Black Ops 2 Buried Easter Egg Guide: Maxis & Richtofen

This Black Ops 2 Buried easter egg guide covers the whole grim carnival: two separate rituals, two competing ghosts, one very tired zombie killer. The short version is this: build a device, feed a drunk cowboy some booze, decode a cipher, catch a floating orb, then shoot some targets, and a robot voice will reward you with an achievement called Mined Games. Everything below explains how, without pretending it is simple, because it is not.

Buried splits into two paths that cannot be done at once in the same playthrough sign, Maxis and Richtofen. Pick one master, betray the other, repeat next game if you enjoy suffering. Both paths share early steps like turning on power and freeing Arthur, then diverge into their own buildables and their own final shootout.

Before You Start

Set the game to Original difficulty or none of the easter egg items will spawn, and that includes the drop for Arthur's key. You want four players for full completion, though early steps can be soloed if you enjoy talking to yourself. Bring a Bowie Knife eventually, since one of the cipher steps depends on it entirely.

Early Shared Steps

1. Drop through the stairs at spawn into the Old West town and head toward the Sheriff's House on the left to begin the run.
2. Jump into the Jailhouse, drop through the floor, grab the key, and free Arthur, who refuses to move without booze from the Saloon.
3. Feed Arthur booze whenever debris blocks your path, since he smashes it open for you like the world's least sober bulldozer.
4. Turn on the power from the upstairs of the Candy Store before attempting either buildable.

Maxis Path

The Buried Maxis easter egg steps revolve around building the Gallows near the Courthouse using four scattered parts, then powering it with undead energy. Feed Leroy candy so he kills zombies for you, and each kill raises the pitch of a bell chime until Maxis finally speaks again.

For the Gallows parts locations, expect them scattered around the Courthouse area and nearby debris piles that Arthur has already cleared for you. Nothing is hidden cruelly, it is just spread out enough to waste your time.

The Buried Richtofen easter egg steps ask you to build a Guillotine instead, using the Paralyzer wonder weapon to charge four orbs before anything else happens. Play as Samuel J. Stuhlinger if you want to actually hear Richtofen's commentary, since he is the only one wired to listen.

For Guillotine parts locations, look along the wall between the Saloon and Gunsmith, the Crystal Shard sits at the back right of the mineshafts and the Antenna hides behind a lantern in the barn's lower floor.

The Switch step is the one that quietly ends friendships. It hides inside one of four dead bodies scattered around the map, and searching the wrong corpse wastes precious round time while zombies keep spawning around your face.

Cracking the Cipher

Buried cipher decode comes down to matching symbols on the Gunsmith wall to names written in the Rosicrucian cipher, each name corresponding to one wooden sign in the mineshafts. Match three names correctly, place your device on one sign, then melee all three with a knife to summon the glowing orb.

Chasing the Wisp

The Wisp locations Buried puzzle only matters once you have Vulture Aid, since the orb is invisible otherwise and you will just stand around looking confused. It teleports rapidly across the map, so spreading players out to spot and catch it repeatedly is the only realistic strategy before it finally settles at your buildable.

Full Walkthrough Order

If you want the condensed BO2 Zombies Buried walkthrough without the flavor text, it goes like this: power on, free Arthur, choose Maxis or Richtofen, build your device, charge your device, decode the cipher, catch the Wisp, finish your path specific middle steps, then shoot the targets at the very end.

Rewards

The main prize among the Buried easter egg rewards is the Mined Games achievement, along with every Moon perk on the Maxis side and a permanent audio change on the Richtofen side. Complete all three map easter eggs on Maxis's side across a full run and you unlock a final confrontation between Maxis and Richtofen, ending with Richtofen's soul trapped inside a random zombie sporting blue eyes.