Pack-a-Punch is an area of interest wherein you can upgrade your weapons to significantly increase their damage and ammo capacity in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) Zombies Mode. Read on to learn more about how to Pack-a-Punch weapons and Pack-a-Punch locations.

Pack-a-Punch Cost

The cost of each Pack-a-Punch upgrade increases exponentially. You cannot skip an upgrade level unless you have certain materials, such as Refined Aetherium Crystal or Flawless Aetherium Crystal. You can choose to get each upgrade in their respective zones or go for consecutive upgrades in higher-threat zones.

How to Farm Essence

Pack-a-Punch Damage Multiplier

Pack-a-Punch Damage Chart

Pack-a-Punch upgrades directly increase your weapon's overall damage. This is multiplicative and stacks with weapon rarity. The first Pack-a-Punch upgrade is arguably a must in every run, as this also increases your magazine's maximum capacity.

Rarity vs Pack-a-Punch Damage Chart

Pack-a-Punch Locations

Machine Icons on the Map

You can determine a Pack-a-Punch location by identifying machine-like icons on your map. Note that you must go for a Pack-a-Punch located in higher threat zones to get access to higher Pack-a-Punch levels.

Zombies Interactive Map

How to Pack-a-Punch Weapons

Purchase with Essence

To Pack-a-Punch weapons, you must go to a Pack-a-Punch location with the required amount of Essence needed for each upgrade level. Equip the weapon you want to upgrade then interact with the machine.

The Pack-a-Punch upgrade will change your weapon's camo to signify that the upgrade was completed. If you don't want your camo to be replaced, you can instead melee-hit the Pack-a-Punch machine using your weapon rather than interacting with it.

Identifying Current Pack-a-Punch Level

You can determine a weapon's current Pack-a-Punch level through the level indicator found on the lower right section of the screen, just beside your gun's icon. This is useful when planning how to allocate your Essence for the rest of the game.

What is Pack-a-Punch?

Damage and Ammo Capacity Upgrade

Pack-a-Punch is an area where you can upgrade your weapons' damage and ammo capacity for the duration of a single game in Zombies mode. Although these upgrades do not carry over, you'd still want to prioritize them as they exponentially increase your weapons' offensive capabilities.

If you want to push through higher threat levels within Urzikstan, you must aim to always upgrade your weapons through Pack-a-Punch.

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (MW3) Related Guides

Zombies Mode Walkthrough and Guide

All Zombies Guides

All Zombies Guns and Weapons