If you’ve been sinking hours into Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 lately, especially messing around with Cursed Mode on Ashes of the Damned, you already know how rough the Bus Relic grind can get, and it feels even worse if you’re not fully geared for it, which is why most players I talk to end up checking setups the same way they’d check a CoD BO7 Bot Lobby guide before jumping in. Hitting the second tier of your relic collection really isn’t optional here. Once you’ve got the golden armour and the boosted weapon rarity upgrades, the whole thing feels less like punishment and more like an actual challenge you can realistically take on.
Surviving Long Enough to Start the Trial
The first real wall you’ll hit is simply getting to round 60 in a Cursed match. It’s a long haul, and the mode doesn’t exactly give you much room to switch off. Most people I know end up slipping because they get bored, not because the round itself is too hard. Once you cross that line, though, the pressure picks up fast, because the next Ravager round becomes the make-or-break moment.
Clearing the Ravager Round Without Taking a Hit
This part catches almost everyone off guard the first time. You can’t take a single point of damage—none. Even a tiny scratch resets your chance. The easiest way to keep yourself safe is to drop a trap right when the round begins. Trying to outmaneuver Ravagers at round 60 with raw movement feels like asking for trouble. A trap wipes them clean while you stay tucked away, which makes the whole thing way less stressful.
Finding the Trigger for the Trial
When you manage to finish the Ravager round untouched, you’ll hear this loud, weird laugh echo across the map. That’s the signal you’ve unlocked the trial. From there, head over to Blackwater and look along the side of the Boathouse. It’s easy to miss if you rush, so take a second and actually check the corner properly.
Letting Zombies Do All the Killing
The rule for the Bus Relic trial throws people off because you’re not allowed to land the killing blows yourself. Every zombie has to be killed by another zombie. That means you’re basically leaning on Brain Rot the entire time. It unlocks at level 51, and if you’ve got the Plague Augment, slap it on. It spreads status effects quicker, which gives your turned zombies more chances to thin the horde for you.
Finishing the Trial and Claiming the Relic
Since almost every kill depends on Brain Rot proccing, the trial lasts way longer than you’d expect. Keeping the zombies packed into a tight loop helps a lot, because once one turns, it tends to cause a chain reaction. When the last wave finally drops, you’ll earn the Bus Relic, and equipping it adds slow health regen to enemies in Cursed Mode, which feels like a small flex more than anything else—kind of the same vibe you get when people talk about where to buy CoD BO7 Bot Lobbies boosts.
