Der Eisendrache

"Call of Duty®: Black Ops III’s epic Zombies DLC season begins here. In “Der Eisendrache”, Origins characters Richtofen, Nikolai, Takeo, and Dempsey embark on a suicide mission to an enemy research facility built upon an archaic site of unspeakable horror. Massive deposits of Element 115 have recently been discovered, delivering inspired new gameplay and — in Zombies tradition — a variety of plot twists and surprises to discover at every turn."

- Official Description

"Bound together by a fragile alliance, our heroes pursue the scattered remains of Group 935 to their mountain top fortress in the Austrian Alps..."

- Mission Briefing

Der Eisendrache (German for The Iron Dragon) is a Zombies map that was released February 2, 2016 for the PlayStation 4, and March 3, 2016 for PC and Xbox One in the DLC map pack Awakening. It is set in the Griffin Castle in Austria. The size of the map had been announced as being 50% bigger than The Giant. Two Wonder Weapons are introduced, the Ragnarok DG-4 which is based on the Gravity Spikes from multiplayer, and the Wrath of the Ancients, which is based on the Sparrow.

Features
The map contains many elements from previous maps such as Origins, Mob of the Dead, Moon and Ascension. The Der Wunderfizz machines returns from Origins, as well as the Panzer Soldat, with a new look and slight weapon variations. A dragon can be found in three separate locations which breaths flames and devours zombies one at a time, similar to Cerberus in Mob of the Dead. A utility similar to the Gravity Lifts from Moon called the Wundersphere is introduced, as well as a new trap called the Death Ray. A build-able similar to the Gravity Spikes specialist weapon called the "Ragnarok DG-4", and a weapon called the "Wrath of the Ancients" are both introduced. Dr. Groph is a character heard communicating to Richtofen throughout the rounds. Dr. Groph does not count necessarily as an enemy, but is suspicous of Dr. Richtofens plans therefore stating his job is to find out what he has in store or else he will do anything to make him not leave the castle. These messages can be heard through the loud speaker and radios around the map.

Weapons
Unusable Weapons
 * MP40 - Held by Dempsey in poster, used by German soldiers in intro cutscene.
 * Panzerschreck - Used by German soldiers in intro cutscene.
 * MG42 - Seen in a room behind a zombie barricade.

Easter Eggs

 * The main Easter Egg for the map is My Brother's Keeper.


 * A new song, Dead Again, can be activated by holding the use button in front of three Teddy Bears scattered around the map. Locations are:
 * In Samantha's bedroom, sitting on a chair.
 * In a cell close to Juggernog, sitting on a crate.
 * By the rocket launch pad, in the passenger seat of one of the trucks.
 * Another musical easter egg can be activated by holding the use button on a music box in Samantha's bedroom. It is located on the table next to the bed.
 * A third musical easter egg, an excerpt from Anton Reicha's Requiem, can be activated by holding the use button on three gramophones scattered around the map. Locations are:
 * In Samantha's bedroom, on top of a shelf facing opposite the teddy bear.
 * In the control room, sitting on a chair.
 * In the pyramid room, facing the staircase leading to the crypt.
 * A bunch of hidden radios and ciphers can be found around the map, similar to The Giant's radios and ciphers.
 * Scraps of paper can be found scattered around the map, which form a letter written in Japanese by the original timeline's Takeo Masaki to the Emperor, detailing his experiences at Division 9's island facility.
 * It is possible to turn the Control Room into a Disco. This can be done by shooting the Moon globe and then shooting the small rocket when it's beside it. The first shot will suspend the movement of the Moon globe, and the second will initiate Disco lights throughout the room along with a soundtrack of an 80's music track. After a minute or so, the music and lights will stop, but this Easter Egg can be repeated an unlimited number of times.
 * It should be noted that the Disco lights and music can only be seen and heard by players actually inside of the globe room.
 * Zombies can be changed into Skeletons. This can be done by shooting 3 skulls located around the map with the bow. One is by the ledge, outside, near Double Tap; one is at the ledge to the right of Mule Kick and one is at the Upper Courtyard next to the windows, at the Control Room, on the left-hand side looking towards it. The skulls fly up and down and can only be seen with the GobbleGum 'In plain sight', But you can hit them while they are invisible. They can be hit with the bow's splash damage by shooting the walls or ground around them. Whenever a skull is hit, it disappears in black smoke with a sound effect, and appears on a chair in the Control Room, by the fireplace. When all of the skulls are hit, every newly-spawned zombie is a skeleton instead. This can be disabled by interacting with the skulls on the chair.

Trivia

 * Originally, the map's name was announced as Der Eisendrachen, which actually translates to "The Iron Dragons" in German. There has been some misinformation about this online, it was reported that this translated to "The Iron Kit" but it does not.
 * Griffin Castle is based on the real and has the same coordinates.
 * In a room seen through one of the zombie barriers in the map, an MG42 can be seen.
 * The KRM-262 can be seen in the Mystery Box, although it cannot be obtained from it.
 * Except for Stamin-Up, going prone in front of a perk machine will give the player 100 points.
 * Richtofen and Dr. Groph will communicate at certain times during the game. Dr. Groph communicates through radio transmission, and Richtofen talks regularly from the battlefield. If there is no player playing as Richtofen, he will also use the radio to talk to Groph.