Hey guys, wrote this up for a master zombies guide project Ehjookayted is working on, just a guide on how to get to really high rounds in solo play on FIVE. This strategy has gotten me to round 68, and it's suitable for beginners and experienced zombies players alike, pretty much anyone who wants to get to high rounds:
Starting area
First round: Knife only.
Second round: 8 shots to the chest with the pistol, then knife. Knife 2 times when you run out of ammo. Rebuild all the windows at the end of the round.
Third round: Keep knifing the zombies at the windows, holding them off for as long as possible. When they start to pile in, open the door and buy the MPL.
Hold off up here as long as you can without taking too much risk. Open the elevator when you have enough points as a quick retreat when you’re overpowered. Typically you’ll go on round 4 or 5.
Next floor
Go to the right when you exit the elevator and buy the MP5K off the wall, then open the barricade and proceed to the lower floor. Keep the M1911 (starting pistol), as we'll be upgrading this later.
This can actually be the trickiest part of playing this map on solo, running this area without Juggernog. However, in the early rounds you can use the area to your advantage to point-build without needing to open barricades.
On the lower floor, you’ll notice the 2 barricades that open up the area that you’ll be looping in. You’ll be using the side with the 2 perk machines (Juggernog and Mule Kick) to gather the zombies into a train before spraying into them.
This is how to run this area safely:
This is fundamentally a typical ‘crescent moon’ or ‘wonky figure of 8’ style loop, starting on the inside and running wide of the zombies to the next inner corner. You’ve most likely been told to stay away from corners, but there are some cases like this one where corners can be used to your advantage.
Next to the stairs, just wait in the circled area, shooting the group of zombies while for them to reach you, then run wide of them to the right and down to the next circled area on the far side of the room. Same thing on that side, though you’re best to move off a little early if you see any zombies coming out of the window closest to your left.
From here you’ll need to save another 4000 points to open up the lower elevator, turn the power on and make your way to Juggernog before buying it.
Once you have 4000 points, leave one zombie at the end of the round so you can move around the map freely without being blocked off. Open the elevator and go down to the laboratory. Go past the first locked room on the left, enter the next room you see on the left (no door-purchase needed) and turn on the power switch. Then go back to the elevator to go back to the middle floor (War Room).
You could of course go through the teleporter in the same room as the power switch, which will always take you to either the first or second floor. However, it always seems to take you to the top floor the first time you use it, so you’ll need to take the elevator back down anyway. Choice is yours. Once on the middle floor, buy Juggernog.
Instead of buying Juggernog, you could instead buy the Bowie Knife from the first room on the left if you have the points. You’ll need 1250 to open the door to get it and another 3000 to buy the knife. You’ll need to wait a little longer to buy Juggernog of course, but buying this knife early on yields great reward. It’s a one-hit kill on all zombies up to round 10, nets 130 points per kill and of course needs no ammo.
Buying this depends on the amount of points you have at the time and how confident you feel about getting up close and knifing zombies with no Juggernog. If you’re killing with the Bowie Knife though you’ll only need to kill a max of 20 zombies before you have the points for Juggernog, so there’s that to be considered.
Be aware that once you reach round 10, the zombies will take 2 knifes to kill, hence the reason for buying it as early as possible to take advantage of the one-knife kills. It can also be used to kill the Pentagon Thief in the early stages.
Take some time to go and buy Quick Revive at a suitable in the following rounds.
When you have enough points after buying Juggernog, open up each barricade as soon as possible. Once you have them both open you’ll be able to run in a circle around the room, which will make things a lot easier. This will be the main strategy you’ll be using for the rest of the game.
Always try and run counter-clockwise, as the area below the stairs can be problematic to get through if running clockwise due to the position of the windows.
Before Round 10 (with Juggernog)
Continue your counter-clockwise loop of the lower floor of the War Room using the MP5K or Bowie Knife. Just walk round the room, only sprinting past a zombie coming towards you to minimise hits taken. This will help bunch up the zombies behind you.
If you didn’t get the knife and are using guns instead, don’t kill any zombies until they’re all spawned in - just walk round as mentioned. This will minimise the chances of you getting trapped. Once they’re all in you should have them bunched up and following you (this technique is known as training, kiting and other names). Shoot at them, but only at points that you won’t get stuck e.g. as you walk just past the teleporter on your left. As you take some out, more will spawn in. As this happens, continue to gather i.e. don’t shoot.
