ABI Zombie Mode: Infected Zone vs Zombie Endless

You drop into Farm expecting the usual raid. Something sprints at you faster than any player could, eats two chest shots without slowing, and the sound it makes isn’t a footstep. You dump half a magazine into it. Three more come around the corner.

Season 7 changed what a raid can contain. Here’s what you’re actually looking at.

Are there two zombie modes?

Yes, and they are barely related. Infected Zone is PvPvE — normal extraction rules, plus mutants. Zombie Endless is pure PvE — no rival operators, just you, your team, and a threat level that keeps climbing.

Pick based on whether you want to fight players tonight.

Which maps?

Infected Zone runs on Farm, Valley and the Airport. It comes in two tiers that map onto the usual difficulty ladder: Valley sits at the lower tier, while Farm and Airport run the heavier one.

Zombie Endless is Airport only.

Do I need a level?

Endless unlocks at account level 8, so it opens early. Infected Zone tiers follow their own entry rules — check the mode select screen for your account rather than trusting a number from a patch post.

What are the zombie types?

Six, and they do different things. Reapers spit corrosive attacks from range. Ambushers pounce before you hear them. Bloaters explode and leave debuffs on you. Breachers close distance absurdly fast. Phobos is the boss-tier one.

Learn which one is making the noise. Charging a bloater is how you lose a raid.

What’s the in-raid merchant?

One per raid, and it goes live a few minutes after the raid starts. You spend zombie tokens on supplies and countermeasures there, and the total you trade unlocks intel. Raid-exclusive items exist too — pheromone grenades that pull mutants where you want them, flare guns for airdrops, healing smoke.

Does anything carry over?

Yes, and this is the part people miss. Extract zombie samples from Infected Zone and you can spend them on Zombie Research, a separate progression line. Those unlocks stay active in Infected Area permanently. They cannot be reset, so read the prerequisite lines before you commit points.

Endless has its own track. Merits earned in a run raise a growth level that unlocks abilities, and those only work inside Endless.

How does an Endless run end?

Badly, usually. Threat level rises as the run goes on, so mutant count and strength climb with it. When an operator goes down, they stay down — no revive. The raid ends when everyone’s dead or the team chooses to extract.

Surviving longer earns more merit. That’s the whole scoreboard.

Should I go in solo?

You can, but the mode is built for a squad of up to four. You pick a class at the start and get a matching loadout. The solo vs squad guide covers why that matters more here than in a normal raid.

Bring healing you can use while moving — the medical guide explains what’s worth a slot. And remember there’s a kick on the default ”~” key that knocks mutants back for stamina. Use it. It’s the difference between a clean reload and a death screen.

If you just want to learn the maps first, the PvE practice modes guide is the gentler door in.