BO7 Cursed Relics: How Tiers Work and Which to Avoid

Cursed Relics are the endgame difficulty system in Black Ops 7 Zombies, and the name misleads people. A Relic is a restriction first — it debuffs your run. The payoff is that stacking Relics fills a Relic Tier meter, and each tier unlocks a stronger reward system you cannot reach any other way. You are not collecting buffs; you are agreeing to carry a harder run in exchange for tools that offset it.

The Ashes of the Damned main quest is the gate that opens Cursed Mode, and the per-map Ashes relic guide lists every unlock method on that map.

Relic severity: Grim, Sinister, Wicked

Relics come in three severities, and each contributes a different amount to your Relic Tier meter:

• Grim — fills one third of a tier. The lightest modifiers (disable normal power-up spawns, remove the Mystery Box, randomize equipment, speed up rounds).
• Sinister — fills two thirds of a tier. More disruptive (cap your Perks, disable Self-Revives, cut Salvage drops, make killed zombies explode).
• Wicked — fills a full tier. Major restrictions (double enemy damage, disabled Ammo Crates, disabled Augments, critical-damage-only enemies).

You can reach the same tier with very different combinations — three Grim equals one Wicked in meter value, but a single Wicked imposes a far harsher rule than three small Grims. Build the tier you need with the combination your loadout can actually survive.

The Relic Tier reward ladder

Activating Relics fills the meter, and the tier you cross decides which upgrades appear:

Relic Tier	Active Relics	Reward unlocked
Tier I	3	Golden Armor — the armor route beyond Tier III Armor, massively increased survivability
Tier II	6	Ultra weapon rarity — the highest rarity, increased base damage
Tier III	9	Pack-a-Punch Tier IV — roughly 100,000 points, about 2x weapon damage

That PaP IV bonus is the key one: Cursed mode doubles zombie health, and Tier IV damage is what lets your weapons keep pace. Golden Armor keeps you alive through the debuffs; Ultra rarity scales your guns; PaP IV raises the late-run ceiling.

The counter-intuitive truth: higher tier is easier

Most new players assume more Relics means a harder run. The opposite is true, and it is confirmed across the community. At Tier I you have Golden Armor but only standard-rarity weapons capped at Tier III PaP — zombie health is already doubled and you lack the damage to match. At Tier III you have all three rewards, so the debuffs are fully compensated. Tier 1 is the hardest version of Cursed Mode. If you are going to run Cursed, push for Tier 3 rather than stopping at one Relic.

Relic distribution across the maps

There are 24 Relics spread across the four round-based Cursed maps:

• Ashes of the Damned — 9 Relics (the map most players start on)
• Astra Malorum — 6 Relics
• Paradox Junction — 3 Relics
• Totenreich — 6 Relics

Each map has its own set with unique unlock quests and effects.

Unlock prerequisites

You must complete the Ashes of the Damned main Easter Egg at least once for Cursed Mode to appear as a mode option. You can hunt Relics before finishing the EE, but you cannot equip them until the main quest is done. Every Relic trial requires Round 20 or higher in Cursed Mode, so survival is your first priority — do not chase a Relic you are not geared to reach.

Relics to avoid

Two Relics are widely flagged as not worth the trade:

• Lawyer’s Pen — fills the map with mimic props that ambush you constantly. Experienced Cursed players say plainly: do not run this.
• Blood Vials — disables all equipped Augments, stripping a core gameplay system for almost no benefit.

Rogue Run also uses Relic Tiers

Rogue Run (the permanent survival playlists added in Season 04) carries the same Relic Tier system: Casual maps allow Tier I relics, Normal maps Tier II, and Hardcore maps Tier III. The same ladder — Golden Armor at I, Ultra rarity at II, PaP IV at III — applies.

One clarification that confuses players: Golden Armor is an armor upgrade, not a Perk. The full Perk-a-Cola list covers the actual perks you should be buying alongside it.