Even with the introduction of the new Dark Aether region in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies, the greatest threat added in the game’s Season 1 update is actually found burrowing beneath the ground in Urzikstan. The Red Aether Worm known as Greylorm is the strongest foe that you can encounter in MWZ, but it is also the only way to get some of the mode’s best rewards. To partake in this secret boss fight, players will first need to complete a small Easter Egg to summon Greylorm. So, here is everything you need to know when it comes to getting the Red Worm to come to the surface.
Building Your Arsenal for the Greylorm Battle
Weapons:
Prepping yourself for the battle against the Red Worm is arguably more important than the actual fight itself since you are going to need to have as much of the game’s best equipment to even stand a chance. There are a few weapons that you can use to take down this difficult encounter. The most important things that make a gun useful in the Greylorm fight are a large magazine to cut down on having to reload, a fast-fire rate to produce a lot of constant and quick damage, and being both Pack-a-Punch Level 3 and Legendary Tier Rarity. Without these things, you are definitely going to come up short against the massive Aether Worm. If you plan to customize your weapon by taking in an Insured Weapon, you will either need to bring in a Legendary Aether Tool or be lucky enough to get one while in the game.
If you want to go down that route, there are a few weapon suggestions that can make fighting this boss a bit easier. The SVA 545 might not be as strong as it once was in MWZ but it is still a fantastic Assault Rifle. While only being an SMG, the WSP Swarm with the Akimbo Brace Stock Aftermarket Part and the 100 Round Drum Magazine is probably the best tool for just letting out a constant stream of damage. Pack-a-Punched, both WSP Swarms will carry 200 bullets per magazine, allowing you to shoot 400 rounds before needing to reload. With Speed Cola, the reload time is also extremely slow.
If you don’t have an Aether Tool and don’t want to leave it up to chance, you can guarantee yourself a Legendary Weapon by getting one from a Wall Buy in the High Threat Zone. Simply go up to one of the chalk drawings that are glowing orange and purchase the weapon. I suggest looking for the SVA 545, Holger 556 AR, the MCW AR, the Holger 26, or the DG-58 LSW LMG. Get any of these weapons up to max Rarity and Pack-a-Punch Level to bring the fight to the Worm. You will also need a Durable Gas Mask since the fight takes place in the Aether Storm. Without the Mask, you will be taking constant damage and your run might as well already be over. You can buy these Durable Gas Masks from the High Threat Zone Buy Station and have the chance to have them drop when you defeat Mercenaries in the Urzikstan.
For the rest of your loadout, I suggest having the Experimental Gas Tactical Grenade as this can be a strong tool to keep constant damage on the Worm even when you aren’t shooting it. Also, using a Gold Armor Vest, an item you can get from the Dark Aether, can be very helpful during this fight since it will replenish your Armor automatically. There are also a few Field Upgrades that I suggest: If you don’t have a Gold Armor Vest, then Frenzied Guard can be useful to replenish armor if you run out. Healing Aura can help quickly revive your teammates if you are fighting with a team, and Energy Mine can help with controlling the Zombies that spawn during the boss fight.
Perks & Killstreaks:
You are going to want to get Juggnog for the extra health and Quick Revive for its faster health regeneration and reviving of teammates, Statmin-Up will provide you with quicker movement while Speed Cola will let you reload faster and replenish armor quicker. Tombstone Soda, while not necessary, can be nice to have for those failed runs. These are the important Perks that you will need to get but definitely get the rest of the Perks if you have the money for it.
Finally, you are gonna want to get your hands on multiple Sentry Guns, between 4-6 of these Sentries to be exact and we will cover where and how to use them later on in this guide. You can get these Sentry Guns as rewards from Contracts, find them randomly in the world, and can purchase them at certain Medium Threat Zone Buy Stations as well as the High Threat Zone Buy Stations for 2,000 Points. Fill your remaining Rucksack spaces with Self Revives and you are as ready as you can be to fight the Greylorm Boss. So now, it’s time to figure out how to summon the Red Worm.
Collect the Calibration Data USB Sticks
Before you can battle the Red Worm, you will first need two things: The Aether Storm and 4 USB Sticks containing Calibration Data. The Storm will begin to spread across the map after 45 minutes so all you have to do there is wait but finding the Calibration Data is going to require some legwork as it will take you all across the Urzikstan map. These 4 USBs are found in UAV Towers that can spawn in 12 different locations, with Towers spawning in 4 of these locations every match.
