Black Ops Zombies Five Guide: Stop the Pentagon Thief and Save Your Gun
Five in Black Ops Zombies swaps out the usual “hellhound” style round threat for something much more hands-on: the Pentagon Thief. Instead of just spawning enemies to grind through, this thief hunts you directly, snatches the weapon you currently have equipped, and then forces you into a chase. Your goal is simple—catch him, stop him before he escapes with your gun, and bring him down for the chance at valuable rewards. If you’re aiming for a Bonfire Sale Power-Up on your first try, here’s how the mechanic works and what to do.
Repair the Casimir Mechanism and free Gersh in Ascension via this step-by-step Ascension easter egg for Call of Duty: Black Ops and Black Ops 3!
How Does the Pentagon Thief Work on Five?
On certain intervals, the Pentagon Thief appears through the teleporter system in the Defcon area or from upstairs within the spawn zone. When this happens, the round is unusual: there are no zombies present. Instead, the fight is entirely about dealing with the thief, and you’ll have to focus on him immediately.
There’s one important visibility rule: only one player at a time can see the Pentagon Thief.
The player who is currently targeted—meaning the one trying to steal a weapon from—will actually see the Pentagon Thief on-screen. Everyone else won’t be able to visually track him; they’ll only see red indicators. Even so, other players aren’t completely locked out: they can still fire at the invisible thief and contribute damage.
The Pentagon Thief can’t directly hurt you. However, if he closes the distance, he will steal your equipped weapon and teleport you to the underground lab area. At that point, you must kill him there before he successfully teleports away. If you manage to kill him, you get your weapon back and you also receive a Max Ammo refill. If you fail, you lose your weapon.
There’s also a reward condition tied to timing. If you eliminate the Pentagon Thief before he steals your weapon, you trigger Bonfire Sale, which reduces Pack-a-punch costs to 1,000 points instead of 5,000 points. The rest of this guide is built around how to pull that off reliably.
How to Easily Kill the Pentagon Thief on Five
For a consistent first-attempt strategy, set up explosives at the teleporter before the thief even arrives. Specifically, at the end of a round, place 2 Claymores at the teleporter—whether you’re operating out of the Defcon side or the spawn side.
When a Pentagon Thief round starts, you’ll receive two more Claymores at the beginning of that round. Immediately place those two additional Claymores as well, since the thief will be active right away. The explosive damage from this setup is strong enough to help, but it won’t necessarily finish the job on its own.
The Pack-a-Punch Crossbow from the Mystery Box can remove the Pentagon Thief extremely quickly—within 4 direct shots.
That said, precision matters: make sure each of the four shots is a direct hit. After the fourth shot, swap to your secondary weapon and keep firing. With correct aim, the thief should go down before he can successfully grab you.
If you want a different approach that reduces how much you have to chase him through the underground labs, you can also tailor your loadout around the fourth perk slot. The idea is to use your fourth Perk slot to get Mule Kick and then buy a cheap Wall-Buy weapon that the Pentagon Thief can take. This creates a buffer: if the thief steals something, it’s less disruptive to your core damage options while you focus on finishing him in the lab area.
The trade-off is clear. You’ll be “spending” your fourth perk slot on this plan, and you won’t get the Bonfire Sale outcome.
Another possible tool is Winter’s Howl, the map’s Wonder Weapon. While it isn’t particularly strong against the zombie hordes, it can slow the Pentagon Thief down. That slowdown can make him easier to track and easier to keep from reaching you.
You may also be looking for more Black Ops Zombies guides—especially ones that cover the basics like actually unlocking Five. If that’s you, the following guides are available to follow:
- How to Unlock “FIVE”
- Ascension Easter Egg
- Call of the Dead Easter Egg
- Shangri-La Easter Egg
- Moon Easter Egg
Why the Pentagon Thief Update Matters for Players
The Pentagon Thief round changes the feel of Five in a way that’s easy to miss if you treat it like a standard “survive until the next wave” session. Because the round contains no zombies and only one player can actually see the thief at a time, the mechanic forces coordination and target priority. It’s less about sweeping the map and more about reading the situation fast—especially deciding whether you’re going to gamble on stopping him before he steals your weapon or plan for what happens if you get taken to the underground lab.
It also creates a concrete risk-versus-reward decision. If you kill him before he steals your weapon, you earn Bonfire Sale and save a massive amount of Pack-a-punch points. If you don’t, you lose your weapon and have to deal with the lab escape phase. That makes weapon choice and setup planning—like placing Claymores early or using a specialized Wonder Weapon—more valuable than usual.
- During a Pentagon Thief round, there are no zombies, so focus is entirely on the thief.
- Only one player can see the thief at a time, but others can still shoot at his position.
- If the thief steals your weapon, you’re teleported to the underground lab area and must kill him there to recover it.
- Killing him before he steals your weapon grants Bonfire Sale, lowering Pack-a-punch costs to 1,000 points.
