Revelations features the toughest Call of Duty: Zombies easter egg yet. Don’t believe us? We did the math. Taking down the Apothicons requires plenty of patience, a couple of Wonder Weapons, and exacting knowledge of the map and it’s features. Don’t worry, we’ve got your back — because below you’ll find step-by-step tutorials for every part of this out-of-control Easter egg. Solving the puzzle isn’t even, and it wouldn’t even be possible without the fan community.
No other Easter egg in the series has caused so much hair-pulling, or forced quite so much data-mining, just to figure out each and every step. The effort the Zombies community puts into these discoveries is seriously admirable, and we wouldn’t be able to bring these steps to you without their tireless efforts. Now, without further ado — keep scrolling to get started on the big finale to the Zombies storyline.
For even more secret zombies stuff, check out the complete Gorod Krovi survival guide to see how to complete the sprawling, dragon-infested Easter egg and do battle with a mechanized Boris.
Find even more Revelations DLC secrets, solutions, and Easter egg info:
- Black Ops 3: Revelations – How to Turn on the Power
- Black Ops 3: Revelations – How to Unlock Bonus Melee Weapons
- Black Ops 3: Revelations – How to Unlock the Weapon Switch Table & Tommy Gun
- Black Ops 3: Revelations – Hear All the Easter Egg Songs With This Radio
- Black Ops 3: Revelations – How to Build the Dragon Shield | All 9 Locations
The Complete Easter Egg Guide | Full Tutorial
[Updated: 9/16 – Added Steps 8, 9 & 10]
Before getting started, make sure you (and your team) activate all four Corruption Engines. This will return power to all four “islands” and make traversing the map much easier, as well as give you access to the Nacht Der Untoten area and charge the Tesla switch in Nacht used to capture the Apothicon, giving you access to the Pack-a-Punch machine.
Step #1: Blast the Gravestones
Right where you spawn, you’ll find the house from the ending of Origins at your back. Nearby, outside the traversable parameters of the opening island, you can spy a cemetery with gravestones. For this step, you’ll need to identify and shoot four specific tombstones in order.
There are four prominent gravestones you can see — two directly left of the spawn point and two beyond the jump-pad to the Origins area.
- Shoot the graves in this order — Position From Left-To-Right
- Edward Richtofen — 2
- Tank Dempsey — 3
- Takeo Masaki — 1
- Nikolai Belinski — 4
Collect a scoped weapon if you’re having trouble reading the gravestones. They don’t move, so once you’ve got the order down, it’s easy to replicate on subsequent attempts.
Once a bullet is put into the correct graves in order, a strange stone will appear on one of the glowing blue jump-pads. Track it down — it shouldn’t be too tough, the jump-pads connect each “island” to the next in the circle.
Step #2: Summon the Keeper Protector
This part can be tricky. To construct an altar and summon a Keeper Protector, you’ll need to find three craftable parts — each part spawns in one of three locations.
To craft a Summoning Altar, find one of the strange rock-walls with symbols carved into the side. These are often located near Mystery Box spawns, so check the walls — if you get near one, a prompt will appear. Even if you don’t have the parts, you’ll still get a prompt.
Check the locations listed below to grab all three Altar parts.
- Altar Part #1:
- Mob of the Dead: The part can spawn in the Cafeteria near the Mule-Kick machine.
- Origins: Through the lower trenches door, look to the sandbags on the right as you move up the hill. Can also be found near through the upper door but before entering the mine shaft that leads to Mob of the Dead.
- Altar Part #2:
- Verruckt: In a wheelchair near the jump-pad connection to Mob of the Dead. Can also spawn on the upper level, at the top of the stairs overlooking the Corruption Altar. Also found on a wheelchair, near a burning wall. Can also be found on some metal shelves on the lower level very close to the door that leads in/out of the Corruption Altar area.
- Altar Part #3:
- Kino der Toten: Found on a round table near the jump-pad connection to Verruckt.
