Citadelle des Morts main quest Easter Egg walkthrough

Citadelle des Morts, introduced in Black Ops 6 Zombies with Season 1 Reloaded, features a new main quest Easter Egg that continues the storyline. Completing it is no easy task and can be time-consuming. It's not just one task that you need to get done. This main quest is made up of multiple mini-missions that lead up to the final boss fight, which is no walk in the park either.

Also known as The Guardian, the final boss is a heavy hitter. It's a massive statue that wields a hammer. Even one hit from his hammer can be lethal. Hence, if your strategy to defeat this beast is to use only firepower, you would be wrong. It takes a lot of teamwork to take down this behemoth and hence, it's highly recommended to start this quest with a full squad.

Now that you have a brief idea of how the quest will progress, let us take a closer look at the main Easter Egg in the Black Ops 6 Zombies Citadelle des Morts map.

How to complete the Black Ops 6 Zombies Citadelle des Morts main story Easter Egg

To start the Black Ops 6 Zombies Citadelle des Morts main story Easter Egg, you must first activate the Pack-a-Punch machine. This is pretty straightforward as the game's markers guide you to it. Start by opening the castle door. To do so, just fire the cannon and head inside, following the markers.

Eventually, you'll encounter a locked box. Shoot the locks to open it, releasing a Doppleghast. Eliminate this enemy, and it will drop a Blood Aetherium Crystal. Collect the crystal and insert it into the box, where a glowing red portal will appear.

The box will then transform into the Pack-a-Punch machine. From this point onward, there will be no markers, so follow this guide to complete the Easter Egg in Black Ops 6 Zombies Citadelle des Morts:

Talk to Kraft to get the Quick Revive Perk

Have a conversation with Kraft (Image via Activision)

After activating the Pack-a-Punch machine, open your Tac Map and locate the Quick Revive Perk-a-Cola machine. Head toward it, and behind it, you’ll find a closed door. Interact with it to open a small prison hatch and begin a conversation with Kraft.

Unlock the Bastard Swords using Stamp

From Kraft's location, open the locked door leading upstairs to the dining hall. Here, you’ll find four Knight statues, each holding a Bastard Sword. However, the swords can only be collected from round 10, when a unique bucket-headed zombie spawns. Eliminate this zombie to obtain a Stamp, and use it to interact with a Knight statue and unlock its Bastard Sword.

Stamp needed to unlock the Bastard Swords (Image via Activision)

It’s recommended to unlock all the swords first before completing their elemental upgrades. Since you can only carry one sword at a time, choose wisely which one to enhance first. These four swords are:

Lion of Light
Raven’s Shadow
Stag of the Storms
Dragon’s Fire

Also read: How to get Lion of Light Sword in Black Ops 6 Zombies Citadelle des Morts

How to Upgrade all Wonder Weapon Swords

Now that you have all the swords at your disposal, it's time to upgrade. Each one has a different upgrade path and this can make things a little complicated. But fret not as we have mentioned all the steps that you'll need to follow to upgrade all the Swords. For your convenience, these have been divided into four sections below:

How to Upgrade the Lion of Light Sword in Black Ops 6 Zombies

Pick up the Lion Sword, and glowing yellow parasites will spawn.
Kill a parasite to charge the sword, then head to the G5 map coordinates. Under the overpass, you’ll find a door with a lion emblem and glowing yellow eyes.
Hit the door with the glowing sword, revealing a symbol. Repeat this three more times, killing a parasite and charging the sword each time.
Once all four symbols appear, the door will open. Place the sword inside the pedestal inside.
Complete a puzzle by shooting flying symbols in the correct order displayed on the pedestal.
Successfully solving the puzzle will transform the Lion Sword into its Light Elemental form.

How to Upgrade the Raven’s Shadow Sword in Black Ops 6 Zombies

Pick up the base Raven Sword, and behind the statue, find a chamber containing an artifact (e.g., a raven skull, horns, or a few others).
Take the artifact to the bar in the area where you spawned and look for an underground rune circle.
Place the artifact in the circle, and match two astrology symbols to upgrade the sword.