If you need more ammo for the MP5K, you can go and buy it. Make sure to let all of the zombies spawn in first so they don’t come out of the windows on the upper floor. Then go up the stairs to where you bought the MP5K to buy ammo. Proceed to walk slowly around the upper floor and back down the stairs. It’s very important to walk slowly, if you get too far ahead of the pack they’ll turn around and go back the other way, blocking you off as you make your way round. Do not kill any zombies until you’re back on the lower floor.
You can also use another method which is always my first choice as it’s much quicker. Wait on the opposite side of the room to the stairs (where the barricade once was) and let the zombies catch up to you. Then sprint to the other side, up the stairs, buy the ammo and run back down the opposite stairs. If you don’t quite do it right the zombies will block you off as you go down the stairs, but this is no problem as you can just turn around, go back up and use the first method.
First Pentagon Thief round
By now you should have a fair amount of points. The Pentagon Thief will take the gun you currently have equipped – have the MP5K equipped and let him take it.
You’ll both teleport to the laboratory, and the thief will run from teleporters 4-1 before exiting through the last teleporter in the power switch room. If you have the Bowie Knife, you can use this to chase him down and keep knifing him, he'll die pretty quickly. If not then you'll need to buy the MP5K again before the next round. Just wait around in the labs for a Max Ammo for the pistol if need be. Then make your way back to the War Room.
As already mentioned, the middle teleporter (next to the power switch and where the thief makes his exit) will take you to either the top or middle floor. If it takes you to the top floor (room that you started in) take the elevator and go back down to your looping point. If you need the MP5K again then buy it before the round starts and continue with the same strategy as before.
Setting yourself up for the rest of the game
At the end of each round, leave a crawler by blowing it’s legs off with a grenade. Be aware that if a zombie has an arm missing, it will not be able to crawl and will die instead. If you can’t make a crawler, just leave one zombie running.
The first thing you'll need to save for is to upgrade your M1911 to the Mustang & Sally (grenade-launcher pistols), which will cost you 5000 points. These will be used to take out the Pentagon Thief. I discuss how to access the Pack-a-Punch to upgrade later in this tutorial.
The next thing you'll need to save for is the Mule Kick perk, which will cost 4000 points. This will create a 3rd weapon slot which will come into use when we have points to use the random box.
Next, use the box to try and get the Winter’s Howl, an MG with a lot of ammo (RPK, HK21 etc.) or a Ray Gun as a main killing weapon, and the Monkey Bombs. Make sure the MG/Ray Gun replaces the gun you bought as a 3rd weapon. For example, you had the Mustang & Sally and the MP5K. You then get a HS10 from the box, so you now have this and your Mustang & Sally and MP5K, the HS10 being the 3rd weapon received therefore being in the 3rd weapon slot. If you receive an RPK, this will replace the HS10.
The reason for this is, if you go down and lose your Mule Kick perk, you'll lose your third gun. You'll want to make this the RPK/HK, as it's easier to replace that with an MP5K or another MG from the box than it is to replace the Winter's Howl or the Mustang & Sally (both important weapons).
So, to keep things simple, you'll keep your MP5K until you can replace it with the Winter's Howl, and you'll never trade out the Mustang & Sally for anything. This will ensure neither are lost if you lose Mule Kick.
Winter’s Howl: Use this as a weapon to free yourself if you get stuck. It will take multiple shots to kill but kills quickly up to round 20 - you’ll need to upgrade it before then to increase it’s power and ammo (we’ll discuss accessing the Pack-a-Punch machine shortly). It also is capable of killing a whole group of 24 zombies, making it the most ideal weapon for freeing yourself if cornered by a group.
ALWAYS have this gun out when gathering the zombies.
This weapon is also very effective against the Pentagon Thief.
MG: This will act as a point-building weapon, kills pretty quickly in earlier rounds but starts to become less effective in the later rounds. Do not upgrade this weapon until it is completely out of ammo. Only have this weapon out when all the zombies are spawned, after which you’ll spray into them as mentioned earlier.
Ray Gun: This will make the rounds go by a lot quicker than the MG and is my personal choice.
The only thing to be aware of is that this weapon makes a lot of crawlers, which could be very dangerous if they get into the tight-spots on the map.
To keep things safe, only shoot at the zombies with the Ray Gun at the spot we mentioned earlier, just as you pass the teleporter. If you shoot them when they're right near the teleporter the slow crawlers will generally stay there all the while you're looping, which of course is a safe place for them to be as it's a wide open area. You can also finish them off when it's safe to do so.
This will of course probably be harder to replace than an MG of some sort if you lose it when going down and losing Mule Kick, but it's easy to buy a wall gun as a new 3rd gun to tide you over until you can get the Ray Gun back.
Monkey Bombs: You’ll only really need to use these if you go down, as a way to distract the zombies while you re-buy Juggernog. If you do go down, throw a Monkey as soon as you get back up and sprint to the Juggernog machine while the zombies are distracted. Then continue your loop. Don’t worry about other perks until the end of the round. Leave a crawler so you can go and buy them then.
After you’ve gotten the Winter’s Howl and an MG, buy one of the other 2 perks, Double-Tap or Speed Cola. Both are located just outside of the top elevator, Speed Cola on the top floor and Double-Tap on the middle floor.
I personally like to go for Double-Tap, as it will allow you to shoot faster when using the Winter's to free yourself from danger, and will also make your MG fire quicker to complete the earlier rounds quicker.
After you've bought this perk, keep trying the box for Monkeys when you can (if you don’t have them already).
Upgrading a weapon
To access the Pack-a-Punch machine to upgrade your weapon, you’ll need to hit all 4 DEFCON switches. They appear with green lights on them and are on the walls of the War Room. 2 are on the lower floor in which you run your loop, 2 are on the upper floor. They do not need to be pressed in any particular order.
When you’ve done all 4 of them an alarm will sound to confirm that you’ve reached DEFCON 5. Once this happens, walk through any teleporter to be taken to the panic room, where you’ll find the Pack-a-Punch machine.
It’s safest to do this at the end of a round with a crawler kept.
Pentagon Thief rounds
The Pentagon Thief will come again 4-5 rounds after the last one. It’s usually every 5 rounds that he comes, but will sometimes come 4 rounds after the last.
Using the Mustang & Sally is the most effective weapon to use against the thief, as it often kills him before he even reaches you.
When you hear the music play and the vocal warning that he’s coming, run to the upper floor of the middle room and equip your Mustang & Sally. As he appears through the teleporter, start shooting him.
If he gets near you, swap to your next weapon and let him take it. You’ll then teleport to the labs with him; chase him and keep shooting him with the Mustang & Sally. Try to hang back slightly, not only so you don't take explosive damage from the M&S, but also so you can stop if you kill him and reload before collecting the Max Ammo he drops to maximise ammo gain.
He’ll also drop a Firesale powerup which will spawn the mystery box in every location and lower the price to 10 points for about 30 seconds. Collect it and quickly use any of the available boxes if you still need one of the weapons mentioned earlier. After you’ve received/rejected the weapon it gave you, quickly make your way back to the looping point on the middle floor via the elevator/power-room teleporter before the zombies start spawning.
If the Firesale is still on when you get back to the middle floor, use the box there too if need be.
Nuke or Instakill powerups are effective on the Pentagon Thief. If the thief is killed before he takes any of your weapons, he’ll drop a Bonfire Sale powerup rather than a Firesale. This will set the DEFCON level to 5, and will lower the price of using the Pack-a-Punch machine to 1000 for about 30 seconds. If you haven’t upgraded the Winter’s Howl yet, now is the time.
Be aware that if you haven’t used the random box before doing this, the thief will not drop a Bonfire Sale.
Rounds before 30
Keep using the same strategy as fully discussed.
To help speed the rounds along, you can take out a few full groups of zombies using a few M&S shots. Make sure you keep some distance to avoid taking explosive damage!
Make sure you always save your last clip for the Pentagon Thief.
Rounds 30+
If you’ve gotten this far – firstly, congratulations! Reaching round 30 on this map is not an easy task, especially compared to most other maps in this game.
You’ll want to start considering changing your weapons at this point, as the Winter’s Fury will start becoming weak and you’ll have a lot of points so will no longer need an MG to point-build.
The best weapon combination at this stage is an upgraded Crossbow and a Stakeout. You'll still be keeping your M&S for Thief rounds and horde-killing.
