BO2 Zombies: Origins Easter Egg Guide

Overview

Origins is the final map of Black Ops 2 Zombies, released on August 27, 2013 as part of the Apocalypse DLC. Set in World War I-era France, the map features enormous robotic giants — Odin, Thor, and Freya — that patrol the battlefield. The underground Crazy Place serves as the dimension where staffs are charged and upgraded.

The cast is the original crew: Richtofen, Dempsey, Nikolai, and Takeo — but as their younger selves. The quest revolves around assembling and upgrading 4 Elemental Staffs and ultimately choosing between the Maxis ending ("Little Lost Girl") or the Richtofen ending ("Richtofen's Endgame"). Both require the same steps up until the finale.

This is the most complex easter egg in Black Ops 2. Expect 2-4 hours on your first run. Requires 4 players.

Key Mechanics:

• Generators (1–6): Activating them powers up areas and unlocks perks. Power costs 200 points per generator per round but is essential.
• Crazy Place: Underground dimension accessed via teleporters in the excavation site. Each colored portal has a challenge.
• Giant Robots: Odin (center), Thor (speed cola side), Freya (church side). You can enter their feet when they pause.
• Zombie Blood: Makes you invisible to zombies temporarily. Used in critical steps.
• Maxis Drone: A buildable drone required for the finale.
• Gramophone: Used to open passages to the Crazy Place and between areas.

Step 1: Activate Generators & Build the Shield

1. Turn on Generators 1, 2, and 6 as a priority to unlock key areas and the Tank Station.
2. Activate the remaining generators (3, 4, 5) over time — each costs Essence per round but is worth it.
3. Build the Zombie Shield from parts scattered around the map (available from round 1). It is essential for surviving early rounds and protects against Panzer Soldat attacks.
4. Do not take Zombie Blood at spawn (the glowing green mist) — save it for a critical later step.

Step 2: Build All 4 Elemental Staffs

Each staff requires 3 colored records (cycled through the Mystery Box) and 1 staff piece found at a specific location. Staffs are assembled at the workbench in the Crazy Place.

Staff of Wind (Purple)

• Collect 3 purple records from the Mystery Box.
• Staff piece: Found at the Excavation Site, near the central dig area.
• Build at the Crazy Place workbench.

Staff of Ice (Blue)

• Collect 3 blue records from the Mystery Box.
• Staff piece: Found in the church or nearby trench areas.
• Build at the Crazy Place workbench.

Staff of Lightning (Yellow)

• Collect 3 yellow records from the Mystery Box.
• Staff piece: Found near Generator 4 or the trench area.
• Build at the Crazy Place workbench.

Staff of Fire (Red)

• Collect 3 red records from the Mystery Box.
• Staff piece: Found at the Tank Station area.
• Build at the Crazy Place workbench.

Step 3: Fill All 4 Soul Chests

1. Each colored pedestal in the Crazy Place has a soul chest.
2. Stand near each soul chest and kill zombies in its vicinity to fill it with souls.
3. Once full, the chest opens and rewards you with points or items.
4. Filling all 4 soul chests also grants the Super Punch (enhanced melee) from the glowing fist near the Crazy Place entrance — needed for a later step.

Step 4: Complete the 4 Portal Challenges

Each colored portal in the Crazy Place has a unique challenge. Complete all four.

Purple Portal — Number Sequence

• Memorize the numbers displayed on a piano keyboard on the wall. The symbols do not change between rounds.
• Input them in order from the first symbol, then to the right.
• When correct, Samantha speaks. A correct full sequence causes the earth to tremble.

Blue Portal — Dot Connection Puzzle

• Use elimination and logic to connect dots to matching symbols shown on the portal wall.
• The connection pattern is random per game.

Yellow Portal — Symbol Rotation

• One player positions themselves as shown in the guide image and directs other players.
• Other players rotate the symbols on the wall until they match the target pattern.
• Earth trembles with a distinct animation when correct.

Red Portal — Kill Quota

• Position all players on the grid in front of the red portal.
• Survive rounds and accumulate kills until 4 vases around the portal light up.
• The red portal challenge has no puzzle — it is purely kill-based.