How to Upgrade the Stag of the Storm Sword in Black Ops 6 Zombies

Collect three Lightning Iron Rods: First Rod: Equip a weapon with the Dead Wire ammo mod and shoot an electric box near the G5 map coordinate antenna. Second Rod: Found near the Deadshot Daiquiri Perk-a-Cola machine. Third Rod: Dropped randomly by zombies.
Take the rods to the top of the castle near the Elemental Pop Perk-a-Cola machine and place them in a cauldron.
Kill zombies in the area until the sword becomes electrified. Strike the cauldron with the electrified sword, repeating the process three times.
Place the sword inside the cauldron to transform it into its elemental form.

How to Upgrade the Dragon’s Fire Sword in Black Ops 6 Zombies

Collect the base Dragon Sword and head to the Entrance Hall. On the upper platform, find a dragon statue and place the sword there.
Locate and collect fire from three cauldrons: Near the cannon area, to the left of the spawn area, and lastly near the spawn area itself.
Use the Stamin-Up Perk-a-Cola to move quickly between the cauldrons and the dragon statue.
After transferring fire from all three cauldrons, the sword will transform into its Fire Elemental form.

Collecting the ritual items in Black Ops 6 Zombies Citadelle des Morts

After upgrading all the swords, you need to collect four ritual items:

Collect all these ritual items (Image via Activision)

Pegasus Horseshoe
Ra's Ankh
Paladin's Brooch
Raven's Talon

Once they've been collected, these items must be charged to spawn four golden chests.

Also read: All POIs in Citadelle des Morts in Black Ops 6 Zombies

Pegasus Horseshoe

First, collect Otto’s Horseshoe, found in a stable near the Deadshot Daiquiri Perk-a-Cola machine. Look above the entrance to spot the Horseshoe. Shoot it down to collect it.
Head to the cannon and interact with it, and it will shoot you across the map. Once you land, look for an electric storm cloud in the sky.
Find the Pegasus Horseshoe beneath the cloud, then go to the spawn area to find a yellow glowing symbol on the ground.
Place the Pegasus Horseshoe there, kill nearby zombies to charge the item, and a golden chest will appear.

Ra's Ankh

To obtain the Ra's Ankh, you must ignite three wooden piles. To find them, go near the cannon to spot all three: opposite the cannon, above the castle; on the left side, near a tower; and on the right side, above a house on the rooftop.
Ignite the piles using Molotovs, thermite grenades, or the Fire Sword's special ability. This will spawn a Doppleghast, which drops the Ra's Ankh.
Go to the castle entrance near the Arsenal Machine and find a glowing symbol on the ground.
Place the Ra's Ankh there, kill nearby zombies to charge the item, and a golden chest will appear.

Paladin's Brooch

Go to the Dining Room where the four Knight statues are located. Above it, you'll find a glowing symbol.
Shoot it, and a ray of light will appear. Continue firing at the symbol with single shots until it turns into a laser.
Follow the ray and shoot connected lights until it reaches a statue, which will spawn the Paladin's Brooch.
Return to the Dining Room, where another glowing symbol will appear on the ground.
Place the item, kill zombies nearby to charge it, and a third golden chest will appear.

Raven's Talon

In the room with the Pack-a-Punch machine, find a Cave Slide. Interact with it to slide through the cave, where you'll encounter a raven. Shoot the raven to scare it.
Upon reaching the ground, the raven will be flying away. Shoot it down to collect the Raven's Talon.
Head to the Undercroft area, where you’ll find a glowing symbol on the ground.
Place the Raven's Talon there, kill nearby zombies to charge it, and the fourth golden chest will spawn.

