MW3 Zombies: How to complete all Dark Aether Rift Easter eggs

❘ Updated: 2024-05-03T20:18:36

mw3 players fighting zombies in dark aether

Activision

Wondering how to complete the new MW3 Zombies Season 3 Reloaded Dark Aether Rift Easter egg? Here’s how to find the new items in MW3 Zombies, upgrade them, unlock the third Dark Aether Rift, and complete all the seasonal Rifts.

Modern Warfare 3 Zombies received some exciting new content in the Season 3 Reloaded update for MW3. Arguably the biggest of all the Season 3 Reloaded content added to Zombies is the new Story mission, which brings another Dark Aether Rift Easter egg for players to complete.

For those who’d like to know how to complete Season 3 Reloaded’s MW3 Zombies Dark Aether Rift Easter egg, as well as the previous ones from Season 1 and 2, here’s everything you need to know.

How to unlock Season 1 Dark Aether Rift in MW3 Zombies
How to get MW3 Zombies Legendary Dark Aether Artifacts
How to unlock Season 2 Reloaded Dark Aether Rift in MW3 Zombies
How to unlock Season 3 Reloaded Dark Aether Rift in MW3 Zombies

How to unlock Season 1 Dark Aether Rift in MW3 Zombies

To unlock the first Dark Aether Rift introduced in Season 1’s Act 4 during the Dark Aether MWZ story, you will need to:

Activate and complete the first Act 4 mission, “Bad Signal.”
Collect the four Legendary Dark Aether Artifacts – Locked Diary, Surveillance Camera, Pill Bottle & Dog Collar.
Once obtained, head to the Dark Aether Rift Island (F6), and place each Artifact in the four pedestals.
Kill the Mega Abomination that will spawn from the Dark Aether Rift upon placing all four Dark Aether Artifacts in the pedestals. Obtain the Sigil from the Reward Rift.
Use it on the Dark Aether Rift, or successfully exfil with the Sigil item and take them with you into the next match.

How to get MW3 Zombies Legendary Dark Aether Artifacts

Each Legendary Dark Aether Artifact in MW3 Zombies will require a specific task to be obtained, so here’s every Legendary Dark Aether Artifact available and how to get it:

Icon	Dark Aether Artifact	How to get it
	Locked Diary	Found within the Reward Rift following the defeat of the Gorm’gant upon completing the Act 4 Mission.
	Surveillance Camera	– Kill a Harvester Orb using a gun equipped with the Dead Wire mod. – Enter the Aether Rift with it, fly to the gold rift in the sky, and complete the purple Bounty Contract.
	Pill Bottle	– Head to an Aether Nest and shoot a Cyst while using a gun equipped with Brain Rot mod until it turns green and interact with it. – Complete the Aether Nest and return to the Cyst you interacted with to pick the bottle. – Enter the Aether Rift with it, fly to the green rift in the sky, and complete the green Bounty Contract.
	Dog Collar	– Get or equip Molotov and Flesh Chuck of meat. Found a Dog House and placed both items inside. – Grab it and enter an Aether Rift with it, fly to the red rift in the sky, and complete the blue Bounty Contract

Once you’ve completed and earned all four Dark Aether Artifacts, head to the Dark Aether Rift Island (F6). You’ll find four pedestals, each one connected to a specific Dark Aether Artifact.

Here are all the Pedestal locations for each Dark Aether Artifact:

Icon	Dark Aether Artifact	Pedestal
	Locked Diary	Pedestal with Cryofreeze Ammo mod logo
	Surveillance Camera	Pedestal with Dead Wire Ammo mod logo
	Pill Bottle	Pedestal with Brain Rot Ammo mod logo
	Dog Collar	Pedestal with Napalm Burst Ammo mod logo

How to unlock Season 2 Reloaded Dark Aether Rift in MW3 Zombies

To unlock the second Dark Aether Rift introduced in the Season 2 Reloaded update for MW3 Zombies, players will need to:

Activate and complete the new Act 4 mission, “Countermeasures.”
Collect all four of the new items – Drum, Pristine Mirror, Tattered MMA Gloves, and Perforated Target.
Successfully exfil with these items and take them with you into the next match.
Upgrade all of these items to Legendary.
Place them on the correct pedestal in front of the new Dark Aether Rift portal.

The pedestals will have an image on them that correlates to the item, so make sure you place it on the correct one. Here’s a detailed breakdown of how to collect each of these new items associated with the Season 2 Reloaded MW3 Zombies Dark Aether Rift Easter egg.

How to Tattered MMA Gloves in MW3 Zombies

To get the Tattered MMA Gloves in MW3 Zombies, follow these steps:

Activate the Act 4 mission “Countermeasures” in MW3 Zombies.
Head into a match and go to the Anomaly marked on the map.
Enter the portal.
Once you spawn in the new Dark Aether map, you will see a huge ship to your left.
Get onto the ship and you will find an Obelisk that you need to activate.
A mini task will begin that requires you to pick up the Insta Kill that spawns and get melee kills on Zombies in the circled area.
Once this is completed, the Tattered MMA Gloves will spawn on the Obelisk.

How to upgrade the Tattered MMA Gloves in MW3 Zombies

Here’s how to upgrade the Tattered MMA Gloves:

Head to the Zaravan Suburbs boxing gym with the Tattered MMA Gloves in your inventory.
Get in the ring and offer the item.
Melee all the punching bags from left to right.
A Zombie with firey hands will spawn.
Lead this Zombie into the ring and beat them in a melee fight.
Collect the Legendary Tattered MMA Gloves that will spawn.

