The Black Ops 7 Astra Malorum zombies Easter egg is a lengthy main quest with plenty of steps, and figuring out how to complete it can be tough without any help. There’s no need to worry, though, since I’ve got your back with a full guide and walkthrough to the Astra Malorum in BO7.
This is the second Zombies map in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and this interstellar survival map ditches the truck gimmick in favor of a roaming boss. There’s a lot to do if you want to see it through to the end so let’s get started.
1. Turn on the power and the Pack-a-Punch machine
Like all easter eggs, the Astra Malorum main quest begins by turning on the power and unlocking the Pack-a-Punch machine.
To do so, you need to repair the Harmonic Oculus in the Observatory Dome. You can fix it by collecting two Harmonic Components – one found in the Luminarium and the other found in the Machina Astralis – and then defending it against a wave of zombies.
Once you’ve repaired the Harmonic Oculus, the Pack-a-Punch machine will become available. Pack-a-Punch your weapon to begin the next step of the Easter egg.
2. Get the LGM-1
The LGM-1 is the new Wonder Weapon in Astra Malorum, and you’ll need it to continue with the easter egg. To get it you have to kill OSCAR in BO7, the map’s roaming boss, three times with various contraptions around Astra Malorum. Each time you kill him he’ll respawn again so you can repeat the process a different way.
You’re going to need these spare parts before you can activate these contraptions:
- Car Battery
- Aberrant Wiring
- Damaged Drone
To get the Car Battery, use a Pack-a-Punched weapon to shoot the hood of Ol’ Tessie at the spawn area.
To get the Aberrant Wiring, check all of the lamp posts around the map. One of them will be flickering. Shoot the flickering light to get the Aberrant Wiring.
To get the Destroyed Drone, find Oscar and take out one of his shield drones.
With all three parts, you can now start killing Oscar with Astra Malorum’s various traps.
Start with the Observatory Dome (Pack-a-Punch room). Look around the room and shoot five steaming mechanisms on the wall.
Afterward, use the device next to the Harmonic Oculus. Line up the telescope’s crosshair with the sun to summon a laser beam on the Pack-a-Punch platform. Lure Oscar into the beam to kill him.
Next, head to the Luminarium and activate the trap in the center of the room. It’ll start slowly damaging Oscar. Lead him around the room until he dies, shooting his shield drones as they appear.
For the final trap, you need the Cryo Freeze ammo mod on your weapon. Use Cryo Freeze to shoot the purple crystals found all over the map. They’ll drop special items called Absolute Zero Fragments.
After collecting three Absolute Zero Fragments, bring Oscar to the Museum Infinitum and activate the rocket trap. The Absolute Zero Fragments will create a frozen trail behind the rocket. Lure Oscar into the icy blast and he’ll die pretty quickly.
Since this is the third trap, Oscar will drop the LGM-1. You can do these traps in any order if you’d rather switch things up.
3. Solve the Planets Puzzle
For the next step of the easter egg, you have to follow Oscar around the map without being detected. Just stick behind him for a while (after he respawns) and he’ll eventually start playing audio logs on his speakers.
After a while, he’ll play a recording of elimination 20, targeting Doctor Thurston. Pay close attention to this recording. Thurston will name three planets at random. Remember these.
Each planet corresponds to a number based on its location in our solar system. Mercury is 1, Venus is 2, Earth is 3, and so on. Convert the three planets into a three-digit code, then head to the Pack-a-Punch room and input that code into the machine attached to a pillar.
4. Getting the Perfusion Machine
Inputting the correct code will activate a lift nearby. Climb up to the newly-accessible area and collect the Cryo Chamber Key next to the corpse up above.
Now, head to the Museum Infinitum and break open the glass display case in the southwest corner of the room to obtain a Rock Saw.
Afterward, go to the Machina Astralis and open up the green cryo chamber. Interact with the body inside to extract its brain with the Rock Saw.
Take that brain to the Luminarium and interact with the glowing purple container called the Perfusion Machine by the door to swap the brain for another. Then, interact with the brain again to begin a one-minute survival challenge where you have to defend the area.
After fending off your undead foes, collect the brain and take it to the Machina Astralis where you’ll find another Perfusion Machine. Connect the brain to complete this step.
From there, head back to the Observatory Dome and use the telescope from earlier. This time, line up the crosshair with Mars.
When you find Mars, make note of the numbers in the bottom corner of the screen next to DEC. Input those numbers into the code machine near the stairs in the Machina Astralis room.
