The final update for Modern Warfare Zombies has arrived ahead of the return to the classic Round-Based mode in the upcoming Black Ops 6. This update not only concluded the story of this arc in the Dark Aether Saga but also introduced the final Dark Aether Rift for players to explore. Just like the previous Rifts seen in prior Seasons, players will need to find 4 items known as Relics in order to gain access to the new region of the Place Below Creation. With our help, you can learn where to get all of them and open the final portal. This guide will show players how to get all 4 Relics and Enter the final Dark Aether Rift in Modern Warfare Zombies.
What Are the 4 Relics?
The 4 Relics that you will need to track down in Season 5 Reloaded aren’t any regular items. 3 items are known as “Echoes” which are Dark Aether reflections of Relics we have seen in the past while the fourth item is Mr. Peeks, the demonic stuffed bunny that has been a constant presence since Black Ops Cold War. Mr. Peeks doesn’t need to be upgraded since he already has a golden background. The Echoes all have purple backgrounds when they are first acquired which means players will need to perform a second secret Easter Egg to get them attuned. Each of the Echoes represents one of the other 3 Dark Aether Rifts introduced during the game’s lifespan. The Locked Diary represents the first Rift, the Drum is for the second Rift, and the Giraffe Toy is from the third Rift. Acquiring these Echoes requires a process that involves equipment that can be found in the corresponding Rift. We will break down how to get all the Relics and how to upgrade the ones that need to be.
Mr. Peeks
This Relic might not require an upgrade to be ready to use on the Dark Aether Rift, but the process of getting it requires players to take on The Entity at the end of the new Ascension Story Mission. We have a full guide on how to complete this mission and how to battle The Entity, so feel free to check that out if you want a more in-depth breakdown of the mission. Make sure to have a Level 3 Pack-a-Punch Weapon at Legendary Tier Weapon to really be prepared for the fight ahead. Using a Gold Armor Plate and Mag of Holding would also make the fight easier. Once prepared, Go to the square of Opal Palace in Sector F5 next to the Dark Aether tornado which is where we will come back to to open the new Rift once we get all of the Relics. Progress through the Story Mission and take down The Entity boss fight to get the Mr. Peeks doll from the Reward Rift that appears.
Echo of Locked Diary
The first Relic we will get is the Echo of Locked Diary since it requires an item from the first Dark Aether Rift to acquire. You will need to get your hands on an Aether Blade Lethal Equipment by either going into the Dark Aether Rift in Sector F5 and maybe getting the item from a Reward Rift upon completing a Contract or by creating the item from the pre-game lobby if you own the Schematic for it. Either way, you are going to need to use the Aether Blade to kill some Special Zombies.
Now, this step has had a lot of confusion surrounding it as many guides and posts have said that killing 5 of the Mimic Special Zombies but through experimentation from myself and the community we have found that this isn’t true. What seems to be the way to get this item is to kill any Special Zombie by bouncing the Aether Blade off of another Special Zombie. The Aether Blade is able to travel between 3 enemies in a single throw, so if you were to throw the knife at a Mangler and then it travels to another Mangler and kills the second Mangler, the Reward Rift will open. Even if the actual requirement is different from what people say, the best method is likely one that you’ve seen from other players. There are 3 new Purple Triangles found in the Medium Threat Zone with each one spawning a large number of a specific Special Zombie. The one in the tunnel at Sector D2 will spawn Manglers, the one in the condos in C4 will spawn Disciples, and the one in the water under the bridge in G6 will spawn Mimics.
The triangle in G6 is the best choice for this step since you are able to stay in the water and remain at a safe distance from the Mimics to get your Aether Blade kills. You will need to hit 3 glowing Runes to activate the triangle. These Runes spawn in the water at different locations every game so our suggestion is to keep your head above water and listen for the sound coming from the Rune when you get close. Once you hear it, go underwater and search the nearby area on the rocks, the shore, and even the sunken boat to find the Rune. Once all 3 have been activated, swim over to the dock, face the now glowing Purple Triangle, and get in the right spot to line up the carvings to form the triangle. You will get a line of dialogue from Ravenov and the screen will shake as a horde of Mimics appear.
Use the Aether Blade and when a Mimic is low on health, make sure to aim your knife at a Mimic nearby to get the weapon to bounce to the weak one to kill it. Once you do that, the Reward Rift will appear and you can now get the elusive Echo of Locked Diary Relic.
Attuning the Locked Diary
Once you have actually gotten the Echo of Locked Diary, the upgrading process is very simple. Go to the eagle statue in Sector D2, the same one that you jump off with a vehicle to get a free Speed Cola can. In the heart of the statue, there is a Zombie body up on the pillar next to a piece of the meteor emitting the classic 115 rock sound. You will be able to interact with the rock to begin the attunement ritual for the Relic. PHD Flopper cans will spawn out of the rock. You need to have the Perk active to complete the next step so if you already have PHD Flopper, you get yourself some free cans but if you don’t have the Perk make sure you drink one of the cans.
With PHD, enter the golden rift that appears under the head of the eagle to be teleported to the top of one of the power plant towers at Popov Power. You need to look down over the side and spot a blue cargo container with a phoenix drawn on top. Dolphin dive from the top of the tower onto this cargo container to get the attuned Relic. If you miss, there is a golden rift under the tower that will teleport you back to the top. Land on the phoenix icon and the Reward Rift will appear along with the gold Echo of Locked Diary.