- Der Eisendrache: Can spawn on the floating stone ruins near the central pyramid structure in the ruins area connected to the Corruption Altar. Can also be found down the steps in the circular room where the Mystery Box will sometimes spawn. As you enter, look right and check the barrels.
Now that you have all the parts, it’s time to summon a Keeper Protector to help you complete the ritual.
Step #3: Complete the Keeper-Stone Ritual
This part can be buggy, but it will require that you summon a Keeper Protector (using the Altar parts listed above) and jump to the strange stone in the jump-pad that appears after shooting the gravestones in the correct order. The triangle-shaped stone is hard to spot, and appears behind the jump-pad’s blue energy — but it will only appear at ONE jump-pad.
The Keeper Protector will only begin the stone ritual if you jump TO the jump-pad where the stone first spawned. It won’t do anything otherwise. Getting the Keeper Protector to begin the ritual is, currently, a very annoying process and this AI ally really doesn’t like doing the ritual.
- The Keeper Protector will follow / teleport anywhere you go on the map, so after using a jump-pad, the Keeper Protector will teleport to you. Aim to get the Keeper to teleport to the blue-glowing jump-pad with the stone to begin the ritual.
Once the rituals begins, ALL ZOMBIES will target the Keeper Protector. The ritual lasts a solid 3 minutes, so be prepared to defend him until the ritual is over.
When the ritual is complete, an audio reel will appear on the ritual site. Collect the audio reel and find the radio in the Nacht der Untoten area. The radio is located opposite the second-floor tesla switch used to capture the Apothicon.
Step #4: L’il Arnies Go In the Apothicon Holes
This step only sounds gross because it is. First of all, you’ll have to enter the massive Apothicon monster that’s flying around the stage. To do this, follow the steps outlined here:
Once you’re inside that monster’s gooey insides, you’ll need to collect a L’il Arnie wonderweapon. They can only be found as a random drop from the Mystery Box. Locate a Mystery Box by following the massive green beam of light to the source. Each Mystery Box purchase costs 950 points. This step does NOT require an upgraded L’il Arnie.
Get inside the Apothicon, get your L’il Arnie throwable, and find something the community are calling “Spawn-Holes” inside the Pack-a-Punch chamber. These are the holes where zombies will spawn into the map — there are 9 holes total.
- Throw L’il Arnies into all 9 “Spawn-Holes” — 3 at a time.
- “Spawn-Holes” are the holes in the walls of the Apothicon interior that spew green gas as zombies spawn in.
- After 3 L’il Arnies are successfully thrown into “Spawn-Holes”…
- 3 Margwa bosses will spawn.
- Successfully spawn 3 rounds of Margwa bosses (Killing 9 in total) to complete this step.
Go into the Apothicon prepared to kill Margwa bosses. Three at once is a pretty tough fight. Don’t forget the Pack-a-Punch machine is located inside the Apothicon chamber. Just shoot the yellow glowing bulbs in the tendrils to free the machine.
After 9 Margwa bosses are killed, a special audio reel will appear on the bridge in the center of the Apothicon interior. It appears on one of the yellow tendril bulbs next to the bridge, similar to the tendrils holding up the Pack-a-Punch.
Once complete, an audio reel will spawn on the bridge inside the Apothicon — on the area that looks like yellow pustules with skeletons on/around.
Collect the audio reel and deliver it to the radio in the Kino der Toten area — the radio is opposite the Apothicon standee on the stage. Interact with the radio after taking the audio reel to complete this step.
Step #5: Upgrade the Apothicon Servant & Collect the Skeleton Parts
Here, you’ll need to acquire the Apothicon Servant Wonderweapon, then activate a secret upgrade (called the Estoom-Oth) by shooting strange objects in the sky. Once again, the Apothicon Servant will only spawn at the Mystery Box. Each Mystery Box random roll costs 950 points.
Let’s go over the path to upgrading the Apothicon Servant and getting the Estoom-Oth:
- Override all four Corruption Engines before attempting to upgrade the Apothicon Servant.
- We’ve already done that, but if you get the Apothicon Servant early, it helps to know that this step can’t be completed until after you’ve freed the Pack-a-Punch machine.
- Next, shoot five glowing Element-115 cubes floating in the sky with the Apothicon Servant.
- Spawn Area: Floating above the spawn island, toward the Corruption Engine location.
- Shangri-La: Above the steps into the pyramid-like temple, slightly left when facing the steps.
- Verruckt: Located above the jump-pad that leads to the Mob of the Dead cafeteria.
- Mob of the Dead: Found above the Corruption Engine area, toward the glowing “sun” in the background.
- Verruckt: Above and right of the portal to Nacht Der Untoten.
- After shooting a cube, the HUD will alter slightly and the target will disappear.
- It may take several seconds after shooting the target.
- Return to the Pack-a-Punch and feed the Apothicon Servant to the machine to upgrade it.
- The Pack-a-Punch should feature all five Element-115 crystals before you can upgrade the Apothicon Servant.
Now that you’ve unlocked the upgraded Apothicon Servant Wonderweapon, it’s time to get this step on the road for real. The real goal here is to collect 6 skeleton parts.
Check out this video from NGTZombies for a detailed look at the rock / skeleton part locations — or continue to scroll down for more text details.
Note: To collect a skeleton part, shoot the target stone slab with ANY UPGRADED WEAPON, then shoot the skeleton part ONLY WITH THE ESTOOM-OTH (Upgraded Apothicon Servant) — shooting a skeleton part with the Estoom-Oth will collect the piece.
The skeleton parts can be collected in any order.
- Spawn-Area: Look right of the Corruption Engine area and scan the church for a small opening that reveals the glowing stone slab target. Shoot it with a P-a-P gun, then blast the skeleton part with the Estoom-Oth.
- Shangri-La: Find the stone slab above the centrally-located Stamin-Up machine. Remember, shoot the rock with an upgraded (Pack-a-Punch) gun, then shoot the skull that appears with the Estoom-Oth.
- Origins: As you enter origins, open the doors to the trenches near the generator and look right into the inaccessible fields. There’s a fire here, and to the right of the fire, there’s a stone slab to shoot.
- Verruckt: Go to the Corruption Engine area and look toward the portal to Nacht. Turn left to face the waterfall — the stone is very close to the water, just barely peaking out over the falls / grassy patch.
- Nach der Untoten: Find the stone ramp leading up to the second floor near the Der Eisendrache portal. Face the portal (after clearing the floating debris) and look at the top of the ruined concrete ceiling. The stone slab is attached to the top — it can be tricky to spot, but it’s there on the edge of the wrecked ceiling.
- Der Eisendrache: Activate the low-gravity field by standing on the four glowing panels surrounding the pyramid near the Corruption Engine location. To activate low-gravity, you’ll need to stand on the panels until they click into place. This takes several seconds. Once low-gravity is activated, a blue glow will envelope the ruins area. In the pyramid room, look for an opening that leads outside the normal map — there’s a wall-running path you can reach. The stone / skeleton part is found on the third wall on the wall-run course.
That isn’t all. There’s still one major step to complete.
- Return to Nacht der Untoten and you’ll find a pile of bones near the radio (the same radio you inserted the first audio reel) — shoot the pile of bones with your Estoom-Oth.
- Sophia’s zombified body will appear on the ground. Shoot it with the Estoom-Oth again!
Finally, you’ll gain the third audio reel. Take this to the wooden desk at the top of the hill in Origins — this is also at the top of the mine shaft that leads down into Mob of the Dead.
