Welcome to the massive step-by-step walkthrough for Gorod Krovi, the penultimate Zombies add-on map for Black Ops 3.
Here you’ll find how to complete the ‘Love and War’ Easter egg — every excruciatingly difficult and complex step is outlined and explained. It all leads up to a final confrontation with a deadly dragon and a massive mech, and if you think you’ve got what it takes to complete one of these infamously difficult Easter eggs, then check out the (100% complete) guide right here.
If you’re looking for even more answers, check out the Gorod Krovi Trophies / Achievements Guide and get our tips and tricks for unlocking all those other challenges included in the Descent DLC.
‘Love and War’ Full Easter Egg Guide
Gorod Krovi transports the original team of four alternate-reality heroes to a war-ravaged Stalingrad, guarded by a pissed-off (and slightly inebriated) Russian named Nikolai 1.0 — why? Because this is Nikolai, the same Nikolai that’s in your team of time-hopping zombie fighters, inhabiting another dimension. You’ll get a good look at him in the opening cutscene; him and his giant mech suit.
The goal of ‘Love and War’ is to find Nikolai 1.0. Summoning the hero of Stalingrad won’t be easy, but we’ll break down every step of the process below.
Step #1: Flip on the Power
The first step is always the easier. Turning on the power is an integral part of every Zombies map, and this time your switch is located in the Dragon Command area. To reach the power room, follow this path:
- Open the Department Store door from the spawn area.
- Go to the second floor Department Store and open the door to the Operations Bunker.
- From the Operations Bunker, unlock the door to either the Armory or the Infirmary. Both lead to the Dragon Command area.
- From the Armory or Infirmary, you can unlock the door to the street leading straight to Dragon Command.
The power switch is located inside the large building, just to the right of the interior stairs. Flip that switch, and zombies will start dropping Code Cylinders. Those are your keys to Step #3.
Step #2: Craft the Guard of Fafnir Shield
This special shield weapon protects zombie-survivalists from forward-facing attacks, and shoots a deadly green flame-attack at melee-range. To get it, you’ll need to find three randomly-spawning shield parts and use them at the Operations Bunker workbench.
- Shield Part #1: Armory – Take the stairs up from the Operations Bunker to the Armory — the part is often located in the lower floors, or in the room connected to the Infirmary drawbridge trap.
- Shield Part #2: Infirmary – From the street connecting the Armory / Infirmary to Dragon Command, enter the rubble mound to the Infirmary lower floors. From the Dragon Command connecting door, look on the opposite wall in the dirt to spot this shield part. It can also be found in the large hospital-like upper level.
- Shield Part #3: Operations Bunker – Search the trucks on the street between the Operations Bunker and the Department Store, or look on the shelf opposite the workbench in the Operations Bunker.
Build the Guard of Fafnir Shield — why? You won’t need it until Step #6 (Trophy #6) — so it’s okay to save the actual shield crafting for later.
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Step #3: Repair the Dragon Network
Back in the Operations Bunker, you might’ve seen a large device labeled the ‘Dragon Network Console’ — there are three network pieces you’ll need to collect to activate the Dragon Network and summon dragons. To get started, kill zombies (after turning on the power) in these three locations to acquire Code Cylinders:
- Dragon Command Code Cylinder
- Supply Depot Code Cylinder
- Tank Factory Code Cylinder
Randomly, a defeated zombie will drop a Code Cylinder in these areas that corresponds with a nearby ‘Groph Module’ terminal. These computers feature sparking lights and GPS-like map projections on the screen. Interact to insert the Code Cylinder into the corresponding console, and a pod will drop from the sky.
Look up to spot a green waypoint marker in the sky. This shows you where to find the Groph pod landing site. These areas are randomly generated, so don’t expect them to land in the same place every time.
Rush to the Groph Module pod and defend against the attacking zombie hordes. Zombies will ignore you and go straight for the pod — this sequence is actually very easy to solo. Most enemies will ignore you. Killing zombies fuels the Groph Module until it opens and reveals one piece of the Dragon Network Console.
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Step #4: Riding a Dragon & Earning the Dragon Strike
Insert all three Code Cylinders into all three Groph Modules (In Dragon Command, the Supply Depot, or the Tank Factory) then return to Dragon Command.
