Die Rise - Solo Strategy

Round 1

Your first objective is to reach 1,500 points before ending Round 1. Allow the first five Zombies to breach, and as they enter the spawn room, shoot each 8 times in the legs and then stab to kill. This yields 210 points per Zombie and should use-up your entire M1911 Pistol ammunition. Be extremely careful not to damage the last [sixth] Zombie in any way (including no collateral damage) – this is very important as the last Zombie will bleed out if it has been damaged. Fix one of the windows in the spawn room for a further 40 points. You should now have an empty pistol and 1,590 points if done correctly, and so provides a small buffer in case you miss a couple of your leg shots.

Stand in the Freight Elevator and allow it to fall down the lift shaft. Head straight through the hallway at the bottom to the open space on the right at the end, where you need to jump across to the next building.

Check the stands in the next room for a Sliquifier part (Disc), and then head into the room to the right. Open the double doors, for 750 points, to enable access to the Power Room.

Check the Power Room for two more parts of the Sliquifier – on a table near the power switch (Fire Extinguisher) or on a table near the elevators (Handbrake). Turn on the Power to activate the elevators. Grab one of the Sliquifier pieces, if available, and then wait until one of the two elevators is available to hop onto (it must be at the floor below for you to be able to get into the lift shaft on top of the elevator) and ride down to the floor below.

Once out of the elevator, check for Sliquifier parts in the cage next to the Workbench (Fire Extinguisher), on the ashtray opposite the Workbench (Disc), or by the fridge around the corner from the Workbench (Handbrake). Add all available Sliquifier parts to the Workbench and then wait until one of the elevators is available to hop onto to return to the floor above – note, the elevator will not stop at the floor above on the way up, so you have to push forwards and jump out of the elevator as it passes.

If there are any remaining Sliquifier parts on this floor, you’ll need to ferry them down to the Workbench on the floor below using the elevators, before acquiring the final part (Mannequin Foot).

Head out of the Power Room and open the door to the left for 750 points. Head through the doors and around to the right to the television area near the stairs – pick up the last Sliquifier part (Mannequin Foot) and head back to the Workbench on the floor below via the Power Room elevators. Pick up the Sliquifier as your second weapon.

•              M1911 Pistol

•              Sliquifier

Hop back into one of the elevators and ride it all the way up to the Rooftop. You’ll be basing yourself on the Rooftop for the next few rounds, so locate the final Zombie, once it re-spawns on the Rooftop, and stab-kill to finish the round.

Round 2

Familiarise yourself with the Rooftop area, as this is where you will base yourself until the end of Round 7.

Die Rise – Rooftop Area

Occupy the area shown with the green circle in the map layout above – next to the ‘Dragon Ramp’ – you’ll have a window behind you through which a small number of Zombies will breach – otherwise all other Zombies will spawn or breach in front of you, providing a spacious area – mapped out by the green arrows – in which to hold your ground.

For Round 2, allow Zombies to breach and stab twice to kill. If you obtain a Max Ammo, save your ammunition for Round 3, and continue to get the melee kills. At the end of the round, fix windows on the Rooftop for an additional 90 points.

Round 3

Continue to hold the Rooftop area next to the Dragon Ramp. You’ll be stabbing Zombies again this round, and will require three stabs per Zombie to kill. You will be more vulnerable during Round 3, than at any other point in the game, so take your time and do not rush. Stab once and retreat – if you get caught by the Zombie, hang back until you have recovered. Be methodical and concentrate on one Zombie at a time – there will be 13 Zombies during Round 3. If you get a Max Ammo, or got one during the previous round, feel free to empty a clip into the Zombies before you finish them off with stabs – but ensure you get the 130 points for the melee kill.

Leave one Zombie alive at the end of the round. Fix windows on the Rooftop for an additional 140 points, if possible. You should now have at least 3,000 points – even without any power-ups – which will enable you to obtain the Bowie Knife – head to the two elevators together that you rode up from the Power Room – you should be able to see the Bowie Knife wall-buy on the back wall of the elevator – wait until the elevator is at the floor below the rooftop and hop across to purchase the Bowie Knife for 3,000 points. Kill the last Zombie with your Bowie Knife to finish the round.

Round 4

Return to your base-point next to the Dragon Ramp on the Rooftop. Kill all Zombies with your Bowie Knife – if you have pistol ammunition, empty a clip or two into Zombies before you stab them for additional points. Leave a single Zombie alive at the end of the round and fix breached windows on the rooftop for additional points.

You want to identify where the Juggernog machine is located. Ideally, it will be situated in one of the two elevators together that you rode up from the Power Room (marked A and B on the layout above) – if it is, head there and purchase Juggernog for 2,500 points when the elevator reaches the rooftop.

If not, head down the stairs that face your camping spot until you reach the barrier (750 points) you will be able to see another elevator facing you (marked C on the layout above) – check whether Juggernog is located in this elevator – be careful not to get trapped against the barrier by the last remaining Zombies. You may have enough points to remove the barrier and purchase Juggernog (3,250 points), in which case do so. If you don’t have quite enough points, open the barrier and kill the last Zombie – return to purchase Juggernog as soon as you have 2,500 points and some space to move.

