There’s a secret vault that requires you to complete a Chess Easter egg to unlock it in MW3 Zombies – here’s where to find the missing pieces.
Like all good Zombies modes, MWZ has plenty of secrets to discover for players willing to put in the legwork.
And in perhaps Call of Duty MW3 Zombies’ most interesting Easter egg, players will seek out a handful of Chess piece-themed NPCs that are scattered around the map.
How to Complete the Chess Easter Egg
To complete the Chess Easter egg and open the vault, players will need to find and defeat The Knight, The Rook, and The Bishop, and activate devices dropped by each of them.
They must also head to the top right corner of Urzikstan to find The Pawn’s location, which contains a device to activate but no enemy to fight.
These four Chess pieces can be found in any order. And if another player finds and activates one, it’ll count towards your progress too!
The Pawn Location
The Pawn can be found in a small building by the water, right in the very top right corner of Urzikstan, the MWZ map.
Head inside, and you’ll see a glowing device on top of a small monitor.
Hold interact (Square / X / F) to activate the device and ‘Send Transmission to H7.’ This is the exact type of device that all the Chess piece NPCs will drop, so now you know what to look for.
However, this will be by far the easiest one to acquire.
The Knight Location
The Knight is the trickiest NPC to find, as he will drive around the entire map in an armored vehicle. Thankfully, he does at least have a set route, which we can show to you below.
You’ll be able to see The Knight on your map at all times, as a white vehicle marker driving on the path above. You’ll know it’s him as it will keep repeating this circuit until a player takes him out.
To catch him, grab a car and cut him off. Lean out of your car window and you’ll be able to shoot him from a vehicle, and potentially kill him before he can even get out.
You may find that his transmission device remains in the area where he died, even if the vehicle continues driving, so don’t miss it. Hold interact to Transmit to H7 once again, and then you can move on.
Note: If you can’t see the Knight, it’s very possible that another player may have taken him out already. After all, he’s definitely the NPC that users will encounter the most.
The good news is that if a player does kill the Knight, there’s a good chance that they’ll ‘Send the Transmission to H7’ too.
The Bishop Location
The Bishop spawns in the railway tunnel between Levin Resort and Popov Power on the north side of the map. You’ll need to head into the tunnel and make your way along the train tracks.
When you’re directly in front of Talanov Outpost (but underground), a smoke grenade will pop and The Bishop will arrive with other mercenaries.
Take as much cover as you can, as The Bishop will run at you and other mercenaries will fire out of the smoke. Take your time, and deal with them one at a time, as they’re all relatively weak.
Then, grab The Bishop’s device and hold interact to Transmit to H7.
The Rook Location
The Rook is another NPC who is completely stationary inside a hotel at Ghalia Seaside on the West side of the map.
You’ll need to head up to the top floor of a booby-trapped hotel in order to find him hiding in his room.
Alternatively, we recommend making your way to the top of the hotel from the outside, which allows you to enter a room on the top floor and skip much of the danger.
The Rook can also spawn directly outside his hotel room, on the balcony, so take care if you’re dropping in from the air.
Watch out for mines and the Sentry Gun near The Rook’s room, if you’re heading inside to eliminate him. Grab his device and Transmit to H7 one final time.
How to Unlock The Vault
Now it’s time to head to H7, AKA the Chess Easter egg’s vault in MW3 Zombies.
Head to Shahin Manor in the southeast of Urzikstan, and use the lift shaft to drop down to the basement.
Then run along the corridor until you find the vault.
Now that all 4 targets have been checked off, you’ll see their pieces have fallen over on the Chessboard near the vault.
Opposite the vault door, interact with the computer, and you’ll unlock the vault to complete the Chess Easter egg in MWZ!
Final Boss & Rewards
As for your reward, you’ll find two Large Aether Caches, and a Large Merc Cache, but (surprise) a Mimic known as ‘The King’ will be disguised as one of the containers at random.
You’ll need to fight it off to defeat the final ‘boss’ of the Chess Easter egg but don’t worry – it doesn’t pose much of a threat.
Ultimately, the rewards for completing this challenging puzzle are rather disappointing. But now you know how to do it, you’ll be prepared, should Treyarch decide to lock a Blueprint down here later, or tie the Easter egg to an upcoming mission.
If you’d like to see how each step works in a video guide, check out the full Chess Easter egg in MWZ performed by Easter egg hunter GeekyPastimes: