Astra Malorum: Complete Black Ops 7 Zombies Easter Egg Guide

Astra Malorum is the first major story Easter Egg quest in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Zombies, set on a sprawling space observatory filled with laboratories, archives, and strange cosmic machinery. This guide walks you through every step required to complete the main quest, from powering the map and unlocking Pack-a-Punch to defeating the final boss and watching the ending cutscene.

All directions, room names, and objectives are based on the in-game layout of Astra Malorum but organized in a fresh, streamlined way to help you clear the quest as efficiently as possible, whether you are playing solo or in co-op.

Quick Overview of the Astra Malorum Easter Egg

Before diving into the detailed walkthrough, it helps to understand the broad phases of the Astra Malorum Easter Egg. At a high level, you will:

• Turn on power and unlock Pack-a-Punch through the observatory system.
• Assemble the Harmonic Oculus to stabilize the facility and start the main quest.
• Hunt parts and solve environmental puzzles in rooms like Machina Astralis, the Luminarium, and the Archive of Orbis.
• Eliminate the roaming threat O.S.C.A.R. using three different trap methods, unlocking a key quest item.
• Retrieve and process a scientist’s brain to power the Perfusion Machine.
• Resolve cosmic alignment puzzles, book-count challenges, and symbol sequences to unlock the final arena.
• Face the final boss, using charged pillars and environmental hazards to finish the fight.

Most steps can be completed in any order once unlocked, but this guide lays them out in a logical progression that minimizes backtracking and confusion.

Phase 1: Power, Pack-a-Punch, and Basic Setup

The quest cannot be started until the map is fully powered and Pack-a-Punch is online. Treat this phase as your foundation: gather points, acquire a solid weapon, and open key routes.

Turn on Power and Find the Harmonic Oculus

From spawn, your early priorities are:

• Open doors that lead toward the Observatory Dome, the central control space with a large telescope and consoles.
• Locate the main power switch or console and activate it to restore electricity to the observatory.
• Identify the Harmonic Oculus frame in the Observatory Dome. This device becomes the heart of your Pack-a-Punch and quest progression.

Once power is on, interact with the Harmonic Oculus. You’ll discover it is missing components, which you must retrieve from other sections of the map.

Recover Harmonic Oculus Components

Two key parts are required:

• First component: Search the Machina Astralis area—a chamber dominated by a model of a solar system. A quest-specific object, often appearing near a corpse or apparatus, will be clearly interactable.
• Second component: Head to the Luminarium, a research wing with a projector and containment equipment. Look for another highlighted object near a dead scientist or experimental setup.

Return both components to the Harmonic Oculus and install them. This triggers a short defense sequence while the device powers up. Hold the area, eliminate incoming zombies, and avoid getting trapped by the telescope platforms.

Unlock Pack-a-Punch

Once the defense completes, Pack-a-Punch will arrive in the Observatory Dome, often accompanied by visual effects like a descending machine. From this point, you can:

• Pack-a-Punch your main weapon as soon as you can afford it.
• Apply ammo mods at Arsenal stations (e.g., CryoFreeze), which are vital for later steps.
• Begin working on Easter Egg-specific weapon upgrades and parts.

With power and Pack-a-Punch online, you are ready to formally begin the Astra Malorum main quest.

Phase 2: Vehicle, Tools, and Main Quest Activation

This phase focuses on unlocking support tools and fully activating the main quest logic. You will work with a small vehicle in spawn, collect special tools, and gain access to the scientist’s cryopod.

Upgrade the Spawn Vehicle

In the starting area, you will find a compact vehicle (often nicknamed by the community). You’ll need to repair it by collecting parts scattered around the facility:

• Front component: Generally located in a mid-tier room reachable after power. Look for an interactable engine part or panel on a bench.
• Side or internal component: Found deeper in the research wing or machine halls, again highlighted when you are nearby.
• Battery: After Pack-a-Punch is unlocked, return to spawn and shoot the front bonnet of the vehicle with a Pack-a-Punched weapon. The hood will pop open, revealing a car battery part to collect.

Install all three parts on the vehicle. Besides narrative significance, this often ties into the mid-quest objectives, granting you access to later steps and confirming that the main Easter Egg logic is active.

Obtain the Bone Saw and Cryo Key

Further into the quest, you will need a bone saw and a cryo key to access the brain of a key scientist:

• The bone saw usually appears after you have progressed several Easter Egg steps and interacted with special containers or tool racks.
• The cryo key is awarded for completing a focused mini-event, such as shooting a specific sequence of objects, surviving a lockdown, or interacting with a hidden console once the map is stable.