If Juggernog isn’t located below the rooftop, head up the Dragon Ramp to the Aerial. Drop off the ledge to your right, and head straight across the rooftop you land on. You will find yourself facing down into an enclosed rectangular area with another elevator (marked D on the layout above) – Juggernog will always be here if it isn’t at the other three Rooftop elevators. Drop down and purchase Juggernog – you’ll need to work your way back up to the rooftop by dropping off the ledge to the left (if you look down, you will see a matrass you can land on – this is the correct place to drop). You’ll be trapped in this area until you can open some doors to clear the route back, but you’ll have Juggernog and the Bowie Knife and it will be Level 5, so you shouldn’t have any trouble making your way back to your camping spot on the Rooftop.

•              M1911 Pistol

•              Sliquifier

•              Bowie Knife

•              Juggernog

Round 5, 6 or 7 [First Minion Round]

During Rounds 5, 6 or 7 you will have your first Minion Round. Thereafter, you will have a Minion round every 4 or 5 Rounds after the first. Minions look like Nova 6 Crawler Zombies but jump short distances as they approach. At the end of each Minion Round, you will be awarded a Max Ammo. However, if you kill all Minions with 100% bullet accuracy, you will also be awarded 2,000 points and a Random Perk bottle.

The easiest way to ensure 100% bullet accuracy is not to fire any bullets at all and just kill the Minions with your Bowie Knife – which will be a one-hit kill during the first two Minion Rounds. Find a corner to back yourself into, and crouch low to the floor – wait until the Minions are right next to you and stab them to kill.

Round 5, 6 and 7 [Zombie Rounds]

During the next few Zombies round, your objectives are to purchase Double Tap II, and rack-up as many points as possible. Double Tap II will be randomly located in one of the four elevators discussed above (you may have already located it whilst looking for Juggernog).

Use your Bowie Knife to kill all Zombies – if you have pistol ammunition from a Max Ammo, use it for additional points, but ensure you get the melee kills. At the end of the first of these rounds, leave one Zombie remaining and fix any breached windows on the Rooftop for additional points. Locate Double Tap II and purchase for 2,000 points. Return to your camp spot on the Rooftop and continue to kill Zombies until you are on Round 7 and ensure you leave one undamaged Zombie alive at the end of the round.

Head up the Dragon Ramp and drop off the ledge to your right. Purchase Semtex Grenades for 250 points. Drop back down into the central area and purchase Claymore Mines for 1,000 points. Now head back up to the top of the Dragon Ramp and jump across the open space into the adjacent building. You’ll be in a room facing another elevator – this one always contains Quick Revive, which you should purchase for 500 points when the elevator reaches this floor.

•              M1911 Pistol

•              Sliquifier

•              Bowie Knife

•              Semtex Grenades

•              Claymore Mines

•              Juggernog

•              Double Tap II

•              Quick Revive

•              Random Perk Bottle

To the right of the Quick Revive machine, is another open wall leading to matrasses below – you need to run and jump towards the matrasses to clear the space, where you will find yourself in the Upside-Down Building.

Head in to the left, then down the open, circular, space in the floor, and around to the bottom of the empty elevator shaft on the right, where the lightning sign is pointing down. Be extremely careful here, as you need to ensure you descend the shaft by moving between the ledges, as a fall directly to the bottom will cause your death.

At the bottom of the elevator shaft you can purchase the AN-94 for 1,200 points, replacing your M1911. Head out of the space and to the end of the corridor, where you’ll need to open a door on your right for 750 points. Head through the circular corridor to enter the Buddha room, which is where you’ll be camping from now on, except when you want to head back to the other building to upgrade your loadout:-

•              AN-94

•              Sliquifier

•              Bowie Knife

•              Semtex Grenades

•              Claymore Mines

•              Juggernog

•              Double Tap II

•              Quick Revive

•              Random Perk Bottle

Rounds 8 and 9 [Zombie Rounds]

You’ll spend Rounds 8 and 9 in the Buddha Room racking up some additional points. Familiarise yourself with the layout of this room, as you are going to spend the vast majority of your time down here (perched on a pole).

The room is a broad rectangular shape, with a balcony running along both of the longer sides. There is a broken column that reaches all the way up to the back balcony, and a second broken column that does not reach the front balcony (on the bottom of the map layout below). Jutting out from the left-hand side of the room (as shown on the map layout below) is a broken concrete girder that can be used to access the adjacent building. The broken column can be used to access the front balcony with the assistance of the Trample Steam, and can be used to funnel attacking Zombies to your front, as it cannot be attacked from the sides or rear – this is where you will spend quite a lot of your time once you begin camping this room from Level 10 onwards.

Die Rise – Buddha Room

You can run a loop around the Buddha Room, as indicated by the green arrow on the map layout above – this loop can be extended as indicated by the yellow arrows, to provide routes around Zombies that are blocking your path. You can also shorten the loop, using the alternate route indicated by the blue arrow once you would like to bunch Zombies closer together. It is also possible to run a broad figure-of-eight loop around the whole map. There is a lot of room to manoeuvre, so you should be able to find a route around the room under any circumstances.

