Mob of the Dead — Black Ops 2 Zombies Easter Egg Guide

In this guide: full main-quest walkthrough, map layout, recommended loadout, side Easter eggs & songs, boss strategy · Hard, ~45–75 min.

Open the interactive guide →
Black Ops 2 · 2012

Mob of the Dead

Alcatraz, 1930s. Four mobsters trapped in a death loop. Complete the cycle... or break it. Weasel is the key — one player must be him for the ending.

Released 16 Apr 2013 Pop Goes the Weasel2+ (one is Weasel)Two endings
HardEst. time45–75 minPlayers1–4 (solo-capable)Updated15 Jul 2026

Map & Key areas

The map layout first, then the areas worth knowing by name. Map imagery © Activision, self-hosted.

Mob of the Dead — Layout 1
Layout 1
Mob of the Dead — Layout 2
Layout 2

Steps at a glance

  1. Prep — Hell's Retriever (feed the 3 hellhounds), build the plane
  2. Collect the 5 blue skulls → free Blundergat
  3. Get the Golden Spork
  4. Fly the plane to the bridge ×3 (upgrade the Acid Gat + PaP en route)
  5. Enter the prisoner numbers
  6. Collect the audio tags
  7. Final flight — kill Weasel, or Weasel kills the mob
Solo can do every step except the ending. Breaking the cycle (Weasel wins) is the canon ending. The plane, skulls and spork are things you'll grab most games anyway.

Full walkthrough

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1
Setup

Retriever, Warden's Key & the plane

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Master Afterlife (enter from red boxes to shock panels and meters). The Warden's Key hangs in one of two spots — outside the Warden's Office by the Citadel entrance, or above the Showers by the Cafeteria — with its Afterlife portal directly above it; lower it by Afterlife-shocking the generator above it to unlock the five plane-part cages. Feed all three Cerberus heads (~6 close kills each) to earn Hell's Retriever from the Citadel Tunnels alcove, then gather the five Icarus parts and install them on the rooftop frame. Each player can carry only one part at a time.

  • Uniform — Showers laundry: shock the machine, then survive the lock-in that seals the Showers until the wash finishes
  • Rigging/rope — Citadel Tunnels (Warden's Key, read 3 Afterlife digits, shock the number pad)
  • Engine — Warden's Office rear room (Warden's Key)
  • Oxygen tanks — Docks cage: a two-player gate dance — shock the panel, grab the part, shock again to get back out
  • Control valve — Infirmary display case by the roof dog (Warden's Key)
2
Afterlife spots

Blundergat (5 skulls)

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Collect the 5 blue skulls — they are only visible in Afterlife, but you must hit each with the Hell's Retriever while alive. Scout a skull in Afterlife and note its spot, revive, then throw the Retriever through it (don't waste Afterlives trying to throw from spirit form). All five → free Blundergat from the Warden's Office desk.

  • Roof — far-left edge/corner behind the plane
  • Docks — the third wooden pier pillar
  • Jugger-Nog — the lamp/post by the machine
  • Outside Warden's Office — the power-line/lamp post
  • Cell Block / Library — inside the toilet in the open cell
3
Personal quest

Golden Spork

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A personal multi-step quest (needs Hell's Retriever + an Acid Gat): Retriever the blue-green movie poster in the cell row by Warden's Office to open an Afterlife portal, shock the hidden spoon through the revealed wall, then Retriever the Silver Spoon through the Cafeteria window. Drop it in the Infirmary blood bathtub, get ~50-70 Acid Gat kills in the Showers, and return to the tub to claim the Golden Spork (a one-hit melee into the low 30s).

4
Golden Gate Bridge

Three bridge trips

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Fly the plane to the bridge and return via the electric chairs — three times total. Build the Acid Gat (Kit + Blundergat) and Pack-a-Punch at the bridge along the way. One round after each return, five fuel cans replace the plane parts at their pickup spots — carry them to the roof to refly.

5
Citadel Tunnels

Prisoner numbers

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At the Citadel number pad (bottom of the spiral): once your three bridge round-trips are done the pad's numbers cycle continuously — if they're not cycling yet, fly more trips first. Enter Afterlife and shock the four codes in order — 101, 872, 386, 481 — accepting each before the next. You do not have to enter all four in one Afterlife (that's nearly impossible); re-enter Afterlife between codes. The screen turns black-and-white and the prison audio changes.

6
Infirmary / Cell Blocks

Audio tags

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Collect the ~5 glowing headphone audio tags that appear along the path up to the roof.

