MW3 Zombies weapon rarity: Effects and upgrades explained

As you travel through Urzikistan in Modern Warfare 3 Zombies (MWZ), the closer you get to the center of the map, the tougher the zombies will be. With that said, you’ll need to get your weapons upgraded to stand a chance at survival.

There are a handful of ways to improve your weapon firepower in MW3 Zombies, namely via improving the weapon’s rarity or attaching powerful upgrades like Pack-a-Punch or elemental mods. These different methods can be acquired by completing contracts and clearing enemy areas or bought at different stations.

But which upgrades are more valuable? And which are worth the time spent acquiring them?

MW3 Zombies weapon rarity tiers, explained

There are several tiers of weapon rarity, each denoted by its own color and damage effect:

• Common (Gray) – No weapon damage bonus
• Uncommon (Green) – 50 percent weapon damage bonus
• Rare (Blue) – 100 percent weapon damage bonus, equal to a level one Pack-a-Punch to a Common weapon.
• Epic (Purple) – 200 percent weapon damage bonus, only found in Medium or High Threat areas.
• Legendary (Orange) – 300 percent weapon damage bonus, the most rare tier for standard weapons. Found in High Threat loot boxes and the Mystery Box.
• Wonder Weapons (Yellow) – This tier only applies to the unique Wonder Weapons; standard weapons cannot be upgraded to this tier.

You will always start an MWZ match with Common quality weapons, even if you’re using the same weapons that were a higher tier during your last successful exfil. Weapons dropped by Mercs will also be common.

Uncommon and Rare weapons can be found all across the Low Threat areas, though, as wall buy weapons, as contract rewards, and in Aether chests, gun lockers, and the Mystery Box. Epic weapons can also be found from these sources but in Medium or High Threat areas.

To upgrade weapons to higher rarities, you will need the Aether Tool for the exact rarity tier: an Uncommon Aether Tool will upgrade a weapon to Uncommon, and so on. Aether Tools can be given out as contract rewards and found in loot boxes, but you can also deploy with an Aether Tool in hand already from your Acquisitions section if you exfiltrated with one in your inventory, or if you have unlocked the Schematic for an Aether Tool.

All MW3 Zombies weapon upgrades

Aside from increasing a weapon’s rarity, you can also upgrade it via Pack-a-Punch or with an ammo mod.

MW3 Zombies Pack-a-Punch upgrades explained

The Pack-a-Punch upgrade is an extra special upgrade that gives your weapon a bigger damage bonus while also increasing its magazine size. There are three Pack-a-Punch levels that can be applied to a weapon.

Players can upgrade their weapons with Pack-a-Punch by visiting the Pack-a-Punch station. The first upgrade costs $5,000, the second costs $10,000, and the third costs $15,000, but you can only upgrade a weapon once per zone, meaning you’ll need to go into the Medium Threat zone if you’ve already used Pack-a-Punch on your weapon in a Low Threat zone. But players can upgrade their weapons to Pack-a-Punch level one or two if they find a rare Raw Aetherium Crystal or Refined Aetherium Crystal.

MW3 Zombies ammo mods explained

Lastly, players can upgrade weapons with ammo mods, which can apply one of five elemental mods to a weapon that will give it a chance to use an effect when shooting a zombie:

• Brain Rot: Brain Rot turns a single zombie to your side, causing it to stop in its tracks and start attacking zombies around the player.
• Cryo Freeze: Slows and then freezes a zombie in place.
• Dead Wire: Electrifies a zombie, immobilizing it and spreading electricity to zombies around it.
• Napalm Burst: Sets zombies on fire when hit.
• Shatter Blast: Zombie explodes when it’s hit, dealing damage and knocking over zombies around it.

Ammo mods can be found in Aether chests and reward rifts. If you find a new ammo mod, you can easily replace the ammo mod that’s currently active on one of your weapons.

Like with weapon rarity tiers, both Pack-a-Punch and ammo mods do not carry over to future matches; any upgrades you make to your weapon will only count for the active match.