Ashes of the Damned Main Quest: The Phases That Matter

Ashes of the Damned has one of the longest Zombies main quests Treyarch has shipped, and most squads lose the thread somewhere in the middle. The quest is a chain of map-spanning phases, not a single arena — you move between zones in Ol’ Tessie, gather ritual parts, free Klaus, build the Necrofluid Gauntlet, and finish on a boss. This guide breaks it into the phases that matter and what each one needs, so you can plan instead of guessing.

Our Ashes of the Damned zones guide maps the map itself, and the Ol’ Tessie upgrades guide covers the vehicle steps the quest depends on.

What you need before you start

Two side Easter eggs are prerequisites: the Necrofluid Gauntlet Wonder Weapon and the Abomination Beam Tessie upgrade. You also need power restored at the three generators — Blackwater Lake, Ashwood, and Vandorn Farm — each cleared of infestation within 30 seconds. Start by repairing Tessie with T.E.D.D.’s Head from the Server Room, then drive to each zone and flip power. Once Ashwood has power, install the Pack-a-Punch on Tessie so you can upgrade weapons on the move.

The major phases

1. Abomination Carcass — open Reba’s Diner at Exit 115, kill the special “Cook” zombie for the Freezer Key, grab the Carcass, and install it on Tessie at Ashwood. This unlocks the beam you use later.
2. Ritual components — collect Widow’s Lantern (Jar of Spores at Blackwater Lake grown on the dead horse at Vandorn Farm over a few rounds), Human Bones (tomahawk the hanging barn foot, burn with a Molotov), Ravager Eyes (trap-kill a Ravager), Hoard Husk Chunks (blast a purple fog plant with the beam), and the Powder of the Forgotten (a mirror puzzle in Ashwood using the Gauntlet).
3. Free Klaus and build the Gauntlet — drop Uber Klaus at Janus Towers Plaza (around Round 7–8), take the Stabilizer Chip, free Klaus in Ashwood, then run the Zarya Cosmodrome machine and Aether Barrel pump loop to finish the Necrofluid Gauntlet.
4. DG-2 Turret on Tessie — the serum ritual plus the three fog keys (full steps in the Ol’ Tessie guide).
5. The puzzle cluster — clock tower at Ashwood, the Exit 115 lightning and Klaus-color trial, the Cosmodrome radar and computer codes, the Vandorn Farm clock and ritual items, and the Blackwater Lake projector film reels.
6. Veytharion boss — summoned through Klaus, fought in a separate arena.

Use Directed Mode to learn it

Treyarch ships a Directed Mode that walks the early phases and removes the hardest routing. Run it once to learn the order, then attempt Standard with a squad that has microphones. Finishing the main quest also unlocks the Cursed Relics system, so the quest is the gateway to the rest of the map’s endgame.

Related guides

• Ashes of the Damned zones — the connected map and route decisions.
• Ol’ Tessie upgrades — the vehicle steps the quest depends on.
• BO7 Zombies Relics — what unlocks after the main quest.