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CoD WW2 Zombies Pack-A-Punch Guide - How to Upgrade Weapons, How to Unlock the Upgrade Station

Nazi Zombies are back in CoD WW2, and we've got all the tips and tricks you need to make it to the highest round possible, including all the Blitz Upgrade Locations, the best weapons, and how to build the Tesla Gun.

In CoD WW2 Zombies mode, you're going to want to upgrade your weapons using the Pack-a-Punch machine, if you want to stand a hope of surviving the higher rounds of the endless horde mode. In this CoD WW2 Zombies Pack-a-Punch guide, we'll be revealing how to upgrade your weapons in CoD WW2 Zombies, walking you through the method that's quite a bit more complex than you might think, and will take you on a huge tour of the Final Reich map.

If you instead needed anything else relating to the Zombies mode of Call of Duty: WW2, including a description and location of all the Blitz upgrades in the mode, as well as how to acquire the Tesla gun, head over to our CoD WW2 Zombies guides walkthrough hub.

CoD WW2 Zombies - How to Upgrade Weapons Using Pack-a-Punch

The Pack-a-Punch upgrade machine in CoD WW2's Zombies mode is far more hidden away than it was in previous iterations of Call of Duty. To unlock the upgrade machine in this version of Nazi Zombies, you're basically going to have to open up the entire map, saving up Jolts to open new area like the Tower, Command Room, and the Sewers.

The Pack-a-Punch weapon upgrade station is located in the sewers section of the Final Reich map, so you're going to have to turn on the power, clear out the sewers using the fire trap, and make it to the Command Room before you can even think about unlocking the Pack-a-Punch machine for use by your team.

Turning all three lights green will bring you closer to turning on the power.

To turn on the power, you'll want to find the Generator with three red lights in the area just outside the main bunker door, and follow all three leads running away from it, until you can turn three valves and turn all the red lights green. Next, drop down into the Sewers through the fire trap, and run back up to the gate next to the bunker door, where you can push a button and turn the bigger generator on. Now spend Jolts to open up the gate, and activate the fire trap.

After you've activated the fire trap to clear out the Sewers, you'll need to run all the way down to the sewers, and the quickest route to get there is the one that takes you past the pub near the bridge, and down to near the waterfront, where you can open up a door into the sewers for 1,500 Jolts. Next, you're going to want to look for three open pipes in the following locations:

  • Inside the Command Room
  • Under the tower, past the pub
  • Inside the Laboratory

The pipes that you're looking for in the following locations look exactly like the ones pictured just below. It's useful to unlock the pipes, since for just 250 Jolts you can essentially fast travel around the Final Reich map. Once you've activated one of the pipes and transported yourself through one of them, you'll need to hit the red button right near the end of the pipe in the sewers.

You'll need to find and transport yourself through all three pipes, and hit the red buttons straight after, for the Pack-a-Punch machine to fully unlock for you. Fear not, you can't miss the Pack-a-Punch machine, and chances are you've already seen it; it's underneath the big cage in the center of the Sewers, where zombies frequently spawn out of the ground.

So, once you've hit all three red buttons to turn them green and unlock the Pack-a-Punch weapon upgrade station, it's finally time to upgrade a weapon. To do this, you'll have to equip the weapon you want to upgrade, and activate the Pack-a-Punch machine, spending 5,000 Jolts to permanently uprgade your weapon. Bear in mind that a weapon takes roughly ten seconds to upgrade in the machine, so it's best to do it the moment a round of Nazi Zombies ends.

Once you have upgraded one of your weapons, you'll immediately notice the nice bonuses that it now has. An upgraded weapon will have an increased magazine size, an increased amount of stored ammunition, will deal more damage, and will have a light blue aura to it. Once you've upgraded a weapon using the Pack-a-Punch machine, you don't have to worry about it becoming ineffective as the horde of Nazi Zombies become stronger, as it'll keep pace with them as they become tougher.

CoD WW2 Zombies Best Weapons to Upgrade

Just below, we've compiled a brief list of some of the weapons that we think are best suited to the upgrade feature in Nazi Zombies, given that upgraded weapons get a boost in both magazine size and firepower.

  • MG 42 - While slow to reload, this heavy weapon boasts fantastic damage to base zombies, even in the later waves as the zombies themselves grow tougher.
  • BAR - You'll always want a weapon that fires and reloads fairly quickly, while putting out solid damage, and the BAR is a great option for this.
  • M1 Garand - The Garand might be slow firing, but it deals excellent damage to the base zombies, especially if you manage to land a headshot.
  • Type 100 - It might not deal great damage, but the Type 100 is one of the quickest firing weapons in the game, and you can always head back to the starting area if you need to pick up more ammo.
  • MP 40 - This sub-machine gun doesn't sacrifice speed for power, boasting both in fairly solid statistics.

Now that you know how to find and unlock the Pack-a-Punch machine in CoD WW2's Zombies mode, make sure to co-ordinate your team to reach the sewers and activate the pipes as soon as possible, as you'll want to get your hands on some upgraded weapons as quickly as possible.

If you're here as part of the method to unlock the final Panzermorder boss in the Nazi Zombies mode, then make sure to continue ahead to our Panzermorder boss guide, or head over to our Operation Shamrock and Awe event guide for all you need to know about the latest Community Event for Call of Duty: WW2.