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.
Starting Call of Duty: Black Ops III can feel overwhelming. This guide tells you exactly what to focus on during your first hours so you don't waste time on things that don't matter yet. For the full progression path, see our walkthrough.
What Kind of Game Is This?
Call of Duty: Black Ops III is a fps game built around Chain based movement and Specialist weapons and abilities. The core loop involves mastering these systems to progress through increasingly challenging content.
What to expect: Time investment in learning mechanics, experimentation, and gradual mastery. The game rewards patience and knowledge.
Choosing Your First Role
| Role | Beginner Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ruin | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Outrider | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Prophet | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Battery | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
| Seraph | Excellent for beginners | Balanced approach |
Our recommendation: Start with Outrider. It offers the most forgiving experience while teaching core mechanics.
Avoid Seraph as your first pick. It requires deep knowledge of game systems to use effectively. Once you're ready, check our classes guide for all options.
First Session Step-by-Step
Step 1: Learn 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.
This is the foundation. Spend your first 15-30 minutes getting comfortable with how Chain based movement works before worrying about anything else. Our combat guide breaks this down further.
Step 2: Head to 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.
Clear the main content here before moving on. Everything teaches fundamentals you'll need later. See our maps guide for all locations.
Step 3: Get Your First Upgrade
Look for Man-O-War: it's the most accessible early upgrade. 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.
Step 4: Understand 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.
This is the system most new players overlook. Invest time here early. It pays off throughout the entire game.
Step 5: Push to 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.
Essential Mechanics Explained
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.
Common Beginner Mistakes
1. Emptying the thrust meter to cross open ground, which leaves nothing for a lateral dodge when someone opens fire from a window
2. 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.
3. Opening the Mystery Box before buying Juggernog
A Ray Gun does not stop you going down in two hits on round 12.
4. 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.
5. Treating the Specialist ability half as filler
Vision Pulse and Glitch win more objective rounds than any of the flashier Specialist weapons.
First 5 Hours Checklist
- Understand Chain based movement and Specialist weapons and abilities
- Choose Outrider as starting role
- Clear Nuk3town main content
- Acquire Man-O-War or equivalent upgrade
- Reach Combine
- 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.
Tips for New Players
- 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.
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 Call of Duty: Black Ops III Overview
- 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 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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