From Survival to Supremacy: A Complete Guide to Zombies Rounds in Call of Duty: Vanguard
Stepping into the dark, otherworldly confines of Call of Duty: Vanguard Zombies is a thrilling, heart-pounding experience. Whether you're a seasoned veteran of the Dark Aether or a new recruit just learning to hold the line, the relentless progression of rounds is the true test of your skill. Many players find themselves hitting a wall, unsure how to transition from barely surviving the early waves to confidently dominating the late-game onslaught. This guide is your comprehensive playbook, designed to walk you through a cohesive strategy that evolves seamlessly from Round 1 to Round 50 and beyond. We'll cover everything from your initial loadout choices to high-round survival tactics, ensuring you have the knowledge to not just survive, but thrive.
The Foundation: Rounds 1-10 (The Setup Phase)
The first ten rounds are arguably the most critical. Your decisions here set the stage for your entire game. The goal is not just to kill zombies, but to build a strong economic and strategic foundation efficiently.
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Weapon Choice is Key: Start with a weapon that excels without attachments. The STG44 or MP40 are fantastic starting choices due to their solid damage and ammo reserves. Your primary objective is to accumulate Points. Remember the golden rule: shoot zombies in the legs to maximize points before finishing them with a melee attack. A knife kill in the early rounds grants significantly more points than a bullet kill.
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Unlocking the Hub: Your first major goal should be to unlock the main hub area, which provides access to the Portal and other essential mechanics. Focus on completing the initial objective quickly. Don't get distracted by every zombie; move with purpose.
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Strategic Spending: Your first 1250 Points should almost always be spent on a Wall Buy for a different weapon, ideally a reliable shotgun like the Combat Shotgun or a high-capacity LMG like the MG42. This serves two purposes: it gives you a powerful secondary weapon and allows you to share points with your team by buying ammo. Your next priority is to get Stamin-Up as your first Perk. The increased movement speed is invaluable for escaping tight situations and traversing the map quickly.
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The Covenant System: Don't ignore the Altar of Covenants. Early on, focus on acquiring covenants that boost your economy or survivability. Splatterfest (melee attacks cause zombies to explode) is incredibly powerful for point-building in the early rounds, while Blood Lust (killing zombies rapidly restores health) can save you from using your Self-Revives.
Building Momentum: Rounds 11-25 (The Escalation Phase)
The zombies are getting tougher and more numerous. Your basic weapons will start to feel like peashooters. This phase is all about transitioning your build from basic to powerful.
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Pack-a-Punch is Non-Negotiable: Your first major investment must be upgrading your primary weapon at the Pack-a-Punch machine. A single PaP level dramatically increases your damage output. Prioritize upgrading your most effective weapon. The damage boost is the single most important upgrade in the game.
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Perk Synergy: By now, you should have your core Perks active. Stamin-Up for speed, Juggernog for survivability, Quick Revive for faster health regeneration (and revives in solo), and Deadshot Daiquiri for increased critical damage and aim-assist. This powerful combination creates a survivable and lethal foundation.
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Covenant Optimization: As you earn more Covenant Essence, refine your choices. Look for game-changing abilities like Brain Rot (turning a zombie to fight for you), which provides a crucial distraction, or Cryo-Freeze (slowing enemies), which is excellent for crowd control. Aether Shroud is a fantastic Field Upgrade for this phase, allowing you to become invisible and escape a corner you've accidentally backed into.
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Objective Focus: In Vanguard Zombies, consistently completing objectives is the fastest way to earn high-tier rewards and Essence. Stay on top of these tasks, as they will fuel your upgrades much faster than simply killing zombies.
Mastering the Onslaught: Rounds 26-40 (The Endgame Phase)
Welcome to the true test. Zombies have massive health pools, and special enemies spawn frequently. Your strategy must shift from aggressive killing to efficient crowd control and resource management.
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The Wonder Weapon becomes your best friend. If you are lucky enough to acquire the Decimator Shield or another powerful Wonder Weapon through trials or quests, your life becomes much easier. If not, your fully upgraded Pack-a-Punch weapon (Level 2 or 3 is ideal) is your workhorse.
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Ammo Management is Crucial: You will burn through ammo at an alarming rate. This is where your knowledge of Wall Buy locations and the Ammo Caches from the crafting bench is essential. Never let your primary weapon run completely dry. Always have a plan for your next ammo resupply. The Mule Kick perk becomes a very attractive option here, giving you a third weapon and more total ammo.
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Training and Movement: You can no longer hold a position. You must now "train" the zombies—leading a large horde in a loop while picking them off. The Stalingrad map or the central hub area are excellent for this. Your Stamin-Up perk is what makes this possible. Never stop moving, and always be aware of your escape routes. Use your Aether Shroud or Frost Blast strategically to break up the horde if you get trapped.
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Covenant Perfection: Your Covenant loadout should now be finalized. A combination of Splatterfest, Blood Lust, Cryo-Freeze, and Brain Rot provides a perfect balance of damage, healing, crowd control, and distraction.
Reigning Supreme: Rounds 41+ (The High-Round Mastery Phase)
Beyond Round 40, the game becomes a marathon of patience and precision. The zombie health caps, but their numbers and aggression do not.
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The Meta is Everything: Your loadout is now locked in. You are reliant on your Wonder Weapon, your fully upgraded Pack-a-Punch LMG or Shotgun, and your full suite of Perks. The Roof Strategy or other safe training spots become your home.
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Patience is a Virtue: Rounds will take a long time. The key is consistency over speed. A single mistake can end a multi-hour run. Focus on maintaining your train and using your field upgrade and covenants proactively, not reactively.
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Resource Cycling: The game loop now revolves around points -> ammo -> survival. You are constantly cycling your points into ammo refills and maybe even buying new weapons from the Wall Buy just to get their full ammo reserves. Use the crafting bench to create Death Machines or other powerful scorestreaks to clear out particularly dense hordes quickly.
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Mental Fortitude: High-round gameplay can be repetitive. Stay focused, listen for audio cues for special enemies, and take breaks if needed. The ultimate Zombies round strategy is as much about your mindset as it is about your trigger finger.
By internalizing this phased approach, you transform from a panicked survivor into a calculated commander of the battlefield. You'll understand not just what to do in each round, but why you're doing it, creating a smooth and powerful progression from the first shambling corpse to the endless, shimmering hordes of the Dark Aether. Now, load in, soldier, and show them what you're made of.
