What Is Directed Mode in Black Ops 6 Zombies?

The first season of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is now live, and as you would expect, it features a plethora of changes across its different game modes. Among these is the addition of Directed Mode in the Zombies side game that has its own dedicated fanbase. So, what exactly is it and how does it work? Read on to find out!

What Is Directed Mode?

Directed Mode is basically a more “casual” version of Zombies that you can choose right before you start a new match. The option exists for new players who are unfamiliar with the game mode or only want to experience the story, which there is admittedly not a lot of right now.

With the addition of this mode, the Standard match option is now tagged as “Recommended for experienced players”, though I would personally still recommend starting with that even if you are completely average at Black Ops 6.

How Does Directed Mode Work?

In Directed Mode, players are guided through the main quest of their chosen map. If you have not played Zombies before, you are normally completely free to do whatever you want as the difficulty ramps up until you die or extract.

With this new difficulty setting, the game will instead throw in quest markers that you can follow, essentially railroading you through the main story mission. As you do this, the round number will stop after reaching a certain point.

The round cap can go all the way up to 15, and this is influenced by your progress in the main quest. To clarify, rounds will cap at a lower number at the start of the match, and it will eventually be stuck at 15 as you approach the end.

What this means is that the rounds will keep on “looping” at whatever the cap is currently set to. For example, if the cap is currently at 10, then the game will stay on that number each round until you complete more objectives.

This ensures that the enemies that spawn will not be too difficult for the mode’s intended audience. According to the patch notes, Directed Mode also disables every side quest, S.A.M. Trials, and the Rampage Inducer.

Different Rewards

Finally, the quest rewards are different for both the Standard and Directed modes. There are currently only two Zombies maps right now, and in the regular game mode, they can give you a skin for Maya or an alternate appearance for the Ray Gun wonder weapon.

In contrast, both maps in Directed Mode will only reward you with weapon charms upon completion of the main quest. For either difficulty settings, you will be granted 5,000 EXP alongside the other rewards. A calling card is also up for grabs if you can finish it.

That is pretty much everything you need to know about this new difficulty setting for the Zombies mode. For the sake of science, I finished a run of Liberty Falls using Directed Mode, and I can confirm that it is indeed very easy.

It is a great way to farm for certain camos and achievements, so even experienced players can take advantage of the mode if they do not feel like sweating it. Just know that the 15 minute pause timer is still a thing, so you might want to check out our guide on how to reset it.