⚡ STEP 1 — TURN ON BOTH POWER SWITCHES

There are two power switches on the island.

Switch #1 — U-Boat Pens

Open your way from the Beach through the island until you reach the U-Boat Pens.

Find the power switch across from the Ripsaw workbench and activate it.

Switch #2 — Artillery Bunker

Continue opening the map until you reach the Artillery Bunker.

Inside the bunker, find the second power switch and activate it.

The second switch also powers the minecart system you’ll be using throughout the quest.

⚡ POWER COMPLETE.

And immediately we have:

U-boats.

Minecarts.

Artillery.

Fog.

We’ve been here for approximately six minutes.

🚢 RULE #5 IS ALREADY LOOKING PRETTY SMART.

🔧 STEP 2 — BUILD THE RIPSAW

The Ripsaw is the map’s special quest weapon/tool, and its Ranged Ripsaw upgrade is required for several later Easter Egg interactions.

You’ll find its construction bench in the U-Boat Pens.

The basic construction involves obtaining its required components and completing the charging process at the workbench.

Once constructed:

🔧 RIPSAW ACQUIRED.

But don’t stop there.

We need:

🎯 RANGED RIPSAW.

The upgraded version can launch its saw blade, and several later objectives specifically require that ranged functionality.

⚡ STEP 3 — UPGRADE TO THE RANGED RIPSAW

Use the Ripsaw’s special melee/heavy interaction on regular enemies until you obtain a:

⚡ CHARGED SPINE.

Take that charged spine back to the Ripsaw workbench.

Place it into the appropriate charging mechanism.

Complete the resulting charging sequence around the workbench.

When it’s finished:

🎯 RANGED RIPSAW UNLOCKED.

Keep it.

Seriously.

DO NOT THROW THIS THING AWAY.

The quest is going to ask for it repeatedly.

🔧 STEP 4 — UNLOCK PACK-A-PUNCH

The Pack-a-Punch machine—called Übersprengen here—is underneath Bunker 3.

But naturally it’s trapped underground.

Because apparently putting Pack-a-Punch somewhere convenient would violate Zombies law.

You need to ride the island’s minecarts and collect/activate the three Elektroschnalle power units encountered along the minecart routes.

Complete all three.

The Pack-a-Punch platform rises and becomes usable.

🔧 PACK-A-PUNCH UNLOCKED.

Okay.

We rode underground minecarts on a creepy island.

Nothing bad happened.

Therefore—

🚂 NEW RULE:

MINECARTS ARE SAFER THAN BOATS.

For now.

💀 STEP 5 — GET THE HANGING CORPSE HEAD

Now the actual Main Quest begins.

Go near the cliffs around the Pack-a-Punch/Bunker 3 area.

Look upward.

You’ll find:

💀 A HANGING CORPSE.

Use the Ranged Ripsaw to knock the corpse’s head down.

Go underneath and collect:

💀 CORPSE HEAD.

Take it into the:

⚓ U-BOAT PENS.

There’s a headless corpse attached to a chained gate.

Place the head onto it.

And…

nothing horrible will happen.

Right?

🚨 STEP 6 — CORPSE GATE LOCKDOWN

HAHA.

Of course something horrible happens.

The U-Boat Pens enter a lockdown.

You now have two objectives happening in the same area:

⚡ Charge two batteries

Defeat enemies close enough to the two batteries beside the Corpse Gate so their energy charges them.

You’ll get confirmation when they’re finished.

🔥 Turn three valves

There are also three valves positioned around the U-Boat Pens.

The floor underneath each periodically catches fire.

Wait until the flames shut off, move in and turn the valve.

The three valves are positioned around the Corpse Gate/U-Boat Pen area, including near the chained corpse, minecart side, and stairs.

Complete:

⚡ Battery #1

⚡ Battery #2

🔧 Valve #1

🔧 Valve #2

🔧 Valve #3

and survive the lockdown.

