Die Rise:
Easter Egg

Shared steps

1. Turn on the power in the sewing room of the second tower.
2. Ride four elevators: the four players stand at the same time on the golden symbols on the roofs of four elevators: the one that leads to the Bowie Knife, reached from the power room; the one near the Remington 870 MCS and the MP5; and the Quick Revive elevator and the one next to it, both next to the Trample Steam room. Watch the top stop: a cabin that reaches its highest floor crushes you. Richtofen and Maxis then speak.
3. Light the floor symbols: four golden symbols on the floor, the same as on the elevators, one by the M14, one above the AK-74u, one on the roof left of the Semtex, and one past the SVU-AS by the cafeteria. Step on them in the right order, which changes every game: trial and error.
4. Shoot the dragons: with any sniper rifle, look into the mouths of the two dragons and shoot out the small ball in each. Both balls teleport under the paws of the lion statues in the spawn room, next to the Olympia. From here, you choose a side.

Richtofen’s side

1. Spin the balls: whoever holds the Sliquifier shoots each ball under the lions about twenty times, until both spin. Save its ammo for this. Richtofen asks for a “blood sacrifice”: Maxis is now locked out.
2. Four Trample Steams: golden zombie symbols in circles lie around the map, one near the spawn by the M14, two near the Claymores on the NAV Table roof, by the way down to the floor below, and one near the Semtex. Each player sets a Trample Steam on one, facing the tower, then lets them fling zombies (or players). Each symbol gives a Richtofen quote when it is done right: hear all four. Leaving the couch on the M14 escalator in place keeps zombies coming one way only.
3. Richtofen asks Samuel to use the Galvaknuckles: go to the final step.

Maxis’ side

1. Take the balls: once shot out of the dragons, the balls can be picked up from under the lions, as long as nobody has spun them with the Sliquifier. Nothing shows who holds one: walk into the lions’ paws, and a “place ball” prompt means you have it. One ball per player.
2. The Buddha room: kill 15 zombies in a row on its ground floor. A kill anywhere else resets the count. Maxis says “Reincarnation will reveal the way forward”.
3. The Krauss Refibrillator: get the Ballistic Knife from the Mystery Box, Pack-a-Punch it, and fire it in the Buddha room. Maxis comments twice if it worked. The player holding it must never have bought the Galvaknuckles or the Bowie Knife, and must never have bled out.
4. Four Trample Steams on the lions: each player sets one on a lion symbol, facing the way the lions look: in the spawn room at the foot of the left staircase; in the first room after the spawn room, at the bottom of the escalator near Quick Revive; on the dragon rooftop, next to the two side-by-side elevators that go down to the power room; and on the dragon rooftop, near the lone elevator in the east corner.
5. Bounce the balls: place the two balls on the Trample Steams. They bounce from one plate to the one across from it, and an orange surge runs through the tower. A ball that falls back under a lion can be picked up again. If a Trample Steam gives no prompt, destroy them all and start again.
6. Get the Galvaknuckles and go to the final step.

Mahjong tiles

Eight Mahjong tiles, spread over eleven possible spots, give the order in which to strike the four corners of the tower. Four tiles show a compass direction in Chinese, four show a number in bamboo sticks; a direction and a number of the same colour (red, blue, green or black) go together. A green North with a green three means the north corner is hit third. The “one” tile is a bird, not bamboo, and is often mistaken for a direction. The order changes every game but stays fixed during it, so the tiles can be read at any time.

Final step

With the Galvaknuckles, punch the four corners of the tower in the order of the tiles. North faces the Trample Steam room and carries its tile; West faces the sun; South and East are opposite. Get it right and the tower lights up in the colour of your side, the dragons’ flares spark, and the achievement unlocks. Get it wrong and the tower stops glowing until the next round: one try per round.

Sometimes the right order does nothing. One known way around it: let the tower go dark, wait for the next round, punch each corner once in any order while avoiding the first one, then enter the order from the tiles, even if the tower stops glowing.

Reward

If players who finished different sides play together, the tower shows both colours. The story goes on to Buried, where the endgame needs this side done by all four players and the Die Rise Navcard in Buried’s NAV Table.