Possible USB Tower Locations:
- Kotovo Blocks in Sector C1
- In the middle of two unfinished cooling towers at Popov Tower on the border of F2 and F3
- The hill at the Zlatyev Array overlooking Orlov Military Base in I2
- In the middle of the square at the Al-Abboud Condos in C4
- In the corner of the roof facing the southeast of the Nahr Bathouse in F4
- Next to the domed roof of the Opal Palace in F5
- The center of the loading area near Opal Palace in G4
- Next to some greenhouses at Hadiqa Farms in I5
- On top of the crumbing building at Zeravan City in D6
- At the Urzikstan Community Center in D8
- Right outside the Shorok Opera House in F7
- On the dock to the southeast of Shahin Manor in H8
Note: You can find out which of these 12 locations had one of the 4 Towers spawned at them by going to one of the photo rooms found across the map. There are a total of 4 photo rooms in MWZ and unlike the UAV Towers, all of them will spawn every match. To find these photo rooms, you can go to the second floor of this rundown warehouse at the Kotovo Blocks in C1, in another warehouse at Orlov Military Base in H2, the small dining hall in this building at Urzikstan University in E8, and this unfinished building in Ah-Dahr Estates between Sectors G7 and G8.
At each of these locations, you will find a map of Urzikstan with 4 photos pinned to the wall at each corner of the image. These photos will tell you where to find the UAV Towers for that match. Go to these Towers and interact with them to get them to drop a Calibration Data USB Stick, with them being marked Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Delta. Get your hands on all of these Drives and hold onto them until the end of the game when the Aether Storm starts to overtake the whole of Urzikstan.
Summoning Greylorm
Now that you have all of the Calibration Data USBs, you will need to find the boss’s arena. There are a total of 4 locations where the boss can be found with one of these locations being picked at random at the start of each match.
Locations:
- Just south of Legacy’s Base in Sector D3
- The border between H3 and H4
- On the soccer field in C5
- The opening to the south of Hadiqa Farms between I6 and I6
Note: Find the one that has 2 Ammo Supplies close to each other. This is where you can fight the Red Worm, Greylorm.
Head to this spot and you will find 4 seismic Refractors surrounding the Ammo Supplies, with each one corresponding to one of your USB Sticks. Approaching one of these machines will tell you which USB you need to put into it as well as inform you that you need the Aether Storm to start the Refractor.
After the 45-minute time limit, the Aether Storm will start to spread across the map, you can now place your USBs into the Refractors. Once all the machines are active, you will get some dialog from Barrara and Ravenov. After around 30 seconds, Greylorm, the secret Red Worm of the Aether Storm will burst from the ground and the battle is ready to begin.
How to Defeat Greylorm
This fight is definitely the hardest Aether Worm that has been introduced into the game as of Season 1, though its moveset isn’t any different from Gorm’gant, who you fought in the Bad Signal Act 4 Mission. The difference that makes this fight so much more difficult is the situation surrounding the Worm.
The Aether Storm will slowly chip away at your Gas Mask and if it breaks your run is basically ruined. You will need to keep an eye on your Mask and make sure to repair it by using one of the Ammo Supplies. Also, you will have a lot of zombies and Elite Enemies that will attack you, all of them powered up by the Storm. You will need to balance your focus between the horde and the Worm. Also, the Worm has the most health among the 3 Worms present in the game so far, meaning you’re going to need to dump a lot of damage into the boss if you hope to bring it down. You are also on a strict time limit where you will need to defeat the boss before the timer under your map hits 0.
Greylorm Moves
Like Gorm’gant, Greylorm will send out 4 orbs when it roars that will chip away from your armor as they track you down. When this happens, look where the beast is facing, then turn toward that location and shoot the orbs before they even get a chance to get close to you. There are two moves that can see the Worm devour you: One is when Greylorm burrows underground and then comes up to launch you into the air. The other is when the boss slams its head onto the ground. If its head lands right on you, it will eat you. The only way to survive this move is to mash your Parachute button so that you can pull your chute once he spits you out. If you don’t do this, you will be flung into the ground and instantly be downed. The Worm can also shoot a laser, so when you see it preparing to fire, quickly run to the left or right to avoid the beam.
Fight Strategy
Your only job is to now just put a ton of damage into the Red weakpoints on its sides. During the 30-second window, start putting down your Sentry Guns around the perimeter made by the Seismic Refractors. These will thin the herd of Zombies as they spawn and will get a few hits on the boss themselves. You can also try to fill the 4 spaces in your Rucksack with extra Self services or Senties if you are close to a Buy Station. With all this setup, start throwing Experiment Gas grenades to put constant damage to the boss. If the boss goes too long without taking damage, it will start to heal so make sure you are always putting damage into its weakspots.
Defeating Greylorm Rewards
Defeating Greylorm will spawn a Reward Rift where you can find a few items. You are guaranteed to get the Schematics for some of the rarest items in the game inside this Reward Rift: You’ll get either the Flawless Aetherium Crystal, which will instantly upgrade your weapon to PaP Level 3, the Legendary Aether Tool which will turn your Weapon into a Legendary Tier Weapon, and the Scorcher Wonder Weapon, which will allow you to spawn with the all-new weapon. You won’t get all of these Schematics in a single match, so you’ll need to take down the Aether Worm multiple times to get all of its rewards. Once you are ready, use the Aether Portal that spawned nearby when you killed the Worm to instantly exfil with your new rewards and bragging rights for taking down the monstrous beast.
Hopefully, this guide helps you out! Please check out our video embedded above for further references and tips.
