Call of Duty Black Ops Zombies mode is back with a bang in Cold War. With it come a host of upgrades in the game mechanics, weapons, ammo mods, and perk systems. One of the most important changes to keep an eye on is the new currency that players will need for upgrades – Aetherium Crystal. However, as it appears, they are quite hard to get.
But we’ve got you covered. Here we go through the various ways you can acquire Aetherium Crystals and one simple way by which you can farm the crystals quickly.
By the time you’re finished with our guide, you’ll know exactly what to do, which methods to combine, and some tips on how to go about the job to get crystals fast and improve everything from your weapon to perks and field upgrades.
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Why do you need Aetherium Crystals?
Aetherium Crystal is the new currency in Call of Duty. This is required to improve your weapons, ammo mods, perks, and field upgrades. The new tier-system ensures that you’re not just stuck with the base effect of your gear, but can improve them further and gain better results from them.
For every single upgrade, you’re going to need Aetherium Crystals. In fact, to get to the third tier of any single upgrade, you’re going to need a total of 6 Aetherium Crystals: one for tier one, two for tier two, three for tier three. That means you’ll be needing scores of these crystals to max out your upgrades.
As soon as you get Aetherium Crystals, you should look to spend them since the better improved your skills and weapons are, the faster you will level up and deal more damage to the zombies.
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Different Methods to Get Aetherium Crystals
There are a few ways by which the game rewards you Aetherium Crystals. It is best to know them all so you don’t forego any of the opportunities that provide these crystals as they are highly valuable, especially in the early game.
Reach Milestones
The first, perhaps most obvious way is to receive these crystals is to set up a Zombie game and start killing hordes of them, at least until you reach the required milestone rounds. The number of crystals you get will vary depending on which level you’ve reached.
To get your first Aetherium Crystals, you have to last 10 rounds or longer. At every five rounds thereafter, you’ll receive more crystal(s). The number of crystals you receive at every ten rounds differ and are as follows:
| Round | Aetherium Crystals |
| 10, 15, 20, 25 | 1 |
| 30 and 35 | 2 |
| 40 and 45 | 3 |
| 50 and 55 | 4 |
| 60 and 65 | 5 |
| 70 and 75 | 6 |
| 80 and 85 | 7 |
| 90 and 95 | 8 |
| 100+ | 9 |
At higher rounds, the zombies are going to be stronger as well. If you have any trouble surviving the higher rounds, simply buy the upgrades using the Aetherium Crystals and you should be good to go.
With this method, you’ll have to put in the hours and ensure that you keep getting better over time as levelling up can take a while.
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Nuclear Zombies (Green ones)
Another method by which you have a chance of receiving Aetherium Crystals is by targeting the green zombies and destroying them. These unique zombies spawn only after round 10 or 15. They can be harder to kill at first, so make sure you upgrade one of your gear at least.
You’ll find that when you shoot them down, they split in two. Destroy these two zombies and one of them may drop a crystal. Be advised that this doesn’t always work, but it is good to know that this is the case and you shouldn’t miss out on such an opportunity.
So which method lets you farm Aetherium Crystals?
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Farm Crystals using Exfil
The best way to farm crystals is to exfiltrate Farming the crystals. What’s exfil you ask?
From round 11 onwards you’ll have this option unlocked. When opted, you will have to run to a specific area of the map, kill the zombies that are trying to surround you, clear the landing zone so that the chopper can land – all this within 90 seconds so that you’ll be exfiltrated out of the area. For doing this, you’ll receive one Aetherium Crystal.
Related: How to Exfil in Cold War Zombies
Once you get the go-ahead and you begin Exfil, immediately run through the pink door of the room where you spawned.
Clear the stairs and the door immediately to the left after it. Once you do that you’ll be in the exfil location.
You have to stay there until the chopper comes and take care of the zombies spawning there (they’ll come in hordes). A few toxic dogs will spawn as well and make sure you get rid of them as soon as possible as they can be quite problematic.
When combined with the method of acquiring crystals at milestone rounds, the Exfil method can double up your crystal acquisition. In fact, if you manage to get decent attachments, perks, and upgrades, you can bag an Aetherium every five minutes or so.
The time it takes for you to gather these crystals could be lower if you know your way around the map (which you’ll figure out eventually) and ensure that you finish the exfils successfully.
Useful Tips to get Aetherium Crystals easily
Getting one lousy crystal at every five rounds can be a tough deal, especially if you’re finding it hard in the beginning with no mod, perk, or weapon upgrades. But if you can get to round 30, you’ll receive 2 crystals for every milestone round reached and 2 more for every exfil completed.
Using a knife comes in extremely handy as it is basically a one-jab-kill when clearing out zombies for the exfil. You can even use a monkey bomb to distract the hordes that surround the exfil location, and at later stages, a ray gun works like a charm.
You should also be looking to pack-a-punch your weapons as you’ll be slowed down by the pools of zombies at higher rounds if you still have your basic weapon.
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Screengrab via: Rushin |Â GuidingLight |Â GRIZZ Viollent
