At this point, it should come as no surprise that the zombies mode in Black Ops’ COD: Cold War will be a deep, complex, and challenging mode on par with the previous entries. Each game has only been based on the simple concept of the mode with more and more mechanics, and now we know that Cold War’s zombie mode will include a new resource called aetherium crystals. If you’re looking to reach the final levels of this new zombie experience, you and your team will want to know all about what aetherium crystals do, and how to obtain them, before the undead assault you.
Simply put, the new aetherium crystals are a resource that, at the moment, appears to only be included in Black Ops Cold War’s zombies mode and are a necessary currency to enhance your abilities and perks. In previous iterations of the zombies mode, cash was the only currency you had to keep track of and could be spent at specific locations to purchase your perks and weapons.
Now based on the information we have, you will need these new aetherium crystals if you want to upgrade perks, such as the Elemental Pop perk that Treyarch used as an example. This perk, which gives every bullet you fire a chance to get a random ammo modifying effect, can be upgraded from level one to level three.
Level one gives team damage a chance to also apply an ammo mod effect; level two reduces the cooldown of the ammo mod by 20%; Level three makes any ammo mod effects use your current skill level instead of just the base effect.
Each perk will have its own unique updates to experiment with, and new perks are even planned for the post-launch game. Aside from the perks, field upgrades, ammo mods, and weapon classes will also be upgraded with these aetherium crystals.
Considering how vital updates are to all COD zombie iterations, you’ll want as many as you can. While the details are still vague, we know that you will get these crystals by reaching specific rounds in the mode and filtering the game alive after playing at least ten rounds. Any update you make will be permanent, so every time you earn enough to update something, it will pay off in the long run.
There are six confirmed perks that will be available at launch, all of which you will need to upgrade using your collected Aetherium crystals. While all but Elemental Pop will be familiar to zombie veterans, some seem to be nerfed at the base level.
