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Stone Cold Stronghold

Stone Cold Stronghold, a perk of Black Ops 4 Zombies: standing still creates a defensive circle that boosts damage and slowly builds armor while the player stays inside.

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updated 2026-11-11

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Stone Cold Stronghold is a perk of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Zombies, found in no other game of the site. A player who stands still for a few moments draws a defensive circle on the ground; inside it, their damage is boosted and their armor builds up over time.

Overview

First appearanceVoyage of Despair, IX, Blood of the Dead and Classified, the launch maps of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, October 12, 2018

GamesBlack Ops 4

Cost2500 points3000 points as the Modifier perk

EffectStanding still creates a defensive circle that boosts damage and builds armor over time.

ModifierKills inside the circle add to the damage boost and the armor.

FamilyPerks of Black Ops 4 Zombies

UnlockLevel 2

In Black Ops 4 each player chooses four perks out of 18 before the game, in the Zombies Create-A-Class. The Aether maps sell them at four machines, Brew, Cola, Soda and Tonic; the Chaos maps at four statues of gods, Danu, Ra, Zeus and Odin, whose altars need no power. Stone Cold Stronghold only appears in a game if a player has put it in their loadout.

In the First Room

Stone Cold Stronghold is in a First Room only if an altar or a machine stands there and the player has assigned the perk to it. The books of the eight Black Ops 4 maps of the Hub place one in a single First Room.

Map	Game	What the book of the map says
Voyage of Despair	Black Ops 4	Forecastle: the Danu altar, a green statue of the goddess by the railing, to the right of the spawn, and the only perk of the First Room. It serves the perk the player placed there in the loadout, at the price of that perk.

On the seven other maps, the books give no altar and no machine in the First Room. Those of IX and Ancient Evil mention a perk among the rewards of the banner challenges and of the Tributes of the Oracle, without saying which one.

The records of these maps are on the ZFRR leaderboards.

Effect, game by game

Stone Cold Stronghold only exists in Black Ops 4, in a single version with two levels.

The perk

2500 points. The in-game description reads: “Standing your ground creates a defensive circle which boosts damage and armor over time while inside.” According to Fandom the circle is blue and appears after the player has stood in place for a few moments; the damage boost and the slow gain of armor last as long as the player stays within it.

The Modifier

3000 points according to Fandom. Enemies killed inside the circle also raise the damage boost and the armor.

Only one slot gives the Modifier: the Tonic machine on the Aether maps, the Odin statue on the Chaos maps. The perk bought there gains this extra effect once the player owns all four perks, which also speeds up reloading. In the three other slots, Stone Cold Stronghold keeps its base effect alone.

Where to find it

Stone Cold Stronghold is available on the eight maps of Black Ops 4; the book of each map says where its altars or machines stand.

The Stone Cold Stronghold totem held in hand, a pale stone head shaped like a moai, the perk icon on its front, Stone Cold Stronghold, Call of Duty Black Ops 4 Zombies

Chaos maps

Voyage of Despair, IX, Dead of the Night and Ancient Evil. The perk is a Perk Vapor, taken at the statue of its slot.

Aether maps

Blood of the Dead, Classified, Alpha Omega and Tag der Toten. The perk is a traditional Perk-a-Cola, bought from the machine of its slot.

The other perks that only exist in Black Ops 4 are Timeslip, Electric Burst, Dying Wish, Victorious Tortoise, Deadshot Dealer, Bandolier Bandit, Winter’s Wail, Ethereal Razor, Zombshell, Blood Wolf Bite, Blaze Phase and Secret Sauce.

Trivia

Fandom notes that the Chaos totem of Stone Cold Stronghold resembles a moai, the stone statues of Easter Island.
Stone Cold Stronghold has no jingle of its own: on the Aether maps the machines play at random one of the “Wunderfizz” jingles written by Jack Wall.