Keep an eye out for directional audio cues and on-screen prompts, as they indicate when these items become available.

Phase 3: Defeating O.S.C.A.R. Three Ways

O.S.C.A.R. is a persistent enemy that can sense players and roam the map. To advance the main quest, you must eliminate it in three distinct ways using specialized traps. You can complete these kills in any order, but the sequence below is efficient and easy to follow.

Sunbeam Trap in the Observatory Dome

For the first method, you’ll use the observatory’s telescope to focus a powerful solar beam:

1. Return to the Observatory Dome and interact with the Harmonic Oculus again.
2. Look for several smoking devices or boxes around the room. Shoot all of them in quick succession. If done correctly, the telescope system will activate.
3. Use the telescope’s viewfinder to locate and center the sun. When aligned, you will be forced out of the viewfinder, and an orange beam will cut through the room.
4. Lead O.S.C.A.R. through the beam. Time it so O.S.C.A.R. is standing inside the beam’s path when it fires, destroying him.

Luminarium Drone Trap

The second method involves an energy overload in the Luminarium:

1. Head to the Luminarium and locate the projector-style device in the center of the room.
2. Interact with the projector to initiate a lockdown. The room will seal, and hostile drones will appear around the perimeter.
3. Bring O.S.C.A.R. into the Luminarium before or during the lockdown. The trap is free the first time you use it.
4. Destroy the drones as quickly as possible to fill the Battery Overcharge bar on your HUD.
5. Once the bar is full, the system will discharge, overloading O.S.C.A.R. and destroying him again.

Absolute Zero Crystal Rocket Trap

The final method uses a cryogenic trap powered by special crystals:

1. Go to an Arsenal station and equip the CryoFreeze ammo mod on a reliable weapon.
2. Search the map for glowing purple Aether crystals. Shoot them with the CryoFreeze weapon to produce Absolute Zero Fragments.
3. Collect three fragments in total, checking your HUD to verify you have all three.
4. When O.S.C.A.R. spawns on a later round, lure him toward the Museum Infinitum or rocket area.
5. Destroy the UFO-like devices attached to O.S.C.A.R. to weaken him.
6. Interact with the rocket at the designated console. At the back of the rocket, three crystal shards will form a freezing field.
7. Lead O.S.C.A.R. into the crystal field and keep him inside until the countdown ends, triggering a devastating chill that destroys him for the third time.

After the third trap kill, a quest item (often tied to cryogenic control) will appear, allowing you to progress to the brain retrieval stage.

Phase 4: Brain Retrieval and Perfusion Machine

This section involves some of the most memorable moments in Astra Malorum: opening a cryopod, extracting a brain, and powering a machine that anchors later puzzles and the final encounter.

Open the Cryopod and Extract the Brain

Travel back to Machina Astralis. Off to one side of this chamber is a smaller room housing a cryopod.

• Interact with the cryopod using the cryo key to unlock and reveal the body inside.
• Use the bone saw on the exposed head. A short animation plays in which you remove the scientist’s brain (commonly referred to as Dr. Fen’s or Dr. Thurston’s brain depending on in-game naming).
• Pick up the brain when prompted.

Activate the Perfusion Machine

Next, head to the Luminarium or a nearby lab where a jar-shaped device—the Perfusion Machine—is waiting.

• Place the brain into the jar by interacting with it.
• A short survival challenge starts, usually lasting about a minute. Hold your ground and keep zombies from overwhelming you.
• After the timer ends, interact again to fully connect the Perfusion Machine to the facility’s systems. Hold the interaction button until the linking process completes.

This machine is now central to later steps, including puzzle inputs and the final boss vote.

Phase 5: Book, Planet, and Direction Puzzles

With the brain and Perfusion Machine active, you must solve a series of knowledge and alignment puzzles. These take place mainly in the Archive of Orbis and Machina Astralis, and involve counting books, adjusting busts, and realigning planets based on directional notes.

Archive of Orbis Book and Bust Puzzle

The Archive of Orbis is a multi-level library with shelves of books and metal busts:

1. First, locate five distinct books tied to the quest. Interact with them to note their titles or visual markings.
2. Search the three bookshelves in the Archive and count how many times each special book appears across all shelves.
3. Each bookshelf has a bust at its base that can be rotated. The number of times a given book appears correlates with a rotation or facing for that bust.
4. Translate the counts into rotations (for example, 1 = facing forward, 2 = facing right, etc.), then rotate each bust accordingly.
5. When all busts are correctly aligned, you will hear an audio confirmation and often see an environmental change or receive another quest marker.

