Black Ops 6 Zombies Season 3 update patch notes

The Season 3 update is huge for Black Ops 6 Zombies, with another brand-new map and an iconic Wonder Weapon reportedly making a comeback.

No matter which mode you play, the third season is set to be one of the biggest CoD updates in recent memory. Verdansk is returning to Warzone after nearly four years away, and a number of iconic weapons are being added across BR and Black Ops 6 multiplayer.

But don’t think that the devs have forgotten about Zombies, though, as they’re continuing the trend of dropping new maps with each new season. So, here’s a breakdown of everything in BO6 Zombies Season 3.

BO6 Zombies Season 3 start date

Black Ops 6 Season 3 was initially scheduled to launch on April 3, but Treyarch confirmed on the Call of Duty Podcast that the season will start early on April 2 at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET / 5 PM BST.

While the original launch was set for a fortnight prior, on March 20, Activision announced a rare delay in its seasonal roadmap. Admitting it’s a “big moment” for the franchise as a whole, devs are “taking the time” to polish a little more over the additional weeks.

Shattered Veil map

The Shattered Veil map arrives with Black Ops 6 Zombies Season 3. The crew is tasked with going to a mansion above Liberty Falls to meet with S.A.M. to discover more about the Sentinel Artifact and bring Agent Maxis back

Wunderwaffe DG-2 & Ray Gun Mark II

Activision

As always, a new map means a new Wonder Weapon and this seasonal update introduces two. The Wunderwaffe DG-2 is a powerful electric weapon that was first introduced on Shi-No-Numa back in World at War and has reappeared multiple times over the years.

The BO6 version of this weapon can strike down groups of enemies with lightning blasts that spread through multiple Zombies simultaneously.

Meanwhile, the Ray Gun Mark II first appeared in Black Ops 2 and is an evolution of the original Ray Gun. The BO6 iteration of this destructive gun is a three-round burst weapon and doubles as a melee weapon when Pack-a-Punched.

There are also three variants of the Ray Gun Mark II.

• Ray Gun Mark II-W: Offering similar bullet patterns to a submachine gun, this also has a random chance to ignite enemies.
• Ray Gun Mark II-P: Shooting ammunition like a shotgun, with a chance to spawn a sigil with the ability to grant invulnerability to the player standing on it for a limited time.
• Ray Gun Mark II-R: Dropping zombies with a Marksman Rifle-like discharge, expect a chance to spread a plague infection that can inflict area-of-effect damage.

Additional content

• Main Quest and Quest Rewards: The Main Quest for Shattered Veil goes live when the map releases with Season 03 on April 2. Complete the Main Quest to earn the “PhDeadly” Operator Skin for Carver (shown above), an animated Calling Card, and 5,000 XP. Players who complete the Main Quest before Directed Mode arrives for Shattered Veil will also earn a unique Calling Card variant.
• Microwave Trap: Burst zombies with microwaves for a mere 750 Essence. Get a horde of followers on your tail and then flip the switch.
• Dark Aether Field Generator: Dissolve zombies with Dark Aether energy in a static field that zaps anything that passes through. Circle the trap to entice enemies into the center of it.
• Lore and Intel: Dig deeper into the history of Colton Hall and other lore related to Shattered Veil with Intel in the form of Audio Logs, Documents, and Artifacts discovered throughout the map.

Full patch notes

Check out the full patch notes below, as shared in the Call of Duty blog:

Maps 

• Shattered Veil (NEW)
  • New map available in Season 03. Main Quest goes live at 9AM PT on April 2.
• Liberty Falls
  • Directed Mode
    • Addressed an issue that prevented the Round Cap from updating properly during the Liberty Falls Pack-a-Punch quest.
• The Tomb
  • Addressed an issue where rarely the monocle wouldn’t spawn at the Shock Mimic’s location when killed for the Wonder Weapon Quest.
  • Addressed an issue where zombies could damage Staff of Ice from behind the Plinth.
  • Addressed an issue where some zombies could appear jittery when attacking the Staff of Ice.
  • Addressed an issue that caused black smoke to come out of a playable character on death.
  • Addressed an issue where the Max Ammo after a special round would spawn far away from the player if they were in the Roma Mausoleum.
  • Addressed an issue where sections of the barrier denoting the Vermin Trial zone were not always present.

Modes 

• Team Cranked (Launch Window)
  • Rules
    • The Cranked Timer starts when the first enemy is eliminated. The timer is shared across the whole team and any kill from any team member fills it.
      • The timer starts at 30 seconds. Each enemy eliminated replenishes the timer to its current maximum, and every round survived causes the maximum timer to be reduced by 1 second.
        • Essence earned by eliminating zombies is increased compared to Standard/Directed Mode
        • The Time Stopper Field Upgrade replaces your loadout’s Field Upgrade.
        • Main Quests and Easter Eggs are enabled.
  • Abilities
    • Time Stopper: Temporarily pause the Cranked timer for all teammates. All Operators begin the match with the Time Stopper Field Upgrade equipped.
      • Time Extended: Grab this rare power-up to fill the Cranked timer and add a small amount to the maximum time allowed.
  • Rewards (Survive past Round 50)
    • A custom selection of six GobbleGums per map.
      • Each contains one high-rarity GobbleGum and five GobbleGums of other rarities.
        • 15,000 XP per map, for a total of 75,000 XP across all maps.