Echo of the Drum
To get the Echo of the Drum, you need to use the Blood Burner vehicle. You can try and get lucky by finding one that spawns randomly on the map or you can use the Blood Burney item to spawn the demonic bike directly in front of you. You have a chance of getting this item by completing the Contracts found in the Dark Aether Rift in G4 or you can create the Key if you have previously gotten the Schematic for the item. Once you have the Key, go into the High Threat Zone and go to the canal at the border of F4 and G4. On the ground overlooking the canal, you will find a Mr. Peeks doll nearby.
Once you are here, get on your Blood Burner and start to drive through the canal on the water. You will see a series of white arrows that you need to follow through a path. Go down the canal, take a right when you hit the river, go back up on land right before you go under a bridge, and then follow the road until you pass a destroyed car to get the Reward Rift to appear and get the Echo of the Drum inside.
Attuning the Drum
Once you have the Drum, you can take it to the square to the east of the Shorok Opera House in Sector F7. This square is made up of 4 pillars with a fifth additional pillar at the center. Use a vehicle to hop up onto the central pillar. Once again, you will find a body and 115 meteors that you can interact with to begin the upgrade process. The four pillars around the square will ignite in a blue flame with a colored flame coming from the top of each one.
The color coming out the top corresponds to a different Alternate Ammo Type Ammo Mod and by interacting with one of these pillars, you will given the AAT they represent. The Zombies that spawn when you start attuning the Relic will emit a color that ties to an AAT: Green for Brain Rot, Blue for Dead Wire, White for Cryo Freeze, and Red for Napalm Burst. You will need to equip the correct Ammo Mod to damage the Zombies. Once you kill all the AAT-infused Zombies, the Reward Rift will appear and you can get the upgraded Echo of Drum.
Echo of Giraffe Toy
Our final Relic has the most straightforward steps to acquire and upgrade but it can end up being a big challenge if you aren’t careful. Getting the Echo of the Giraffe Toy requires the Sergeant’s Beret item by either using its Schematic or by going to the third Dark Aether Rift located in E4 for the chance of getting it from a Reward Rift. Once you get the item, you can use it in a game to disguise yourself as a Mercenary enemy. With this disguise equipped, go to one of the Mercenary Camps found all across the map and get behind one of the guards. Hold down your melee button to perform an Execution. The Reward Rift will then appear with your animal friend inside.
Attuning the Giraffe Toy
All you need to do to get the Giraffe Toy upgraded is defeat a series of HVT Special Zombies, but that is much easier said than done. Make sure your weapon is at Legendary Rarity and Pack-a-Punch Level 3 before attempting this. We would even suggest having a few Sentry Gun Killstreaks and a Juggernaut suit to make this a bit easier as well. Once you are all ready, go to Sector F4 and go into the small square east of the Nahr Bathhouse. In the small square is a destroyed van that you can crouch into and find a dead Zombie and another meteor.
Interacting with the meteor will summon a Mega Abomination. Defeat this foe to summon a Mimic that comes equipped with a Shock Charge Pulse. Once the Mimic is down, a Dispicle that can summon other HVTs including another Mega Abomination will appear. When the other HVTs are summoned, you can’t damage the Disciple so you will need to take down all of the minions before you can target the main target. Once the Disciple is dealt with, a Reward Rift will appear and you can now get your Attuned Echo of Giraffe Toy.
How to Open the Dark Aether Rift
With all the Relics collected and upgraded, gather all 4 of them in your inventory and make your way to Sector F5 and into the square of Opal Palace. At the center of the new Aether Tornado is a fountain with 4 pedestals inside. Each of these pedestals has an engraving corresponding to one of the Relics. Place the Relics on the right pedestal and the Dark Aether Rift will appear, along with an HVT Mega Abomination. Defeat the HVT and a Reward Rift will appear with a Sigil inside. With either a Sigil or an Elder Sigil, you can now enter the new Dark Aether region.
What’s Inside the New Dark Aether Region
Entering the Dark Aether Rift will bring you to the Al Mazrah City region of the Dark Aether that you first entered during the Ascension Story Mission. There are 3 Contracts that you can complete, all of which can be started by finding Mr. Peeks dolls in specific locations. You can track down the stuffed rabbit by following the gold beam being shot into the sky by each of them. The Outlast Contract can be started by going onto the roof of the lower, north-end tower of the Highrise building at the center of the map in Sector G2. Once on the roof, you’ll find this rabbit on top of a box. This will take you to the ground floor of the Highrise building where you will need to survive in this room until the bar on the side of the screen is filled.
You can find a Spore Control Contract on top of a floating crane in Sector D3. This Spore Contract is one of the hardest to complete since the Spores that you need to track down and take out are spread out across the Dark Aether, including being on some of the floating islands which can make it hard to actually reach these targets.
Finally, the Escort Contract is found on a destroyed billboard in Sector E5. This is one of the longest and most Escorts that the game has seen, so I suggest having a VR-11 to repair the A.C.V. and have a Deadbolt Turret Circuit to help cover the vehicle during 4th and final stop. Completing these Contracts gives you the chance of getting the new Disciple Bottle and Grenade Bandolier. The former will allow you to spawn a friendly Disciple while the latter will provide the ability to regain used Lethal and Tactical Equipment over time. You can also get the Schematics for these items by completing Contracts in a Dark Aether run started with an Elder Sigil as well as get the Stash Increase Schematic which will see the number of items you can keep in your Stash between matches go from 20 to 30. Along with all of this, there are also many secrets that the Dark Aether holds which we will delve into in other videos. Happy hunting!
With all of that laid out, you now know everything there is to know about how to open the Season 5 Reloaded Dark Aether Rift in Modern Warfare Zombies. Leave us a comment letting us know what other guides you want to see and if you found this helpful, leave us a like and subscribe for future guides on Modern Warfare 3, Warzone, Black Ops 6, and other great games in the future!
