Image via Treyarch
Each elemental staff on Origins in Call of Duty: Black Ops III Zombies is an essential tool to surviving and completing the map’s main Easter egg quest. They are powerful tools that can be upgraded if you know what you are doing. Here is how you can craft the Fire Staff, the code needed to upgrade it, and how to use it.
Get the Gramophone
When you start the match, first build up points and make your way to the Excavation Site to get the Gramophone. This is always located on the floor below Pack-a-Punch next to the table. You also need to grab a black record that can appear in three spots.
On a wheelbarrow next to the Pack-a-Punch
Screenshot by Gamepur
On top of the machine next to the sign to the Excavation Site
Screenshot by Gamepur
Sitting on the wall near the walkway to go towards the Church.
Screenshot by Gamepur
When you have both items, go to the bottom of the Excavation Site and place the Gramophone on the table to open the passage downstairs to where the staves can be made. Pick up the Gramophone after it is done opening.
How to build the Fire Staff in Origins
Now, you need to gather the Fire Record, Fire Crystal, and three staff parts. The Record can be found in the Church area. Again, there are three possible spawns for it.
Between the tank and the stairs
Screenshot by Gamepur
On the flaming pew
Screenshot by Gamepur
On a box next to Generator 6
Screenshot by Gamepur
After you have that, you need to go to The Crazy Place through the fire portal. This is located just outside of the spawn room going towards Generator 3. Place the Gramophone on the table here and enter the portal that slowly appears.
In The Crazy Place, there will be a stone pillar that raises, and you can grab the Fire Crystal. Go back to the main map after you grab it.
Screenshot by Gamepur
You need to do a few things to get the remaining staff parts. First, activate Generator 6 in the back of the Church, and the chest near it will open up with the first part.
Screenshot by Gamepur
Starting at round 8, the Panzersoldat will begin spawning into the map. When the first one is killed, it will drop the next part after it is downed and explodes. Ray Guns are particularly good at killing them fast if you have either. Aim for their helmet and destroy the protective glass.
Screenshot by Gamepur
For the final part, you need to open the walkway to the Church and wait a round. During the next round, a glowing plane will be flying in the sky. Shoot it with a bullet-based weapon (no Ray Gun), and the part will drop near the Excavation Site.
Screenshot by Gamepur
It is important to note that anyone can grab the staff parts, and a teammate can build it, but the Fire Crystal, in particular, can only be grabbed by one person who will need to build the staff. When you have all the parts, go to the bottom of the Excavation Site and interact with the staff holder to the far right.
Screenshot by Gamepur
Now that you have the Fire Staff, it only has one firing mode in its unupgraded state. When you fire it, it will shoot three fireballs that spread out. This makes this weapon pretty pitiful from a range but lethal up close. We recommend aiming it towards the ground in front of zombies chasing you down. No splash damage will hurt you, but it will last long enough to burn them.
How to upgrade the Fire Staff in Origins
To begin upgrading the Fire Staff, return to The Crazy Place. In the area right in front of the fire portal are four stone cauldrons and metal grating above some lava. You must kill a bunch of zombies that step onto that grating with the Fire Staff until all four cauldrons light up. Samantha will say something when you are done.
Screenshot by Gamepur
With that step done, go back to the main map and make your way to the Church. On the top floor will be seven total symbols. At this point, four of them will be on fire. Take note of which ones are lit up and line up the symbol with the number we have placed in the image below. To the right of our vantage point in this image is the fourth symbol of two full circles that will always be lit up. This will denote the code you need to input in the floor below to continue.
Screenshot by Gamepur
Downstairs in the area with the tank are seven torches with numbers beneath them (one will have blood instead of a number). You need to shoot the torches with the Fire Staff. While they are already lit, the ones you hit will burn a little bigger when you do this. You do not need to do this in any particular order.
Screenshot by Gamepur
You have a short time to light up all four torches, so have a teammate hold a zombie for you, and we recommend activating the tank so that it’s not in your way. Samantha will talk to you when you get all four blazing.
If you finish the previous step, you will notice a red orb floating in the ring above the staff holders at the bottom of the Excavation Site. Around the area are four levels that will change the position of the rings above that orb. Keep flipping these until all four rings are lit up red. Now go to the bottom and shoot the orb, which will fly towards the sky.
Screenshot by Gamepur
Screenshot by Gamepur
Now it’s time for one final step. Return to The Crazy Place, but make sure you have a decent second weapon, some perks, and a Zombie Shield. Place your staff on the pedestal you got the Fire Crystal from earlier. You need to kill zombies in this realm until you see the staff inventory pop up, noting that you can grab it and take advantage of its upgrades. You don’t have to stand in a particular spot for the kills to count, but the walls shift down here a lot, so be careful not to trap yourself.
Screenshot by Gamepur
With the upgraded Fire Staff in hand, now called Kagutsuchi’s Blood, you can instantly revive downed teammates from a distance by pressing left on the d-pad and shooting them with Sekhmet’s Vigor. You can also use its charged shot to fire out three molten balls of lava that will decimate enemies, especially useful on Panzersoldats.