Hard Mode Dark Ops in Black Ops 7 Zombies has a way of humbling you fast, even if you normally cruise through quests, and if you’ve been practicing in a CoD BO7 Bot Lobby you’ll still feel the difference the second the match starts because your safety nets are basically gone.

Before You Even Queue

You don’t just “turn on” this run. You’ve got to earn it first, and that means collecting every Tier 3 relic tied to the Wicked set. The run wants The Bus, the Dragon, and the Blood Vials Relic all owned and equipped before you load in. Miss one and it’s not Hard Mode, it’s just you pretending. Once they’re equipped, a lot of your usual augment power disappears, and you’ll notice right away how naked your build feels.

What Makes It Feel So Brutal

The part that really gets under your skin isn’t just “more damage” or “more spawns.” It’s the pace. Zombies start acting like they’ve got a second health bar, and the regen effect turns sloppy gunplay into a full-on ammo crisis. You can’t half-finish a wave and wander off to do quest steps. If you leave bodies alive, they’ll punish you for it, and they’ll do it while you’re trying to remember the next objective.

Power, Map Progress, and Not Falling Behind

Your first job is staying on schedule: restore power at Blackwater Lake and Ashwood, then keep moving. People wipe here because they hang around “getting comfy.” Don’t. Build points, buy what you need, and rotate like you mean it. The longer you delay the core setup, the more that regen turns every hallway into quicksand.

Ol' Tessie Is Your Lifeline

If you take one thing seriously, take the vehicle. Upgrading Ol' Tessie isn’t a nice bonus, it’s the difference between controlling the fight and being chased forever. Treat it like a tool you’re maintaining, not a gimmick. Keep it fueled, keep it safe, and don’t park it somewhere you can’t reach when things go loud.

Gauntlet, Serum, and Pack-a-Punch Timing

Grab the Necrofluid Gauntlet as soon as your route allows, then get that special serum crafted in Yuri’s lab. This is the part where players get greedy and skip upgrades “just to see the boss.” Bad idea. Get your weapons Pack-a-Punched before the arena, not during it. In Hard Mode, “I’ll do it mid-fight” usually translates to “I’m down and my perks are gone.”.

Veytharion Fight Plan

Veytharion on Hard Mode is rough solo, and co-op isn’t just easier, it’s cleaner. Put someone confident on driving Ol' Tessie, someone else on the turret, and call out the beam phase like it’s a raid mechanic. When the beam starts, don’t freeze. Keep circling, keep pressure with the Gauntlet or your best high-damage option, and use the vehicle to chunk him with rams when there’s space. The zombies will keep trying to reset the fight with regen, so you’ve got to deny them that breathing room, the same way you’d deny a heal in PvP, and if you want a low-stress place to dial in the muscle memory first, u4gm CoD BO7 Bot Lobby can help you rehearse the motions without the run ending in two mistakes.