How to get Refined Aetherium Crystals in MW3 Zombies

The Refined Aetherium Crystals skip Essence farming for the high-demand Pack-a-Punch upgrades in MW3 Zombies. But where do you get these useful crystals?

Aetherium Crystals skip the Pack-a-Punch machine and immediately upgrade your equipped weapon. Essence isn’t needed with this Pack-a-Punch method, but if you are wondering where to find the Refined Aethertium Crystal for Pack-a-Punch Level II, this guide will show you where to look.

What are Refined Aetherium Crystals in MWZ?

Aetherium Crystals allow you to Pack-a-Punch a weapon for free. These have a one-time use and can either upgrade a weapon to Level I or Level II. These would normally cost 5,000 and 10,000 Essence but consuming the crystal skips the Pack-a-Punch machine entirely. Of course, if you want a fully powered weapon, you’ll still need to visit the machine and pay its fee.

There are multiple versions of Aetherium Crystals in MW3 Zombies. These are:

• Raw Aetherium Crystals – Pack-a-Punch a weapon to Level I
• Refined Aetherium Crystals – Pack-a-Punch a weapon to Level II

Make sure to stow these away if you find a crystal schematic in your deployment. It is best to use these at the beginning of a match rather than towards the end as all Pack-a-Punch effects disappear after you exfil. Because of this, you will want to use the Aetherium Crystal at the beginning of the game if you are planning to enter medium and high-threat zones.

By stowing the Aetherium Crystal away and exfiling with it in your backpack, you can craft these via the Schematic Crafting screen in the MWZ main menu screen before deploying. If you find a crystal as an item rather than its plans (a crate with the crystal icon), it will stay in your inventory but will not count as the schematics for crafting.

MWZ: Where to find Refined Aetherium Crystals

While it is a long road to Pack-a-Punching your weapon within the allotted 60-minute timer, it may take longer to find those Aetherium Crystals. These spawn randomly in Urzikstan and there are no guaranteed methods to getting one of these every match. The only real way of getting a Refined Aetherium Crystal is by receiving it as a reward within the Reward Rift by completing Contracts. You cannot guarantee that you will get one of these crystals via this method, however.

When searching for these crystals, I highly recommend completing medium-threat Contracts. These are Contracts found in the orange zone of Urzikstan. These offer greater rewards and don’t have much difference from the high threat Contracts making it a safer option than entering the red zone. You will need a Pack-a-Punched weapon if you are heading into the orange and red zones.

I recommend Spore Control, Deliver Cargo, and Eliminate the Bounty as go-to Contracts to complete for quick and easy Reward Rift unlocks. The only time you should invest in the red zone is for rare schematics when the Deliver Cargo Contract appears. Some missions in Acts like Act II: Tier V have Aether Tool schematics however it is unconfirmed whether a mission has the Refined Aetherium Crystal schematics as a reward.

If you do decide to attempt Contracts in the red zone, be sure to upgrade your stamina and Pack-a-Punch your weapons. This method has the sole purpose of finding schematics rather than the Aetherium Crystal item.