How to upgrade the DIE Shockwave in Cold War Zombies

DIE Shockwave upgrade
(Image credit: Activision)

if you want to know how to upgrade DIE Shockwave in Cold War Zombies and get all four elemental upgrades, then this guide can help. While its a big part of the Black Ops Cold War Zombies Egg, it's also a useful way of surviving high level play. It does decent damage as is, but those elemental upgrades really turn it in to a weapon you'll find hard to beat. 

Each DIE Shockwave elemental upgrade works well in a particular situation, so having all four of them to hand can be a huge advantage when reaching the higher Zombies rounds. Acquiring all the upgrades can be a challenge however, which is why we’re here to guide you step-by-step on how to upgrade DIE Shockwave in Cold War Zombies and get all the elemental upgrades. 

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How to get the DIE Shockwave in Cold War Zombies

Cold War Zombies Die Shockwave

(Image credit: Activision)

Of course, before you can upgrade DIE Shockwave, you need to get your hands on it first. You can actually get the weapon from the Mystery Box, but if you want a sure fire way to obtain it, you’ll want to follow these steps.

Start off by playing normally, and rack up as many points as you can. Then, turn on the power in the main lab area. Once you do, you’ll need to enable the Pack-a-Punch machine by heading through the Anomaly that takes you to the Dark Aether (make sure you grab the fuse next to the teleporter by the Crash Site, as you’ll need it later).

After the Pack-a-Punch machine is up and running, wait for the Megaton boss to spawn and pick up the key card that drops from it after you’ve taken out the split creature. Then, run into the lab above the Deadshot Daiquiri perk machine and you’ll find a small area known as the Weapons Locker. 

Cold War Zombies Die Shockwave

(Image credit: Activision)

Here, you’ll be able to insert the keycard into a machine in the Weapons Locker, which will give you the DIE Remote Control. Now, take that item to the spawning area in the living room of Nacht der Untoten and place it in the hole in the wall to activate a trap that will suck up zombies. After it sucks up 30 zombies or so, the door will open, allowing you to get the DIE Shockwave. 

DIE Shockwave elemental upgrades

Now you have the DIE Shockwave you’ll be all set to collect the four elemental upgrades, which are as follows:

  • Cryo-Emitter
  • Nova-5
  • Thermophasic 
  • Electrobol

Each upgrades needs a different method and location so let's run through them all next. 

DIE Shockwave Cryo-Emitter upgrade

Cold War Zombies Die Shockwave

(Image credit: Activision)

After you’ve obtained the DIE Shockwave, head to the roof of Nacht der Untoten and shoot the box sitting right above the ramp close to the mushroom tree. Once it falls, run over to it and pick up the flask that dropped. 

At this point, you need to lure a Megaton boss to the tree with the fungus growing from it. The tree is on the way to the Quick Revive perk machine. The boss will shoot radiation at you and what you need to do is stand next to the fungus when you’re in the enemy’s sights.

This will lead the boss to shoot the fungus, which will turn purple to indicate its been shot.

Place the flask underneath the mushroom on the tree and wait around two minutes for it to fill.

After that, take this flask over to the Medical Bay and place it on the Weapon Crate that leads into the center room. The crate is on the ground and it will prompt you to “pour out the cryogenic liquid.” Once you do, open the box to get the DIE Shockwave Cryo-Emitter upgrade!

DIE shockwave Nova-5 upgrade

Cold War Zombies Die Shockwave

(Image credit: Activision)

The first step to obtaining the DIE Shockwave Nova-5 upgrade is to go to the second floor of Nacht der Untoten to the Mezzanine area. Here, you’ll want to suck the empty canister towards you (highlighted in yellow) by using the DIE Shockwave. Grab it and go over to the Deadshot Daiquiri perk room and place the canister in the corner. The game will prompt you to “install the empty canister” here.

What you need to do is wait for the Plaguehounds to spawn and emit their toxic gas into the canister. Basically, you should stand right next to the canister and kill the Plaguehound while it’s close. Then, pick up the canister after it’s filled and take it to the Crash Site outside.

Across from the plane on the same side as Nacht is another Weapon Crate. Place the canister there and melee the box to get it to open. Interact with it to pick up the DIE Shockwave Nova-5 upgrade! 

DIE Shockwave Thermophasic upgrade

Cold War Zombies Die Shockwave

(Image credit: Activision)

Next up is the DIE Shockwave Thermophasic upgrade. Head into the Dark Aether from the Pond area (it must be from the Pond area) and go back to the Deadshot Daiquiri perk room. Here, you’ll find a plasma cutter, so place the fuse you acquired by the Crash Site (mentioned above) on the device. If the plasma cutter isn’t working, it means you either don’t have the fuse or did not enter the Dark Aether from Pond. 

After you’re sent back to the real world, head over to the Pond area and you’ll find a truck with another Weapon Crate on the back of it. Interact with it to obtain the DIE Shockwave Thermophasic upgrade. 

DIE Shockwave Electrobolt upgrade

Cold War Zombies Die Shockwave

(Image credit: Activision)

The final DIE Shockwave Electrobolt upgrade is definitely the toughest. Start by entering the Dark Aether beneath the Pack-a-Punch machine, by the stairs. This Anomaly portal unlocks after you’ve interacted with the computer in Doctor Vogel’s office, which is detailed in our Easter Egg guide we linked to above. 

In the Dark Aether, you’ll need to suck up three orange crystals, which are found around the map. They all spawn in the same locations and must be gathered one at a time. Once you’ve sucked up one crystal, take it to the bottom floor of the Particle Accelerator area and shoot the box to the right of the workbench.

Keep in mind, you won’t have enough time to grab all three crystals before the Dark Aether kicks you out. So, you’ll need to kill zombies to get the Anomaly to spawn to retrieve the remaining ones.

We’ll list the locations of each crystal below.

DIE Shockwave Electrobolt upgrade Crystal 1

Cold War Zombies Die Shockwave

(Image credit: Activision)

The first crystal spawns to the left of the Jugger-nog machine.

DIE Shockwave Electrobolt upgrade Crystal 2

Cold War Zombies Die Shockwave

(Image credit: Activision)

The second one is on the upper floor of Nacht der Untoten in the Penthouse area.

DIE Shockwave Electrobolt upgrade Crystal 3

Cold War Zombies Die Shockwave

(Image credit: Activision)

The last one is in the Pond area on the right.

After you’ve shot the last one at the box, you can grab the final upgrade! You’ll now be well equipped to take on pretty much whatever the game throws at you. 

Joseph Yaden

Joseph loves Nintendo and horror games. With the Nintendo Switch, he's ready to get spooky anytime, anywhere. He specializes in covering Call of Duty: Warzone and action RPGs like Dark Souls, so you can bet he's looking forward to Elden Ring, the brainchild of George RR Martin and Hidetaka Miyazaki. You can find Joseph's work at GamesRadar, Digital Trends, Inverse, and PLAY Magazine. When he's not writing about video games he can usually be found petting his cats and listening to some Progressive Metal. He thinks Meshuggah is tight.