However, for these two rounds, you’ll continue to use your Bowie Knife to maximise point gain so you can perch yourself at the top of the broken column that doesn’t reach the balcony and stab the Zombies as they approach. If you take a hit, drop off the back of the column and run one loop of the room before head straight back up the column to resume your camp. You shouldn’t have any problems using your Bowie Knife during these two rounds, and will end up with a nice amount of points to make improvements – make sure you leave one [undamaged] Zombie alive at the end of the round.

Jump from the broken concrete girder to the adjacent building – you will find yourself on a ledge that requires you to open a door to enter the building. Once inside, follow the turns to the left until you find yourself back in the corridor with the Workbench that you built the Sliquifier at, and the two elevators (A & B) that you used to reach the Rooftop. Head back up to the Rooftop and locate the Pack-a-Punch machine (at Elevators A, B, C or D) – upgrade you’re AN-94 for 5,000 points. Return to the centre of the Rooftop and head-up the Dragon Ramp and jump across to the adjacent building. Jump through the space on the right onto the matresses to access the upside-down part of the building. Head down the circular space and follow the room around to the right to locate the broken elevator shaft (with the electricity sign pointing downwards). This time, instead of using the ledges to descend the elevator shaft fully, drop down two ledges and look inside the building to locate the Galva-Knuckles wallbuy. Purchase this for 6,000 points and then descend to the bottom of the elevator shaft and return to the Buddha Room. Your loadout should now be:-

•              Actuated Neutralizer 94000

•              Sliquifier

•              Galva Knuckles

•              Semtex Grenades

•              Claymore Mines

•              Juggernog

•              Double Tap II

•              Quick Revive

•              Random Perk Bottle

Rounds 10 to 20 – Buddha Room [Zombie Rounds]

You can now begin to camp the broken column in the Buddha Room properly. Hold a position at the top of the broken column and have your Sliquifier ready. As soon as you see Zombies begin to approach the bottom of the column, shoot the Sliquifier at the base of the column to cover in goo. This will prevent the Zombies from climbing the pole to approach you and cause them to bunch at the bottom of the column. You can then pick-off the Zombies with your Actuated Neutralizer 94K. If you get bored of sitting on your perch, you can drop off the end and run a loop, or several loops around the Buddha Room – get used to doing this, as this will be your fall-back option [literally] once the levels get higher and you need to begin to preserve Sliquifier ammunition.

Second and Third Minion Rounds

For the second and third Minion rounds, just sit at the top of the broken column, crouch down (as it gives you a better angle to hit the Minions from) and hit the Minions with your Galva Knuckles once they land in close to your position – you may need to rotate a little to the left or right to get a clean hit, but you shouldn’t need to move at all. Using this technique will net you a further two Random Perk Bottles along with a neat 4,000 points – your loadout should now be:-

•              Actuated Neutralizer 94000

•              Sliquifier

•              Galva Knuckles

•              Semtex Grenades

•              Claymore Mines

•              Juggernog

•              Double Tap II

•              Quick Revive

•              Who’s Who

•              Speed Cola

•              Mule Kick

With a shed-load of points at your disposal, you next aim is to leave one [undamaged] Zombie alive at the end of the next Zombie round to enable you to complete your loadout.

Use the broken concrete girder to access the adjacent building and return to the Rooftop. Head to the top of the Dragon Ramp and jump back across. Now wait near the Quick Revive elevator and use this to return to the top of the spawn building. Follow the corridor around to the broken wall and drop down to the second floor of the spawn building. Head straight across this floor and down the escalator to the third floor of the spawn building – head straight out and across the outside of the building until you reach the [one-way] ramp that will slide you down to the upside-down building – take the slide down and you should land immediately in from of the Mystery Box, which will be on the ‘ceiling’ of the upside-down building.

Use the Mystery Box to obtain a decent third weapon – take the first weapon offered, and then keep spinning the Mystery Box trading-up any time you get a better weapon – you are aiming for one of the following weapons (obviously accept Monkey Bombs if they are offered):-

•              RPD

•              HAMR

•              Ray Gun Mark II

•              Ray Gun

Once you’ve obtained a decent third weapon, drop down the doorway in the right of the corridor and you will be back in the room with the circular hole in the floor. Drop down into the floor below and then descend the empty elevator shaft down to the Buddha Room. Use the broken concrete girder to access the adjacent building, and return to the rooftop – use the Pack-a-Punch machine to upgrade your third weapon and then climb the Dragon Ramp and return to the Buddha Room – your [optimum] final loadout should look as follows:-

•              Actuated Neutralizer 94000

•              Sliquifier

•              Relativistic Punishment Device [Upgraded Third Weapon]

•              Galva Knuckles

•              Monkey Bombs

•              Semtex Grenades

•              Claymore Mines

•              Juggernog

•              Double Tap II

•              Quick Revive

•              Who’s Who

•              Speed Cola

•              Mule Kick

Rounds 20 to 40 [Zombie Rounds]