Step 5: Upgrade All 4 Staffs

Each staff has a unique upgrade mini-challenge. All upgraded staffs are required.

Upgrade: Staff of Wind (Purple)

1. Find sparking electrical panels around the map and turn the valves at each location:
   • Near Stamin-Up
   • Church lower floor
   • Church upper floor
   • Near Juggernog
   • Spawn area
   • Road to the church
2. Find the purple glowing orb hidden under excavation machinery at the dig site.
3. Use the excavator controls to align the excavator arm to the purple marker.
4. Shoot the purple orb with the Staff of Wind.
5. Return to the Crazy Place and place the staff in the purple pedestal.

Upgrade: Staff of Ice (Blue)

1. Find 2–3 burning carts around the map. Memorize their positions.
2. Extinguish each cart by shooting it with the Staff of Ice while standing near Stamin-Up.
3. Find 3 buried tombs around the map:
   • Behind Juggernog
   • Behind the Tank Station
   • Around the outer perimeter near Juggernog
4. Freeze each tomb with the Staff of Ice, then destroy it with a machine gun (the Ray Gun does not work).
5. Align excavator to blue, shoot the orb, place staff in the blue Crazy Place pedestal.

Upgrade: Staff of Lightning (Yellow)

1. Find 3 smoke-emitting orbs around the map:
   • Opposite side of Juggernog
   • On the cart road leading to the church
   • Through a hole in the wall near Stamin-Up
2. Shoot each orb with the Staff of Lightning to redirect its smoke stream toward the Pack-a-Punch machine.
3. Align excavator to yellow, shoot the orb, place staff in the yellow Crazy Place pedestal.

Upgrade: Staff of Fire (Red)

1. Go to the church upper floor.
2. Decipher the symbols on the wall — only pay attention to the orange-lit symbols (ignore black/unlit ones). Write them down.
3. Go downstairs and light the torches that correspond to the numbers matching your symbols. Note: number 4 is on a blood-covered wall — look carefully.
4. Place the upgraded Staff of Fire in the Crazy Place red pedestal.

Step 6: Charge Staffs with Souls in Crazy Place

1. All 4 players go to the Crazy Place simultaneously.
2. Each player stands near their respective staff pedestal and kills zombies that come through the portals.
3. The zombies' souls charge the staff they are near.
4. Once each staff is fully charged (glowing brighter), retrieve your staff from the pedestal.

Step 7: Place Upgraded Staffs Inside the Giant Robots

Each upgraded staff must be inserted into a slot inside one of the three giant robots. Watch the robots' feet — you can enter them when they momentarily stop.

Warning: Watch the robots' feet carefully. Time your entry. Getting stepped on is instantly fatal.

Step 8: Press the Red Button Inside Each Robot

1. After inserting each staff, re-enter the same robot.
2. Look for a small red button on the interior wall.
3. Press it multiple times (Square on PS3, X on Xbox 360) until it triggers.
4. Repeat for all three robots (Odin, Thor, Freya).

Step 9: Build the Maxis Drone

The Maxis Drone is a buildable item required for the Maxis ending. Its 3 parts are found around the map at the following locations:

• Part 1: Near Generator 6 / the church entrance
• Part 2: At the Tank Station
• Part 3: In the Excavation Site trench

Assemble it at the workbench. The drone floats and follows you.

Step 10: Stone Tablet Ritual (Mud Path)

This is one of the most difficult steps — do not touch the mud.

1. Each of the 4 players picks up a stone tablet from the table at the Tank Station.
2. Carry the stone to the holy water in the church upper floor and place it in.
3. Kill zombies while standing near the holy water to charge the stone.
4. One player must then carry the charged stone back to the Tank Station without stepping in mud. If you touch mud, return the stone to the holy water and restart your path.
5. Safe path from church to Tank Station:
   • Exit through the hole above the construction table
   • Cross to the other side
   • Follow the wooden platforms
   • Turn left, then jump over a mud patch
   • Follow the road toward Pack-a-Punch
   • Turn right, then left
   • Climb up to Pack-a-Punch area
   • Go straight → left → straight → left again → right
   • Descend and exit near Generator 2 door
   • Turn right, avoiding mud
   • Enter the Tank Station and place your tablet
6. When successful, a lantern appears and the placing player collects it.

