How to survive in Outbreak Survival in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies

Outbreak Survival is a brand new limited-time mode in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies that takes the traditional Outbreak experience and turns the difficulty up a couple of notches. From the beginning of your game, there is no map, no health bars, no health regeneration, and you start each game with a 1911 pistol. If you are having trouble with the new mode, here are some tips for living a little longer.

Scavenge everything

You are going to want to play this version of Outbreak much slower than you might normally. Starting out with a 1911 is not ideal for rounds going forward, so be sure to look around for chests and weapon drops. We recommend avoiding spending your points on wall buy weapons to instead spend them on perks and Pack-a-Punch. For every person playing, there is a chance for a Self Revive to drop, so keep your eye out. Armor is also a necessity to keep an eye out for. To keep things simple, check as many buildings as possible for chests and look out for drops from killed enemies.

Play with friends and work together

While you can play Outbreak Survival solo, we recommend playing with people you can talk with, particularly friends you are good at working with. Randoms tend to run off on their own, and then if anyone goes down, the whole game goes downhill, especially if they start the main objective when you are not ready. Work together and take out the side objectives to get some better gear. Also, don’t forget your Field Upgrades. We recommend Frenzied Guard or Healing Aura to draw attention away from others or heal your team when needed.

Prioritize health

While we traditionally would recommend upgrading your weapon first, in Outbreak Survival, you should prioritize your health. By the end of the first round, you should have at least level one armor and looking to go to level two. Also, be sure to buy Juggernog and always have at least one Stim Shot on you; it can save your life in a pinch. Quick Revive can’t give you its usual boost to health regeneration, but it can come in handy for helping up teammates. After you have those essentials, then look at Pack-a-Punching and upgrading your weapon’s damage tier.

Most importantly, though, don’t forget that there is no health regeneration in this mode. We have seen many players overlook this fact and rely on health that just isn’t there. Grab food when you are missing any health to recover. Food is dropped plentifully from enemies and chests, so don’t avoid using it.

Upgrade Melee to level five

Finally, if you have the Aetherium Crystals saved up, upgrading the Melee Weapon Class in Skills to level five will be a huge help. Not only will your melee be a bowie knife, but knifing enemies will give you some health. This will make melee attacks your most powerful weapon in the early rounds, especially if you run low on ammo.