Base yourself at the top of the broken column in the Buddha Room. As Zombies begin to approach the column, spray the bottom with the Sliquifier to prevent the Zombies from climbing the column and cause them to bunch at the base of the column. For the first group of each round, drop your Claymores at the base of the pole once the Zombies have begun to bunch, then slowly throw down your Semtex Grenades (if you have any) into the bunch of Zombies – shoot the first horde of Zombies with your Actuated Neutralizer 94000. Re-apply Sliquifier to the base of the broken column, and eliminate the next horde using your Sliquifier to chain-kill the full horde and hopefully pop some power-ups. Re-apply Sliquifier to the base of the broken column and use your Relativistic Punishment Device to eliminate the next horde of Zombies. If you should need to do so for any reason, drop off the back of the column and complete a slow, full loop of the Buddha Room before returning to the top of the broken column.

If a Max Ammo drops mid-round, drop off the back of the column and complete a slow, full loop of the Buddha Room before returning to the top of the broken column and grabbing the Max Ammo as you return – don’t forget to reload all your weapons as you complete your loop.

Ascension - Solo Strategy

Round 1

Wait downstairs in the Centrifuge area until Zombies breach. Shoot each Zombie three times in the chest and knife to kill. If two Zombies approach together, shoot six shots through both Zombies for additional [collateral damage] points. Fix both downstairs windows.

Round 2

Camp downstairs near the Lander site, and hold this position. Shoot each Zombie three to four times in the chest and knife twice to kill – make sure you maximise any opportunities for collateral damage. Unless you get a Max Ammo, you will run out of M1911 ammunition near the end of the round. Fix both downstairs windows and open the door next to the Quick Revive machine for 750 points. Purchase MPL wall-buy for 1,000 points. Return to the Lander site in the Centrifuge area.

NOTE

Any time you get a Max Ammo, up to the point at which you upgrade your M1911 Pistol to Mustang & Sally, ensure you completely use your pistol ammunition before you switch back to your SMG (MPL / MP5K), maximising opportunities for collateral damage, whenever possible.

Round 3

Continue to hold the Lander site downstairs in the Centrifuge area – this will enable you to cover the approach of Zombies from both downstairs windows, both ‘drop’ points from the balcony and the doorway to the MPL room. Shoot each Zombie with two individual shots from the MPL and knife to kill – if several Zombies approach together, just shoot a couple of the faster Zombies in the head to get the situation back under control. There is plenty of free space in the Centrifuge area to move around if you need a little additional time to pick-off the Zombies with knife kills. Fix both downstairs windows.

Round 4

Hold the Lander site for one final round, killing all Zombies as they approach. When time and space allow, shoot individual Zombies three times with the MPL and knife to kill, but feel free to pick-off faster Zombies with head-shots as multiple Zombies approach.

Towards the end of the level, create a crawler by throwing a grenade towards a group of Zombies – this is important, as you want to leave a single Zombie (crawler) alive at the end of the level, and crawlers are below the ‘hit level’ of the Centrifuge – this will prevent your Zombie from being killed before you finish your end-of-level tasks.

Fix both downstairs windows in the Centrifuge area. Fix the downstairs window in the MPL room and refill your MPL ammunition from the wall-buy for 500 points. Head straight back across the Centrifuge area and up the staircase to the balcony. Turn left at the top of the stairs and head towards the open window to fix. Open the door next to this window for another 750 points. Head left into the open area in the middle of the map, and open the gateway in the wall along the right-hand side of the area (the gateway has the power sign next to it) for 1,250 points – this will take you into a courtyard with a building on your right – head into this building and up two sets of stairs and you will find another door – open this for 1,000 points and head into the Power area – activate the power switch and head back out of the building, through the courtyard and into the open area in the middle of the map.

Check your current points total – if you have 2,500 points, re-trace your footsteps right back to the Centrifuge area and go to the MPL room (I find it easiest to follow the entire balcony round as you enter the top of the Centrifuge area, and use the open drop-off point at the end of the balcony – this will drop you next to the Quick Revive machine near the door to the MPL room. Head up the first set of stairs and into the alcove on the right – purchase Juggernog for 2,500 points and return to the open area in the middle of the map.

From the open area in the middle of the pack, head up the steps to the Lander site that looks over this area (the PHD Flopper machine is next to this area).

Round 5

You will be holding fort in the Lander site next to PHD Flopper for a long time, so familiarise yourself with the surroundings. There is a large open area around the Lander site that can be used to horde Zombies, steps down to the outside area along the front of the room from which the majority of Zombies will approach, a staircase up to a window [Zombie spawn] to the right of these steps and an open doorway to a short corridor on the opposite side of the room which contains the PHD Flopper machine and another window [Zombie spawn].

It is quite simple to gather Zombie hordes at the Lander site by running a clockwise elongated-circle around the edges of the room – just keep an eye on the three areas highlighted above and prepared to run a crescent around the Zombies if they are blocking your natural path. Once you have almost a full horde, you should be able to run full circles around the Lander site to bunch the horde and enable you to shoot your MPL into the Zombies for maximum points with minimum ammunition use.

