover the World Seed and free the last Shadowsmith, Nyxara, who has taken the form of a dragon. The story centres on a curse on Takeo's soul.

Power & Pack-a-Punch

1. Recapture the Wards (the flags around the castle).
2. Break the Gate Glyphs in the Central Courtyard.
3. Kill an Oni in Shogun's Sanctum to get the Shogun's Hanko.
4. Power the World Seed by killing purple-eyed zombies near it. This opens Pack-a-Punch. Tiers cost 5,000 / 15,000 / 30,000 Essence.

Perk Locations

Wonder Weapon: Nekomancer

A spirit cat you wield as a weapon. Its attacks are Spirit Bolt, Hairball, and Neko Punch. You have to build it:

1. Collect the Furin Bell, the Karakuri statue, and the Maneki-neko, then build at the Workshop bench.
2. Use PhD Flopper to free the caged cat at Tenshu Entrance, then throw it into the lava.
3. Follow the paw prints to a circle. Throw the Maneki-neko in while the lava is flowing, then kill the Abomination that spawns.
4. Use Death Perception to sneak across the creaky floorboards to the sleeping cat.
5. Carry it to the World Seed in Shogun's Sanctum to claim the Nekomancer.

Main Quest Overview

The Main Quest is long, at roughly 13 steps. Here is the outline. Use Directed Mode (below) if you want on-screen guidance.

1. Open Pack-a-Punch and build the Nekomancer.
2. Light the 11 lanterns and get the Fox Mask.
3. Complete the "Simon Says" mask sequence and grow the Monkshood flower.
4. Gather the evidence: Coin Purse, Gardening Shears, Mercantile Abacus, and Noble's Hat.
5. Solve the scroll and clock puzzles, then defend the Sake Cup.
6. Solve the murder mystery, then defeat the On'ryō.
7. Boss: Nyxara, a dragon fought in three phases. Hold the capture zones, avoid the lava and electrified tornadoes, and shoot her weak points (eyes, body, wings).

Eidskallen Lighthouse (Survival)

Released July 23, 2026 (Season 5). This Survival map is a closed-off part of Totenreich: Beacon Island and its Lighthouse. There's no Main Quest, and the only goal is to survive as many rounds as you can. You can play it in Standard Survival or Cursed.

Round Rewards

Rex Infernus (Final Round-Based Map)

Released August 20, 2026 (Season 5 Reloaded). This is the sixth and final Black Ops 7 round-based map and the end of the Dark Aether story. Your goal is to cleanse the Shadowsmiths' places of power, find the Warden's inner sanctum, and kill the Warden. You spawn in Her House. The rest of the map is made up of the Nexus Forge/Nexus Core, a forest, and four temples: Dravakar, Caltheris, Nyxara, and Veytharion.

Pack-a-Punch

1. Answer the phone in the basement of the spawn house.
2. Take the portal to the Nexus Forge.
3. Kill the Twins (the Dread Skulls).
4. Feed their Usurped Flames into the matching braziers, then turn both crank wheels.

Perk Locations

Every perk has its own machine here. Power has to be on.

Wonder Weapon: Warden's Blight

A pair of crossbows you dual-wield. The only way to get them is through a quest:

1. Use the Void Claw to pull purple orbs into Pack-a-Punch. This creates the Astral Flame.
2. Get the Fracture of Nyxara. Shoot the eye and solve the crystal-beam puzzle.
3. Survive the tree draining your health, then take the fruit or seed it drops.
4. Collect the three parts in the forest.
5. Set the Dravakar pillar symbols to match the riddle, then build the crossbows at Dravakar's Anvil.

Main Quest Overview

1. Build the Warden's Blight.
2. Upgrade the Void Claw into the Void Talon. This includes a symbol-memory step during an Exfil.
3. Take control of the Nexus Forge, then solve the Veytharion cube puzzle.
4. Cleanse all four temples.
5. Boss: the Warden, a four-phase fight. Shoot the Dread Skulls to expose the weak spot on his tail stinger, then focus fire on it. Kill the Shadow Souls that buff and shield him. From phase 2, destroy the Stingers to cancel their beam attack. You get Max Ammo, Max Armor, and a Shadowsmith Blessing between phases.

Super Easter Egg: Unlock the Warden

Available from September 17, 2026 (Season 6). This is the capstone for all of Black Ops 7 Zombies. On each round-based map you find the Twins' Toy Box and complete a short quest to earn that map's toy. When all six toys are on the shelf in Her House (Rex Infernus), they glow purple. Interact with them to start a Boss Rush.

The Six Toys

Ashes of the Damned — Ol' Tessie

Bring the Dark Flare field upgrade and the Fumigator. Do everything in one game, without saving and quitting.

1. Find the Twins (Lost Cabins, the roadsides, or the Grounded Ship). After you meet them, they move to the Vandorn Farm windmill.
2. Turn on power at Blackwater Lake, Vandorn Farm, and Ashwood by destroying the blights on the generators.
3. Get the Necrofluid Gauntlet through the Klaus sequence.
4. Hit the black cloud over the windmill with the Gauntlet, then blast the box with Dark Flare.
5. Find the three crystals in the Monolith Forest fog. Shoot each with the Gauntlet and use the Fumigator on it.
6. At the Blackwater Lake meteor, interact, survive a round, and collect the shard.
7. Trade the shard at the toy box for Ol' Tessie, then exfil at round 16 or later.