Awful Lawton (upgraded Crossbow): This will replace the Winter’s Howl as a weapon to save yourself with if you become trapped. To free yourself from danger with this weapon, jump so you can fire above the zombies’ heads, and fire a bolt across the room. The bolt on the upgraded version of the Crossbow will attract the zombies the same way that the Monkey Bombs do. Shooting a bolt is of course a lot quicker than preparing a monkey.
You’ll need to react quickly in doing this as there’s a second delay between shooting the bolt and the zombies chasing it.
You can also use this instead of throwing a Monkey Bomb after you’ve used a Quick Revive – this is safer as there’s no preparation time in firing a bolt.
Be aware that a bolt will distract the zombies for a shorter period of time than the Monkey Bombs.
Raid (upgraded Stakeout): This will replace your MG/Ray Gun as your main weapon that you’ll be killing the zombies with. Make sure it replaces these gun so it goes in your 3rd weapon slot - this ensures that you'll lose the Stakeout rather than your other weapons if you lose the Mule Kick perk, which is the most ideal thing because it's easy to buy another Stakeout off the wall.
It’s best upgraded as it does considerably more damage than the non-upgraded version. The ammo will cost a lot more to buy off the wall to replenish the gun’s ammo (4500 points), but at this stage you’ll have several points and should never run out of them. You’ll also make most of the points back up from shooting the zombies.
Ray Gun: You may opt to use the Ray Gun rather than the Stakeout, as it’s a lot more powerful. However, there’s the issue of lack of ammo, as the Ray Gun ammo will run out quickly at this stage.
I personally always opt for the Stakeout, if you go down and lose your Mule Kick perk then it’s easy to buy the Stakeout again with all the points you’ll have made.
Rounds 40+
If you’ve made it here, congratulations, not too many people make it this far on this map in solo or co-op.
To get through the rest of the rounds, you’ll use the traps located on the top floor once you’ve put the trap-pieces into them - one trap piece is next to the Bowie Knife in the labs and one is opposite the computer I mentioned in the first part of this tutorial, on the floor.
These traps are put in a very awkward place but they are useable. Here’s how:
Gather up all the zombies using the usual strategy. Then go through the teleporter, which will most likely take you to the labs but will occasionally take you to the top floor, which is where you’re aiming to be.
The zombies will follow you through. Lead them to the teleporter in the power-switch room and go through it.
With some luck you’ll have been taken to the top floor. If you’ve been taken back to the middle, wait for the teleporter to cool down and repeat the above process.
Once you teleport to the top floor the zombies will follow you. Walk to your right and go through the door. Walk towards the elevator, keeping to the right wall to make all of the zombies do the same. Call the elevator up if need be.
When the zombies reach you, run around them to the right, through the trap and turn it on. The zombies will walk through the trap and be killed. Run to the elevator then go back down to the looping point and repeat.
Don’t forget to have your Awful Lawton out in case something goes wrong.
Saving yourself from the jaws of defeat
A lot of people struggle with this map because there are quite a few tight gaps to squeeze through. This can make things more difficult when looping, but you can make things easier by keeping a little ahead of the pack at all times. Most strategy guides would disagree with this, so would I on most maps. With this map however, if you do leave some room between you and the horde of zombies you’ve gathered, you can simply back-up a few steps and let any zombies in front of you through if you get blocked off and you shouldn’t have any problems.
Of course if you do get blocked off it will most likely be whilst going through the tight squeezes. If this happens just back-up into an open area, then go round the zombies when you have the space to do so. If this fails and you do get stuck, simply use the weapons I talked about earlier to free yourself.
The only other way you’d really get stuck while looping on this map is by not looking where you’re going i.e. walking backwards while shooting and getting stuck on something. There’s a LOT of things you can get stuck on in this map, so just be careful of where you’re walking and you’ll be fine. Besides, as I mentioned earlier, it’s best only to turn and shoot as you pass the teleporter to your left. You can actually stop and shoot for a few seconds at this point if you’re ahead of the pack like I’ve said to do, so you shouldn’t need to walk backwards at any time anyway. It’s worth mentioning however, once you’re experienced at this map and have gotten to know the layout, walking backwards and shooting underneath the stairs is both easy and effective.
