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.
Perks are one of the most iconic mechanics in Call of Duty Zombies modes. Recognisable names like Juggernog and Speed Cola are famous zesty beverages that give you a leg up when fighting the endless hordes.
In Call of Duty Vanguard Zombies, however, things were a little different. The iconic names were replaced with some newer ones, and the vending machines were swapped out in favour of sinister-looking fountains. While the Vanguard Zombies perks and their upgrades did pretty much the same thing as many of the established names in past games, you may be surprised to see Juggernog is no more if you’re venturing back into Zombies today.
Vanguard Zombies perks
There were five Vanguard Zombies perks. These were:
- Fiendish Fortitude
- Diabolical Damage
- Venomous Vigor
- Demonic Frenzy
- Aethereal Haste
Each perk could be upgraded to Tier 4, with each tier increasing the benefit each one provided. Here were each perk’s abilities in Vanguard Zombies.
Fiendish Fortitude
Fiendish Fortitude increased your base health, similar to Juggernog in previous Zombies games. At Tier 1, it provided +25 health, and each upgrade tier adds another 25 health to that bonus.
Diabolical Damage
In Vanguard Zombies, Diabolical Damage increased critical damage dealt to enemies.
Venomous Vigor
Venomous Vigor helped boost health regeneration speed in Vanguard Zombies. This was similar to one of the effects of the Quick Revive perk in previous games, however, the quicker revive times were not applied to this new perk.
Demonic Frenzy
Demonic Frenzy boosted reload speed in Vanguard Zombies, similar to the classic perk Speed Cola.
Aethereal Haste
Aethereal Haste boosted your movement speed while playing Vanguard Zombies. This was the same benefit Stamin-Up would offer in older games.
Vanguard Zombies perk upgrades
Each perk was upgradeable from Tier 1 to Tier 4 in Vanguard Zombies. Other than increasing the power of the benefit each perk had (i.e. Fiendish Fortitude increased your health by more each time you upgraded) no extra bonuses or benefits were obtained by upgrading.
The cost of upgrading got more expensive with each tier jump. Upgrading from Tier 3 to 4 cost far more than going from Tier 1 to 2, for example.
Vanguard Zombies perk changes
The changes to perks in Vanguard Zombies go deeper than just name changes. Treyarch shook up how you got and lost perks in the mode. For a start, the Tier 1 version of each perk was available for free as soon as you unlocked the area of the map containing that perk’s fountain. That meant you could run the entry level of all five perks without having to spend any points on them.
When you were downed, you would also never lose the Tier 1 version of the perks you’d acquired. You would, however, lose one tier of upgrades from each perk you had. So if you had Tier 4 upgrades on all your perks and were then downed, you’d be left with Tier 3 perks when you were revived.
That’s all the info on perks in Call of Duty Vanguard Zombies. With Vanguard Zombies covenants and artefacts also available to obtain, there are plenty of ways you can increase your chances of survival against the zombies in Vanguard.