Towards the end of the round, try and create a crawler with your grenades, leaving the crawler alive and killing all other Zombies. Head towards the Juggernog machine and purchase this (unless you did so at the end of Round 4). Purchase Quick Revive from the Centrifuge area. Head back to the open area in the middle of the map, and purchase an MP5K for 1,000 points (the wall-buy is next to the gate that leads to the power building). It is really important to swap out your MPL for the MP5K, as you are saving your M91911 Pistol to upgrade to Mustang & Sally. Head back to the PHD Flopper Lander site and kill the last Zombie.

Round 6 - First Space Monkey Round

Round 6 should be the first Space Monkey round – you will hear a siren and a voice say ‘Warning – reentry detected. All security personnel on high alert’ which announces the beginning of a Space Monkey round. Space Monkey rounds occur after you have turned on the Power and purchased your first Perk-a-Cola – they try and attack the Perk Machines for any Perks you have purchased – if successful, you will lose your Perk and need to re-purchase. At the moment, you should only have Juggernog and Quick Revive purchased. However, at any point in the game, these are the two Perks you want to concentrate on protecting (because they are your most important Perks, can be protected together, and because Quick Revive can only be purchased three times in a game).

As soon as the Space Monkey round begins, run as quickly as you can to the Centrifuge area and drop off the balcony near the Quick Revive machine. Hold a position between the Quick Revive machine and the doorway to the MPL room and look out across the Centrifuge area – all the Space Monkeys should approach from your front and should be easily killed using your MP5K at this round.

You should be awarded with a Max Ammo and Random Perk bottle at the end of the round – grab both power-ups and hope you get PHD Flopper from the Random Perk Bottle. Quickly head back to the Lander site near the PHD Flopper machine.

Rounds 7 to 10

For the next four rounds, you will be accruing points at the Lander site and building your loadout. Continue to gather hordes around the Lander site and kill with your MP5K. Towards the end of each round, create a crawler with your Grenades and kill the rest of the Zombies to provide time for your activities.

Your first target is 5,500 points to enable you to ride all three of the Lunar Landers. When you have at least 5,500 points at the end of the round, head through the open area in the centre of the map and towards the entry into the Centrifuge area. However, instead of turning left into the Centrifuge area continue straight onwards and open the Gate for 1,000 points to open the area with the Stamin-up machine. On the right of this area is another door, which you should open for 1,250 points into the Lander site – call the Lander and then activate the Lander for a further 250 points and ride the Lander back to the Centrifuge area.

Next head to the Power room – directly opposite the doorway into the Power room is another Gate that can be opened for 1,250 points head through this Gate and down the stairs, passing the hole in the wall and the Fire Escape stairs out to the left – follow around to the right and purchase the next door for another 1,250 points – head up to the next Lander site and ride this Lander back to the Centrifuge area for 250 points.

Finally, return to the Lander site near PHD Flopper – call the Lander and ride this back to the Centrifuge area for another 250 points. You can now go back to the Power room and activate the Launch switch (next to the Power Switch). Return to the PHD Flopper Lander site and kill your crawler to begin the next round.

Your second target is a further 5,000 points. Once you have accrued this many points at the end of a subsequent round, head up to the Power room, head through the Gate that leads to the second Lander site and this time head down the Fire Escape stairs that take you to the open area at the back of the map – follow the signs to the Pack-a-Punch machine and upgrade your M1911 Pistol to Mustang & Sally. Return to the PHD Flopper site and kill the last Zombie.

·         Mustang & Sally

·         MP5K

·         Juggernog

·         Quick Revive

·         + a Random Perk

Round 11 – Second Space Monkey Round

The second Space Monkey round should be even easier than the first. As soon as you here the announcer, sprint to the Quick Revive machine in the Centrifuge area. Use your Mustang & Sally to kill all the Space Monkeys that approach. Do not leave the Centrifuge area until you have finished the round – Space Monkeys will attack your Third Perk, but just leave them to it and concentrate on protecting Quick Revive and Juggernog. At the end of the round you will receive a Max Ammo – collect this, and head back to the Lander site near PHD Flopper. Purchase PHD Flopper for 2,000 points.

·         Mustang & Sally

·         MP5K

·         Juggernog

·         Quick Revive

·         PHD Flopper

Rounds 12 to 15

For the next four rounds, you will be accruing points at the Lander site to enable you to hit the Mystery Box after the next Space Monkey round. Keep your Mustang & Sally in-hand whilst you run loops around the Lander site to build your first horde of 24 Zombies. Swap to your MP5K and begin to kill the first horde of Zombies by aiming towards the necks of the closest Zombies (this approach will maximise headshots and collateral damage, and minimise ‘high shots’ missing your horde). Further Zombies will spawn in as you begin to eliminate Zombies from the first horde, so continue your loops to gather these in. As you continue to kill Zombies, you will notice the horde will reduce in numbers as you approach the end of the round – when you have about 8 Zombies left, bunch them tightly and shoot off a single grenade with Mustang & Sally – aim just to the side of the Zombies – to create some crawlers.

