Some zombies and supply drops turn out to have a prize inside: power-ups! These powerful bonuses can turn the tide of a battle in a second. At the same time, though, they require some forethought to be used most effectively.
Power-ups can drop from a freshly killed zombie, at which time they appear as a giant glowing icon. Otherwise, they can be found in Supply Drops and equipped from your inventory as part of your loadout. Power-ups that spawn in the world only last 25 seconds and flash for 10 seconds before disappearing. When you pick up or use a power-up in cooperative play, its effect automatically extends to all teammates regardless of their distance from you or their current status.
Universal Power-Ups
Elektromagnet
Any Jolts earned from any source (including mission objectives) are doubled for 30 seconds. This becomes most crucial early in the game when you’re low on resources. Don’t be afraid to let this power-up linger for a few seconds until you’re in a better position to use it. The break between waves of zombies lasts just long enough for power-ups to expire, so picking it up at the end of a wave simply wastes it. Since the player’s Special Meter grows based on the number of Jolts earned by the player (with the exception of points shared between players), Elektromagnet has the added benefit of essentially doubling the player’s meter growth for 30 seconds.
Totengriff
One shot, one kill! During the Totengriff effect, standard zombies all drop after one hit. That hit can come from a bullet, an explosion, the wave of force spawned by Shellshock, or your shovel.
Totengriff provides a fun way to get out of a bind or polish off the last few zombies in a wave, but it does come with a significant drawback. If you mow down a wave of zombies with firearms while Totengriff is active, every zombie is worth at most 60 points. You can get easy 130-point kills with your shovel, though. More powerful zombies, such as Wüstlings and Brenners, are utterly unaffected by Totengriff.
Taschen Voll
Your team’s ammunition supply instantly maxes out, including grenades and your guns’ magazines and chambers. In addition to dropping from zombies, you automatically receive a Taschen Voll as a reward for surviving every fifth wave of zombies.
Wait to pick up a Taschen Voll until you’ve emptied your gun(s), as it skips the need for you to reload. If you have to, cancel your reload animation by switching weapons.
Überladen
You and your teammates receive 100% Special Ability meter. If you grab an Überladen while already under the effect of your Special Ability, its duration is appropriately extended.
Ordinarily, your Special Ability meter is locked at 100% and any meter you gain over that amount is simply wasted. However, picking up Überladen power-ups lets you overfill the meter to a maximum of 200%! This also extends the duration of your Special Ability’s effects up to twice as long.
If you’re playing Shellshock, this isn’t particularly valuable; any zombies you catch in your burst are likely to be dead well before the stun expires. With the other three Special Abilities, though, Überladen is worth keeping in mind. There’s a random element to it, of course, but if you sit on a full Special Ability meter, you have the chance for an additional 20 seconds of effectiveness if you find another one.
Vernichten
When you pick up this “nuke,” all nearby zombies are instantly destroyed. You gain a flat sum of 400 Jolts for killing zombies with Vernichten, regardless of how many are killed so be careful about picking one up. Also, a Vernichten only works on Wichts, Pests, and Bombers. More powerful zombies may get knocked over, but are otherwise unaffected.
Inventory Power-Ups
As noted previously, these are found in Supply Drops and equipped as part of your standard load-out. Each player can only activate a Consumable once per wave and once they’re consumed, they’re gone for good. Their quality level determines how often they can be used before they’re exhausted.
Refund Coupon
Activate this power-up and the next time you make a purchase from a weapons locker, you’re automatically refunded 25% of the purchase price.
Blitz Machine Coupon
As with the Refund Coupon, this refunds 25% of the cost of a Blitz.
Flamethrower
This equips a Flamethrower, which you can use until it’s expended. Once equipped, you have 30 seconds to use the Flamethrower. Zombies hit with its flame jet are set aflame and burn rapidly, suffering damage over time until they expire. This is still a rapid, hard-hitting way to deal with a crowd.
Bazooka
This equips a Bazooka, which you can use until it’s expended. It only lasts for 30 seconds with infinite ammunition once it’s employed, despite its on-screen ammo counter. It inflicts heavy damage to its target, has mediocre splash damage, and using it at point-blank range is suicidal.
Weapon Guarantees
Use a Weapon Guarantee to force the Mystery Box to cough up a matching weapon. You can find Weapon Guarantees for the Lewis, MG 15, MG 42, Bren, M1903, Karabin, and Toggle Action.