Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies fans recently saw a big info drop for 115 Day, and one of the highlights was the confirmation of a new perk. Originally teased on New Year’s Day, Tombstone has officially been confirmed to return to Call of Duty Zombies. While the perk was heavily memed upon its introduction in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, it boasts some powerful new abilities in its latest appearance.
Previously only serving as a way for Zombies fans to reclaim their loadouts upon respawning, Tombstone in Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War serves as a vastly improved version of the original. While the perk’s classic function remains intact, it also sees the effects of another disappointing perk added onto its skillset — with the combination resulting in a solid addition to Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s powerful drinks. While Tombstone will still not be surpassing Juggernog as a fan favorite, it certainly looks like it will serve as a great addition to any player’s repertoire.
Tier 1: Who’s Who?, But Better
Intriguingly, the default level of Tombstone is nothing like Tombstone at all. Instead, the perk starts off with the exact skillset of the Who’s Who? perk from Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. Introduced in the cult classic map Die Rise, Who’s Who? allowed players to become a copy of themselves when downed. Equipped with only a pistol, players were tasked with reviving themselves to reclaim their weapons and perks — a situation that almost always led to death.
Forcing low-health players to pull off a revive with no form of self-defense, the perk was heavily panned upon its release. However, Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War improves upon the mechanics of Who’s Who?, giving players their weapons while stuck in “shadow form.” While they will still die if killed in this state, asking players to get to their body for a revive is now far fairer than it originally was. Unlocking Tier 1 of Tombstone also allows players to regenerate health in shadow form, making the revive process a bit easier.
Tier 2: A Multi-Purpose Benefit
If players spend their Aetherium Crystals on the second upgrade Tier for Tombstone, down duration will be boosted to 60 seconds. Doubling the time that players can be downed is a major plus, as it gives them more time to get to their bodies. If players are lacking a weapon to defend themselves while in shadow form, they can make use of this extended down time to make a full trek around the map and train up the Zombies behind them — providing a brief window for a sneaky self-revive.
Apart from self-revives, though, extra time in a downed state has a major benefit in co-op. With Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Die Maschine map being fairly large, and the upcoming Firebase Z location likely to be similar in size, it can be hard for teammates to get to a downed player within the default time limit. However, purchasing the Tombstone perk can make revives far more feasible, as players can easily make the journey from one side of the map to the other in 60 seconds. Beyond making co-op revives easier, a final benefit of Tombstone’s second tier makes players less likely to lose all their perks when downed, as the timer to every perk loss will now tick down slower.
Tier 3: Classic, Old Fashioned Tombstone
The final Tier of Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War’s Tombstone perk gives it the functionality of the original. When players fully bleed out in co-op games, they will drop a Tombstone upon death. If their teammates survive the round, the once-deceased zombie slayers can return to their place of death to pick up the Tombstone. Once collected, players will instantly reclaim all their “weapons, equipment, and resources,” allowing them to get right back into the fight as if they had never died.
While this final Tier is only effective in co-op play, its addition is welcome. Considering that players lose their salvage when dying, coming back from an untimely demise during high rounds is a major pain. With salvage required for armor, players are incredibly weak without their resources, making a comeback from death an insurmountable obstacle for most Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War Zombies players. As such, Tombstone will be a must-have perk, as it gives players a chance to return on any round —provided they have good enough teammates to survive on their own for a while first.
Though Tombstone worked perfectly fine in its debut on the Zombies map TranZit, there was little that made it a must-have perk. However, with the added functionality of Who’s Who? and no limit on how many perks players can have in the latest version of Zombies, Tombstone is already more interesting than it ever was before.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.