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To complete the Citadelle des Morts Easter egg in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, open Pack-a-Punch, speak with Gabriel Krafft, solve the page-and-bottle puzzle, complete the four ritual-item incantations, follow the match-specific knight-statue order, charge the Mystic Orb, and use the Guardian Key to begin the final fight. The four elemental sword upgrades are Caliburn (Fire), Durendal (Storm), Balmung (Dark/Void), and Solais (Light). This route works solo or with a squad, but several puzzle details—especially the statue order—change between matches.
Before starting: what the Citadelle quest requires
- Reach the castle and unlock first-level Pack-a-Punch.
- Have Melee Macchiato available to punch through the concealed Undercroft wall.
- Acquire the four Bastard Sword upgrades or the matching elemental incantation options as the quest progresses.
- Record the statue order shown by the numbered diagram in your own match; it is not universal.
Activision describes reaching Pack-a-Punch before round 10 as useful pacing, not a hard requirement. During preparation, keep an escape route in the castle’s narrow corridors, use traps deliberately, and upgrade damage before attempting the late quest steps.
1. Open the map and start Gabriel Krafft’s story
Reach Pack-a-Punch
Follow the castle route until Pack-a-Punch is accessible. You do not need to force a particular round number. Buy doors methodically, leave room to maneuver, and avoid spending every point on upgrades if a quest door or perk is still ahead.
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Speak to Krafft
Once Pack-a-Punch is available, go to the Dungeon door and interact with Gabriel Krafft. This starts the main-quest chain and directs you toward the Sitting Room and Undercroft.
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2. Solve the pages, bottles and Undercroft wall
Collect the four torn pages
Search the Sitting Room for four torn pages. Keep them until the hidden book puzzle is exposed; collecting pages alone does not advance the sequence.
Record the tavern bottle symbols
- Enter the tavern and interact with all six numbered bottles.
- Write down the symbol associated with each bottle number.
- Use Melee Macchiato to punch through the concealed wall in the Undercroft.
- Shoot the symbols on the wall in bottle-number order, not in the order they happen to appear on the wall.
The visible arrangement can scramble after shots, so your written six-symbol sequence is the reliable reference. When the wall opens, place the four torn pages into the revealed book.
Activate the Point of Power traps
The book identifies four trap symbols and their required order. GameSpot’s walkthrough reads the page from top-left, bottom-left, top-right, then bottom-right. For each position, activate the corresponding Point of Power trap and kill zombies inside its area until it completes.
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- Use the symbol in the book to identify the next trap.
- Keep kills inside the active trap rather than outside its boundary.
- Confirm that the symbol stops glowing and listen for Krafft’s acknowledgement before moving on.
3. Upgrade the four Bastard Swords
The sword upgrades are the central elemental tools for both the ritual sequence and the orb trials. Their names and elements are:
| Sword | Element | Quest role |
|---|---|---|
| Caliburn | Fire | Opens Fire boxes and supports the Fire incantation and trial. |
| Durendal | Lightning/Storm | Opens Storm boxes and supports the Lightning trial. |
| Balmung | Dark/Void | Opens Dark boxes and supports the Dark trial. |
| Solais | Light | Opens Light boxes and supports the Light incantation and trial. |
Use the sword that matches a glowing box’s element. A sword can therefore be useful even when the next ritual item was obtained with a different elemental clue.
4. Find the four ritual items and obtain their incantations
The four ritual items can be pursued in different orders. Each one produces an elemental rune and a charged-zombie step. After that step, a matching glowing box appears; open it with the corresponding upgraded sword to receive an incantation.
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| Ritual item | How to obtain it | Matching sword and incantation |
|---|---|---|
| Pegasus Horseshoe | Shoot it down from the barn, take it to the cannon, then recover it at the storm-cloud landing area. | Durendal for the Storm/Lightning incantation. |
| Ra’s Ankh | Light three burn piles and kill the Doppelghast that appears. | Caliburn for the Fire incantation. |
| Paladin’s Brooch | Redirect a crystal beam through the Dining Hall and Alchemical Lab. | Solais for the Light incantation. |
| Raven Talon | Shoot the raven during the Cave Slide sequence. | Balmung for the Dark/Void incantation. |
How each item advances
- Collect one ritual item.