The gate opens.

🧊 STEP 7 — ENTER THE FREEZER

Go through the Corpse Gate.

Deal with the encounter inside.

You’ll now have access to the:

🧊 FREEZER.

Remember this room.

We’re coming back.

Because there’s a:

💀 MONK’S HEAD.

Naturally.

Take the Monk Head for the upcoming ritual sequence.

Me: Why do we keep collecting heads?

Straub: Science.

Me: THAT IS NOT AN ANSWER.

💥 STEP 8 — OPEN THE SECRET ANCIENT ROOM

Now ride the minecart between:

🏖️ STRAND / BEACH

and

🪖 GRABEN / ARTILLERY AREA.

While traveling through the tunnel, you’ll pass a large artillery shell/ammunition object along the side.

A Bomber enemy’s explosive charge needs to detonate beside it.

When successful:

💥 SECRET PASSAGE OPENS.

You can now enter:

🗿 THE ANCIENT ROOM.

Inside you’ll see a huge circular sealed door with:

THREE HOLES.

Those holes are important.

We need:

🗿 THREE SONS OF NERTHUS STATUES.

🗿 STEP 9 — UNDERSTAND THE NERTHUS PUZZLE

This is one of the big sections of the Easter Egg.

You’re searching for three statues.

Each one requires a different puzzle.

When you obtain one:

🗿 BRING IT TO THE ANCIENT DOOR.

Insert it into one of the three openings.

Your goal:

🗿🗿🗿

All three statues inserted.

🗿 STEP 10 — SON OF NERTHUS #1

One statue is connected to the Freezer ritual.

Use the Ripsaw to obtain another charged normal-enemy spine.

Take it into the Freezer.

Place it into the metal basket/container there.

This creates a special friendly/ritual enemy.

Follow the resulting escort sequence and complete the associated encounter.

Successfully completing it awards:

🗿 SON OF NERTHUS #1.

Take the statue to the Ancient Room.

🗿⬜⬜

🗿 STEP 11 — SON OF NERTHUS #2

The second statue involves locating and interacting with the environmental puzzle around the island using the Ranged Ripsaw.

The important thing here is to watch for the quest’s environmental targets and complete the ricochet/target sequence rather than simply searching for a loose statue on the ground.

Once the sequence is successfully completed:

🗿 SON OF NERTHUS #2.

Return it to the Ancient Door.

🗿🗿⬜

🔴 STEP 12 — SON OF NERTHUS #3: RED ROCK PUZZLE

This one is especially easy to get stuck on.

Around the cliff faces of the island are a series of:

🔴 RED ROCKS.

They’re positioned high around areas near Bunker 3, the plane wreckage, cliff walls, wooden-plank areas and the flak-gun side of the island.

Use your Ranged Ripsaw to hit the red rocks in the required sequence until you’ve progressed the environmental puzzle and released the final statue. Contemporary guides documented eight potential red-rock locations around these cliffs.

Collect:

🗿 SON OF NERTHUS #3.

Return to the Ancient Room.

Insert it.

🗿🗿🗿

And—

🚪 ANCIENT DOOR UNLOCKED.

💀 STEP 13 — NOW WE NEED THREE SPECIAL SPINES

Oh good.

More collecting.

Inside the ritual sequence, you’re going to need special/anointed material from three enemy types:

👹 WÜSTLING

🕷️ MEUCHLER

🪰 PEST.

Each has its own ritual.

This ultimately produces three anointed heads used alongside the Monk Head.

STRAUB.

WHY CAN’T WE COLLECT NORMAL THINGS?

Like keys.

Or batteries.

Actually—

NO MORE BATTERIES EITHER.

👹 STEP 14 — WÜSTLING RITUAL

Follow the Ancient Room ritual requirements for the Wüstling.

The environmental panels around the map are used to set up these sacrificial encounters.

Once the appropriate sequence is completed, lure/bring the required Wüstling into the ritual and complete it.

