Treyarch shipped Black Ops III in November 2015 with three games in one box: a four player co-op campaign, a Specialist driven multiplayer suite, and the Zombies arc that opens in Shadows of Evil. Movement is the through line, because thrust jumps, wall runs and power slides all stay available while you fire and reload. A decade later the PC version still fills lobbies, mostly for Zombies and the Workshop custom maps that came with the mod tools.
This guide covers everything you need: core mechanics, the best characters, weapons worth investing in, location progression, and the tips that actually make a difference.
Core Mechanics
Chain based movement
Thrust jumps, wall runs and power slides all draw from one thrust meter, and you keep full weapon control through every one of them. Sliding around a corner straight into a wall run is the normal way to cross open ground on a map like Combine.
Specialist weapons and abilities
Each of the nine Specialists carries one weapon and one ability, and you choose which of the two charges during a match. Weapons like Ruin's Gravity Spikes win a fight outright, while abilities like Prophet's Glitch rewind you to where you stood a few seconds earlier.
Pick 10 Create-A-Class
A loadout has ten slots covering primary, secondary, attachments, perks, grenades and Wildcards. Dropping the secondary or a lethal frees a slot for a third perk, so every addition costs something else.
Gunsmith attachment slots
Gunsmith handles attachments, optics, camo and paintjobs on one screen, and Primary Gunfighter Wildcards raise the attachment count up to five on a single gun. Attachment choice separates good and bad builds far more than the base weapon does.
Zombies GobbleGums
GobbleGums are consumable buffs bought from a machine mid round, built into packs of five before you load in. Common gums are minor, while rare ones like Perkaholic hand you every perk on the map at once.
For a deeper dive into how these systems interact, see our Call of Duty: Black Ops III combat guide.
Characters Overview
| Role | Tier | Playstyle | Key Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ruin | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Outrider | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Prophet | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Battery | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
| Seraph | A | Versatile approach | Balanced stats |
For full build breakdowns with gear and stat priorities, see our Call of Duty: Black Ops III builds guide. For rankings, check the tier list.
Weapons Guide
| Weapon | Why It Matters | Best For |
|---|---|---|
| KN-44 | The first assault rifle you get, and still one of the best. | Any map, any mode, and the safest gun to learn the movement system with. |
| Man-O-War | A heavy hitting assault rifle with a slow fire rate and hard kick. | Long sightlines on Redwood and Fringe, and holding a Hardpoint against multiple angles. |
| VMP | The all round SMG with a big magazine and mild recoil. | Flanking routes, Domination flag rushes, and players learning slide cancel timing. |
| Vesper | The fastest firing SMG on the roster with a tight hipfire spread and damage that drops off hard past close range. | Nuk3town, Stronghold and any indoor map where fights start under ten metres. |
| Drakon | Semi automatic sniper rifle with a one shot kill on upper chest and head hits. | Aggressive sniping and players who dislike bolt action rechamber time. |
KN-44: The first assault rifle you get, and still one of the best. Low recoil, a 30 round magazine and a kill speed that holds up indoors made it the default competitive pick for the game's whole life.
Man-O-War: A heavy hitting assault rifle with a slow fire rate and hard kick. It rewards single target accuracy and punishes spraying, which suits objective defence rather than pushing.
VMP: The all round SMG with a big magazine and mild recoil. It is the least demanding close range gun in the game and stays usable past the range where most SMGs fall apart.
Vesper: The fastest firing SMG on the roster with a tight hipfire spread and damage that drops off hard past close range. It empties a magazine in a heartbeat, so reload discipline matters.
Drakon: Semi automatic sniper rifle with a one shot kill on upper chest and head hits. The follow up shot is quick enough to correct a miss without switching weapons.
Full breakdowns in our Call of Duty: Black Ops III weapons guide.
Location Progression
| Location | Level Range | Key Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Nuk3town | Any rank | Fast scorestreak chains, quick weapon camo grinding |
| Combine | Any rank | Movement practice, balanced lane control |
| Hunted | Any rank | Mixed range gunfights, flank route practice |
| Shadows of Evil | Rounds 1 to 30 plus | Apothicon Servant, Pack-a-Punch access, Beast Mode shortcuts |
| Der Eisendrache | Rounds 1 to 40 plus | Ragnarok DG-4, four upgraded bows, main Easter egg |
Nuk3town: The small symmetrical two house map that returns in every Black Ops game. Spawns flip constantly, sightlines run straight down the middle, and every fight is decided in under two seconds.
Combine: A three lane desert research map with wall run routes on the outer lanes and a covered middle. It is the map that teaches you why chaining a slide into a wall run beats sprinting in the open.
