Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies might always include up to 24 players in a match, but some of us would rather drop in without a squad and explore the map at our own pace. While you are able to queue for a match without a squad, the rest of the game will still be balanced to a full team, meaning that many solo players might find themselves struggling to survive the horrors of the Exclusion Zone. Luckily, we have several tips and tricks that can turn what could be a harrowing experience into a high-octane rollercoaster as you topple some of the mode’s biggest and baddest threats all by yourself.
More Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Guides:
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Tweak Your Loadout
Let’s start to discuss what you should be bringing in on your Operator every single match. The first piece of equipment that you want to make sure is part of your arsenal every single match doesn’t hit hard, honestly, it doesn’t “hit” at all, but can play a bigger role in ensuring your survival than any weapon!
Tactical Slot: Decoy Grenade. These are fake grenades that will create fake gunshot noises when thrown, which will attract zombies to their location similar to a Monkey Bomb. While these grenades don’t explode to take out the horde, they can be replenished at any ammo supply, which means you will have an infinite amount of Decoys that can save your life.
Lethal Slot: Molotov Cocktail / Semtex. You’ll find both will be great for dealing with enemies but can also help with certain Easter Eggs around the map.
Field Upgrade: Frenzied Guard. This will attract all nearby Zombies to you. Now, that might seem odd because why would you want an Upgrade that will attract more Zombies to you especially if you find yourself in a bad situation? Because activating Frenzied Guard will also instantly refill your Armor even if you have no extra Plates.
Side Note: A good alternative for Frenzied Guard is Aether Shroud to make you invisible for a brief time. Likewise, you can find Healing Aura good to instantly heal you and other nearby players when you’re not soloing.
Lastly, bring in any weapon that you want but I suggest only bringing in one weapon and leaving the other slot empty. This is because you move faster when you just have your hands out and some of the Super Sprinters in the High Threat Zone can only be outran with Stamin-Up and empty hands. Also, if you don’t have a Legendary Aether Tool, make sure you are ready to discard the weapon you bring in because we are going to get better guns when we actually enter a match.
Pick The Right Contracts
We are going to look at Contracts that focus on fighting Zombies or, if there is a Mercenary threat, you will at least be safely tucked away in an LTV armored car. Most importantly, these are Contracts that can be done quickly since each game of Modern Warfare 3 Zombies is on a strict time limit. These include Raid Weapon Stash, Eliminate the Bounty, Outlast, and Deliver Cargo.
Both Raid Weapon Stash and Outlast require you to head to a location and defend it for a certain amount of time while waves of Zombies swarm you, with the former seeing you crack open a safe while another has you stay in a Dark Aether infested zone while powering a generator.
The Deliver Cargo Contract is without a doubt the easiest to complete since all you need to do is drive a vehicle to a pickup spot while avoiding an extremely inaccurate Terminus Attack Helicopter. So this is the one that you will want to do the most since it will also reward you with a free LTV. Finally, the Eliminate the Bounty Contract will task you with taking down a powerful Special Enemy like a Mangler or Mimic. These enemies are stronger than the rest of the enemies in the zone you find them in so make sure you have a decent weapon before taking these fights.
As you travel from Contract to Contract, there are a few things in the world that you should also complete to earn some quick Points. First, while this doesn’t involve Points, there is a certain item that you should make sure that you grab while slaying the Undead. The Chunk of Flesh item has a chance to be dropped by Zombies that are killed by explosives or anything that causes their body to explode.
This includes obvious things like grenades and rockets but players might notice that if you kill a Zombie with a weapon that is a higher tier than the Undead foe, it might explode anyway. Fire from things like Molotovs or even the flames of a Hellhound also count as explosives, so use all of these to your advantage. You are going to need to collect 4 Chunks of Flesh and hold onto them as they will play a big role in one of our most important tips in the future.
How To Earn Points Fast
Coming back around to getting Points, you are going to look out for Essence Vials and Containers, these purple items that you can find throughout the world, with each of these pickups providing you with 100-300 and 500 Points, respectively. One of the best places to find a lot of Containers is by looking for Aether Tears which will send you into the air and parachute back down to the ground. In front of your path in the sky is a series of Essence Containers, with around 2,500-3,000 Points able to be collected from a single drop.
Keep an eye out for Cash Registers as they will always have some Essence in them if they haven’t already been opened. Gas Stations are a great place to look for registers and you will find anywhere from 200-1,000 Points between the two registers. Also, stop by Infested Nests and Infested Strongholds. You will need to destroy all of the Cysts in the Nest or Stronghold to gain access to some loot chests. Some of the Nests are also Gas Stations but even if they aren’t, you will want to make sure you take out one or two of them as you make your way across the map.