You’ll receive:

💀 ANOINTED WÜSTLING HEAD.

Save it.

🕷️ STEP 15 — MEUCHLER RITUAL

Now perform the corresponding setup for the:

🕷️ MEUCHLER.

Yes.

The terrifying thing that likes appearing when the fog rolls in.

Because apparently somebody looked at Zombies and thought:

“You know what this needs? Something that crawls around in the fog.”

Complete its ritual.

Collect:

💀 ANOINTED MEUCHLER HEAD.

🪰 STEP 16 — PEST RITUAL

Repeat the ritual setup for:

🪰 PESTS.

Complete the special Pest encounter in/around the Ancient Room.

When finished:

💀 ANOINTED PEST HEAD.

Now you should have:

💀 Wüstling

💀 Meuchler

💀 Pest

plus the:

💀 Monk Head.

🩸 STEP 17 — PLACE ALL FOUR HEADS

Return to the Ancient Room.

Place the three anointed heads and Monk Head onto the hanging hooks.

💀💀💀💀

The doors lock.

And—

🚨 RITUAL TIME.

Defeat enemies inside the chamber.

Their energy fills the pool in the center.

Continue until the ritual is fully charged.

Eventually the statue releases:

🔥 BARBAROSSA’S POMMEL.

Pick it up.

🎉 WE HAVE THE POMMEL!

Surely we’re almost finished.

checks guide

…

OH COME ON.

✈️ STEP 18 — SHOOT DOWN THE STUKAS

Now we need to deal with the aircraft attacking the island.

Use the island’s AA/flak emplacements as the quest directs and complete the Stuka defense objective.

The Main Quest requires bringing down the attacking Stukas before the later radio and artillery sequence can be completed.

Once you’ve completed the aircraft objective:

✈️ STUKAS COMPLETE.

Us: Great! Now can we leave?

Game:

🚢 “WARSHIPS.”

Us: …

VOYAGE OF DESPAIR WARNED US.

💣 STEP 19 — BOMBER ESCORT

You now need to escort a special friendly Bomber through the island.

Protect it and allow it to reach the objective associated with the:

🔋 FLAK / ARTILLERY BATTERY.

Successfully completing the escort frees/charges the equipment needed for the upcoming artillery portion.

📻 STEP 20 — BUILD THE RADIO

There is a broken radio near the:

🔭 OVERLOOK / ARTILLERY BUNKER.

It requires:

TWO PARTS.

📻 Radio Part #1

One component can be found on a body around the entrance to the Bunkers area.

📻 Radio Part #2

After completing the aircraft objective, look toward the cliffs near the route between the Bluffs and Bunker 3.

There’s a dead pilot hanging from the wreckage.

Use the Ranged Ripsaw interaction to knock down the required part.

Take both components to the radio and:

📻 REPAIR IT.

Straub begins talking.

Which historically means:

SOMETHING TERRIBLE IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.

🚢 STEP 21 — THREE WARSHIPS

Straub sends:

🚢🚢🚢 THREE WARSHIPS.

Your job is to complete the coastal-artillery targeting sequence and sink all three ships.

The important quest loop is:

📡 identify/track target

↓

🎯 configure artillery

↓

💥 fire

↓

👀 confirm hit

↓

🔄 adjust if necessary

↓

🚢 destroy ship

Then repeat for the remaining ships.

After all three:

🚢💥

🚢💥

🚢💥

THREE WARSHIPS DESTROYED.

🚢 ZOMBIES SURVIVAL RULE #5 CHECK

What did we say?

DO NOT GET INVOLVED WITH BOATS.

We got involved with boats.

Now we’re fighting an entire navy.

WE. LEARNED. NOTHING. FROM. VOYAGE. OF. DESPAIR. 😭

🚨 STEP 22 — BOSS-FIGHT CHECKPOINT

🚨🚨🚨 STOP HERE. 🚨🚨🚨

Before continuing, make sure you’re completely ready for the finale.

