Going into the Blood Vials relic grind in Black Ops 7, I was already hearing people moan about how unfair the Wicked tier stuff is in Cursed mode, especially that round 60 requirement, so I actually looked into a BO7 Bot Lobby before I even loaded up Ashes of the Damned because I thought I was about to suffer for days trying to get it.
Getting Ready For The Run
You cannot just spawn in and hope the relic appears, the game forces you to clear the main Easter Egg first and have those Grim and Sinister relics sorted before Cursed mode even counts, which means a bunch of players burn out before they reach the real challenge at all.
Once you are actually in a proper Cursed run, the important part starts a lot earlier than most people think, around round 20 you are already on the clock, listening for that ringing red phone that can show up at the cabin by Blackwater Lake, the docks, or one of the other little hot spots you end up circling over and over.
Phone Checks And Easy Mistakes
When you do find where the phone spawns, it usually sticks for the rest of that match, which sounds chill, but now you need to answer it at rounds 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 without messing up, no missed round, no lazy lap, or the whole run just dies on you and you realise you have burned two hours for nothing.
The game does give you a clear sign you did it right though, that weird Mr Peeks laugh kicks in and the red smoke pops when you are on track, so after a while you start doing a mental checklist every ten seconds, because forgetting to swing past the boathouse or the dock at the right time is honestly the most punishing part of this whole relic.
The Cabin Trial And Loadouts
When the portal finally shows after round 60, it looks scary but it is not that bad, you get slapped with a 50 percent damage nerf on paper, yet if you are rocking something like a Necrofluid Gauntlet or a decent Ray Gun build, you pretty much shrug and go in anyway.
The trial itself is six waves of defence inside the cabin, and most of the time the regular undead are just background noise while you focus on HVTs like Doppelghasts, which are the only things that can really mess you up, but because there is no strange rule like melee only or headshots only, you are free to dump every bit of ammo and equipment you brought.
Why The Grind Still Matters
The real problem is not mechanical difficulty, it is time, getting to round 60 over and over eats your evening, and if the game crashes or your internet hiccups, that whole push disappears, which is why some players just want to chill, level guns, or stack camos in safer ways instead of sweating over one relic unlock and why services where you can buy game currency or items in RSVSR have started to look more attractive to people who would rather jump straight to the good stuff.