Complete the Undercroft Wall Puzzle in Black Ops 6 Zombies Citadelle des Morts

Puzzle revealed after breaking the wall (Image via Activision | YouTube/NoahJ456)

After activating all four golden chests, you need to decode a code. In the Undercroft area, go to the southern part of the chamber to find a loose wall with exposed bricks.
To break the wall, you must have the Melee Macchiato perk activated. Melee the wall to reveal engraved symbols.
Next, go to the Tavern area near the spawn, where you’ll find six black vases. Interact with them to reveal a Roman numeral and a symbol beneath each vase.
Write down or take photos of the symbols and their Roman numerals.
Once you have all six vases and their symbols, return to the broken wall in the Undercroft.
Shoot the symbols in the order of the Roman numerals to open the area near the wall, where you'll find a book with missing pages.

Find and collect the missing pages in Black Ops 6 Zombies Citadelle des Morts

All the missing pages found (Image via Activision | YouTube/NoahJ456)

Head to the Sitting Room, which you can access by entering the castle through the main entrance and taking the stairs on the left.
Once inside, search thoroughly for the missing pages. They will be easily identifiable by a glowing red symbol.
After collecting all four pages, go to the Undercroft and place them in the book.

Activating the traps in Black Ops 6 Zombies Citadelle des Morts

Following the symbol order — top left, bottom left, top right, and bottom right — activate the corresponding traps.
You can find the traps on your Tac Map. Approach each trap and check the symbol. If it matches one of the pages, activate the trap. After killing enough zombies, the trap will deactivate automatically.
Return to the book to ensure you’ve activated the correct trap. When the symbol on the page disappears, you’ve done it correctly. Continue this process for all symbols in the proper order.

Opening the secret door in Black Ops 6 Zombies Citadelle des Morts

Elemental symbols engraved on the wall (Image via Activision | YouTube/NoahJ456)

Once the traps are activated correctly, go to the stairway near the Stamin-Up Perk-a-Cola machine. As you descend, you’ll see new symbols on the wall corresponding to the Sword’s elements. To unlock the secret door, follow the order of the elements on the wall.

Equip the corresponding Elemental Sword based on the first symbol on the wall. Then, proceed to the previously activated golden chests associated with the Sword’s elements:

Pegasus Horseshoe - Electric/Storm Sword
Ra’s Ankh - Fire Sword
Paladin's Brooch - Light Sword
Raven's Talon - Shadow Sword

At each golden chest, hit it with the correct Elemental Sword to release an Incantation. Collect the Incantation and head to the corresponding Knight statue. Melee the statue and inspect the sword in front of it. If done correctly, the statue will salute and glow. Repeat this for all four Sword Elements.

Once all the statues are glowing, you will be presented with the Mystic Orb.

Elemental challenges

Collecting the Mystic Orb (Image via Activision | YouTube/NoahJ456)

Place the Mystic Orb in the designated area near the previously activated golden chests.

You can place the orb in any order, but the quickest path is as follows:

Dining Area: Place the Mystic Orb on the upper platform, opposite the Vulture Aid Perk-a-Cola machine. After placing it, large green orbs will spawn. Stand inside a green orb until it disappears, then repeat the process for all the orbs in the area. Once the Mystic Orb is charged, collect it and proceed to the next location.
Castle Entrance (near the Arsenal machine): Place the orb and equip the Fire Sword. Kill zombies to charge the orb, then collect it.
Spawn Area (near the previously opened Golden Chest): Place the orb and equip the Electric/Storm Sword. Charge its special ability and kill zombies, then collect the orb.
Undercroft Area (near the previously opened Golden Chest): Place the orb and equip the Shadow Sword. Charge its special ability and kill zombies, then collect the orb.

After completing all the elemental challenges, the orb will contain all elemental abilities. Head to the stairway near the Stamin-Up machine, where the elemental symbols were engraved. Place the orb there to open the secret door.

Spawn the Boss

Inside the secret room, you’ll find the Guardian Key. Collect and return with it to the spawn area.

Place the Guardian Key at the foot of the giant statue and interact with it to teleport to the boss fight. This battle occurs in three phases. Defeat the enemy to complete the main Easter Egg in Black Ops 6 Zombies Citadelle des Morts.

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Edited by Ashmita Bhatt

Citadelle des Morts main quest Easter Egg walkthrough - Black Ops 6 Zombies guide