Mob of the Dead: Zombie Shield

Zombie Shield in Mob of the Dead: the three parts and their spawn spots, the workbenches, how it wears out and breaks, and how Brutus locks the benches.

3 min read
5 chapters
updated 2026-10-03

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Overview

The Zombie Shield is a buildable that first appeared in TranZit and returns in Mob of the Dead, made here from scrap found in the lower half of the island. The prison version is built around an old cell door: when a character assembles it, he turns a key in the door’s lock. In Mob of the Dead it takes its own inventory slot, so you do not give up any equipment to carry it.

Shield front

Held in your hands, it blocks hits from the front.

Shield back

Switched to another weapon, it rides on your back and blocks hits from behind.

Planted

You can plant it on the ground as a small barricade that zombies must walk around.

Bash

The melee bash kills a zombie in one hit until round 20. It earns 10 points per zombie hit but no kill points, and every bash wears the shield down.

Explosions

It also absorbs explosive damage, including your own.

The three parts

All three parts spawn between the Citadel Tunnels and the docks. Their exact spot can change from one game to the next.

Part	Area	Possible spots
Hand Trolley	Docks	Outside on the docks, by crates near the Tower Trap
Clamp	Generator Room	On the table in the middle of the room, beside a generator, across from the generator that does not break, or in a back corner near the fallen lamp
Cell Door	Citadel Tunnels	Leaning on a panel on the spiral staircase, in the room the plane-part elevator drops into, or at the end of the hall by the Generator Room

In solo, the clamp can sometimes fail to appear. If you search every spot in the Generator Room and find nothing, that is the reason.

Workbench and durability

The map has three workbenches: behind Electric Cherry on the top floor of the cell block, at the back of the Cafeteria, and on the lower docks next to a Cerberus head. The shield can be built on any of them, but the docks bench sits right next to the three parts.

Shield wear

Every hit it takes and every bash lowers its durability. Zombies can break it on your back too.

Shield broken

Once it breaks, it is gone from your hands. Go back to the workbench where it was built and pick up a new one.

Warden

Brutus destroys the shield in one hit. Do not count on it against him.

Brutus and the workbenches

When Brutus walks past a powered workbench, he can lock it with a padlock, the same way he locks perk machines, the Mystery Box and the plane. Unlocking costs 2,000 points, and the price rises by 2,000 for every extra lock he places in the same round. A locked bench means no fresh shield until you pay.

Padlock

Kill Brutus before he reaches the bench you depend on, or keep the points ready to reopen it.

Full Lockdown

If Brutus locks every perk machine, workbench, the plane and the Mystery Box, he completes his patrol and unlocks the Full Lockdown achievement.

Tips

Back cover

Carried on your back, it buys time when you get cornered on a walkway.

First Room

The parts and the closest workbench are all far below the cell block. A First Room game that never leaves the starting area plays without a shield.

Other buildables and weapons are on the weapons page. Every record on the map is listed on the Mob of the Dead leaderboard.