Decoding Widow’s Wine: A Comprehensive Guide to the Black Ops 3 Zombies Perk

Widow’s Wine is a unique and powerful Perk-a-Cola in Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 Zombies that fundamentally alters the way players approach combat. Instead of offering direct boosts to damage or survivability, Widow’s Wine provides players with a combination of offensive and defensive utility, centered around a special type of grenade and a passive melee effect. In essence, Widow’s Wine transforms your standard grenades into sticky, web-producing projectiles that can drastically shift the tide of battle, particularly in tight situations. When thrown, these Widow’s Wine Grenades function similarly to Semtex, detonating on impact. Any zombies caught in the blast radius that aren’t killed outright will be entangled in a sticky web for approximately 20 seconds. Critically, a zombie stuck directly by a Widow’s Wine grenade is instantly frozen solid, effectively removing it from the immediate threat. In addition, the Widow’s Wine perk also imbues your knife melee attack with a chance to stun zombies, providing a crucial escape option in close quarters.

The Mechanics of Widow’s Wine

The core strength of Widow’s Wine lies in its ability to control crowds of zombies. Unlike traditional explosives that rely solely on damage, Widow’s Wine offers both crowd damage and crowd control. The webbing effect is particularly useful in high-round situations where hordes of zombies become overwhelmingly dense. When the grenades explode, they can buy you precious moments by slowing down the zombie advance, giving you space to reposition, revive a teammate, or get more shots off.

Beyond the grenade effect, the knife’s stun ability adds another layer of survivability. While not as reliable as the grenades, a successful stun can be the difference between a narrow escape and a game-ending down.

Refilling Widow’s Wine Grenades

One of the most important aspects of Widow’s Wine is how you refill your special grenades. You can replenish your supply of Widow’s Wine grenades using either a dedicated Widow’s Wine power-up or by acquiring a Max Ammo. The Widow’s Wine power-up is a small, blue spider icon that drops from zombies that have been entangled in webs, providing a direct and self-sustaining method of acquiring more grenades. This mechanic incentivizes strategic grenade usage, encouraging you to use them to trap, rather than just kill, to trigger more power-up drops.

Is Widow’s Wine Good for High Rounds?

The question of whether Widow’s Wine is effective in high rounds is a resounding yes. In fact, it becomes increasingly valuable as the game progresses. As zombie hordes grow larger and more aggressive, the crowd control offered by Widow’s Wine becomes critical. Traditional methods like running in circles become less viable when zombies are densely packed, and the ability to slow and freeze key points of entry can significantly extend your survival. While Juggernog remains essential for surviving more hits, Widow’s Wine is arguably the best supporting perk for high rounds, particularly in cases where you make mistakes and get caught off guard. The crowd control aspect of the grenades is crucial for maintaining your distance, and the occasional knife stun helps create breathing room.

Widow’s Wine vs. Juggernog: A Comparison

Many players often compare Widow’s Wine to Juggernog, but these perks serve distinct, yet complementary, purposes. Juggernog increases your health, letting you take more hits before going down. In contrast, Widow’s Wine enhances crowd control, allowing you to prevent getting hit in the first place. In essence, Juggernog helps you survive hits, while Widow’s Wine helps you avoid them.

Ultimately, a combination of both Juggernog and Widow’s Wine is the optimal strategy for high rounds. While Juggernog is the foundation for surviving in Black Ops 3 Zombies, Widow’s Wine provides essential utility for controlling hordes and escaping dangerous situations, making it arguably the next most crucial perk to acquire.

Locating and Obtaining Widow’s Wine

Widow’s Wine is available as a Perk-a-Cola in all Black Ops 3 Zombies maps, except for The Giant. It typically costs 4000 points to purchase from the Widow’s Wine machine. However, on some maps where the random perk-a-cola machine is present, you can purchase it for 1500 points. The availability and location of this machine are not consistent, and players must often explore to discover it each game.

FAQs About Widow’s Wine

Here are 15 frequently asked questions about Widow’s Wine:

1. What exactly does a Widow’s Wine grenade do?
   Widow’s Wine grenades are sticky explosives that, upon detonation, either kill or trap zombies in webs for 20 seconds. Zombies stuck directly by a grenade are frozen instantly.

2. How do I get more Widow’s Wine grenades?
   You can obtain more Widow’s Wine grenades by collecting the blue spider icon power-up dropped by webbed zombies or by picking up a Max Ammo.

3. Does the knife stun from Widow’s Wine always activate?
   No, the knife stun is not guaranteed. It has a random chance of stunning zombies.

4. Is Widow’s Wine a permanent perk?
   No, Widow’s Wine is a temporary perk. It will be lost if you go down, unless you have a perk that allows you to retain them upon going down.

5. Is Widow’s Wine good for low rounds?
   While less essential in low rounds, Widow’s Wine can still be beneficial for early control and managing smaller groups of zombies.

6. Can Widow’s Wine trap multiple zombies at once?
   Yes, the grenade explosion can trap multiple zombies within its radius, and the web slows down zombies that are not directly hit.

7. Can I refill Widow’s Wine grenades with the Carpenter power up?
   No, the Carpenter power up does not replenish Widow’s Wine grenades, only the Widow’s Wine specific power up and Max Ammo.

8. Can zombies break free of the web?
   No, zombies caught in the web are stuck for the full 20 seconds, or until the web fades away.

9. How does Widow’s Wine compare to other crowd-control perks?
   Widow’s Wine is unique for its combination of damage and crowd control, making it a versatile option for handling zombies, while other perks might offer one aspect or another.

10. Can a frozen zombie take damage?
    Yes, a frozen zombie is still susceptible to damage, and can be killed while frozen.

11. Does Widow’s Wine work on special zombies?
    Yes, Widow’s Wine grenades can be used on most special zombies, trapping them in webs. However, the instant freeze effect may vary depending on the type of special zombie.

12. Is Widow’s Wine available in all Black Ops 3 Zombies maps?
    No, Widow’s Wine is not available on The Giant map.

13. Is the Widow’s Wine power up consistent in its drop rate?
    The Widow’s Wine power up is typically a common drop from webbed zombies, but drop rates can still be affected by randomness.

14. Does Widow’s Wine have any special interaction with other perks?
    Widow’s Wine generally works in conjunction with all other perks, and it has no unique interaction that affects other perk’s performances.

15. How much does Widow’s Wine cost at the random perk-a-cola machine?
    Widow’s Wine typically costs 1500 points at the random perk-a-cola machine.

Conclusion

Widow’s Wine is an essential perk in Black Ops 3 Zombies that provides a unique blend of offense and defense. It shifts focus from direct damage to crowd control, allowing players to manage hordes and buy crucial time. The combination of the sticky, web-producing grenades and the chance for knife stuns makes it invaluable, particularly in higher rounds. While Juggernog remains paramount for survival, Widow’s Wine is a close second in terms of overall impact, and it’s a perk that every serious Zombies player should make a priority.