Round 16 Third Space Monkey Round

Follow the same strategy as for the second Space Monkey round, using your Mustang & Sally to kill the Space Monkeys as they approach the Quick Revive position in the Centrifuge. You will probably lose PHD Flopper using this strategy, so be careful when using Mustang & Sally that you shoot-off single grenades at a time, and ensure that you immediately re-purchase PHD Flopper at the end of the round.

Round 17 to 20

For the next four rounds, you’ll be continuing to build hordes around the PHD Flopper lander site and hitting the Mystery Box at the end of each round to complete your loadout.

As you are building your horde, use your MP5K to build points by spray-firing into the horde. When you need to re-fill your MP5K, ensure you have built a complete horde of 24 Zombies and bunch them tightly before sprinting out of the Lander site and down to the MP5K wall-buy. Stand by the window near the wall-buy, and watch as the Zombies stream down towards you in a neat line – at the last minute, before any Zombies reach you, cut left around the Zombies and sprint back up to the Lander site.

As you continue to kill Zombies, you will notice the horde will reduce in numbers as you approach the end of the round – when you have about 8 Zombies left, bunch them tightly and shoot off a single grenade with Mustang and Sally to create some crawlers – leave two crawlers alive and kill the remaining Zombies with your MP5K.

Head up to the Mystery Box in the Power room and spin the box to fill your loadout, but be careful to leave 5,000 points in reserve in case you get the Thundergun (which should replace your MP5K as your second weapon) to enable you to then purchase Mule Kick for 4,000 points and re-obtain the MP5K (as your third weapon).

Ignore all weapons from the Mystery Box apart from the following:-

Second Weapon

Swap this for your MP5K  once you obtain:-

·         Thunder Gun

Tactical Grenades

·         Gersch Devices

·         Matryoshka Dolls (stand-in  option)

Point Weapons

If you obtain these weapons, you can swap them out for MP5K as a temporary measure due to their power and ammunition reserves – once empty, you will need to replace this with the MP5K wall-buy for the full 1,000 purchase:-

·         AUG

·         Commando

·         Galil

·         HK21

·         RPK

At some point, the Mystery Box will re-locate – head to the open area in the centre of the map, look into the sky and slowly rotate to locate the new position of the Mystery Box. There are Mystery Box points close to each Lander site, each Perk-a-Cola machine and on the way towards the Pack-a-Punch. Once you have used your points completely, head back to the PHD Flopper lander site and kill the two crawlers to finish the round. Repeat the above process until you have completed your loadout, which should now look as follows:-

·         Mustang & Sally

·         Thunder Gun

·         MP5K (Point Weapon)

·         Gersch Devices (Matryoshka Dolls)

·         Juggernog

·         Quick Revive

·         PHD Flopper

·         Mule Kick

Round 21 Fourth Space Monkey Round

Continue to protect Quick Revive and Juggernog at all costs. You’ll lose PHD Flopper, Mule Kick and your MP5K by the end of the round, but 7,000 points shouldn’t be a problem to replace. Use your Thundergun ammunition (just remember to leave two in the clip, so you can completely fill your weapon at the end of the round). If you need to use Mustang & Sally, be cautious if you’ve already lost PHD Flopper. This shouldn’t be a problem. At the end of the round, return to the Lander site and re-purchase PHD Flopper.

Rounds 22 to 25 Zombie Rounds

You’ll now begin to run a figure-of-eight loops around the Lander site instead of full circular loops. Referring to the diagram below, begin each round in the area near the solid green circle; and follow the route indicated with green arrows – you can cut the corners short if Zombies are approaching from each of the three danger areas, as indicated by the yellow arrows.

At the start of Round 22, you’ll need to re-purchase Mule Kick and your MP5K. Collect a full horde of 24 Zombies - bunch them tightly and sprint down towards the MP5K and through the gate into the courtyard outside the power building. Spend 1,250 points to open the gate into the area that leads to the Pack-a-Punch and wait by the Fire Trap until the train of Zombies are close. Immediately sprint up the fire escape stairs and into the building – purchase Mule Kick for 4,000 points and run to opening where the wall is broken on the other side of the room. Jump out into the courtyard, run back through the gate and purchase an MP5K for 1,000 points. Quickly return to the Lander site to begin your strategy proper for the next four rounds.

Continue to build hordes at the Lander site using the figure-of-eight loops illustrated above, spray-firing your MP5K as you build each horde. At the start of any round you have Gersch Devices, use one of these to eliminate the first horde – these will be particularly useful in providing power-ups. Eliminate subsequent hordes using your Thundergun, ensuring the hordes are bunched tightly before you shoot. Take the time to re-fill your MP5K with ammunition each time you have collected a full horde, as you want to build a decent points buffer during this stage – look to have around 30,000 points in reserve, if possible.

