Call of Duty: Vanguard is now available with the new Der Anfang Zombies map, which is an objective-based Zombies experience. While some of the core aspects of surviving in Zombies mode are the same in Vanguard as Black Ops Cold War, Der Anfang’s new Altar of Covenants feature allows you to earn powerful buffs to equip as you progress in higher rounds.
You will find the Altar of Covenants in the starting hub of Stalingrad, which is a large skeletal altar found near the fountain at the center of the square. It’s marked on your minimap with a skull head icon. However, you’ll need to complete one of Der Anfang’s three objectives before you can use it.
Completing an objective in Der Anfang will award you with the Sacrificial Heart loot item, which you can then take back to the Altar of Covenants in exchange for a unique ‘Covenant’ ability. These abilities can range from perks to help you revive teammates faster to elemental ammo types similar to Black Ops Cold War’s ammo mods.
There are 11 unique Covenants in Der Anfang, each with multiple rarities for a total of 32 upgrades. The initial set of Covenants include:
- Bloodlust: Melee attacks do more damage and heal you
- Resurrectionist: Revive allies faster
- Brain Rot: Chance to turn enemies to your side
- Cryofreeze: Chance to slow enemies
- Death Blow: Critical kills return bullets to the clip
- Ammo Gremlin: Stowed weapons refill ammo from stock automatically
- Dead Accurate: Consecutive hits on the same enemy do more damage
- Splatterfest: Enemies killed by explosions may explode
- Unholy Ground: Deal more damage while stationary
- Cull the Weak: Deal more damage to slowed or stunned enemies
- Mother Lode: Chance to keep Equipment after using it
You can have up to three Covenants at a time, and the selection of available Covenants randomizes after each completed objective, so you’ll always have new specialties to choose from. It’s also random for each player, so you might not have the same options as a teammate.
These Covenant upgrades can be combined to better cater your specific playstyle in Vanguard Zombies. You might find certain combos of dealing extra damage and fast healing may be beneficial for staying alive in solo matches, while other support-driven builds might work better for co-op sessions. You also seem to get better rarities in higher rounds. I suggest holding the first few Sacrificial Hearts you earn, as the rewards will be better after you’ve progressed a couple of rounds. However, if you spend a heart and later get a better Covenant option, you can still pay the heart cost of the Covenant to swap it out.
It’s still early to tell which are the top tier options, but look for Covenants that work together and match your playstyle. If you love to throw grenades to blow up the hordes, Mother Lode and Splatterfest work well together to create explosive chain reactions to deal with large hordes of zombies. If you’re a player that burns through a lot of ammo, Ammo Gremlin and Death Blow should help keep you better stocked with bullets.
The Resurrectionist Covenant is always a great option to help you revive teammates faster, assuming you’re not playing solo. And if you get lucky enough to get the Legendary rarity of this Covenant, you can revive teammates much faster and automatically revive any nearby players.
So, try out different combinations until you find your favorites. Having these Covenant upgrades combined with your perks, artifacts, and weapons will make you much more powerful for surviving those higher rounds.
Also, make sure to check out our Vanguard perk guide to help you locate all of Der Anfang’s new perk fountains. We also have a recommended console settings guide for anyone playing on Xbox or PlayStation consoles.
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