Nuketown Zombies: Solo Guide

[perfectlemonade]

Nuketown Zombies: Solo Guide + Video

Hey guys! It's perfect, and it feels good to get back to making strategy threads and videos to help some of y'all out! Today, we're talking about Nuketown Zombies, a map that I was, by far, the most excited for going into this game, and I feel it's certainly lived up to expectations. While Tranzit was a bit of a letdown for me, I fell in love with Nuketown Zombies the first time I played it. The utter desolation; the billowing mushroom cloud reaching into the heavens—it was all so nostalgic. The dreariness of this map, in all honesty, has a bit of a retro, Der Riese feel to it, and that is certainly a good thing. I am very glad Treyarch included this map. The fact that it is Survival-only, alongside its atmosphere and ties to Black Ops and the events of Moon, has made this map, by far, my favorite feature of Zombies so far in this game.

That being said, this map can be a bitch to start on! You've got perks falling from the sky and you've sometimes have to play upwards of ten rounds without Jug. It's quite complicated and can be rather daunting for those new to the map. Well, I've tinkered around with some stuff and I've figured out, I think, what is the best setup for this map. So, with that being said, let's get into the thread!

An Overview of the Map

Nuketown Zombies is a teeny, tiny map. It is no bigger than the original multiplayer map (it is, in fact, a bit smaller, as obstacles have been placed in your way to make getting around the map far more linear). This can be both a blessing and a curse. How so? Well, recovering from a down is easy, as there are NO ZONES, which means, no matter where you are on the map, zombies will not respawn ahead of you. Don't get what I'm saying? Well, you know how, with the big maps like Call of the Dead and Moon, if you get too far ahead of zombies, they'll respawn in front of you and mess you up? Well, this is due to zone mechanics. So, if zones are eliminated in a map as small as this, then you don't need to worry about zombies respawning ahead of you if you need to buy back your perks after a down. A clear disadvantage of this, of course, is that zombies will spawn all over the place. It often takes a minute+ for you to gather up a horde on this map (the fastest strategies for Black Ops, meanwhile, could gather a horde in ~18 seconds!). Alas, though, I'm already digressing.

So, how does this map work? Well, perks fall from the sky. Excluding Quick Revive, I have found that the order in which perks/Pack a Punch spawn in on the map is completely and totally random. I sometimes get Juggernog to spawn on round 3; I sometimes go 15 or 16 rounds without it spawning. It is all chance. This makes starting a total pain. If you don't get Juggernog by at least round 8, I would just suggest restarting. I mean, I know it's gonna suck, but chances are you'll go down at least once by the time you get Jug on round 15, and a Revive that early is never worth it.

There's, also, no power weapon on this map. That means your best option, for killing later on, is a Ray Gun and Sally's. Just remember that you have no Flopper, so whatever you do, you have to do it carefully! In fact, I've already written all about Sally/Ray Gun bounceback, the importance of splash damage on Black Ops 2, and all that good stuff! I'll link it right... NOW (click)

Okay, so where will we want to train? Well, my favorite spot is the backyard by the green house. As you can see in the video, it's manageable. Things can get dicey at times, but with practice, you can certainly master it. As I said in my commentary, this spot really reminds me a lot of the sidedrop. How so? Well, the spawns in of itself are strikingly similar. Zombies come from basically all directions and in no set pattern. Sometimes, zombies will spawn heavily on one side; others, they will spawn heavily on the other sides. You can, however, easily adjust for this by playing it by eye. What do I mean by this? Well, like the sidedrop, zombies spawning heavily on one side, something designed to mess you up, I'm assuming, can be dealt with rather easily. By identifying these 'lopsided spawns' early, you can simply neutralize them by spending more time on one side than the other. How about an example? Let's say that you notice a lot of zombies are spawning in the garden. So, what do you do? Why, you just hang out closer to the house, waiting for the zombies in the garden to finish spawning, before completing your loop. This little tip can save you a lot of pain—I only wish I would've figured it out earlier! If I had, my first down would've been on 46, not 35, and I would've gotten at least 50. Oh well. It happens.

Round by Round

Round One

Grab an M14. This bad boy feels a lot better than it's Black Ops counterpart. I believe it's still a one-shot headshot on round six. Knife all the zombies.

Round Two

Shoot 8 times with your M1911 and knife. Grab Quick Revive, if you feel safer with it.

Round Three

Shoot twice in the torso with M14. and knife. By the end of the round, the second perk should've dropped. If it's Jug, save up for that. If not, you're aiming for 6000 points (3000 for truck debris + 3000 for Bowie Knife). Sure, you could save up for the GalvaKnuckles (I've found them. They're in the truck, just in a less obvious spot), but, by the time you'll really be needing Jug at round 8 or so, you may have just bought the Galvaknuckles, which will put you in a tricky situation.

Round Four

Open up doors to figure out if it's Jug that has spawned in. If not, hold out with your M14 until you've got 6k and get the Bowie Knife. You'll be knifing with this until Jug spawns in.