Opposite the Dragon Command Groph Module, you’ll find a larger terminal attached to a ‘U’-shaped catwalk. Use this newly-activated console to summon the dragon. After a few moments post-landing, you’ll be able to interact with the dragon’s back. Do it and you’ll go for a ride.
After a short cutscene, drop from the dragon’s back and into the open rooftop. This is the Pack-A-Punch building, or the ‘Bunker’ — let’s just call it the Pack-A-Punch Bunker for simplicity’s sake. This is a very important location, and not just because you can upgrade weapons with the PaP machine.
Upstairs, go to the corner office to find a strange blue device. Select ‘Release the Crystal’ to initiate a Lockdown Event — a tricky round that summons a massive horde of zombies, Mangler Soldiers and Valkyrie Drones. Upgrade your weapons with the PaP and grab plenty of ammo before initiating.
When the event is over, return to the ‘crystal’ machine to claim the Dragon Strike Controller. This special weapon runs on cooldown and allows you to summon a zombie-luring blast of dragon’s breath from the skies. It isn’t just awesome, you’ll also need it to complete the Easter egg.
Step #5: Return the Dragon Egg to the Nest
Still in the Pack-A-Punch Bunker, it’s time to check out the basement. Downstairs you’ll find a weird lab with four tube-like Incubators in the center. Take note of these and continue on to the next lower-level room. Here you’ll find a chute covered by a metal grating. To open the grating, you’ll need to lead Valkyrie Drones to the chute generator.
This is the tricky part. To open the chute, you’ll need to kill a Valkyrie Drone near the generator. This chute takes you back to the ‘main’ section of the map. The generator is near the Incubator tubes, covered with a green tarp.
Before leaving, there’s still one task to complete. Look at the broken floors above the chute — there’s a strange green ‘egg’ shaped object on the edge of the busted wooden floor boards. That’s the Dragon Egg, and you’re going to want to collect it. Shoot the egg with any explosive weapons; the Ray Gun will work, so you might have to make a second trip. (Don’t worry, if you have to return, the chute grate will remain open.)
Shooting the egg causes it to roll down to the ground floor where you can take it for yourself. Grab it and jump into the sewer chute.
Return to Dragon Command — at the base of the steps into the building, there’s a ruined tank and a wooden signpost. Directly to the right of this signpost is a nest. Its the perfect size for your Dragon Egg, so place it down. To warm the egg up, target it with your new Dragon Strike Controller.
It may take a few rounds to cool down before you can pick the Dragon Egg up again. Until then, let’s cover some of the other Easter egg steps — we’ll pick-up with the egg quest down on Step #8.
Step #6: Get All 6 Trophies
The next major step involves providing power to the S.O.P.H.I.A. console, and to do that you’ll need to locate 6 statues (or trophies) scattered across the map.
These statues (or trophies) can be collected in any order, and you can start collecting at any point of the Easter egg. Starting at Step #6 might be considered pretty early, as we won’t even touch the S.O.P.H.I.A. console for several more steps. Just keep these trophies in mind while completing all the other steps.
- Trophy Location #1: Supply Depot – Activate the ‘Gigant Eye Beam’ Trap in the back-right corner of the Supply Depot main chamber. Wait until the beam stops, then check the blast area to see a missing wooden plank near the wall, revealing a trophy in a hidden cubby.
- Trophy Location #2: Pack-A-Punch Bunker – Fly the dragon back to the Pack-A-Punch Bunker and go down into the basement. Drop into the open chute and shoot a bright red glowing pipe (near the ceiling as you’re pulled along the current) as you travel back to the main map. Return to the Pack-A-Punch Bunker, if you successfully shot the red pipe, one of the toilets adjacent to the PaP will spew water. That one contains the trophy.
- Trophy Location #3: Dragon Command – Opposite the Dragon Command interior and above the smoldering tank ruins, look up at the stone sculpture — it depicts a soldier carrying a flag with two children cheering on both sides. Shoot the soldier’s left hand (not holding the flag) and the trophy will appear to the right next to a fallen building’s windows.
- Trophy Location #4: Supply Depot – Travel to the street outside the Supply Depot and walk toward the crashed train cars. There’s a dark-green puddle of water here. Target it with the Dragon Strike Controller — the puddle is almost exactly the same size as the puddle — the trophy appears once the Dragon Strike ends. This is right beneath the Stamin-Up perk machine.
