As the Ultimis and Primis crews share a drink around the bonfire in the Frozen Forest, the Victis Crew – Samuel J. Stuhlinger, Marlton Johnson, Abigail “Misty” Briarton, and Russman – are released from their cryochamber pods.

Stuhlinger once again hears the voice of a German doctor warning him of a “Dr. Minty,” and as a zombie horde draws near, he and the gang are transported to a lighthouse on a remote icy outpost.

Welcome to “Tag der Toten”, the latest Zombies experience released during Operation Dark Divide for Black Ops Pass members and the final Zombies experience of the Aether story.

“Tag Der Toten” is set at a Group 935 facility in the Siberian wasteland. Where a familiar lighthouse home to a mysterious hermit is only the beginning of this map’s secrets.

Although we don’t want to pull the curtain off this epic ending to the Aether story for you, we do have a few tips to help you tackle “Tag der Toten” and get started on one last Easter Egg hunt for the fate of the universe:

Power On!... Sort of

Upon spawning in on part of an iceberg, you will see a power generator sitting alone on a dock. Turning it on is as simple as flipping the generator’s switch.

It may be wise to hop across the icy lake or go around it to reach the dock, as the lake itself is well below freezing. Stepping into the water will cause your character to start freezing up, which will slow down movement speed and cause the screen to grow ice crystals.

Once the generator is flipped on, the extent of its power might become clear; does it bring electricity to the entire map? Or just to the lighthouse? That’s for you to discover as you continue to explore the Group 935 outpost and its surroundings.

Getting to the Lighthouse

From the starting area, there are a few routes through the icy caverns that will take you to the Lighthouse, where you might begin to hear the ramblings of the mysterious hermit.

Spend 500 Points to open one of three barriers that lead to: the Boathouse, a Frozen Crevasse, and an Ice Grotto. Depending on your path, you will find a Perk Machine en route to the Lighthouse, where a single 750 point door separates you from the Lighthouse’s first level.

Once at the Lighthouse, keep earning points until you can reach the fourth floor, where you will meet a mysterious hermit who can only be seen by his shadow…

Snowball Fight!

On a cold winter’s day, a snowball fight can be fun, but on “Tag der Toten”, where it’s well below zero, snowballs can be deadly.

Located around the map, such as on an island in the Frozen Crevasse or on the ground near the starting area, these snowballs replace your equipment, which means throwing one is done with the same button command as throwing a grenade.

When you pick up a cluster of snowballs, you will have six snowballs at your disposal. After they have been used, your loadout equipment inventory, like a grenade, will be available again to use like normal.

Although a snowball has next to no splash damage, it will single-handedly destroy a zombie during the early rounds. In later rounds, snowballs could freeze the undead in their tracks which may be helpful when trying to escape from a train of zombies.

Beware of Dynamite Zombies and Hellhounds

While trekking through the snow, ice, and nearly frozen pools of water, you may come across Dynamite zombies.

These nasty creatures burn bright with flames and explode whenever they get close to a warm-bodied zombie hunter, dealing sizable damage to both the living and the dead. Use your best judgement when facing these unstable threats; dispatch them from a distance to prevent being caught within their blast radius.

Furthermore, every few rounds, a familiar pack of fiends will come to gnaw at your flesh: The hellhounds are back with a vengeance and are as deadly as you remember them.

Hostile and agile, these four-legged foes will appear suddenly and rush towards you with reckless abandon. Aim down and put them to rest as quickly as possible, lest they overwhelm you like a pack of hounds.

Upon slaying the last hellhound, a Max Ammo power-up will spawn. While a dozen vicious undead creatures shouldn’t be considered a gift, that power-up should be rather helpful to those looking to survive on this outpost, especially if ammunition for those weapons costs a pretty penny.

Five Other Quick Tips for Surviving Tag der Toten

Outside of those map-specific strategies for the beginning of the “Tag der Toten” experience, here are a few other things to keep in mind beyond the first few rounds:

1. Life begins at the loadout – Before readying up for “Tag der Toten”, be sure to adjust those perks, elixirs, talisman, starting weapon, Special Weapon, and equipment. Although the equipment may not be too important on this map due to the snowballs, tailoring the loadout for the map could be considered “Step 0” to outlasting the horde, especially when it comes to choosing perks and elixirs. And speaking of perks and elixirs…

2. Use the new brews! – Operation Dark Divide comes with a new perk and two more elixirs to brew for everyone. When you ready up on “Tag der Toten”, consider equipping the new perk Blaze Phase, which when activated turns you into a living fireball that charges through the undead. As for elixirs, Secret Shopper’s ability helps you stock up on ammo by making every wall-buy a place to buy ammo for any gun (including Wonder Weapons) for ten minutes, while Power Vacuum activates for five minutes and will give players additional power-up drops throughout the rounds.

3. Complete those Challenges – Much like Ancient Evil and other Zombies maps, “Tag der Toten” comes with a few challenges that can be activated and completed for rewards. Earn the trust of the man atop the lighthouse by doing various tasks, and you may be rewarded with Bonus Points or various power-ups like Instakill!

4. Search for the Shield – To help you weather the zombie horde, build the shield. Look around the map for three parts and find a crafting bench to obtain this powerful defensive item that also provides a bit of decent firepower.

5. Round up the whole crew – For a zombie apocalypse, a solo survivor might not last as long as a few buddies on a mission. And, for those Easter Egg hunters, the first people to solve these complex ciphers usually group up as full teams. So, bring together your own Victis Crew – whether it’s through friends or community members – and set a course for victory in “Tag der Toten”!

End the Cycle

That’s all the advice we can give for “Tag der Toten” without spoiling too much.

As you unravel all the steps to the main Easter Egg, other unspeakable undead creatures will come for your flesh. However, we have all the confidence in you and the Victis Crew to bring the Aether story to its epic finale.

Go forth to slay the undead threat, zombie dwellers, and happy Easter Egg hunting!