5. Solving the Reading List Book Puzzle
After inputting the code, head back down to the Perfusion Machine and take a look at the screen next to the brain. It’ll display Dr. Thurston’s reading list. Remember every book on the list.
In the Archive of Orbis, those books can be found on the shelves. There are three head busts in the room next to the bookshelves as well. Interact with each bookshelf to see the titles of the books they carry. For every title that matches Dr. Thurston’s reading list, rotate the nearby bust once.
For example, the statue in the corner of the room is next to the bookshelves containing Witchlight Codex, Silence at Singularity, and Pyramids of Cydonia. If you saw Pyramids of Cydonia and Witchlight Codex on the reading list, you’d rotate the bust twice since the shelves next to it contain two books from the list.
After solving the reading list puzzle, the attic will open up. Climb the ladder into the newly-opened hatch to grab Planet Neptune.
Take Neptune to the upper level of the Machina Astralis room and place it on the empty pole that’s missing a planet. That’ll complete the solar system diorama. Next, you need to align the planets a certain way.
6. Aligning the Planets
Around the map, you’ll find scraps of paper with cardinal directions and planets written on them.
The first is on the table near Stamin-Up in the Archive of Orbis.
The second paper is on a desk on the eastern side of the Machina Astralis.
The third paper is on a table by a lamp in the Luminarium.
Once you’ve seen all three notes, head back to the Machina Astralis and shoot the planets hanging above to rotate them into the right spots.
After moving the planets, interact with the Perfusion Machine to trigger a two-minute lockdown. Defend the teleporter from Oscar and the undead horde. Make sure to destroy Oscar’s drones as soon as they appear. They’ll try to disable the teleporter.
7. Surviving Mars
After defending the area, you’ll be teleported to Mars. Pick up the Perfusion Machine up ahead and then place it into the strange machine overlooking the courtyard. A strange noise will play, and that’s your cue to run to the window to the north.
You’ll see four alien pylons in the distance. Shoot them in order from back right, back left, front right, and then front left. Then, shoot the pylon above the teleporter that brought you to Mars.
If done correctly, a bird will start flying around the area. It’s holding a key item called the Ascendant Eye. To get it, jump up and interact with the bird. Shoot the final pylon to freeze the bird so you can snatch it more easily.
8. Solving the Ascendant Eye Puzzle
Once you have the Ascendant Eye, place it into the pyramid pedestal in the southeastern corner of the area.
There are five more pylons on top of pillars around Mars. Use the LGM-1 to shoot and activate them.
Once the pylons are activated, head back to the Observatory Dome and use the Harmonic Oculus. It’ll start to show a set of five symbols on the circular display to the right of the organ’s keys. One of the symbols will be obscured by static interference.
Make a note of the symbols and their order. They correspond to the pillars on Mars. Interact with each pillar’s symbol in the order shown on the Harmonic Oculus to complete this puzzle. There are only five pillars and symbols, so use the process of elimination to figure out which symbol was obscured by the interference.
At this point, you’re ready for the final boss fight. Make sure you’re prepared with Pack-a-Punched weapons, Gobblegums, and anything else you need.
9. Caltheris
Caltheris is a multi-stage boss with a lot of stuff to manage, and it can be overwhelming for solo players. Interact with the Perfusion Machine to start the battle.
In the first phase, Caltheris starts out as a giant floating skull. To damage her, you need to kill zombies in the arena to charge a towering pylon. Once it’s fully charged, you can interact with the Perfusion Machine to blast Caltheris for a third of her health bar.
While you’re working on charging up the tower, Caltheris will target every player with a slow-moving laser. Stay on the move to avoid damage. Repeat the charging process with the other pylons to complete phase one.
Moving on to phase two, Caltheris will transform into a golem and chase you around the arena. Use the LMG-1 to destroy her armor and reveal glowing blue weak spots that you can exploit for easy damage.
Stay on the move during this phase. Caltheris has a deadly slam attack that can easily kill you if you’re caught in a bad spot. She’ll also toss rocks at you from afar, so make sure you’re bobbing and weaving.
In phase three, she’ll become Caltheris Ascendant. This is basically just a more dangerous version of phase two, complete with an even bigger rock and an even deadlier slam. Just keep moving and use the LGM-1 to destroy her armor so your allies can attack her weak spots.
In the final phase, Caltheris will grow even stronger and transform into Caltheris the Needle. Caltheris deals much more damage in this phase, and her rocks will leave electrified purple clouds around the arena. Stepping into one of these is a death sentence, so plan your movement carefully.
After slowly whittling down Caltheris’ health bar, you’ll finally emerge victorious. Enjoy the final Astra Malorum cutscene!
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