Step #6: Activate the Turrets & Teleport to the Kronorium
After overriding the Corruption Engines, these devices will change functions — using them again will turn the former Engines into Turrets. This step is when things get weird, but it’s also fairly simple to complete. Now, for some explanation…
If you played Gorod Krovi, you’ll remember the S.O.P.H.I.A. computer. She makes an appearance here in Revelations — after shooting all those bones in the previous step, S.O.P.H.I.A. attempts to enter this dimension. But, she isn’t quite complete. She’s a shining blue/green light, floating above Nacht der Untoten. Let’s try and fix her up.
- Go to all four Corruption Turrets and activate them, one at a time — they’ll continue to shoot once they target the glowing energy orbs above. Aim at the blue spinning orbs at each location.
- If you successfully target a S.O.P.H.I.A. orb, you’ll instantly exit the turret.
After a turret targets the blue orbs, it will continue to shoot until this step is completed. Get all four turrets to target the sky-energy and we’re moving on to Kino der Toten.
The wad of energy that is S.O.P.H.I.A. materializes and flies off to the Kino der Toten stage. You might’ve noticed the large teleportation pod on the stage, to the left of the podium — watch the pod. It’ll charge up and give you a short activation window. You’ll only get one chance to teleport per round.
- To activate the teleporter, hold the interact button [Square / X] with all other players. Everyone has to do it together.
Once you’ve successfully teleported, you’ll appear in a bedroom inside The House. You know, THE HOUSE, the one at the spawn area that appeared in the bonkers Origins ending.
- What To Do After Teleporting: In the bedroom, interact with the bed to collect the Kronorium.
Returning to Kino der Toten, there’s one final step to complete before facing off with the Shadowman.
Step #7: Complete the Final Ritual
Back in Kino der Toten, interact with the podium on the stage to place the Kronorium. Doing so causes a strange ritual to begin — you’ll find the glowing ritual spot inside the projector room opposite the main stage. If you study the ritual, you’ll see there are four runes you’ll need to light-up.
To gain a rune, you’ll need to find four Apothicon eggs. These strange eggs spawn in random locations — one on each of the four island-areas. They only spawn one at a time, so you’ll have to check the following areas thoroughly.
- Apothicon Egg Spawn Zones:
- Spawn-Area
- Origins
- Verruckt
- Kino Der Toten
After collecting one egg, follow the steps below — repeat this process for each egg you find.
- Place the egg inside the Apothicon
- Look near the large eggs and find missing incubation spots. This is where you’ll want to place the Apothicon eggs. They’re beneath the larger wall-embedded eggs. The spot features multiple tendrils pointing straight up, with a “seat” for the egg between the tendrils.
- The egg will get sucked in and reveal a glowing soul. Feed the soul.
- Like in previous Zombies map, killing zombies near a glowing “soul” object will feed it.
- Kill 15 zombies (or any other any type) near the glowing soul.
- A gateworm will spawn — use it to find an invisible rune location.
- The gateworm functions like a SONAR. Listen for the rapid pings to find the rune location.
Once you find a rune location, interact to collect it. You’ll need to complete this process for all four eggs! Here are some of the basic locations for each rune you’ll need to collect:
- Rune Spawn Locations:
- Spawn-Area
- Near the Corruption Engine area
- Near the Origins jump-pad
- Near the Quick Revive
- Next to the trashcan next to the stairs opposite the Shangri-La jump-pad
- Origins
- In the trenches opposite Generator 3
- Der Eisendrache
- Pack-a-Punch room, near the Primus statue
- Mob of the Dead
- Against the wall opposite the Corruption Engine
- Verruckt
- Inside the mystery box room
- Spawn-Area
It’s tough, but we’re almost done.
Step 8: Vs. The Apothicon
Return to the ritual site in the projector room of Kino der Toten to initiate the final battle. Each player needs to stand on the glowing runes — interact at the same time to teleport.
You’ll appear in a twisted version of the theater as a massive Apothicon monstrosity looms over the arena. Your main goal here is to stay alive, don’t panic, and try to check out the Kronorium. The Kronorium is the key to defeating the Shadow Man!
- How to Start the Final Boss: Interact with the Kronorium — it will display a series of 4 runes. Interact with the runes in the same order that the Kronorium displays them — think of it like ‘Simon Says’.
Go to the opposite side of the chamber to find a floating rune. Wait for it to switch to the correct symbols and interact in the order shown in the book to initiate the boss fight proper.
- Sequence #1: Fire Everywhere
- Go to the upper level to avoid the growing magma pool. Focus on killing the Margwa quickly.
- Sequence #2: Lightning Storm
- Continue moving to avoid tracking lightning blasts. Focus on killing the Margwa bosses, again.
- Sequence #3: Caged In
- Avoid getting walled into a tight area as barriers spawn all over the arena. Kill the Margwa bosses to complete this step.
- Sequence #4: Damage Everywhere
- Anti-gravity will activate and damaging energy will surge through the ground. Only stand under the spotlights to avoid the energy — jump between them to avoid getting swarmed. Call all the Margwa bosses during this phase, too.
Complete all four sequences, and the Summoning Key will spawn in the center of the arena. Only one player can collect this item, but when they do, they’ll teleport straight back to Kino der Toten.
Step #9: The Summoning Key
The Summoning Key takes up one weapon slot, and can be thrown. Here, you’ll need to locate 7 special spots and throw the Summoning Key at the object. These locations are always the same, and can be completed in any order.
- Summoning Key Target Locations:
- Mob of the Dead: Look at the cells from the bridge on the wall opposite the Corruption Engine. Throw the Summoning Key at the poster inside one of the open cells.
- Verruckt: Looking toward the Corruption Engine, look left to spot a fountain with a machine gun mounted on top. Throw the key at the gun on the fountain.
- Shangri-La: To the left of the stairs leading up to the top of the temple, look left — there’s a Keeper statue, but further left there is a bright blue orb on a staff. Throw the key at this object.
- Origins: Go to the top of the hill in Origins (where the entrance down into Mob of the Dead is located) and look for a gravestone at about eye-level on a wooden catwalk.
- Der Eisendrache: Throw the key at the clocktower face visible just over the ceiling ruins when looking up from the Corruption Engine area, near the portal to Nacht der Untoten.
- Nacht Der Untoten: Go to the lower-level wall with a view of a crashed truck in the background. To the right of the truck is a red barrel. Hit the red barrel.
The final spot to throw is here:
- Final Target:
- Kino der Toten: Hit the huge chandelier hanging above the seating area.
Now it’s time to return to the boss room. Step through the teleporter, interact all at the same time, and prepare to finally complete this thing.
Step #10: The End
The final battle begins here. The Shadow Man appears. Time to take him down.
- Place the Summoning Key on one of the glowing green holders on the upper level walkways.
- Placing the Summoning Key will remove it from your inventory.
- Charge the Summoning Key embedded in the holder.
- Kill zombies (or any other enemy) near the Summoning Key location.
- Continue to kill enemies until the Summoning Key begins to glow yellow.
- Throw the charged Summoning Key into the ghostly image of S.O.P.H.I.A.
- This removes the Shadow Man’s shield.
- Now you can damage the Shadow Man! Shoot him with everything you’ve got.
- The Shadow Man will disappear / reappear randomly.
- Continue shooting until the Shadow Man is trapped in the Apothicon’s mouth.
- Once the Shadow Man is in the Apothicon’s man, quickly interact with the Kronorium.
- You don’t have much time before the Shadow Man teleports out. Interact with the Kronorium right as the Shadow Man appears inside the Apothicon’s open maw.
And that’s it!
This might not be the final Zombies map in the Call of Duty series, but it is the ending to a story that’s been building for years. Most of us probably won’t be able to finish this Easter egg, so if you’re curious to see the ending, check it out below.
