Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Round Based Zombies Map Guide — Citadelle des Morts

After the events of Terminus, Weaver, Maya, Carver, and Grey — along with Peck, Raptor One, and Strauss — embark on and expedition to the European principality of Avalon, hoping to rescue a luminary named Gabriel Krafft, who is being interrogated by the French Syndicate. There, they hope to learn more about an ancient relic known as the “Sentinel Artifact,” which in turn, when its power is harnessed may be able to save Samantha Maxis from her aethereal imprisonment.

Welcome to Citadelle des Morts.

What is in this Guide?

This Citadelle des Morts guide will give you a general walkthrough for the first 10 rounds of Zombies on Citadelle. If you’re having trouble getting further than the first 10 rounds, or you’re simply looking for a good flow to get you started, this will set you on the right path. The rest is left for you to experiment and explore.

This Call of Duty®: Black Ops 6 Zombies map is built in a way that leaves you with a lot of room to explore but stay vigilant as you get further into the castle because the hallways get narrow and it’s easy to get yourself into a tight situation. Utilize the many traps and obstacles to evade the hordes of zombies and keep moving.

Welcome to the Town Square, where you and your squad can get so much done and power up your arsenal without moving too far from the initial spawn point. In the Town Square there includes all the basics; Ammo Cache, Crafting Table, GobbleGum Machine, and Pistol Wall Buy. However, in a very important way there are also some key powerups available here. The Arsenal, Der Wunderfizz Perk Machine (only available immediately in Directed Mode, and at Round 25 in Standard), as well as a Level II Armor Vest are all available for purchase right here at the start of the map.

It’s incredibly easy to lose track of time in the Town Square due to all of the goodies available. Just remember that the goal is to get to your first level Pack-a-Punch before you finish Round 10. Obviously, this is not required, but your survivability will be much higher if you follow this pace. So, choose a path and unlock the door. Remember to look up in the sky for the large blue beam which will indicate which direction the Mystery Box is located.

Nature Path (Western Path)

Once you’ve made it through the door, it’s time to start trekking uphill. During these early rounds, you may not want to spend any of the little Essence you have. If you look carefully, you’ll see a red circle with some particular markings on the ground. This is a Point of Power Trap, but it can only be activated after you’ve activated the Pack-a-Punch machine. So, note it, and come back to it in a later round.  Your main goal is to get through the next door, however there is a lot of room on the Hilltop that allows you to let zombies chase you around for a bit while you power up your weapons or spend some Essence on the Mystery Box, if it’s available in this location.

Courtyard

Hillside Ramparts

Now that you’ve opened up the Hillside Ramparts, it’s time to start being a little strategic about how you progress rounds. Remember to carry some equipment that can help slow down the zombies so that you can progress a little easier. In the middle of the Ramparts, there is a cannon that you’ll need to rotate a full 180 degrees, and unless you have some great damage mitigation, doing this rotation objective alone will be extremely dangerous. If you need to, use a Decoy or Concussion to give yourself a bit of time to rotate the cannon.

Now that you have access to the castle, you can use the Entrance Hall as a central staging area before making your next move and using it as a retreat point once you get to the next location. From the Entrance Hall, you’re left to your second decision in which direction you’d like to go. They both lead to the Pack-a-Punch machine; however, you may wish to utilize different parts of the map before you get there.

Traveling the west path toward the Sitting Rooms will lead you to a Stamin-Up Perk Machine and a Shotgun Wall Buy. In these close-quarters areas, a Shotgun could come in handy. The western path will also lead you to an LMG Wall Buy before reaching the final destination of this guide. So, if these are weapons that strike your fancy, consider moving west.

There’s way more to do here in Citadelle des Morts. The best way to learn the map and continue the story is to play Directed Mode, whether you’re not sure how to progress, or just want to learn the map without the added pressure of pacing the rounds too far before things get too difficult.

Obtaining the Wonder Weapon

In the Citadelle, there’s not a more appropriate Wonder Weapon than a Bastard Sword: something you can slot right into your Dedicated Melee Weapon slot without needing to replace one of your Primary or Secondary Weapons. To obtain a Bastard Sword, you’ll need to collect a puzzle piece that will drop from a random enemy after you’ve revealed the Pack-a-Punch machine. Once you’ve collected the puzzle piece from the ground, you’ll need to take it to one of the statues within the Entrance Hall. If you place the puzzle piece onto the statue closest to the southwestern corner of the room, you’ll obtain the sword imbued with fire. However, you’ll need to imbue it with Aether fire.

First, make your way back to the Entrance Hall and locate the dragon statue at the top of the center stairs. Here, you will place your new Bastard Sword into the statue pedestal. Next, there are three Aether-infused braziers located outside of the castle: one on the Ramparts, one at the entrance to the Nature Path, and the final one in the Town Square. Either you or your squad will need to interact with them and bring the Aether fire back to the dragon statue one at a time.

Once you’ve taken the fire from each of the braziers, it will begin to cause some damage to your Operator. Be swift and bring that fire back to the statue as fast as possible while punching a zombie or two on the way back. You’ll be slowly taking damage once you’ve obtained the fire, however each melee kill while you are imbued with this power will heal you slightly. You’ll need to gain some health back if you’re going to survive the journey back for at least one of the longer pathways. After you’ve collected all three Aether fires from the braziers at the dragon statue, your new fire-powered sword, Caliburn, will be ready to slay the zombie hordes.

Overall Tactics

Height Advantage

The castle Ramparts are the tallest structure on Citadelle des Morts. Using the height advantage to either lure zombies around and around while you or your squad thinks about what to do next is extremely valuable. The Ramparts also have traps that drop hot oil over the doors that lead into the Courtyard. Using these traps to get out of danger is a great strategy to stay alive in some dire situations.

Powering up in any Zombies map is one of—if not the—most important things you can do to survive. Regardless of how you want to progress in the story, continually powering up is the key. Whether it’s a Pack-a-Punch level or upgrading the rarity of your weapons, increasing power in one area will allow you to look for your next move with more ease.

Get into the keep with the best intentions that you can. Just remember to watch your back and don’t get trapped in a corner.