Hell's Redeemer BO2 Guide: How to Get & Upgrade Fast

The Hell's Redeemer is the upgraded version of the Hell's Retriever tomahawk, found in Mob of the Dead on Black Ops 2. Nobody hands it to you. You earn it by feeding dogs, drowning a weapon in lava, and surviving a bridge full of screaming corpses. Anyone searching hell's redeemer bo2 expecting a shortcut will be disappointed. There isn't one.

Step 1: Get the Hell's Retriever First

Before the redeemer exists, you need its uglier cousin. Three stone dog heads are scattered around the map, and each one wants six zombie kills delivered right next to it. Feed all three and a wall near the Double Tap machine explodes, revealing the tomahawk hovering like it's proud of itself.

This is the part of any mob of the dead dog heads location search that people skip, then wonder why nothing happens. The order doesn't matter. The patience does.

Step 2: Kill Something With It

Pick up the tomahawk and kill 10 to 15 zombies with it. The game rewards you with a haunting audio cue, because subtlety was never Treyarch's strength. This confirms your hell's retriever tomahawk is warming up to its next form.

Do not throw the tomahawk away before this cue plays. It always returns to you when thrown normally, right up until the one time it matters, so don't get cocky.

Take the plane to the Golden Gate Bridge on round 10 or later. Use only the Retriever for an entire round. No guns, no perks doing the killing for you, just a flying axe and your questionable life choices. Another audio cue plays when you succeed. This is the step most people researching a black ops 2 zombies wonder weapon guide give up on.

Step 4: Feed the Lava Pit

Head back to the Broadway cell block, the one with the first dog head, and throw the tomahawk into the lava pit. It vanishes from your inventory. This is the only time it doesn't come back, so enjoy the small betrayal. End the round immediately after.

Step 5: Enter Afterlife and Collect

At the start of the new round, trigger Afterlife near the Citadel Docks. The Hell's Redeemer sits in the exact spot where the Retriever used to live, blue and smug about its upgrade. Pick it up and stop pretending you weren't going to Google how to get hell's redeemer the moment you got stuck.

Why Bother

The reward is a tomahawk that hits harder, chains further, and still returns to your hand like an obedient dog you didn't have to feed six zombies to. If you're deep enough into Mob of the Dead to be reading a hell's redeemer pack a punch comparison, you already know this weapon outperforms most of the box.

Anyone still confused after this can go rewatch a five minute hell's retriever upgrade video, but the steps don't change no matter how many times someone narrates them over dubstep. Feed the dogs, kill with the axe, survive the bridge, drown it, then collect the reward like the afterlife mob of the dead ritual it is. This entire process is also just called the mob of the dead easter egg, in case you wanted one more term to search at 3am instead of sleeping.