- Trophy Location #5: Operations Bunker – Use the Gauntlet of Siegfried on the locked man-sized safe (next to the workbench) near the Dragon Network terminal. You’ll need to use the Gauntlet’s super-punch ability on the safe to crack it open and reveal a trophy. Check Step #7 for more details.
- Trophy Location #6: Tank Factory – Use the Guard of Fafnir Shield and its melee green flame attack on an open pipe in the Tank Factory. The open pipe is located just through the tube-like upper level entrance, right next to a busted window and a Double Tap Root Beer vending machine. Turn left just as you step onto the catwalk to spot the open gas valve. Hit it with the shield’s green flame, then look back in the interior next to the window to find the last trophy. Learn how to get the Guard of Fafnir Shield in Step #2.
This is just the first step to get the S.O.P.H.I.A. working. For now, let’s move onto a real brain-scrambling part of the Easter egg.
Step #7: Solve the Valve Puzzle
This is by far the most complex and confusing part of the Easter egg. The ‘air-flow’ puzzle spans six valve locations, each effecting the others and altering the solution to the puzzle.
- To activate this puzzle, kill a Valkyrie drone close to the green-tarp covered generator near the Incubator tubes in the basement of the Pack-A-Punch Bunker.
Each valve chamber features several numbers / lights you’ll want to keep in mind:
- 1 / 2 / 3 Number: Interacting with a valve chamber to rotate the dial to these numbers. This diverts pressure and allows air to flow to the next valve chamber in the sequence.
- Green Light: In the lower-right corner, there is a small light. Green indicates that this is your ‘Starting Point’ — the starting point is randomly generated.
- Blue Light: Air is flowing to the valve chamber.
- White Light: Air is not flowing to the valve chamber.
Now let’s track down all six Valve Chamber locations. They are always attached to a wall, and large enough to easily spot if you’re paying attention.
- Dragon Command: Upper Level – Right Corner, Balcony
- Tank Factory: Outside Streets
- Infirmary: Second Floor – Near the Alcove Window, Adjacent to the Tank Factory Path
- Department Store: Third Floor
- Supply Depot: Outside Streets, Beneath Stamin-Up
- Armory: Near the Infirmary Connection Bridge, Third floor.
There are two Valve Chambers you’ll want to find first:
- The Green-Light Valve Chamber (This is your starting point.)
- The Valve Chamber containing a Purple item. (This is the end point.)
WARNING: After activating the generator, the Valve Chamber will only be active for a few minutes.
This challenge is randomly generated, and each Valve Chamber connects to each other Command Chamber in complex ways. Thankfully, the community has stepped in to make things easier.
Use this website to easily learn which Valve Chambers to use and their order. (Credit: JWC1305)
Check out the complete text list of possible valve combinations here. (Credit: AbsoluteTravesty)
Use this image for a simple guide showing how each Valve Chamber connects.
[Image & Video Credits: Xeccess]
Connect every Valve Chamber without repeating to provide pressure / air to the final (purple) Valve Chamber and it will open, providing you with the Master Command Cylinder. This is one of the hardest parts to complete solo — do it with a team, and keep the community resources listed above open and available for reference.
Step #8: Collect the Gauntlet of Siegfried
From one tough task to another. Earning the Gauntlet of Siegfried isn’t easy, but we’ve already done some of the leg-work. Check out Step #4 and Step #5 for more details on procuring the Dragon Egg, taking it to the Nest, and warming the egg with the Dragon Strike Controller.
With that done, return to the Challenge Board in the Spawn area. The Challenge Board resembles a gravestone with a lit green fire. Check the ‘Incubate an Egg’ challenge marker — it’s the bottom marker on your board. It should now reveal one of several random challenges.
Challenges include; killing napalm zombies, earning penetration kills or scoring melee kills. Whatever the Challenge Board says, you’ll need to complete. Finish three of these challenges to move on.
Next, return to the Pack-A-Punch Bunker and interact with the only intact Incubator (located right next to the green-tarp generator) to place the egg inside. Kill the incoming zombie horde to charge the Incubator, just like the Groph Module.
When the process is complete, looking at the Dragon Egg reveals a message that it needs to “cool down” before you can collect. Wait two turns, then grab the Dragon Egg and return to the Spawn Challenge Board.
Interact with the ‘Incubate an Egg’ challenge marker with the Dragon Egg in your inventory. The quest is now complete, and the Gauntlet of Siegfried is now your’s.
