Mob of the Dead: Hell’s Retriever

Hell's Retriever in Mob of the Dead: where the three Cerberus heads are, how to feed them, and every step of the upgrade to the Hell's Redeemer.

3 min read
5 chapters
updated 2026-10-03

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Overview

The Hell’s Retriever is the tomahawk of Mob of the Dead. It costs no points: you earn it by feeding zombies to three Cerberus heads hidden around Alcatraz. It sits in the tactical slot, it comes back to you after every throw, and it is classed as a wonder weapon. Its upgrade, the Hell’s Redeemer, is one of the best tools on the map.

Retriever throw

The tomahawk cuts through several zombies in one throw, then flies back to your hand. You wait a short cooldown before the next throw.

Retriever charge

Hold the tactical button to charge it, up to two pulses. Charging adds damage and distance.

Power-ups

Throw it at a power-up and it brings it back to you, even from behind a locked cell door.

Bleed out

The Retriever is lost if you bleed out. Go back to its room in the Citadel Tunnels to take it again.

Feeding the three heads

Each shrine is a red dog emblem on a wall. Kill a zombie next to it and a Cerberus head comes out and drags the body in. Each head needs six zombies. Let it finish eating before you kill the next one, or the body will not count. Once full, the head sinks back into the wall and its emblem glows.

Head	Location	Souls
Cell block	Broadway, next to the B23R wall-buy	6
Infirmary	The room with the Uzi wall-buy	6
Docks	Lower docks, by the workbench near the Generator Room door	6

When all three heads are fed, go to the Citadel Tunnels. Just past Double Tap, the wall with three dog emblems opens up. The Hell’s Retriever waits inside. Picking it up unlocks the Feed the Beast achievement (10 Gamerscore, Bronze trophy).

Upgrade to the Hell’s Redeemer

The Redeemer glows blue instead of red. Each player does the quest for himself: one player finishing it does not unlock it for the team, but several players can work through the steps at the same time.

Kill about 10 to 15 zombies with the Hell’s Retriever. The Afterlife sound and a short music cue confirm the step.
Build the plane and fly to the Golden Gate Bridge. Play a full round there using only the Retriever, with at least 30 kills from it. Firing a gun resets the step; knifing the air does not. The Afterlife sound plays at the end of the round.
Back at Alcatraz, throw the Retriever into the lava pit under the Cerberus head near the B23R. It must not come back. The ramp leading up to the B23R gives an easy angle on the lava.
On a later round, return to the Retriever room in the Citadel Tunnels. The glow is now blue. Enter Afterlife to pick up the Hell’s Redeemer.

Redeemer kills

Once charged, it kills a normal zombie in one hit at any round. It still stops after the same number of zombies per throw.

Redeemer charge

It charges three times instead of two.

Warden

Brutus with his helmet on still takes more than one hit.

What it unlocks

The Retriever is a key for other quests. It collects the five blue skulls for the free Blundergat and it knocks down the poster and grabs the spoon in the Golden Spork quest. Kills with it count as grenade kills in your stats.

Tips for a First Room game

Out of reach

The Retriever room and the docks head are both far from the cell block. A First Room game cannot earn it without leaving the starting area.

Power-ups

In a game that does allow it, the Retriever pulls power-ups out of locked cells without spending a door.

Warden

It hits Brutus hard, which matters most in narrow corridors where you cannot walk him around.

Redeemer timer

Plan the bridge step around your plane trips, since step 2 cannot be done anywhere else.

See every Mob of the Dead record on the leaderboard, and the full list of map weapons on the weapons page.