Strongholds are Nests in larger buildings with a lot more Cysts to destroy. As you make your way through the Stronghold, you’ll find a lot of the Aether Containers scattered around for some extra Points. After completing these Infested locations, look for Deadbolt Turret Circuits in the Loot Containers. They will be important later when we go into the High Threat Zone.
Make Sure You Have These Perks
Here are four must-need Perks if you hope to make it in the High Threat Zone.
- Juggernog: To get Juggernog, go to this campsite in Sector C3 and light the campfire with a Molotov, Thermite, or even a Hellhound’s flame.
- Speed Cola: Go to the large eagle statue in Sector D2 and jump off its back with any vehicle.
- Stamin-Up: Can be found in this skyscraper in Zaravan City located in Sector D7. Run from the bottom floor all the way up this staircase to the roof of the building to get this free Perk.
- Quick Revive: Get an ATV and drive to this strip of road on the highway in Sector H5. Park under one of these road signs, listen for a laugh and then race to the other sign as quickly as possible. If you are fast enough, you will get a free Quick Revive can.
These are just some of the free Perk Easter Eggs and we would suggest that you get as many as you can, but the Perks listed here are the most important when it comes to staying alive.
Don’t Waste Time Getting Gear
Now that we have gotten some Points, it’s time to start to fully gear up and prepare to delve into the High Threat Zone. The first thing we will want to do is get an improved Armor Vest, which you can always find in Mercenary Camps and Strongholds. At the Mercenary Camps found around the Low and Medium Threat Zones, you can always find a 2-Plate Armor Vest inside the Merc Cache alongside a Merc Stronghold Keycard. You can use this Keycard or buy it from a Buy Station. Inside all of these Merc Strongholds is a Safe that you can crack. You will find a 3-Plate Armor Vest inside the safe every time. While fighting Mercs, it is also likely that they will drop Gas Masks, with some of the stronger enemies having a higher chance of dropping a Durable Gas Mask so make sure you search Merc-controlled areas for this extremely useful item.
Get Yourself A Legendary Weapon
You need to find yourself a Legendary Weapon. There are two ways to increase the power of your weapon: Increase its Rarity and Pack-a-Punching it. The latter is much easier since all you need to do is earn Points and use the machine while the former is up to RNG and whether or not you find the appropriate Aether Tool to improve the weapon’s level.
Instead of relying on finding a Legendary Aether Tool or bringing it into a match, you can always guarantee to find Legendary Weapons in the High Threat Zone as Wall Buys. You can find all the Wall Buys on the map indicated by a black pistol icon. Once you have 5,000 Points, take a vehicle into the High Threat Zone and look for a Wall Weapon with an Orange outline. These weapons can range from 4,500 to 5,000 Points. Find one that you like and then purchase the weapon and then quickly get OUT of the High Threat Zone.
With this weapon, you can start to work on more Contracts in the Medium Threat Zone until you have reached Pack-a-Punch Tier 2. You can remain in the Medium Threat Zone and grind for more Points if you want to go right for Tier 3 Pack-a-Punch but at this point, you are ready to start making your way into the High Threat Zone to claim the biggest rewards available. The last piece of gear we want to get is a Large Backpack that is tied to RNG but there are some places that have a high chance of having it spawn in the High Threat Zone.
Use The Friendly Hellhound
It’s time to use the Chunks of Flesh we found earlier to get THE most useful tool for a solo player: a fluffy companion! Around the map, there are dog houses that you can find, marked on the map when you get nearby with this icon. You can interact with the Dog House and give it the Chunks of Flesh to have a friendly Hellhound spawn. This devilish canine will follow you all across the map, attack enemies, and even revive you if you go down at the cost of some of its health. The important thing to note here is that the Hellhound will have the same level as the Threat Zone you spawn them in. So, if you find a Dog House in the Low Threat Zone, the Hellhound that spawns from it will be a Level 1 ally.
This means that you are going to want to head into the High Threat Zone and immediately go to the Dog House in this area to get the strongest Hellhound possible. You can find a Dog House in the northwest part of Seatown in Sector E4.
Quick Tips For Surviving The High Threat Zone
- Use Decoys and running with Stanmin-Up without a weapon will allow you to outrun every enemy besides the Hellhounds.
- Mega-Abominations are these giant 3-headed monsters that are the toughest foes in the game. With high-tier rewards you will want to take them down. Get the beast near a Deadbolt Turret and use one of the Circuits to help deal some massive damage.
- Buy Stations can be great to gain some items like a Durable Gas Mask, a Large Backpack to even a Juggernaut Killstreak.
- Speaking of which, the pool of Contracts in the High Threat Zone is a bit more limited but you are going to want to focus on the same Contracts we discussed earlier. Just go after all the same Contract.
We hope some of these tips help you next time you solo Zombies. Embedded above is our video coverage, giving you more insight into the guide and a few extra helpful tips.
