Ashes of the Damned is packed with hidden side Easter eggs, but few are as powerful-or as game-changing-as the ability to earn Permanent Double Points for the rest of your match. This secret reward allows players to farm massive amounts of Essence through melee kills, making it one of the most efficient ways to snowball upgrades, Perks, and Pack-a-Punch levels early.

While this permanent Double Points bonus only applies to melee kills, it is still incredibly valuable. In both standard Zombies matches and Cursed variants, mastering this Easter egg gives you near-infinite Essence potential and complete control over the map's loot economy. Here's exactly how to unlock Permanent Double Points in Ashes of the Damned in Black Ops 7 Zombies.

What are Permanent Double Points in Ashes of the Damned?

Permanent Double Points is a hidden Easter egg reward that doubles the Essence gained from every melee kill for the entire match. Unlike the standard Double Points power-up, this bonus never expires and does not require activation.

Once unlocked, every knife or melee weapon kill becomes a massive source of points, allowing you to:

·Max out Perks quickly

·Upgrade weapon rarity early

·Fully Pack-a-Punch multiple weapons

·Maintain full armor and field upgrades with ease

Because melee weapons scale well in the early and mid-game, this Easter egg can completely change how you approach Ashes of the Damned.

How to Get Permanent Double Points in Ashes of the Damned

Before starting, it's important to understand that this Easter egg involves fighting a High-Value Target (HVT) Zursa, a miniboss variant of the Elite Zursa bear. The key requirement is that the boss must be killed using melee damage only.

You are allowed to bring Perks, Armor, weapon rarity upgrades, and Pack-a-Punch into the fight-but only if you correctly retrieve your equipment inside the arena.

Players who want to practice the mechanics safely or learn the route without pressure often test strategies in controlled environments like Call of Duty Black Ops 7 Bot Lobbies, where movement, positioning, and melee timing can be refined before attempting the Easter egg in a live match.

Step 1: Get Death Perception

Your first requirement is the Death Perception Perk-a-Cola.

·Location: Barn at Vandorn Farm

·Cost: Standard Perk price scaling

Death Perception allows you to see hidden objects and interactable elements through walls, which is essential for spotting the bear pawprints later in the process.

Step 2: Enter the Fog Roads

After acquiring Death Perception, you'll need to venture into one of the fog-covered roads connected to Ashwood. There are two possible routes:

·Crashed Rocket Road (Ashwood → Zarya Cosmodrome)

·Orda Graveyard Road (Ashwood → Exit 115)

In one of these fog roads, you'll find a glowing bear pawprint, usually located closer to the Ashwood gate.

Step 3: Follow the Bear Pawprints

Using Death Perception, locate the glowing pawprint and interact with it. This will activate a trail of additional pawprints leading deeper into the fog.

·Interact with every pawprint in sequence

·Follow the trail carefully-missing one will stop progression

Once you interact with the final pawprint, a cutscene will trigger, and you'll be attacked by a Zursa bear. After the cutscene, you'll be teleported into a mini-boss arena.

Step 4: Prepare Inside the Boss Arena

When you spawn inside the arena, your HUD may appear to show that you have no Perks or Armor. This is misleading.

Immediately do the following:

·Pick up all your dropped weapons and equipment

·Do not use any weapons during the fight

Picking up your gear restores your Perks, Armor, and upgrades even if the UI doesn't fully reflect it. Failing to pick up your equipment will cause the game to treat you as unequipped, making the fight significantly harder.

Step 5: Kill the Zursa Bear With Melee Only

This is the most important step.

·Use only your knife or melee weapon

·Do not shoot, throw equipment, or deal damage in any other way

·Armor and Perks are allowed, but damage must be melee-only

If you deal damage with any non-melee source, the Easter egg will fail, and you will not receive the reward.

Once defeated, the Zursa bear will explode, and a black orb will float into a nearby chest.

Step 6: Claim the Claw Talisman

Interact with the chest to release the Claw Talisman. Equip it immediately.

Upon equipping the Claw Talisman, you'll gain:

·Permanent Double Points for every melee kill

·The bonus lasts for the entire match

·No cooldowns or reactivation required

From this point onward, every melee elimination becomes a massive Essence generator.

Best Ways to Use Permanent Double Points

To maximize the value of this Easter egg:

·Focus on melee kills in early rounds for exponential Essence gain

·Combine with melee-boosting Perks for faster clears

·Use the extra points to rush Pack-a-Punch and rarity upgrades

·Transition into high-tier weapons once your economy is secured

In Cursed Mode, Permanent Double Points is especially powerful, helping offset difficulty spikes with constant upgrades. Many players looking to speed-farm or master the setup efficiently choose to buy CoD Black Ops 7 Bot Lobbies to repeatedly practice the melee Zursa fight and perfect their execution without wasted runs.

Final Thoughts

Permanent Double Points is one of the strongest side Easter eggs in Ashes of the Damned and a must-complete objective for players who want total economic control in Black Ops 7 Zombies. While the melee-only Zursa fight can be intimidating, the payoff is enormous and lasts for the entire game.

If you're looking to dominate early, scale faster than your squad, and trivialize resource management, unlocking the Claw Talisman should be at the top of your Ashes of the Damned checklist.