Call of Duty Vanguard is no longer supported with additional content or significant updates, and players have largely moved on to more recent releases. Nevertheless, Vanguard’s Zombies mode is still accessible.
In Call of Duty Vanguard Zombies, covenants were intriguing new ways to gain abilities and bonuses to help you fight off the living dead. Similarly to Vanguard Zombies perks, covenants, which were obtained via the Altar of Covenants, could be upgraded to provide a number of benefits, from increases in damage to quicker revives.
Unlike perks though, covenants were not purchased with your usual points. Instead, you had to complete objectives to acquire Sacrificial Hearts, and it was this new currency that you’d trade-in at the Altar of Covenants.
So, here’s all there is to know about Call of Duty Vanguard Zombies covenant abilities, how to get them, and how to upgrade them for maximum zombie-slaying potential.
Vanguard Zombies covenants
There were 16 Vanguard Zombies covenants:
- Bloodlust
- Resurrectionist
- Brain Rot
- Cryofreeze
- Death Blow
- Ammo Gremlin
- Dead Accurate
- Splatterfest
- Unholy Ground
- Cull the Weak
- Mother Lode
- Brimstone
- Deadshot
- Dead Wire
- Scrapper
- Swift Vengeance
Each covenant could be upgraded, but some have more upgrade tiers than others.
You could also only run three covenants at a time, so picking the right ones for you was crucial. To help you choose, here are the Vanguard Zombies covenant abilities in detail:
Bloodlust
In Vanguard Zombies, Bloodlust made melee attacks do more damage, as well as heal you.
Resurrectionist
Resurrectionist acted similarly to the old Quick Revive perk by allowing you to revive allies faster.
Brain Rot
Brain Rot gave you the chance to turn enemies to your side, similar to the ammo type that was in Black Ops Cold War Zombies.
Cryofreeze
In Vanguard, equipping Cryofreeze gave you the chance to slow enemies. Again, this was a similar ammo-type effect from Cold War.
Death Blow
With Death Blow, critical kills returned bullets to the clip, so stacking critical kills could mean you didn’t have to reload for a very long time.
Ammo Gremlin
In Vanguard Zombies, Ammo Gremlin caused stowed weapons to refill ammo from stock automatically. This meant that the next time you switched weapons, you didn’t have to worry about your second weapon being reloaded or not.
Dead Accurate
With Dead Accurate, consecutive hits on the same enemy did more damage. This was incredibly helpful when dealing with stronger enemies that had lots of health.
Splatterfest
Splatterfest was a hoot. Enemies killed by explosions had a chance to also explode themselves causing even more damage to zombies around them.
Unholy Ground
With Unholy Ground, you dealt more damage while stationary. Find a cosy corner, and enjoy some boosted damage without the need to run and gun.
Cull the Weak
Cull the Weak made you deal more damage to slowed or stunned enemies in Vanguard Zombies.
Mother Lode
Using Mother Lode gave you the chance to keep equipment after using it.
Brimstone
Constantly dealt damage to nearby enemies.
Deadshot
Aiming down sights moved aim to critical location. Removed weapon sway. Bonus damage on the first critical hit for each enemy.
Dead Wire
Chance to stun a normal enemy when shooting it.
Scrapper
Gained more Salvage from pickups.
Swift Vengeance
Dealt more damage the faster you move. Activated shortly after you start moving.
Vanguard Zombies covenant upgrades
These covenant abilities could, in fact, be upgraded by completing objectives to unlock the Epic and Legendary tier covenants. These improved the standard Rare options with bonus effects. Generally speaking, most of the upgrades either increased the strength of the effect – such as Bloodlust simply increased damage and healing with each upgrade – or increased the chance of the effect triggering – such as Cyrofreeze’s upgrades.
Nevertheless, upgrading covenants was a great way to increase your power and therefore your odds of survival.
That’s all there was to it. Which ones were the best largely came down to your personal playstyle, as you couldn’t really go wrong with any of them.