Astra Malorum — Caltheris

1. Repair the DG-2 turret on the crashed ship near where the Twins spawn.
2. Push the floating box toward the Crash Site with Semtex, then bring it down with the LT53 Kazimir.
3. Lure O.S.C.A.R. into the electric field and destroy him to open the box.
4. Complete the grandfather clock Easter egg and travel to Mars.
5. Use Shock Charges to call the UFO. Complete the Lamp Wisp Easter egg, then deliver wisps to the four objects in the order the UFO flashes.
6. Collect the alien doll and put it in the toy box at the Crash Site.

Paradox Junction — The Twins

1. Equip a Psyche Grenade before the match loads.
2. Interact with the chalk chest drawn on the garage door in the Cul-de-Sac.
3. Upstairs in the yellow house, use the Psyche Grenade on the chalk question mark to reveal a key.
4. Collect the six Mrs. Peeks parts from rooftops and vehicles, then assemble her in a timed sequence.
5. Put Mrs. Peeks in the chest to get the toy.

Totenreich — Guardian

1. Find the small floating iceberg in the water behind Ms. Loven's Antique Shop.
2. Activate the Wildfire field upgrade and fish from the nearest spot to reel the iceberg in. Melt it with a Molotov.
3. Complete the star quest to get the Silent Heir crossbow.
4. Kill King Draugvald with the crossbow and put his crown in the toy box.

Kowakujō — Z-Rex

1. Open Pack-a-Punch, then melee the Sakura tree to get the whirlwind power.
2. Sprint under the chest to summon a bird.
3. Activate the Sakura trees in order: Kitchens → Staging Area → Training Area.
4. Use the wind on the boulder in the Central Courtyard and collect the origami swan drops.

Rex Infernus — The Warden

Bring the Aether Shroud and Frenzied Guard field upgrades.

1. Build the Warden's Blight (see Section 04).
2. Upgrade the Void Claw to the Void Talon:
   • Shoot the basketball at the Nexus Forge house and note the order the portals open.
   • During an Exfil, shoot the symbols in that order to teleport to Her House.
   • Hit the bathroom with a charged Warden's Blight shot to get the Eye of the Forge, then place it on a Grapple station.
3. At Nyxara's Passage, grapple to the floating item under the bridge. Finish the 90-second parkour course and use Aether Shroud at the top to open the toy box.
4. Get and charge the three items from the horse toys:
   • Aranea Insula — roller skates: charge them with PhD Flopper kills.
   • Spira Insula — shoes: charge them with kills while jumping.
   • Runas Insula — shoelaces: charge them with kills while Frenzied Guard is active.
5. During Exfil, skip the booth and portal to Her House. Put all three items in the toy box for the Warden toy, then place it on the shelf.

The Boss Rush

This takes place in Her House once all six toys are on the shelf. Between fights you can use Pack-a-Punch, Der Wunderfizz, the Arsenal, and the crafting table.

1. Z-Rex
2. The Guardian
3. Caltheris the Needle
4. The Warden, including an extra fourth phase

Rewards

Season 6: Tenshu & The Haunting

New Modes, Perks, GobbleGums & Weapons

Modes

Perks & GobbleGums

Legacy Weapons (Mystery Box, Ultra Rarity)

These classic guns come out of the Mystery Box at Ultra rarity, with stats close to a Wonder Weapon. They also support Pack-a-Punch and ammo mods.

• PPSh-41 — added in Season 4 Reloaded.
• Olympia (shotgun) and TR2 (marksman rifle) — added in Season 5 Reloaded.

Seasonal Weapons

These unlock across all modes. Season 5: FG42 (AR) and a dual-wield Gremlin (SMG) on the free Battle Pass track, with the Mammoth and the Mace (melee) at mid-season. Season 6: VMP (SMG) and TR51 Para (AR) in the Battle Pass, and the Arcblade (melee) and Roc 20mm (special) as event rewards.

Tips & What's Next

Fastest Route to the Warden

1. Clear any missing Main Quests in Directed Mode. They count toward the requirement, and the round cap of 15 keeps each run short.
2. Collect the toys in Standard mode, one map per game. Start with the quick ones (Kowakujō, Totenreich) and save Astra Malorum and Paradox Junction for a squad.
3. Check the field upgrade before loading in. Ashes needs Dark Flare, Totenreich needs Wildfire, and Rex Infernus needs Aether Shroud plus Frenzied Guard. Paradox Junction needs a Psyche Grenade.
4. Do Rex Infernus last. Arrive at the Boss Rush with a Pack-a-Punched Warden's Blight, a full set of perks, and Max Armor.

Sources

The official callofduty.com patch notes wouldn't load while this guide was being written, so the details come from coverage of those notes and from community walkthroughs. Where sources disagreed, this guide uses the version that more than one source agrees on.

• Dexerto: Black Ops 7 Season 4 Reloaded update
• Game Rant: Kowakujō Easter egg walkthrough
• Dexerto: Kowakujō Easter egg walkthrough
• Game Rant: Kowakujō perk locations
• Game Rant: Nekomancer Wonder Weapon
• Game Rant: Tom Kane tribute
• The Click: Eidskallen Lighthouse
• Dexerto: Black Ops 7 Season 5 update
• Dexerto: Black Ops 7 Season 5 Reloaded
• Game Rant: Rex Infernus release
• Dexerto: Rex Infernus Easter egg walkthrough
• All Things How: Rex Infernus perk locations
• Game Rant: Warden's Blight
• Game Rant: Warden boss guide
• Dexerto: Super Easter Egg walkthrough
• Game Rant: Super Easter Egg guide & rewards
• All Things How: All six toys
• Game Rant: Warden Operator
• Dexerto: Black Ops 7 Season 6 update
• PlayStation Blog: Season 06 The Haunting