You should have completed:

⚡ Both power switches

🔧 Pack-a-Punch

🎯 Ranged Ripsaw

💀 Corpse Gate

🗿 Three Sons of Nerthus

💀 Three anointed heads

💀 Monk Head

🔥 Barbarossa’s Pommel

✈️ Stuka objective

💣 Bomber escort

📻 Radio

🚢 Three warships

The boss encounter involves fighting increasingly dangerous Meistermeuchlers while moving between multiple areas of the island.

So:

DO NOT START THIS BY ACCIDENT.

🔥 STEP 23 — ACTIVATE THE FINAL BATTLE

Go to the repaired radio near the Overlook.

Equip:

🔥 BARBAROSSA’S POMMEL.

Throw/use the Pommel on the radio.

This unlocks the final encounter.

When everyone is ready, interact with the radio.

🚨 BOSS FIGHT STARTS.

🕷️ STEP 24 — MEISTERMEUCHLER BOSS FIGHT

You arrive at:

🏖️ THE BEACH.

The enemies you’re fighting are stronger versions of the Meuchler:

👹 MEISTERMEUCHLERS.

The important mechanic isn’t simply defeating everything instantly.

You need to survive each location until the:

🌫️ FOG CLEARS.

Once the fog clears:

🚂 GET ON THE MINECART.

That moves you to the next battle area.

🏖️ STEP 25 — BEACH ENCOUNTER

Survive the Beach.

Deal with the Meistermeuchlers and regular enemies.

Use Barbarossa’s Pommel when useful; it creates a powerful area effect and recharges after use.

Eventually:

🌫️ FOG CLEARS.

Do NOT stand around celebrating.

🚂 GET ON THE MINECART.

🚂 STEP 26 — TRAVEL TO THE NEXT ARENA

The minecart transports you to another combat area.

Depending on the sequence, you’ll move through the major boss arenas including the:

⚓ U-BOAT PENS

and

🪖 BUNKER / ARTILLERY SIDE.

And look at that!

The minecart is saving us again.

🚂 MINECART RULE:

Surprisingly trustworthy.

🚢 BOAT RULE:

ABSOLUTELY NOT.

⚓ STEP 27 — U-BOAT PENS

Same fundamental objective:

SURVIVE UNTIL THE FOG CLEARS.

The environment here is tighter, so pay attention to where the Meistermeuchlers are moving.

Continue until the encounter finishes.

Fog clears?

🚂 MINECART.

Move on.

🪖 STEP 28 — ARTILLERY/BUNKER ENCOUNTER

Another Meistermeuchler encounter begins.

Survive this location until the fog clears.

The later encounters become progressively more dangerous, so don’t assume you’ve finished just because a Meistermeuchler retreats.

You’re pushing them through the island toward the final confrontation.

Eventually:

🌫️ FOG CLEARS.

Minecart.

Again.

🏖️ STEP 29 — RETURN TO THE BEACH

You eventually return to:

🏖️ THE BEACH.

This time:

THERE’S NO MORE RETREATING.

This is the final encounter.

Deal with the remaining Meistermeuchlers and survive the last wave.

Once they’re finally defeated:

💥 BOSS FIGHT COMPLETE.

⚔️ STEP 30 — THE SWORD OF BARBAROSSA

The ending sequence begins.

The crew finally obtains the next major piece connected to:

⚔️ BARBAROSSA’S SWORD.

Completing the Main Quest awards:

🏆 MAKING HISTORY.

And after spending the entire map obeying absolutely none of our survival instincts…

we finally escape.

How?

🚢 BY LEAVING THE ISLAND.

Actually, even better:

The story continues with the crew escaping as stowaways aboard Straub’s Zeppelin.

…

Hold on.

WE GOT ON ANOTHER FLYING VEHICLE OWNED BY STRAUB?!

😭