Hunted: A jungle lodge map with a waterfall on one flank and tight interiors on the other. Close and mid range weapons both work here, which makes it a good test bed for a new loadout.
Shadows of Evil: The launch Zombies map, set in Morg City, with Beast Mode transformation and a ritual chain that gates Pack-a-Punch behind four collected items. It is the most complex opening map in the game.
Der Eisendrache: The first season pass map and the community favourite. A castle layout with Wundersphere launch pads, the buildable Ragnarok DG-4, and four elemental bow upgrades built from the Wrath of the Ancients.
See our maps & locations guide for detailed area breakdowns and our walkthrough for the optimal progression path.
Tips That Actually Matter
- Thrust jumping paints a red dot on the enemy minimap unless you run Blast Suppressor. On Search and Destroy either take the perk or stay grounded when you approach a bomb site, because a single jump tells the whole enemy team where you are.
- Pick 10 counts a Wildcard as one slot, which means Perk 1 Greed costs the same as a lethal grenade you rarely throw. Flak Jacket plus Ante Up out of one Greed slot is a stronger use of that slot than a secondary you never switch to.
- Specialist charge builds from time alive, damage dealt and objective work, not from kills alone. Holding a Hardpoint keeps the meter climbing even when you are losing gunfights, which is why objective players see Gravity Spikes more often than slayers do.
- Aim down sight speed decides close fights more than optics do, so Quickdraw beats a fancy reticle on any SMG. Pair it with Rapid Fire on the VMP and you win most trades that start inside ten metres.
- In Zombies, spend your first 2500 points on Juggernog before touching the Mystery Box at 950. Juggernog takes you from two hits down to five, and that alone changes every training pattern from round 15 onward.
- Build your GobbleGum pack before you load in, not after. Anywhere But Here teleports you out of a bad corner, Wall Power upgrades the next wall weapon you buy, and Perkaholic drops every perk on the map into your lap.
- On Der Eisendrache, build the Ragnarok DG-4 before chasing a bow upgrade. The gravity slam clears a horde on demand and the hover platform mode makes a downed teammate revivable in the middle of a train.
- The campaign supports four player co-op and unlocks Realistic difficulty plus Nightmares mode after the credits, where zombies replace every human enemy and the story is recut. Both are worth a second run if you liked the Cybercore abilities.
- Pick scorestreaks that match your real score per life. If you rarely clear 1000, run UAV, Care Package and Lightning Strike rather than saving for a Wraith or Mothership you will never earn.
- PC matchmaking concentrates in a few playlists, so tick several modes rather than queuing only for Hardcore Search and Destroy. Team Deathmatch and Zombies fill fastest at any hour.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Emptying the thrust meter to cross open ground, which leaves nothing for a lateral dodge when someone opens fire from a window.
- Filling all ten Pick 10 slots out of habit. A secondary you never draw is a wasted slot that could hold Fast Hands or two more attachments.
- Opening the Mystery Box before buying Juggernog. A Ray Gun does not stop you going down in two hits on round 12.
- Reloading in the middle of Nuk3town. Spawns flip within seconds on that map, so anywhere without cover behind you is the wrong place to be caught empty.
- Treating the Specialist ability half as filler. Vision Pulse and Glitch win more objective rounds than any of the flashier Specialist weapons.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Black Ops III still worth playing on PC?
Yes, mainly for Zombies. Treyarch shipped mod tools, so the Steam Workshop holds thousands of custom Zombies maps, and standard playlists like Team Deathmatch still fill. Expect slower queues for niche modes.
How many Zombies maps does Black Ops III have?
Six across the base game and season pass: Shadows of Evil, The Giant, Der Eisendrache, Zetsubou No Shima, Gorod Krovi and Revelations. The separate Zombies Chronicles pack adds eight remastered maps on top.
Which Specialist should a new player use?
Battery. Kinetic Armor absorbs bullet damage from the front while you learn map angles, and the War Machine grenade launcher clears rooms without needing precise aim.
What is the Pick 10 system?
Every loadout gets ten slots shared between weapons, attachments, perks, equipment and Wildcards. Skipping a secondary or a grenade buys you another perk or attachment, so builds are trade offs rather than checklists.
Do I need Zombies Chronicles?
Only for the eight remasters: Nacht der Untoten, Verruckt, Shi No Numa, Kino der Toten, Ascension, Shangri-La, Moon and Origins. The six base rotation maps are plenty for learning Easter egg routines.
More Call of Duty: Black Ops III Guides
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Best Builds
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Tier List
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Walkthrough
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Beginner's Guide
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Tips & Tricks
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Weapons Guide
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Combat Guide
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Boss Guide
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Maps & Locations
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Crafting Guide
- Call of Duty: Black Ops III Classes & Characters
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