Season 5 Reloaded for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 brings the Descent Freerun course, and scattered across its six zones are 12 hidden Ciphers. Collect all of them and you walk away with a free Weapon Charm. The Ciphers are tucked behind wall jumps, grapple routes, and off-path platforms that most players blow straight past on their first run.
What are the Descent Freerun Ciphers and what do they unlock?
The 12 Ciphers are collectibles hidden throughout the Descent Freerun course, introduced with Season 5 Reloaded. Each one sits off the main path and requires a specific movement technique to reach. Grab all 12 in a single run or across multiple attempts, and you unlock a Weapon Charm at no cost. There is no Battle Pass tier or currency involved.
Black Ops 7 Season 5 Guide: All Descent Freerun Cipher Locations
All 12 Descent Freerun Cipher locations
The Ciphers are spread across Zones 1 through 6, with two per zone in most cases. The table below gives you a quick reference before the step-by-step breakdown.
Zone 1: Ciphers 1 and 2
Cipher 1 sits at Checkpoint 7. After jumping from the second glass platform to the next one, turn around and look back the way you came. There is a pillar behind you that you can reach with a jump. The Cipher is on top of it.
Cipher 2 is at Checkpoint 11. A row of TVs lines the right side of the platforms here. Wall jump onto the first TV and mantle your way up each one until you reach the top. The Cipher waits at the highest point.
Black Ops 7 Season 5 Guide: All Descent Freerun Cipher Locations
Zone 2: Ciphers 3 and 4
Cipher 3 is at Checkpoint 10. When you hit the wall jump section, resist the urge to go right. Look up and you will spot a cactus on a ledge above and to the left. Wall jump left to reach that ledge. The Cipher is sitting just behind the cactus.
Cipher 4 comes right after the first teleporter jump, which puts you at Checkpoint 16. Turn back around to face where you came from. Climb up to the ledge on the left side, then wall jump across to a second ledge to grab this one.
Black Ops 7 Season 5 Guide: All Descent Freerun Cipher Locations
Zone 3: Ciphers 5 and 6
Cipher 5 is at Checkpoint 5, after completing the first wall jump and grapple combination. On the next platform, a large pillar blocks the path ahead. Grapple around it rather than over it. There is a floating platform on the other side where the Cipher sits.
Cipher 6 is at Checkpoint 10. Walk to the edge of the pillar and look straight down. Drop off the edge, then quickly turn and grapple onto a floating cube below. The Cipher is on that cube.
Black Ops 7 Season 5 Guide: All Descent Freerun Cipher Locations
Zone 4: Ciphers 7 and 8
Cipher 7 is at Checkpoint 5. Before you grab the zipline ahead, turn left. A frozen pillar stands there and you can climb straight up it. The Cipher is at the top of that first pillar.
Cipher 8 is at Checkpoint 13. The obvious path goes right, but ignore it. Wall jump along the left wall instead to reach a ledge that runs parallel to the main route. Follow it to the end for the Cipher.
Black Ops 7 Season 5 Guide: All Descent Freerun Cipher Locations
Zone 5: Ciphers 9 and 10
Cipher 9 is at Checkpoint 3. You will see a cluster of TVs and a leaning pillar on the right side. Wall jump from that leaning pillar across to the TVs, then mantle up the left TV and the next one. Jump from pillar to pillar, working downward. The Cipher is on the lowest pillar in the sequence.
Cipher 10 is at Checkpoint 10. When the TVs come into view again, look left at a large pillar and grapple onto it. From there, grapple toward the far end of the pillar to land on a ledge. At the end of that ledge, look up and grapple again to reach a second ledge where the Cipher sits.
Black Ops 7 Season 5 Guide: All Descent Freerun Cipher Locations
Zone 6: Ciphers 11 and 12
Cipher 11 is at Checkpoint 8. Three consecutive wall jumps lead you toward a zipline at the end. Complete all three wall jumps as normal but do not take the zipline. Instead, jump right onto a ledge that runs off to the side. The Cipher is there.
Cipher 12 is the final one, found at Checkpoint 14. Look behind you at a cube that has a target painted on it. There is another cube directly behind that one. Wall jump from the back cube to the wall on the left, then jump from the wall to a ledge. The Cipher is on that ledge.
Black Ops 7 Season 5 Guide: All Descent Freerun Cipher Locations
Does the order you collect Ciphers matter?
No. You can grab them in any sequence across multiple runs of the Descent course. The game tracks your total collected count, so there is no need to find all 12 in a single attempt. That said, running the course from start to finish in one go is the most efficient approach since the Ciphers follow the natural zone progression.
For more hidden collectibles and easter egg hunting in BO7, the guide to all Totenreich Zombie Intel locations covers all 25 pieces across 9 Audio Logs, 11 Documents, and 5 Artifacts. If you are working through the Zombies side of Season 5, the Power Switch Relic guide walks you through the altar sequence and Flammenfalle trial step by step.
The full Black Ops 7 guide collection has everything else you need for Season 5 Reloaded, from Zombies easter eggs to multiplayer loadouts.