7
Bridge (finale)

Final flight

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Everyone enters Afterlife and interacts with the plane to board — this final flight needs no fuel. At the bridge, revive at the electric chairs. Kill markers appear: the mob must kill Weasel (cycle continues) or Weasel kills the mob (cycle broken — canon). Either ends the game with the achievement.

Side Easter Eggs & extras

Everything beyond the main quest. Tap any entry to open the full how-and-where breakdown.

Song

“Rusty Cage”

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Johnny Cash (Soundgarden cover). Hold interact on the 3 whiskey bottles: the Library bookshelf by the Olympia, behind a Docks crate at the far fence, and on an Infirmary desk across from the blood tubs. Once per match.

Song

“Where Are We Going?”

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Malukah. Enter Afterlife at the Citadel number pad and shock the digits 9-3-5 (do it separately from the four main-quest codes).

  1. Input 935 on the Warden's Office number pad to play 'Where Are We Going?' by Malukah
  2. Bonus 'Rusty Cage' (Johnny Cash) — hold Use on 3 whiskey bottles: Library (shelf by the Olympia), Infirmary (desk near the roof, across from the blood baths), Docks (under a crate at the far-left gate)
  3. Bonus 'Samantha's Lullaby' — at match start, stand still and let the Afterlife timer run out without reviving
Free weapon

Hell's Redeemer

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On round 10+, survive a full round on the Golden Gate Bridge using only Hell's Retriever (30+ kills, no guns fired), return to Alcatraz, and throw the Retriever into the lava pit by the first Cell Block dog painting (B23R area). Finish that round, then collect the upgraded Hell's Redeemer in Afterlife from the Citadel Tunnels alcove.

  1. Earn the Hell's Retriever first (feed all three Cerberus heads)
  2. Get a round's worth of kills using only the Retriever
  3. Fly to the Golden Gate Bridge and throw the Retriever into the fiery pit — leave it there
  4. Return to Alcatraz; next round, collect the Hell's Redeemer at the Cerberus head — faster, stronger, longer range
Buildable

Zombie Shield (Mob of the Dead)

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Three parts (grate, clamp, dolly) around the Citadel-to-Docks lower complex, built at the Docks workbench — wear it through the narrow prison corridors.

  1. Part 1 — a grate/vent cover, in the lower Citadel-to-Docks complex
  2. Part 2 — a clamp, in the same lower area
  3. Part 3 — a dolly, nearby
  4. Build all three at the Docks workbench — wear it through the narrow prison corridors; rebuild when it breaks
Free weapon

Acid Gat & Vitriolic Withering

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Build the Acid Gat Kit (motor, metal case, acid bottle across the Warden / Cell Block / Infirmary regions) and insert a Blundergat for the Acid Gat; Pack-a-Punch it at the bridge into the Vitriolic Withering — the safest tool for charging the Golden Spork.

Mechanic

Afterlife & the gondola

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There's no Quick Revive machine — you self-revive in Afterlife, and Afterlife (from red boxes) is how you shock perk voltmeters, hidden numbers/symbols and the roof panel. Power the gondola meter in Afterlife to ride between the upper prison and the Docks.

  1. Enter Afterlife by going down — you become a ghost and revive yourself rather than bleeding out — or voluntarily from one of the red Afterlife boxes, which costs no perks and does not count as a down
  2. You get up to 3 Afterlives solo (1 per player in co-op), each ~1 minute
  3. As a ghost, use the electric shock on Afterlife panels and generators to power machines, open sealed doors and lower plane parts
  4. You can pass through certain Afterlife-only routes and shock zombies to clear space
  5. Return to your body before the timer ends to revive yourself (a ghost can also shock a downed teammate)
Side quest

Brutus

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The Warden boss spawns from breaking key barriers — he locks the box, perks and workbenches until paid off (2,000) or killed; focus his helmet to speed the kill.

  1. Brutus (the Warden) first spawns after rounds 5 and 7 among the zombies, then randomly — and if you overuse the Mystery Box or go on the bridge
  2. He disables perk machines, the box, workbenches and traps he reaches
  3. Knock off his heavy helmet to take him down much faster — the Hell's Retriever tomahawk removes it quickly
  4. Focus the exposed head once the helmet is off; he drops a power-up on death
  5. Kite him like a normal zombie and keep him away from utilities you want to protect

Visual guides & sources

Screenshots and exact part locations live in these — open one on a second screen.

Part of the Zombies Easter Egg Codex — step-by-step Call of Duty Zombies Easter egg guides for every map. Open Mob of the Dead in the interactive codex for the solvers and map discussion.