Kowakujō Main Quest Easter Egg Guide

Kowakujō Main Quest Easter Egg Guide Quick Overview:

• THIS GUIDE IS BEING UPDATED LIVE!
• The map is set in a feudal Japanese castle inside the Dark Aether
• The story continues after Totenreich
• The crew must free the final Shadowsmith and recover the World Seed
• Takeo and Carver’s souls appear to be tied to the map’s story

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Kowakujō Main Quest Walkthrough

Kowakujō is the new Round-Based Zombies map in Black Ops 7 Season 04 Reloaded. It takes place in a feudal Japanese castle surrounded by active volcanoes, lava, ash, and Dark Aether corruption. Basically, a calm family reunion spot. Very normal.

The map is heavily tied to Takeo Masaki. It’s the castle that looks like Takeo’s home, but twisted into something that feels wrong, like a memory rebuilt by the Dark Aether. The crew arrives after Totenreich, where they learned that the Dark Aether is starting to unravel. If they fail here, the material world is in serious trouble.

Their main goal is to free the final Shadowsmith and recover the mysterious World Seed. The quest also points toward Nyxara’s undead army and a curse gripping Takeo’s soul, so this should be one of the more story-heavy Zombies maps in Black Ops 7.

The intro setup also shows the crew crossing a volcanic landscape, nearly falling into lava, and escaping into the Outer Ward while a dragon flies overhead. That does not confirm a dragon boss yet, but the map is clearly leaning into the “place of fire” tease from Totenreich.

Step 1: Unlocking Pack-a-Punch

As per tradition, your first step is getting the Pack-a-Punch weapon. The map starts with you and your team in the Outer Ward, and your first objective would be to “Acquire the World Seed”, which is done by “Recapturing 2 Wards”.

Proceed through one of the two marked doors, one of which will lead you through the Staging Area, Stables, and Training Area, where the first Ward will be.

To recapture, interact with the Ward, and stay in the designated area marked by a circle on the ground. The objective will change, helping you track the progress with a bar that fills the longer you stay in the circle.

After the first ward is captured, proceed to the next one, located in the Kitchens area (order doesn’t matter) and repeat the process. 

Once the second ward is captured, the objective will change to “Remove the Gate Glyphs”. Proceed to the marked location, making your way to the Central Courtyard, where you’ll find a gate with two red dragon heads on it. Once the gate opens, proceed forward to locate the Shogun’s Sanctum, as that will be your next objective. You’ll have more options in terms of which doors you want to unlock to get to the objective, but you won’t get lost as you’ll be led by the pointer for this part of the Easter Egg.

 

When you enter the War Room in the castle, you’ll see a giant lightning shard that will turn into an enemy called “Oni”. When killed, he will drop an item called Shogun’s Hanko. Pick it up and place that into the Door with the golden dragon sigil. The door will open once more, giving you access to the upper floor called the Shogun’s Sanctum.

In that room, you’ll see the World Seed, but for now, you’ll need to kill marked zombies near it, as the objective suggests. Zombies will start attacking you, but some of them will have a purple hue around them. Those are the marked ones.

Once done, the World Seed will reveal the pack-a-punch machine.

So, to reiterate, this is how you unlock the Pack-a-Punch machine on Kowakujō:

1. Recapture the first Ward near the Training Area
2. Recapture the second Ward in the Kitchens
3. Go to the Central Courtyard and remove the Gate Glyphs
4. Enter the War Room and kill the Oni
5. Pick up the Shogun’s Hanko
6. Use Shogun’s Hanko on the golden dragon door
7. Enter Shogun’s Sanctum and kill marked zombies near the World Seed
8. The World Seed will reveal the Pack-a-Punch machine

Step 2: Building the Kowakujō Wonder Weapon (Final)

It would seem that the Wonder Weapon for the Kowakujō map is called Nekomancer, and it's "just a cat"! Getting it takes a few different item hunts before the actual cat rescue begins. The whole step revolves around building the Maneki Neko first, then using it to start the hidden cat sequence.

Here’s the quick to-do list for this part:

1. Get PhD Flopper
2. Drop the cat cage near Tenshu Entrance
3. Throw the cage into lava
4. Collect the Furin bell
5. Collect the Maneki-Neko cat statue
6. Collect the Karakuri doll
7. Craft the Maneki-Neko at the Workshop
8. Progress until after the first defense wave around round 10
9. Reveal and follow the glowing paw prints
10. Throw the Maneki-Neko into the final paw print shape
11. Kill the Abomination that eats the cat
12. Use Death Perception to sneak up on the cat
13. Bring the cat to the World Seed
14. Melee the World Seed between shockwaves until the cat is freed
15. Pick up the Nekomancer Wonder Weapon

Start by getting PhD Flopper. Once you have the perk, go to the Tenshu Entrance area near the cherry blossom tree. Look for the suspended cage sitting on the ledge. Stand underneath or right beside it and dive to prone with PhD Flopper. The explosion should knock the cage down.

Pick up the cage and carry it to any lava source on the map. Throw the cage into the lava. After a short moment, the cage will melt, and the cat will swim away. Yes, the cat swims through lava. Zombies logic remains undefeated.

