The Gong is a Grim tier relic on Astra Malorum. It makes your Field Upgrade start charged, but it only recharges from a Full Power drop. To unlock it you reach round 20 in Cursed mode, find the zombie with a lightning rod stuck in it, and electrify it with Dead Wire and Tesla Storm under three light bulbs around the map. That opens a portal to a four-wave trial where zombies only take electric damage.
- Map: Astra Malorum, any Cursed tier, main quest already done
- Bring Dead Wire on a low rarity weapon and the Tesla Storm Field Upgrade
- From round 20, isolate the lightning rod zombie and take it to three doorways with a bulb above them
- At each one, proc Dead Wire on it, then pop Tesla Storm. The bulb lights up
- Portal opens in Stargazer’s Courtyard. Clear four waves with electric damage only
We unlocked it ourselves and took screenshots of every bulb, the portal and the trial. The unlock is easy once you know it. Almost every failed attempt comes down to accidentally eliminating the rod zombie, so most of this guide is about keeping him alive.
What the Gong Relic Does
With the Gong active, your Field Upgrade is full when the match starts, and that is the last free charge you get. It never charges passively. From then on, only a Full Power power-up fills it back up. The gong itself comes from Shangri-La, where gongs around the map were part of that map’s main quest.
One free Field Upgrade at the start, then nothing until a Full Power drops.
Requirements
| Requirement | Details |
|---|---|
| Map | Astra Malorum |
| Relic Tier | Grim (the lowest of Grim, Sinister, Wicked) |
| Cursed Tier Needed | Any. You can load in with no relics active. |
| Main Quest | Completed at least once. No relic on the map unlocks without it. |
| Round | Round 20 or later |
| Ammo Mod | Dead Wire, ideally on a gray or green weapon |
| Field Upgrade | Tesla Storm |
The Cursed loadout screen shows where the Gong sits. It is in the Grim row, and a Grim relic fills a third of a tier bar.
Click to enlarge The Gong in the Grim row of the Cursed menu 
Step 1: Set Up Dead Wire and Tesla Storm
You need both electric effects to land on the same zombie without eliminating him. Your goal is a stun, not damage, so set your augments up for that before you load in.
The setup that fails least is Lightning Strike on Dead Wire, with High Voltage and Ball Lightning off. Lightning Strike calls down a bolt that stuns every normal and special enemy in the area. For Tesla Storm, leave out the damage Majors like Shockwave and Static Discharge. Our Dead Wire augments guide covers what each one does.
Put Dead Wire on a cheap weapon. Ammo mod damage scales with weapon rarity, so a gray or green gun gives you the proc with the least damage. Dead Wire can also vanish from the starting pistol every round, so use a gray wall buy or the gray pistol that spawns for the Seed relic instead.
Save your Tesla Storm charge on the way to round 20. Since the Season 02 update, Tesla Storm takes longer to charge when you have Dead Wire equipped.
Step 2: Isolate the Rod Zombie
From round 20, a zombie with a lightning rod stuck through him spawns. The community calls him Rodney. He is easy to miss, because the rod is thin and Astra Malorum is dark. Picking him out of a full horde was the most annoying part of our whole run.
The trick is that Rodney does not despawn like normal zombies. Train the round in the Pack-a-Punch room until nothing else spawns, then take the teleporter to spawn. Every other zombie respawns near you, but Rodney has to walk all the way over. That gives you time to clear the rest, and he is the only one left when he arrives. The round will not end while he is alive.
If he dies, he is gone for at least the rest of that round. In co-op, split the jobs. One player watches for the rod and stays near Rodney, and the other lures the rest of the horde away, so he ends up the only zombie alive. Spotting him is still the hard part.
Do not start a T.E.D.D. Task trial on a round with Rodney. When the trial ends and zombies despawn, he goes with them. Do not start a round on Mars either. He can spawn there and then never reaches the bulbs on the main map.
Step 3: Light the Three Bulbs
Three doorways on the map have a small light bulb above them. Bring Rodney under one, proc Dead Wire on him, then pop Tesla Storm right away. If it works, a spark of electricity flies from the zombie into the bulb and the bulb stays lit. The order does not matter.
Click to enlarge Observatory Dome, Pack-a-Punch room 
Click to enlarge Archive of Orbis, the library by Stamin-Up 
Click to enlarge The Luminarium, by Juggernog 
The Observatory Dome bulb is in the Pack-a-Punch room, over the doorway toward Mule Kick. The Luminarium bulb is over the doorway opposite Juggernog. The third is in the Archive of Orbis, the library on the Machina Astralis side by Stamin-Up.
Tesla Storm’s field comes from you, so you have to be close to him when you pop it. Get close, but do not walk into him once Dead Wire procs, because bumping into him after the proc can eliminate him. With Lightning Strike there is a cleaner way. Proc Dead Wire on a zombie standing next to Rodney, so the bolt stuns him without a single bullet hitting him.
Without the Bus relic, plan for one bulb per round. With it on, zombies regenerate health, so one Rodney can light all three bulbs in the same round. You still need Tesla Storm three times, so that only works with Full Powers to recharge it. The Bus is a Wicked relic from Ashes of the Damned, so this shortcut is only for players who already unlocked it.
Step 4: Enter the Portal
When the third bulb lights, Mr Peeks laughs and the green relic portal spawns just outside the Observatory Dome’s door into Stargazer’s Courtyard, a few steps from the Pack-a-Punch room. Ours appeared on round 22.
The Mr Peeks laugh (your confirmation sound)
Hear this after the third bulb lights and the portal has spawned.