Step 11: Crazy Place Portal Ritual

1. The player with the lantern (from Step 10) also holds Time Bombs (obtained from Step 10).
2. Stand near Stamin-Up. The player with the lantern/bombs is ready to throw a Time Bomb outside the map onto a circular stone marking.
3. A second player enters the passing giant robot (wait for one to pass the area) and goes to the interior red button.
4. The robot player presses the button and signals the outside player.
5. The outside player throws the Time Bomb onto the stone circle.
6. A portal opens in the ground near the Excavation Site.

Step 12: Send Maxis Drone Through the Portal

1. Equip strong Pack-a-Punched weapons — ideally the upgraded Ray Gun Mk. II.
2. Send the Maxis Drone through the portal that opened in the ground.
3. This triggers a wave of 4 Panzer Soldats (the heavily armored elite enemies). Kill all 4.
4. If you fail to kill them all, 6 Panzer Soldats will appear next round instead.

Step 13: Shoot Down the Plane (Zombie Blood Required)

1. Pick up the Zombie Blood — it respawns above the Excavation Site if the spawn pool version was already used.
2. Activate the Zombie Blood. You are now invisible to zombies and can see hidden objects.
3. Look up at the sky and locate the yellow biplane flying overhead.
4. Shoot it down using any weapon.
5. Re-freeze the burning carts from the Ice Staff upgrade (Step 5) if they have returned.
6. Take the Staff of Fire and hold the fire button to charge it, then shoot at the feet of zombies near the burning plane wreckage. The fire zombie dies and drops the Maxis Drone.
7. Collect the drone.

Step 14: Obtain the Super Fists (All 4 Players)

All 4 players must have the Super Punch (enhanced melee).

1. Go to the area under Pack-a-Punch.
2. Each player in turn gets 20 melee kills in that area.
3. Collect the glowing stone that appears.
4. If holding a staff while doing this, the elemental effect enhances the punch further.
5. Repeat until all 4 players have the enhanced fists.

Step 15: Return Staffs to Crazy Place (Optional but Recommended)

Return all 4 staffs to their pedestals in the Crazy Place. This is not strictly required for the finale but makes it safer.

Step 16: Fill the Agartha Portal with Souls

1. End the current round and enter the Crazy Place as a group.
2. Survive in the Crazy Place and kill zombies near the large glowing portal in the center (the Agartha portal).
3. The portal slowly fills with soul energy as you kill.
4. Once full, the final objective item appears.

Step 17: Finale — Maxis Ending ("Little Lost Girl")

1. Send the Maxis Drone (with Samantha inside) into the Agartha portal.
2. All 4 players commit suicide by jumping into the central teleporter beam.
3. The cutscene plays — Samantha is freed from Agartha. The Origins story concludes.
4. Achievement unlocked: "Little Lost Girl"

Alternate Ending — Richtofen's Endgame ("Richtofen's Endgame")

To do the Richtofen ending instead of the Maxis ending, at Step 16:

1. Instead of sending the Maxis Drone, Richtofen's player interacts with the Agartha portal.
2. The steps diverge from Maxis' path — Richtofen takes control of the Agartha energy.
3. Achievement unlocked: "Richtofen's Endgame"

Tips

• Build the Zombie Shield early — it blocks Panzer Soldat attacks and saves lives.
• Keep generators running — they are expensive per round but open essential areas.
• Don't waste Zombie Blood at spawn — you need it to shoot down the plane.
• Ray Gun does NOT work on the Ice Staff tomb upgrade. Use an LMG.
• Panzer Soldats become more frequent in higher rounds. Prepare before triggering them.
• Coordinate the mud path — one player goes at a time. Others defend.
• Save up points before Step 12 — the Panzer Soldat wave is intense.
• The Maxis Drone can be used offensively to help kill zombies while following you.

Guide originally written in 2013 by xcibe95x. Updated with complete step-by-step information.