How to get Perforated Target in MW3 Zombies

Here’s how to get the Perforated Target item needed for the Dark Aether Rift in MW3 Zombies:

After entering the Dark Aether through the new Act 4 mission, locate the soccer stadium and head Northwest until you find four paths that all meet.
You’ll find another Obelisk here.
Activate it and you will have to get headshot kills on Zombies within the circled area.
Once completed, the Perforated Target will spawn on the Obelisk.

How to upgrade Perforated Target in MW3 Zombies

Here’s how to upgrade the Perforated Target in MW3 Zombies:

Make your way to Shain Mannor at the bottom right of Urzikstan.
Locate the Firing Range there and you will find a target that you can interact with.
Interact with the target and you will then be tasked with shooting targets with the purple mist that spawn around the range within a time limit.
Once complete, a Zombie will spawn.
Kill this Zombie with a headshot and it will drop the Legendary Perforated Target.

mw3 zombies players shooting zombies in dark aether

You’ll need to collect all of these items to unlock the new Dark Aether Rift in Season 2 Reloaded.

How to get Pristine Mirror in MW3 Zombies

Wondering how to get the Pristine Mirror in MW3 Zombies? Here’s a complete breakdown:

Once in the new Dark Aether, head southeast, specifically the bottom right of the map until you find an open space with crystals and purple mist.
Within this mist, you’ll find another Obelisk.
Activate the Obelisk and you will be tasked with killing Zombies with a specific Ammo Mod (Napalm Burst, Brain Rot, etc).
All the Ammo Mods in the game will spawn around the Obelisk, so you’ll need to pick the correct one based on the element of the ring that spawns around the Obelisk (fire for Napalm, frost for Cryo Freeze, green gas for Brain Rot, and electricity for Dead Wire).
The ring can change while completing the task, so you may need to pick up multiple to get it done. If you pick the wrong Ammo Mod, you will need to retry the task, as the Ammo Mods don’t respawn.
Once you do this, the Pristine Mirror will spawn on the Obelisk.

How to upgrade Pristine Mirror in MW3 Zombies

To upgrade the Pristine Mirror to its Legendary version, follow these steps:

Head to the graveyard at the top right of Urzikstan below the Orlov Military Base.
Here, you’ll find a gravestone that you can interact with.
After interacting, you’ll need to kill the Zombies with the Ammo Mod element that they have on them.
You can find the Ammo Mods at the top of the main building in the graveyard.
Once you do this, the Legendary Pristine Mirror will drop from the last Zombie.

How to get Drum in MW3 Zombies

Here’s how to get the Drum item in MW3 Zombies:

Activate the Act 4 mission “Counter Measures.”
Head to the Anomaly on the map and enter the Dark Aether.
Once in, follow the main mission steps.
Defeat the Mangler boss and a Reward Rift will spawn.
The Drum will be in this Reward Rift.

The Drum is the only item out of the four that can only be picked up by completing the Act 4 mission. It also comes already upgraded as a Legendary item.

It’s important to note that if you mess any of these up, you will be able to run away from the Obelisk and fail it so that you can then retry.

How to unlock Season 3 Reloaded Dark Aether Rift in MW3 Zombies

To unlock the third Dark Aether Rift introduced in the Season 3 Reloaded update for MW3 Zombies, players will need to:

Activate and complete the new Act 4 Story Mission, “Union.”
Collect the Giraffe Toy Relic Item from the Union Act mission
Like with the previous Rift, three more items must be collected: the Science Journal, the Laptop with Stickers, and the Imaginary Friend Drawing.
Successfully exfil with these items and take them with you into the next match.
Upgrade all of these items to Legendary inside the new Dark Aether Rift located in the E4 tile. You will find the upgrade locations of these items in the E4, and F5 Tiles, inside the Dark Aether and marked with purple triangles on the floor.
Place them on the correct triangle in the new Dark Aether Rift portal.
Bring the upgraded items to the pedestal located in Tile E4, inside the Dark Aether.
This will summon the third Dark Aether Rift and offer you a Sigil to go inside.

Remember that going inside the rifts means that you will face high-level Zombies and complete special contracts to earn the new Schematics introduced in Season 3 Reloaded.

If you want to find the Relic items needed to unlock this Rift, here’s a detailed breakdown of how to collect each of these.

How to get Science Journal in MW3 Zombies

Here’s how to get the Science Journal item in MW3 Zombies:

Activate the Act 4 mission “Union”
Head into the E4 Dark Aether Rift on the map and enter the Dark Aether.
Once in, head to the Aether Storm location.
Defeat 50 zombies inside until the Reward Rift appears.
The Science Journal will be in this Reward Rift.

How to get Laptop with Stickers in MW3 Zombies

Here’s how to get the Laptop with Stickers item in MW3 Zombies:

Locate any Mercenary Camp in Urzikstan.
Kill a Sergeant with a pet dog inside.
Locate the Reward Rift that appears after killing the Sergeant.
The Laptop with Stickers item will be inside the Reward Rift.

How to get Imaginary Friend Drawing in MW3 Zombies

Here’s how to get the Imaginary Friend Drawing item in MW3 Zombies:

Obtain the Death Perception perk, either by crafting its Schematic or by buying it on a Buy Station.
Head over to the main building of Zohoor Ranch, in I5, and interact with an object standing under the bed on the top floor.
This will net you the Imaginary Friend Drawing.

Well, there you have it, that was everything you needed to know about unlocking the new Dark Aether Rift from Season 3 Reloaded, and all those before it. For more guides, be sure to check out: