Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 brings the return of Treyarch’s traditional, round-based Zombies. There are two maps to choose from, with Liberty Falls being a more casual map and Terminus being a larger and more hardcore Zombies experience. No matter which map you choose, you’ll want to make sure you’re well-equipped. Here we explain everything you need to know when building a custom loadout.
How custom loadouts work in BO6 Zombies
Custom Zombies loadouts return. Just like in Black Ops Cold War, you’ll load into matches with a weapon and equipment of your choosing. However, the loadout customization is a bit different than recent years.
You’ll get one primary weapon slot. You can custom-build this gun with up to five attachments, assuming you have already leveled up the gun a bit and unlocked them.
Your loadout also comes with a dedicated melee slot. There are only two melee weapons in the game at launch. So, you can choose between a knife and a baseball bat.
Additionally, you can choose one piece of tactical equipment, lethal equipment, a Zombies field upgrade, and a pack of Gobblegums.
The actual guns you bring into the game won’t be very powerful after the early rounds, and it costs a lot of points and salvage to level up that weapon’s rarity and Pack-a-Punch. This is mostly a starter weapon, and thus the specific gun builds don’t have to matter too much here.
You’ll be better off investing in Wall Buys with higher rarities, Mystery Box guns, or even Wonder Weapons like the Ray Gun.
How to unlock Augments
Originally introduced in Black Ops Cold War, Augments are ways to make your field upgrades more powerful for your loadout, and they do the same for perks and ammo mods you purchase in-game.
Zombies matches get increasingly more difficult after round 25. The waves are more intense, and there are plenty of armored zombies that start to feel like bullet sponges. This is where Augments will become most beneficial. They’ll give you added benefits such as extra health, increased movement speed, and immunity from fall damage.
You’ll need to unlock Augments by completing Augment Research, which is a menu you won’t have access to until you reach level 11. You’ll want to make sure you start researching Augments as soon as you unlock the feature.
There are 108 total Augments in the game, with multiple major and minor Augments available for every perk, ammo mod, and field upgrade in the game. You can only research one Augment at a time, and unlocking them is painfully slow.
The Stamin-Up perk is a good starting point, as most of the powerful Augments are locked until you’ve researched a set amount of Augments. This includes the helpful Juggernog Augments that require you to research eight Augments before unlocking access to this research. Juggernog Augment research will be something you’ll want to prioritize once you’ve unlocked it.
The full list and in-depth breakdown of all the Augments in the game can be found here.
Field Upgrade recommendations
At launch, Black Ops 6 includes the following field upgrades:
- Aether Shroud: Phase into the Dark Aether, becoming hidden from enemy detection
- Frenzied Guard: Repair armor and force all enemies in the area to target you. During this time, kills repair a portion of your armor
- Healing Aura: Summons beams of energy down on yourself and allies to instantly revive and heal to full health
- Energy Mine: Create a mine of pure energy that detonates in rapid succession, dealing lethal electric damage
- Dark Flare: You generate a massive energy beam that deals lethal shadow damage. The beam penetrates everything in its path
There are a few really solid options here, depending on your playstyle and if you’re playing with friends. It’s usually good to have a mix of field upgrades for a full team.
For example: A medic role is important, so you probably want to have at least one player with Healing Aura, and Frenzied Guard is for the teammate who likes to be aggro and pull all the zombies towards them.
Aether Shroud is also a good choice for team play or solo matches, as going invisible for a short time can let you escape a sticky situation.
Dark Flare isn’t the most team-friendly perk, but it is a lot of fun to use and deal out a ton of damage. Energy Mine is the least helpful and enjoyable option, so this is a bottom-tier pick that I wouldn’t invest much in.
Gobblegum recommendations
Gobblegums return in Zombies, and these are powerful but temporary effects you can use. These are extremely optional. Some players prefer not to even use Gobblegums or things like Augments to make the game feel like a more classic Zombies experience.
However, here are some tips for making the most of your Gobblegums. Your loadout lets you customize a pack of five gums of various rarities, and you can earn more unique gums just by playing and completing rounds. You’ll see an in-game popup every time you earn a new one.
I’d recommend grinding out some Zombies matches and saving up any powerful ones you earn for later matches, such as going for high-rounds or attempting an Easter egg.
These will be gums such as:
- Perkaholic: Gives you all the perks on the map
- Phoenix Up: Revives all downed teammates and lets them keep their perks
- Wall Power: The next weapon you buy off the wall comes Pack-a-Punched
- On The House: Spawns a random perk power-up that benefits you and your teammates
For more on Zombies, make sure to check out our Liberty Falls guides. This includes locating the Pack-a-Punch machine, as well as unlocking a secret loot vault.
Here we recommend some settings to use, including best controller layouts, audio settings, and more.