- Follow its elemental rune to the required charged-zombie kill.
- Find the glowing box that appears after the charge is complete.
- Open that box with its matching upgraded sword.
- Collect the incantation and repeat for the remaining items.
If a box does not open, check the element rather than repeatedly striking it: Solais is Light, Caliburn is Fire, Durendal is Storm, and Balmung is Dark.
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Read the numbered diagram
After all four incantations are collected, inspect the diagram on the Undercroft Stairway wall. It shows the order for your match. Do not use a fixed order copied from another run.
Perform the salute sequence in the Dining Hall
- Go to the Dining Hall’s knight statues.
- Match each diagram number to the correct incantation-bearing knight.
- Use the matching incantation on that statue.
- While it glows, perform the sword inspection interaction.
- Repeat in the exact numbered order shown on your diagram.
The statue identities are:
| Statue | Element or alignment |
|---|---|
| Raven | Dark/Void |
| Lion | Light |
| Stag | Lightning/Storm |
| Dragon | Fire |
Completing the sequence reveals the Mystic Orb. If nothing happens, recheck the diagram number, the incantation assigned to that statue, and whether the sword-inspection interaction was completed while the statue was glowing.
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6. Charge the Mystic Orb at four elemental stations
Carry the Mystic Orb to each station. The four trials may be completed in any order. After a station confirms completion, pick the orb up again before traveling to the next one.
Light trial
Survive the encounter and interact with the green orbs as the trial presents them. Stay mobile so the horde does not pin you away from the objective.
Fire trial
Make fire kills near the orb. Position enemies close enough for the elemental effect to count, and avoid finishing them too far from the station.
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Lightning trial
Use the charged Stag sword or the Storm/Lightning incantation to satisfy the station’s elemental requirement.
Dark trial
In the Undercroft, use the Dark/Void incantation or the matching sword attack. The confined space makes crowd control and a retreat route particularly important.
7. Claim the Guardian Key and start the boss fight
- Return the fully charged Mystic Orb to the Undercroft Stairway diagram.
- Collect the Guardian Key when it appears.
- Take the key to the statue in Town Square.
- Interact with the statue to begin the Guardian encounter.
What to expect from the Guardian
The fight takes place in a lava-filled arena against a golem-like Guardian. Its rear seal and rotating weak points are the important targets. The encounter is described in three stages, with exposed weak points and increasingly dangerous floor hazards. Treat this as an encounter outline rather than a guaranteed loadout check: damage windows and survival matter more than one prescribed weapon.
Practical preparation
- Bring a weapon with enough damage for exposed weak-point phases and a backup for crowd control.
- Keep armor, healing and ammunition available before using the Guardian Key.
- Save an escape route and avoid standing near lava hazards while waiting for a weak point.
- Legendary, fully upgraded weapons and specific perk or GobbleGum combinations are optional strategy recommendations, not quest requirements.
Solo or squad: which approach fits?
| Approach | Advantages | Watch-outs |
|---|---|---|
| Solo | The quest is supported solo, and you control every symbol, statue and orb decision. | You must gather items, defend every station and manage revives and ammunition alone. |
| Squad | Players can divide sword upgrades, ritual-item searches and orb-station defense. | Everyone must communicate the recorded bottle symbols and the match-specific statue order. |
Neither source establishes a universally fastest route. Ritual items and orb stations offer order flexibility, while the statue sequence is fixed only by the diagram in that particular match.
Patch and version cautions
Activision’s Season 01 patch notes documented historical Citadelle changes, including sword swings that could hit up to two enemies, distance-based damage for the second hit, sword-specific balance adjustments, a Main Quest fix involving the Lightning Rod, and changes affecting boss-fight respawns and special-round effects. Those notes describe that patch rather than a complete live-build balance record. If an interaction behaves differently, follow the current in-game prompt and check the latest official patch notes before assuming the quest is broken.
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