Planet Direction Notes and Solar System Alignment

Next comes the cosmic alignment challenge in Machina Astralis:

1. Across the map, find several notes pinned on walls or terminals. Each note references a specific planet in the solar system model and a direction (e.g., north, southeast, etc.).
2. Record the directions carefully. Each planet-note pair defines how that planet should be positioned around the central sun in the Machina Astralis model.
3. Return to the Machina Astralis room and interact with the planets. You can rotate them around their orbit to match the directions indicated in your notes.
4. Once every planet is aligned to its correct direction, the solar system will lock into place, and the quest will advance to the protective phase with UFO projectiles.

Defend the Central Structure from UFO Attacks

With the planets aligned, a new challenge occurs in the Machina Astralis chamber:

• Interact with the brain apparatus linked to the solar system to start the defense.
• O.S.C.A.R. remotely launches UFO-like projectiles toward the central structure.
• Your goal is to shoot down these UFOs before they collide with the structure. Audio cues and visual indicators help you track incoming shots.
• Survive until the sequence completes; you will hear an audio cue and often see a visual effect on the central device confirming success.

Phase 6: Final Boss Fight and Ending

The last phase pits you against a multi-stage boss, often referred to as Calferis, in a unique arena. The Perfusion Machine and zombie souls are central mechanics during this battle.

Entering the Boss Arena

With all prior steps complete, interact with the brain-linked machine (often in Machina Astralis):

• Hold the interaction button to vote for the boss fight. All players in co-op must agree.
• Once accepted, you are transported into a new arena featuring tall pillars, open spaces, and environmental hazards.

Boss Fight Structure and Tactics

The fight is broken into several phases, but the core loop is consistent:

1. Charge the pillars: On each side of the arena are tall pillars that can absorb zombie souls. Kill zombies anywhere in the arena; their souls automatically flow into the currently active pillar.
2. Fire the brain laser: Once a pillar is fully charged, interact with the brain-linked device in the arena. After a brief channel time, a beam will fire at the boss, removing a chunk of its health.
3. Alternate pillars: Repeat this process with the opposite pillar, and then again as the boss transitions to later phases.
4. Avoid laser grids and adds: The boss deploys sweeping lasers, mimics, and standard zombies. Constant movement, powerful Pack-a-Punched weapons, and coordinated crowd control are vital for survival.

Maintain good ammo economy by using wallbuys or support streaks if available. In co-op, designate one player to focus on crowd control while others prioritize damaging mimics and reacting to the boss’s key attacks.

Rewards and Completion

After the final pillar charge and brain beam strike, the boss collapses and the main Easter Egg concludes in a cinematic. You are rewarded with:

• The Astra Malorum ending cutscene, driving the overarching Black Ops 7 Zombies story forward.
• Access to new intel or lore entries.
• Potentially unique calling cards, emblems, or cosmetic rewards depending on the game’s progression system.

Recommended Loadouts and Team Roles

While the Easter Egg can be cleared with many different builds, certain strategies make the process much smoother.

Weapon and Mod Suggestions

Team Coordination Tips

• Designate roles: One player leads O.S.C.A.R., another tracks puzzle progress, and others focus on crowd control.
• Share callouts: Use clear codes for rooms (e.g., “Dome,” “Archive,” “Solar”) to avoid confusion.
• Manage rounds: Avoid pushing into high rounds while mid-puzzle; keep a last zombie alive whenever possible.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Do I need four players to complete the Astra Malorum Easter Egg?

No. The quest scales with the number of players and is fully completable solo. Some steps (like luring O.S.C.A.R. into traps) are easier with teammates, but solo completion is absolutely possible with practice.

When does O.S.C.A.R. start spawning?

O.S.C.A.R. typically begins appearing after you advance the map’s main progression (power on, Pack-a-Punch unlocked, and initial quest triggers). If you don’t see him yet, push a few more rounds and keep moving through key rooms.

Can I fail any of the puzzles permanently?

Most puzzles are retryable. If you mis-rotate busts or misalign planets, you can keep adjusting them until you get the correct configuration. Time-based events like the drone lockdown in the Luminarium can be retried if you are downed or fail to fill the Overcharge bar.

What happens if a teammate disconnects mid-quest?

The Easter Egg usually continues with the remaining players, but the scaling can become more difficult if the game doesn’t adjust health and spawns immediately. Aim to keep the host stable and avoid joining mid-high rounds if your connection is unreliable.

Is there a reward for repeating the Easter Egg?

Beyond the first completion’s story and cosmetic rewards, repeat runs are great for helping friends, practicing high-round survival in the boss arena, and farming XP or camo progression.