Rounds Five-Nine

Keep on knifing. If you don't have Jug by at least the end of round nine, I just suggest restarting. Feel free to spin the box. You're looking for a Ray Gun, but I was rolling with an RPD well into the 20's and it was still beasting. It's all up to you, really. Just be sure to keep your M1911.

Rounds Ten-Twenty

By round ten, you should no DOUBT have Jug, so you can finally feel safe. You'll want to just 'lightly train' in these stages—blasting them away with Sally's (you're aiming to have Sally's at 15 or so) or your other weapon. Be sure to buy Claymores and get Monkeys.

Rounds Twenty-One - Endgame

This is when you actually start kiting. Watch out for walkers and, like I said, try to identify the spawns and adjust for them. It will make running this location, which can, I'll admit, get a little crazier at times, soooooooooo much easier. You should be good on ammo until the mid 40's. That's when you'll need to start recycling your Ray Gun midround. IISteveII, quite possibly the best Zombies player on the planet, got round 68 on this map the other day! He was using up 3 Ray Guns per round. Yeah... So you better get used to recycling. You'll be doing a lot of it.

Tips and Tricks

Tip One: Stack Claymores!

Cannot stress the importance of this. Claymores deal devastating damage and will go a long ways in saving you ammo. I highly suggest finding a good corner and putting them down every round. However, there is a limit to how many can be on the map at one time (to prevent G-Spawn, I'm assuming), so it's best to just use them up on the first horde once you reach that maximum. Not only this, but Claymores can also be a 'panic weapon' up until the mid 20's. Run with these out, and if you get cornered, just plop it down in front of them. It's a poor man's Mustang and Sally. (Thanks to MixMasterNut for telling me this neat little trick).

Tip Two: Memorize The Perk Placements

I've seen quite a few players recovering from downs and going up into a very bad spot, thinking Jug would be there when, in reality, it's still just a collection of boxes. It should go as a given, but just remember to keep a mental tally of where everything is on the map.

More tips, such as respecting splash damage, can be found HERE.

Alright guys, I think that's about all for now! I hope I've helped some of you, and if there's anything I've missed, please do say and I'll be more than happy to add it in! Thanks and PEACE.

-perfect

[Lenne]

Decided to finally give solo zombies a shot today. (Mainly because mp (normal mp) didn't go my way...I don't want to play carrier for 5 times in one session ffs...uhhh yea whatever.)

So I used this strategy.

And I have to say,buying the M14 for the first couple of rounds is better than it sounds.

But I died twice in the first 10 rounds because I couldn't buy Juggernog until round 12 (or 11 I dunno). :x

Oh well. ^.^

Nice strategy Perfect. Wanted to get to round 30 and died on 29. Hm...reminds me of something. ^^

Gonna go for 40-50 this weekend.

I have a question though. (about the splash damage)

Isn't it pretty much like NML now? Or did they change something health wise?

Well written guide,Perfect and thanks.

[PINNAZ]

Look out. Perfects Back!!!

I'm really liking your solo strats mate. I've always played solo for the past 2 games, but I haven't played a solo Nuketown game yet.

I must say that, Nuketown for me has been really, really easy. (And I'm pretty sh*t.) I've probably only played 5 or 6 MP games & 3 of those I've made it to round 21/22/23? The first game I played I made it to 21 & PaP hadnt landed, which was no big deal but I had 20k or so.

For me, making it past round 12 is an effort, but on Nuketown, you can just circle in one corner of the back yard.

Is ther a glitch going on with regards to the power up drops? Nearly every game I've played, we get X2, insta & fire sales all at the same time, every 2 rounds it seems?

Keep up the good work. CoDz appreciates it.

Cheers, Nathan

[perfectlemonade]

Thanks guys. Yeah, I feel that Nuketown is a lot like Moon in the sense that some aspects of it are ridiculously easy, while others are extremely difficult. Glad I helped you out, Lenne! 50 shouldn't be too bad for this map... I'll definitely be going for that when I get the chance.

Thanks again! Have a GREAT Thanksgiving for those in the US, and have a great Thursday for those not. :D

[Tom852]

I'll get back to this once I'm done with Green Run But looks awesome so far ;)

[CalloftheVaffles]

Haven't got nuketown yet, I'm just waiting for them to release it since hardened edition owners have to pay more than if you just get the season pass. Anyways bro nice guide read over it and it's got everything you need. I can't believe that Kingjaq got 67 solo, or that anyone would deliberately go that far on this map. I feel like it's too risky to go for high rounds on solo right now with the messed up leaderoards/updates so I'm going to wait. Can't wait for some more solo guides in the future perfect, your skills are amazing and congrats on 100 subs (which I am one of )

[Lenne]

Round 36.

God this map is fun.

It really is like NML.

[TheDunbarian]

I like this map, and it's easy. I don't usually like easy maps. I got to 31 solo on my second game. And it was only after that game that I realized I was training in the wrong backyard the whole time (I was behind the yellow house)

Nice guide, perfect. Might go for a higher round on this once I've played the s**t out of TranZit some more ;)

[MysteryMachineX]

Thanks for the tips!