There will only be 3 to 4 hordes per round at this stage, so you should have just enough Thundergun ammunition, at this stage to last you until towards the end of Level 25 without a Max Ammo. However, Round 25 is a good opportunity to upgrade your Thundergun to the Zeus Cannon for the additional ammunition reserves, which you will need for the set of rounds after the next Space Monkeys. At the start of Round 25, build your first horde, remembering to build points using your MP5K, when you have collected a full horde, head down to the MP5K wall-buy to re-fill your ammunition and return to the Lander site. Eliminate this horde using your Thundergun, unless you have Gersch Devices remaining (in which case use one of those). Repeat this process with two more full hordes – you should now have killed 72 Zombies, which should leave around 8 Zombies remaining. Bunch the final Zombies tightly, and shoot your Mustang and Sally into their centre to create a big bunch of crawlers. Grab some final points with your MP5K by shoot into the heads of each crawler until there are only two remaining.

This will allow you the opportunity to make the final updates to your loadout. Head out through the middle of the map and through the narrow corridor which leads to the Stamin-up area and take a right into the Junkyard Lander site – grab Claymore mines from the right wall for 1,000 points. Head back to the centre of the map and through the Power building to the third Lander site – grab the Sickle from the board next to the Lander site for 3,000 points. Now head back to the courtyard outside the power building and head to the Pack-a-Punch machine at the back of the map – upgrade your Thundergun to the Zeus Cannon for 5,000 points. Your final loadout should look as follows:-

·         Mustang & Sally

·         Zeus Cannon

·         MP5K

·         Gersch Devices

·         Claymore Mines

·         Sickle

·         Juggernog

·         Quick Revive

·         PHD Flopper

·         Mule Kick

Return to the PHD Flopper Lander site and kill the final two crawlers using a Claymore and [Multiple] Sickle stabs on each.

Round 26 Fifth Space Monkey Round

Sprint towards Quick Revive, activating the Automatic Turret in the centre of the map as you pass for 1,500 points. Drop your Claymore mines near the Quick Revive machine to slow down any loose Space Monkeys and hold the area in front of the MPL room. Fortunately you’ll have a full Zeus Cannon at this points, with a guaranteed Max Ammo at the end of the round, so practice using your Zeus Cannon to kill the Space Monkeys – you’ll generally need two shots from your Zeus Cannon – make sure you get up close and aim the Zeus Cannon directly at the Space Monkey. Don’t forget to shoot-off any spare shots in your clip before collecting the Max Ammo at the end of the round. At the end of the round return to the Lander site and re-purchase PHD Flopper.

Rounds 27 to 30 Zombie Rounds

Gersch / Zeus / Trap Strategy

This set of Zombie rounds will be very similar to the previous set. Collect the first horde at Round 27 and through the courtyard, this time wait near the gate and activate the Fire Trap just before the Zombies reach you. Head up the Fire Escape stairs, re-purchase Mule Kick and sprint quickly back to the Lander site, re-purchasing the MP5K as you pass the wall-buy. Remember this route, as we’ll be introducing the Fire Trap to our elimination methods this set of rounds, to help conserve Zeus Cannon ammunition for Space Monkeys.

You can now return to collecting hordes using the figure-of-eight loop, spray-firing your MP5K and then eliminating full hordes of Zombies. Each round, use a Gersch Device if you have any remaining, and then alternate between using your Zeus Cannon to eliminate the hordes, and using the Fire Trap following the route described above.

Round 31 Space Money Round

Sprint towards Quick Revive, activating the Automatic Turret in the centre of the map as you pass for 1,500 points. Drop your Claymore mines near the Quick Revive machine to slow down any loose Space Monkeys and hold the area in front of the MPL room. Use Mustang and Sally shots on the Space Monkeys as they approach from range, and then switch to your Zeus Cannon, if necessary, to finish them off. Don’t forget to shoot-off any spare Zeus Cannon shots in your clip before collecting the Max Ammo at the end of the round. At the end of the round return to the Lander site.

Rounds 32 to 35 Zombie Rounds

Follow a similar same strategy as in the previous set of rounds. This time, there is no need to re-purchase PHD Flopper, as we’ll be replacing Mustang & Sally with however, instead of re-purchasing Mule Kick, replace your Mustang & Sally with the MP5K for a point weapon – this will eliminate the need to re-purchase PHD Flopper and Mule Kick and should channel the Space Monkeys more quickly towards you during their subsequent rounds. You [reduced] loadout should now be:-

·         Zeus Cannon

·         MP5K

·         Gersch Devices

·         Claymore Mines

·         Sickle

·         Juggernog

·         Quick Revive

Start Round 32 using a Fire Trap, to enable you to swap out your Mustang and Sally for the MP5K on the return journey. Spray fire your MP5K as you gather your hordes to build points for power-up gain, and re-fill your ammunition each time you return from using the Fire Trap. Remember to use a Gersch Device each round you have one to benefit from power-ups and preserve ammunition. Alternate between using your Zeus Cannon and the Fire Trap to eliminate hordes, preserving around 12 Zeus Cannon shots for the next Space Monkey round.

Rounds 36, 41, 46, 51, 56 etc

Space Monkeys

Sprint to the Quick Revive machine, turning on the Automatic Turret in the centre of the map as you pass. Drop Claymore Mines by the Quick Revive machine to slow down loose Space Monkeys that approach from the side. Use your Zeus Cannon up close to kill the Space Monkeys. You may be awarded a Random Perk Bottle at the of the rounds as well as the Max Ammo, which can be picked-up for general utility but shouldn’t ever be protected in subsequent round.