The start prompt warns that all relics are disabled inside the trial.
Open the doors to the Wisp Tea area before you start. The trial teleports you there, out on the Abyssal Rim, and with the doors shut you take damage or go down.
Step 5: Clear the Trial
The trial is four waves, and zombies only take electric damage the whole way. A weapon with Dead Wire counts as electric damage, so every bullet from it hurts, even when the mod is not proccing. Put Dead Wire on your strongest weapon for this part. Your low rarity proc gun has done its job.
In our run, waves 1 and 3 were regular zombies and waves 2 and 4 were “Kill all HVT(s)” waves. Uber Klaus showed up in wave 2. We found the trial easy overall, but respect the HVTs, Uber Klaus most of all.
Traps do not damage the HVTs in this trial, so do not count on the rocket trap for Uber Klaus. Keep your distance, use the whole courtyard, and shoot them with Dead Wire.
Clear wave 4 and the Gong is yours. Our completion screen showed 1000 XP. The wiki also lists a Dead Drop GobbleGum, which our screenshot does not show.
Is It Worth Equipping?
For tier points, yes, as long as you see it as filler. It costs a round 20 run and a bit of patience, but it is one Grim relic, a third of a tier bar, so it will not get you to a high tier on its own. As a relic to play with, it is not the worst. All it really does is give you your Field Upgrade less often. That stings most at high rounds, when your Field Upgrade is your escape from HVTs and from O.S.C.A.R., the boss that gets faster and hunts you from round 50. Doughnuts tells players to skip the Gong for the Civil Protector Head attempt for exactly that reason.
It is not the best Grim pick, but it is nowhere near as punishing as the Civil Protector Head, which strips a perk every 100 eliminations. Unlock it, bank the third of a tier, and equip it when you need Grim filler for a higher Cursed tier.
All Astra Malorum Relics
Astra Malorum has six Cursed relics across the three tiers. We link each guide as it goes live.
| Tier | Relic | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Grim | Seed | Mystery Box disabled |
| Grim | Gong | Field Upgrade starts charged, and only Full Power recharges it |
| Sinister | Spider Fang | Perk prices only ever increase |
| Sinister | Matryoshka Doll | Salvage drop rate halved |
| Wicked | Golden Spork | Enemies deal double damage |
| Wicked | Civil Protector Head | Lose a perk every 100 eliminations |
The Gong was the last Grim relic on the map to be solved. Players cracked it on January 25, 2026. The solve came out of the ZoneX Discord community, with help from datamined hints about the lights.
Tips
- Finish the Astra Malorum main quest first, because no relic on the map unlocks without it.
- Proc Dead Wire with a gray or green weapon, and switch to your best Dead Wire weapon for the trial.
- Watch out for the starting pistol. Dead Wire can disappear from it every round.
- Train in the Pack-a-Punch room, teleport to spawn, clear the horde, and let Rodney walk to you.
- Back off once Dead Wire procs. Walking into him is a common way to eliminate him by accident.
- If Rodney keeps dying, hold off on Wisp Tea and Elemental Pop until the bulbs are done, because their extra damage can eliminate him by accident.
- Open the Wisp Tea doors before the trial, since that is where the trial starts.
- For the round 20 grind, see our best BO7 Zombies loadout, and use our Mr Peeks locations on Astra Malorum to grab his rewards on the way.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does the Gong relic do in BO7 Zombies?
The in-game description reads "Field Upgrade starts charged, but can only be charged by full power." You spawn with your Field Upgrade ready, but it never refills on its own. After the first use, the only way to get it back is a Full Power power-up.
How do you unlock the Gong relic on Astra Malorum?
Reach round 20 in Cursed on any tier with the Astra Malorum main quest already done. Find the zombie with a lightning rod stuck in it, bring it under each of the three doorway light bulbs in turn, and at each one proc Dead Wire on it and pop Tesla Storm. Once all three bulbs are lit, a portal opens in Stargazer's Courtyard. Clear the four-wave trial and the Gong is yours.
Where are the three Gong relic light bulbs?
One is above a doorway in the Pack-a-Punch room in the Observatory Dome, one is in The Luminarium by Juggernog, and one is in the Archive of Orbis, the library by Stamin-Up on the Machina Astralis side. You can do them in any order.
Why does the rod zombie keep dying?
Your Dead Wire or Tesla Storm is doing too much damage. Use a gray or green weapon for the Dead Wire proc, take the damage augments off both, and do not walk into the zombie once Dead Wire triggers. If you run the Lightning Strike augment, proc it on a zombie next to him so the bolt stuns him without your bullets touching him.
What tier is the Gong relic?
Grim, the lowest of the three severities. It fills a third of a Cursed tier bar, so it takes three Grim relics to make one full tier. You do not need any tier active to unlock it.
What is the Gong relic trial?
Four waves where zombies only take electric damage. Any weapon with Dead Wire counts, so every bullet from it does damage. In our run waves 2 and 4 were HVT waves, with Uber Klaus in wave 2. Open the doors to the Wisp Tea area before you start, because the trial drops you there.
Is the Gong relic worth equipping?
As Grim filler, yes. It only fills a third of a tier bar, and all it costs you is getting your Field Upgrade less often. That hurts most at high rounds against O.S.C.A.R. and HVTs, but it is far less punishing than the Civil Protector Head, which takes your perks away.
If you can’t spot Rodney in the horde, or need a teammate to hold him while you light the bulbs, join 50,000+ players in the COD Central Discord. Our Zombies channels run relic hunts all the time, and the team that wrote this guide is in there.
