How to get Aether Blade in Black Ops 6 Zombies Reckoning

Black Ops 6 Zombies' new map, Reckoning, is packed with hidden secrets, and one of the most notable is the Aether Blade Easter egg. If you played Modern Warfare 3 Zombies, you may already be familiar with the powerful item, and it returns in BO6 Zombies as a hidden Easter egg. This item cannot be obtained in other Zombies maps and requires completing the Easter egg per match to acquire it.

For those unfamiliar, the Aether Blade is a throwable lethal equipment. It guarantees three zombie kills with each throw, regardless of aim. After being thrown, it automatically returns to you, and once the five-second cooldown ends, it can be used again.

This article will provide a detailed guide on how to complete the Aether Blade Easter egg in Black Ops 6 Zombies' new map, Reckoning.

How to complete the Aether Blade Easter egg in Black Ops 6 Zombies Reckoning?

The Aether Blade Easter egg requires the Mister Peeks Field Upgrade in Black Ops 6 Zombies. At the launch of the Reckoning map, this upgrade was not available, making the Easter egg impossible to complete. Now that the Field Upgrade has been added, you can unlock the Aether Blade. Keep in mind, though, that if you are playing in a squad, only one player will be able to acquire it.

1) Find and place all three paintings

All three painting locations (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Activision)

Start a match in Reckoning and complete the guided quests until you activate the Pack-a-Punch machine. Once this is done, you need to find three paintings scattered across the map.

Painting 1: Located in the T1 Project Janus Reception, inside the room with the red teleporter. You’ll find it on the north wall beside a metal cupboard.
Painting 2: Found in the T2 Android Assembly, near the anti-gravity launcher. It is leaning against a pillar with a yellow caution sign.
Painting 3: Located in the T2 Sublevel 10 area, where the Pack-a-Punch machine is found. On the north side, to the left of the GobbleGum machine.

Now that you know the painting locations, remember you can only carry one painting at a time, and each must be placed in a specific spot. The room where all three paintings need to be hung is the Director’s Office, where the Arsenal machine is located. Place all three paintings here to progress to the next step.

2) Locate the safe

Use Mr Peeks Field Upgrade near the painting (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Activision)

Once that’s done, make sure your Mister Peeks Field Upgrade is charged. Head to the room with the red teleporter, and just to the left of it, you’ll find another painting hung on the wall. Approach it and activate Mister Peeks. When he spawns, he will drop the painting, revealing a hidden safe. The next part of the puzzle is to find the safe’s key.

3) How to collect the safe key

Navigate the ARC-XD car to the purple crystal (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Activision)

To obtain the key, first gather 1,000 Salvage and then go to a Crafting Table to purchase an ARC-XD car. Then head to the T2 Dark Entity Containment area, where the Forsaken is located. Move downstairs and look for a set of consoles. To the left of these consoles, you’ll see a small cutout in the metal frame.

Activate the ARC-XD car and navigate it through this small opening. Continue until you reach a purple crystal, then drive the ARC-XD close and detonate it. After the explosion, a purple orb will appear, floating upward and creating crystals on the wall along its path before disappearing.

Collect the key and open the safe (Image via Sportskeeda Gaming || Activision)

Your task now is to destroy all the purple crystals it left behind. Once you break the final crystal, the safe key will drop. Collect the key, return to the safe, and interact with it to open it. Inside, you’ll finally find the Aether Blade.

Also read: Reckoning main quest Easter Egg walkthrough - Black Ops 6 Zombies guide

That covers everything there is to know about how you can complete the Aether Blade Easter egg in Black Ops 6 Zombies Reckoning.

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About the author

Animesh has been a Call of Duty writer at Sportskeeda for close to two years. A fervent enthusiast of the iconic Mario Bros. franchise and several first-person shooter games, his love for gaming pushed him to merge his passion and profession, and eventually land a writing job in the genre. When creating content, he prioritizes quality and accuracy over speed, verifying multiple official sources. This has helped his meticulous first-person shooter guides garner over two million reads.

Although Animesh holds a Master’s degree in Commerce, he would willingly go back to school; just as long as the school is Hogwarts, so he can jump into the world of spell-casting and fly on broomsticks. He admires gamers Shroud and Beaulo, and would recommend story-driven games like Red Dead Redemption, Skyrim, and Far Cry 3 for their captivating narratives and deep player engagement.

Animesh also enjoys multiplayer games such as Valorant, Apex Legends, and Warzone. When he keeps his controller aside, he plays football and badminton, reads books, and cooks.

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Edited by Animesh Talukdar