Rounds 37 to 50

Zombie Rounds

Gersch / Zeus / Trap Strategy

Continue to follow the strategy oulined for Rounds 32 to 35. Make sure you preserve at least 12 Zeus Cannon shots for the next Space Monkey round.

Rounds 52+

Zombie Rounds

Two Trap Strategy

By the time you pass Round 50, the number of hordes per round will have increased to the point where your Zeus Cannon ammunition will be insufficient, even when combined with your Gersch Devices and the Fire Trap outside the power building. We’ll now adopt a Two-Trap Strategy to kill the majority of the Zombies, although we’ll continue to fire-off a Gersch Device each round we can for power-ups and speed, and use spare Zeus Cannon ammunition whenever possible. We’ll lead one set of Zombies to the Fire Trap outside the power building and use the Fire Escape stairs to return to the Lander site. We’ll then build a second horde and lead them towards the Stamin-up room – as you pass through the narrow corridor into the Stamin-up room, activate the Fire Trap and turn to face the Zombies – as soon as the last Zombie has passed through the Trap and died, spint-jump through the Fire Trap whilst it is still active, and hang to the right of the narrow corridor as you sprint back towards the Lander site, taking particular care as you pass the window on the left as two Zombies will probably jump out just as you pass.

This strategy should be sufficient at whatever round you manage to survive to.

MISCELLANEOUS LATE-GAME INFORMATION

Recovering from a Down [Later Stages]

At some point, you’ll need to recover from a down during the later stages of the game - don’t shoot any Zombies whilst you are down – this will just lead to more Zombies spawning from lots of different places as you try to re-purchase your Perks. Once you recover, head straight down through the centre of the map and sprint to the Quick Revive machine to purchase (if still available) and then quickly head up to the Juggernog machine and re-purchase – you want be able to return via the MPL room and the Centrifuge because the horde will be right behind you, so you’ll need to head up the stairs in the Juggernog room and open the door at the top, which leads to the bottom floor of the power room – you should now be able to sprint back to the Lander site and begin to gather your horde back in.

Opening the door at the top of the Juggernog room will have advantages and disadvantages. You’ll now be in a position to train a horde around the map via the Centrifuge and return to the Lander site without re-tracing your steps. However, Space Monkeys will now be able to attack Juggernog via the top route, which is going to make it difficult to protect Juggernog and Quick Revive at the same time. Prioritise protecting Quick Revive whilst the machine is still on the map – if the Juggernog machine is being attacked, ensure you have killed any Space Monkeys in the Centrifuge area and quickly sprint up to Juggernog to kill the offending Space Monkey and then head straight back down to the Quick Revive machine – dropping a few Claymore Mines around the Quick Revive machine helps to slow down the approach of Space Monkeys as they take a second or two to explode them. If you lose Juggernog, take particular care not to go down, and re-purchase Juggernog at the end of the round.

At some point, you’ll purchase your third Quick Revive and the machine will disappear from the map – this will re-simplify the Space Monkey rounds, as you’ll be able to base yourself just outside the Juggernog machine and protect it from Space Monkeys approach from both the top and bottom routes – at the start of the round, I like to drop a Claymore at the top of the stairs leading down and the bottom of the stairs leading up.

POWER-UPS

Max Ammo

These are your fuel during the later stages of the game. Fortunately you’ll be guaranteed at least one every five rounds after each Space Monkey round. Will provide you with a full complement of Gersch Devices and completely re-fill your Zeus Cannon.

Nuke

Great as an extra way to kill-off a horde of Zombies – you’ll probably be picking this up just after you’ve used a Gersch Device, so you won’t have a horde gathered – complete your loops, avoiding the Nuke, until it begins to flash and then grab it – the full horde of Zombies should have spawned by that point, even if they haven’t reached the Lander site.

Insta Kill

These are pretty useful as an additional way to kill of some Zombies. Again, you’ll probably get one of these after eliminating a horde with a Gersch Device, so approach the front of the Lander site and throw some [standard] Grenades out into the middle of the map. Then switch to your MP5K and thin out the next horde with you point weapon for fun.

Double Points

Of little use during the later stages of the game, when points and point-gain will not really be an issue. No need to avoid these, as you can rack-up some additional point-gain with you MP5K whilst it is active, which should help out with Power-ups the next time you use a Gersch Device.

Carpenter

Avoid these unless they are directly in your path. The 200 points gained are a drop in the ocean at the late stage of the game, and the window boards will slow down the formation of your next horde, which is counter-productive.

Death Machine

These are actively negative once you reach Rounds 50+. The Death Machine will slow you down, prevent you from sprinting, and does not have enough power to easily kill Zombies at that stage – actively avoid.

Fire Sale

You should have your loadout completed, but feel free to spin the Mystery Box as you loop around the Lander site – you can swap out your point weapon if you fancy changing the scenery, but do not under any circumstances take any risks with one of these.