After that, you need to collect the three parts required to craft the Maneki-Neko. The first part is the Furin, a small hanging bell. It can spawn in a few different spots, so check the Staging Area, Training Area, and Stables. The easiest way to find it is to listen for the ringing sound. If you hear a bell nearby, check the walls, beams, and hanging spots around that area.

The second part is the Maneki-Neko cat statue. This usually appears around the Kitchens, often on top of barrels, but it can also spawn near the Gatehouse on a barrel. It is a small white cat statue, so it is much easier to notice than the bell.

The third part is the Karakuri doll. This can spawn either in the Storage Rooms or in the Workshop, usually around crates or near the stairs. Once you have the Furin, Maneki-Neko statue, and Karakuri doll, head to the Workshop.

Go to the crafting table near Vulture Aid. It should be on the upper part of the Workshop, to the left of the perk machine. Use the table to craft the Maneki-Neko. This becomes a Tactical Equipment item, so do not throw it randomly. You will need it later for the paw print step.

Now progress until after the first defense wave, which usually happens around round 10. Once that is finished, the paw print step can begin.

There are several possible paw print starting areas, and the correct one changes every match. Check the Stables, Kitchens, and Flower Garden areas. You are looking for a spot where killing a zombie causes glowing orange paw prints to appear in the blood on the ground.

Once you find the first paw prints, look at the direction they are facing. Move a few steps in that direction and kill another zombie there. If you are in the correct spot, another set of paw prints will appear. Keep following the direction of the newest prints and killing zombies ahead of them.

Repeat this process until the paw prints stop forming a trail and instead create a full shape or circle of blood on the ground. This is the final point of the trail.

Now throw the Maneki-Neko into the middle of the paw print shape. If done correctly, the cat will appear from a lava pit. Almost immediately, an Abomination will spawn and eat the cat.

Kill the Abomination to free it. This enemy has a lot of health, so do not waste time shooting random body parts. Wait for its mouths to open and shoot them for critical damage. Pack-a-Punched weapons make this part much less annoying, especially if you are doing it solo.

After the Abomination dies, flip the round. The cat will then move to one of the creaky floorboard locations. Before looking for it, make sure you have Death Perception. This perk highlights the dangerous floorboards, which makes the next part much easier.

The cat can spawn in one of three creaky floorboard areas. There is one possible location in the Training Grounds and two possible locations in the Kitchens. Approach these areas carefully. If you run in too fast or step on the creaky boards, you can scare the cat away.

Crouch-walk toward the cat and watch the floorboards. With Death Perception equipped, the noisy boards will glow orange or red. Avoid stepping on them and slowly make your way to the cat. Once you are close enough, interact with it to pick it up.

After you grab the cat, bring it back to the World Seed next to the Pack-a-Punch machine in Shogun’s Sanctum. When you get close, the cat will automatically jump onto the World Seed.

The World Seed will begin glowing red and releasing damaging shockwaves. Between each shockwave, move in and melee the World Seed. Keep doing this until the cat breaks free.

Once the cat jumps down onto the floor, interact with it to pick up the Nekomancer Wonder Weapon. If you Pack-a-Punch it later, it becomes the Tsunderera-Hime.

Pick it up, and you are ready to continue the Kowakujō main quest.

Step 3: WIP

Step 4: WIP

Step 5: WIP

Step 6: WIP

Step 7: WIP

Kowakujō Cursed Mode Rewards

Cursed mode returns on Kowakujō with no Main Quest guidance, limited HUD, and only a starting pistol. It is basically the map telling you to suffer for cosmetics.

Players can hunt down new Cursed Relics and unlock three Pack-a-Punch camos:

• Flame Cipher Pack-a-Punch Camo, Calling Card, and 15,000 XP
• Toxic Cipher Pack-a-Punch Camo, Calling Card, and 20,000 XP
• Blood Cipher Pack-a-Punch Camo, Calling Card, and 25,000 XP

This mode should be better saved until you know the map layout and core quest steps. Going into it blind sounds funny for about five minutes.

New GobbleGum: Hellping Hound

Kowakujō adds a new Legendary GobbleGum called Hellping Hound. In Zombies, it summons a friendly Hellhound that fights for you for five minutes.

That should make it useful during lockdowns, high-pressure rounds, or early Main Quest attempts where you need one less problem biting your ankles.

New Mystery Box Weapon: PPSh-41

The PPSh-41 arrives as a new Ultra-Rarity legacy weapon in the Mystery Box. It has full Pack-a-Punch progression, Ammo Mod support, a large magazine, and a very high fire rate.

That makes it a very natural fit for Kowakujō, especially with lava routes, Scorched Zombies, and close-range castle areas. If the Wonder Weapon takes time to build, the PPSh-41 may be one of the better early lucky pulls.

Check out other CoD guides:

• Totenreich Main Quest Easter Egg Guide
• Call of Duty Won’t Be Coming to Game Pass Anymore
• Black Ops 7 Season 3 Overview
• Avalon Map Guide for Warzone

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