Wonder Weapons

• Ray Gun Mark II (and Variants)
  • Drop multiple zombies at once with the upgraded and modestly unstable Ray Gun Mark II. Recovered from the Dark Aether by Project Janus, this powerful laser armament delivers three-round bursts of energy, can be Pack-a-Punched, and doubles as a bludgeoning instrument if you’re running low on ammunition. 
  • Then there’s the three new variants.
    • Provided you’ve [[REDACTED]], you can experiment with an additional three variants of the Ray Gun Mark II:
      • Ray Gun Mark II-W: Offering similar bullet patterns to a submachine gun, this also has a random chance to ignite enemies.
      • Ray Gun Mark II-P: Shooting ammunition like a shotgun, with a chance to spawn a sigil with the ability to grant invulnerability to the player standing on it for a limited time.
      • Ray Gun Mark II-R: Dropping zombies with a Marksman Rifle-like discharge, expect a chance to spread a plague infection that can inflict area-of-effect damage. 
• Wunderwaffe DG-2
  • Capable of striking down hordes with chain-lightning blasts, this has the bonus effect of stunning crowds of zombies, usually resulting in additional, and eventually terminal damage. 
• Ray Gun
  • Addressed an issue where the Ray Gun would not automatically reload when emptying magazine ammo.

Perk-A-Colas 

• Double Tap (New)
  • The classic rapid-fire Perk returns for the first time in nearly a decade, dramatically increasing your weapon’s fire rate to chew through enemy hordes in record time. Research the iconic Perk for powerful enhancements like an even faster fire rate and the chance to inflict double damage.
  • Double Tap is available in Shattered Veil along with the other previously accessible Zombies Perks. Note that some of these Perk-a-Colas are only available via the Der Wunderfizz machine.
  • Double Tap is available on The Tomb, Citadelle des Morts, Liberty Falls and Terminus maps via the Der Wunderfizz machine.
• Double Tap Augments
  • Major
    • Double Jeopardy
      • Normal zombies at low health have a chance to die immediately when shot.
    • Double Impact
      • Double hits on the same target in quick succession deal more damage.
    • Double Standard
      • All non-critical shots do double damage. Only applies to normal bullet weapons.
  • Minor
    • Double Time
      • Increases fire rate bonus.
    • Double or Nothing
      • Weapons have a chance to do double damage but also have a chance to do zero damage.
    • Double Play
      • Killing two enemies in quick succession has a chance to return two rounds to your magazine. Only applies to normal bullet weapons.

Ammo Mods 

• Light Mend
  • Dual Action
    • Addressed an issue where consuming a healing glyph would not temporarily allow the player to heal faster.
  • Antibiotic
    • Addressed an issue where healing glyphs would not damage enemies that touch it.

Field Upgrades 

• Tesla Storm
  • Overclocked
    • Addressed an issue where activating Tesla Storm would not increase the player’s movement speed.
  • Lithium Charged
    • Addressed an issue where the extended duration would apply to all players activating Tesla Storm if at least one player had it equipped.

GobbleGums  

• Addressed an issue where players weren’t able to use their GobbleGums in their pack after entering a Prestige. 

Power-Ups  

• Max Ammo
  • Addressed an issue that prevented the Max Ammo powerup from refilling ammo for players that are using a Mutant Injection.

Enemies 

• Mangler
  • Addressed an issue where Manglers could attack the player with their cannon from outside playable space.

Challenges 

• GS45 Military Camos
  • Changed requirement to Eliminations instead of Critical kills due to these weapons becoming explosive after being Pack-a-Punched.
• LR 7.62 Military Camos
  • Changed requirement to Eliminations instead of Critical kills due to these weapons becoming explosive after being Pack-a-Punched.
• Titan Felling (Get Elite Kills with Shotguns)
  • Now allows Special Zombie kills to progress the challenge.
• Perfectly Charred (Kill Special Zombies with Molotovs)
  • Now allows Thermobaric Grenades to progress the challenge.
• Stalking Prey (While inside smoke from a Smoke Grenade, kill Zombies with Melee Weapons)
  • Removed melee weapon requirement so all weapons can progress the challenge.

UI 

• Addressed an issue where the earned reward was missing from the notification after completing a Main Quest.
• Addressed an issue where the vote prompt could stay on screen after taking a fast travel.
• Addressed an issue where the Deadliest Weapon was incorrect in the After Action Report.
• Addressed an issue where reward notifications would overlap with the Round Cap callout in Directed Mode.
• Addressed an issue where the equipped Ammo Mod was hidden behind your Support when using akimbo weapons.
• Addressed an issue where Blueprint icons would be misaligned when viewing ground loot.
• Addressed an issue where players are able to interact with certain machines while spectating.
• Addressed an issue where the Calling Card awarded for completing a Main Quest would not be shown in the After Action Report.
• Addressed an issue where Mutant Injection HUD was displayed during a cutscene.
• Addressed an issue where a ping on the Mystery Box would stay after it changes location.
• Corrected some typos.

Graphics 

• Addressed an issue when using the Time Out GobbleGum while a white flash occurs could leave the screen white.
• Addressed an issue with visuals during the Gold Armor Side Quest on The Tomb.
• Addressed an issue where the Ray Gun would be misaligned with players hand when in 3rd-person prone supine.
• Addressed an issue where the Pack-a-Punch camo for the “Donatello’s Bo Staff” Blueprint would not cover the entire weapon.
• Addressed an issue that caused the “Fire Eater” Beamsmasher Blueprint to not be visible at short distances.
• Addressed an issue where some white flashes could be seen during the Terminus Boat Race Side Quest.

Audio 

• Addressed an issue where no sound effects played when interacting with the bottom row of keys on the Keypad in Terminus.

Stability 

• Addressed various stability issues.

We will learn more about Zombies when the official patch notes drop. In the meantime, check out the best weapons for BO6 Zombies, as well as how to complete the Liberty Falls and Terminus Easter eggs.