The tiny dragon can shoot fire or fly around and allows you to one-hit kill zombies with a super-melee punch. Use this ultra melee attack to open the safe in Step #6 to collect Trophy #5.
Cool, right? There’s still more to do! It’s time to input the password into the S.O.P.H.I.A. terminal.
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Step #9: Input the S.O.P.H.I.A. Password
Return to Dragon Command and turn right — see the giant robo-eye looking at you? That’s S.O.P.H.I.A.! Interact with the terminal to see what she has to say. Then, when you’re ready, insert the purple Master Code Cylinder (Acquired at Step #7) to unlock the password input.
To the left of the nameplate, there are a series of letters on dials. To input a password, shoot the letters to revolve the dials until a specific word is spelled-out. Then interact with S.O.P.H.I.A. again to complete the password input.
Input the code, and then check the map screen opposite of S.O.P.H.I.A. — all six of the trophies you’ve collected should be in place here. Use the terminal to initiate a series of challenges.
Step #10: Complete S.O.P.H.I.A. Challenges
We’re almost done. Now you’ll have to complete five random challenges. These challenges appear in random order, so be prepared for any / all — here’s how to complete them all.
- Trial #1: A Valkyrie Drone will appear in the Spawn area. It has a green-glowing eye — escort it back to the map terminal teleport pad opposite S.O.P.H.I.A. in the Dragon Command room.
- Trial #2: Like the previous trial, only a Mangler Soldier will spawn in the Tank Factory. It will also have green-glowing eyes — lead it back to the Dragon Command map terminal teleport pad.
- Trial #3: A Groph Module pod appears somewhere outside the map. Locate it and kill any nearby zombies, then send your Gauntlet of Siegfried mini-dragon to fly and collect the cargo. Return the cargo to the Dragon Command teleport pad.
- Trial #4: A yellow orb flies around the map. Shoot it until it speaks — do this three times until it asks you to ‘stop shooting’ and completes the trial.
- Trial #5: The trickiest trial — 6 bombs will spawn in random places across the map. Defuse them by interacting with the bomb itself.
- You must defuse the bombs in order — watch the map terminal opposite S.O.P.H.I.A. to see which bombs to defuse. The area of the map will light up on the terminal.
- You only have two minutes to defuse all six bombs in the correct order.
Once all five trials are complete, one final trial presents itself. Take the red keycard from the Dragon Command map terminal, and travel back to the Pack-A-Punch Bunker basement.
Use the red keycard on the computer with the red lights. This initiates a Lockdown Event — this time with Mangler Soldiers. Defend yourself, wipe out the troops, and grab the red keycard for one more series of tasks.
Step #11: Face-Off With Nikolai 1.0
Take the red keycard back to Dragon Command and use it on S.O.P.H.I.A. — continue to interact until she opens up a slot with a Power Core. Take it, and head out toward the Spawn area.
Outside the map, you should now see Nikolai 1.0’s giant mech stomping around the exterior of the playable spawn area. Use your Gauntlet of Siegfried to send the mini-dragon out — it will deliver the Power Core in your inventory to Nikolai 1.0.
Now that he’s charged up, return to S.O.P.H.I.A. and interact. She’ll fly away, disconnecting herself, and open a sewer grate (with a red star) in Dragon Command. This leads to the final confrontation.
Drop into the sewer to appear in a new area — here you’ll fight the Mother Dragon. Target the areas glowing orange where Nikolai 1.0 shoots to deal damage. When all three weak points are defeated, you’ll have to fight Nikolai 1.0 himself.
To disable the mech, target the eyes — then shoot the power cores on his shoulders. Do enough damage and his orange Power Core will appear. Blast it an eventually you’ll defeat Nikolai and unlock the Easter egg ending.
And that’s everything. Another insane Easter egg complete, and you’ll earn the ‘Love and War’ trophy / achievement to commemorate the occasion. So, what’s in store for the final Black Ops 3 Zombies map? We might be returning to a very familiar house and complete the circle. Check out the ending cutscene, uploaded by CoD: Zombies master MrDalekJD, below.
The mysteries never stop. Everyone gets a unique message from Dr. Monty for finishing the Easter egg, where he warns the others that one of their number can’t be trusted. What does this mean for Revelations, the (likely) final Black Ops 3 Zombies map? We’ll just have to wait and find out.
Thanks for joining us on this insane ride! If you have any tips of your own, found something we missed, or want to share your theories, drop us a comment.
