Der Anfang, the first Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies map, is a very strange thing. There are no Wonder Weapons and there isn’t an Easter Egg Quest — so we’ll just have to make our own completely OP gun. By picking the right loadout weapon, you can blaze through the undead hordes without ever changing your gear and survive into the very high rounds. We’ve already touched on this in other guides, but this is all about your build. This is the stuff you’ll want to take, and how to keep the pain train going.
Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies is very different this year. There are no wall buys, so you can’t purposefully choose new weapons for your loadout after starting the game. Instead, you’ll be able to unlock every gun in the game for your starting loadout. Luckily, the very best gun doesn’t take any time to unlock — its unlocked from the very start. Its one of the first weapons you have available, so you can start obliterating zombies instantly.
These build tips were shared by Youtuber MrDalekJD, so all credit goes to him for sharing his discoveries in Der Anfang.
More Call of Duty: Vanguard guides:
Zombies: Everything You Need To Know About Der Anfang Map Guide | Zombies: How To Survive Into High Rounds Solo | Zombies: How To Get Free Quick Revives | Multiplayer: Settings To Change First | Multiplayer: How To Earn Easy Weapon XP | Multiplayer: Best Beginner Loadouts
How To Give Yourself The Best Build | Der Anfang Guide
The best weapon is also the first you’ll have unlocked. Right now, Shotguns are the meta in Zombies, so you can’t go wrong with any of them — but the Einhorn Revolving is top-tier when it comes to damage, rate-of-fire, and reload speed once you’ve upgraded it.
For this build, we want to focus on damage, hip-fire accuracy, reload speed and mobility. This is Zombies, so you’ll mostly be shooting from the hip very quickly, and the more mobility you have while using your weapon, the better.
- Einhorn Revolving Build
- Add M97 Full Choke (Muzzle) + Carver Foregrip (Underbarrel)
- Add Sawed Off (Barrel) + 16 Gauge 7 Round Cylinder (Magazine)
- Remove Stock + Add Pine Tar Grip
NOTE: Not all attachments are available at the start. The Einhorn Revolving can be used right away, but you’ll need to level up and unlock more attachments to create this unstoppable build.
Once you’re in the map, you’ll want to take steps to make it competitively powerful as the rounds increase.
- Pack-a-Punch the Einhorn Revolving around Round 4 or Round 5. If you save up your points and get plenty of kills, you can easily afford the PaP upgrade by Round 4.
Continue to upgrade your Pack-a-Punch as you climb the rounds. Save your points, and you can upgrade to a Tier 3 by Round 10.
- Use the Altar of Covenants and aim to gain two covenants: Death Blow and Dead Accurate.
Death Blow is one of the least enticing covenants with most normal guns. This covenant has a chance to return 1 Bullet to your magazine when you score a critical hit. Good, but not great. But, once you get a Legendary Death Blow Covenant, you’ll be able to get +2 Rounds for every Crit guaranteed — meaning every headshot with the shotgun will get you +2 bullets. If you’re getting headshots, you’ll literally never have to reload.
Combine that with Dead Accurate which is naturally one of the best covenants. This covenant increases the amount of damage you do by shooting the same target multiple times — increasing damage with each successive shot. That’s incredibly handy against the Sturmkriegers, which are really your first major threat as you play through the map. Dealing with Sturmkriegers quickly and efficiently will make your life in Der Anfang so, so much easier.
You can also get Unholy Ground to increase your damage. At this point, there’s no way to continue to increase your damage output — if you get all three PaP upgrades and purchase all your perks, this is the only Covenant left that will help you deal more damage. Unholy Ground increases your damage while standing still. It doesn’t sound very useful, but there are certain challenges that encourage standing still and shooting anything that comes at you. Mantle up onto a high spot so zombies have to climb up toward you. That’s the only safe way to use this weapon with Unholy Ground equipped.
