April is known as the month of new beginnings. In some parts of the world, spring has sprung, the flowers are in bloom, and a young man’s fancy turns to thoughts of…err…The Great War. While most people equate Easter with painting eggs and wearing bunny hats, core gamers think of scouring their favorite game in search of secrets known as Easter Eggs. DICE is known for including numerous secrets in their Battlefield games, so I decided to celebrate Easter by going on my own Battlefield 1 Easter Egg hunt. It’s easier to find these secrets on an empty server, but finding them during a match provides an extra challenge! Also, make sure to use Conquest mode on official servers instead of rented ones or you may not get credit.
Secret “A Beginning” Dog Tag
The biggest and most complex Easter Egg in BF1 tasks players with both finding headphones and transcribing Morse code, and it has taken a combined effort by the community to solve it. This secret was only partially available with the release of BF1 in 2016, and the rest of it was unlocked in a February, 2017 game update. Keep in mind that that this is a long and arduous journey to undertake, but the reward is worth it. Dedicated seekers earn a special dog tag called “A Beginning” that features a stylish skull and two snakes wrapped around what looks like a ring. There’s also a rumor of another secret dog tag.
This secret begins with headphones that spawn in one of five locations in each of the vanilla BF1 maps. Headphones don’t respawn, so it’s gone for the entirety of the match when it’s picked up. Players must find the headphones and then go to a secret MCOM station on the same level without dying. When players approach the MCOM station, it will play a Morse code message. This message must be deciphered, and players are then sent to find a symbol on another map. This is repeated eight more times, and the quest culminates with the dog tag being delivered via a flyby from a pigeon. How cool is that? Detailed instructions can be found here.
They Shall Not Pass DLC
Someone at DICE is a fan of the animated movie, “Up,” because there’s an Easter Egg on Verdun Heights dedicated to it. To begin this Easter Egg, players must destroy three wine bottles on the ground along two fences near the “A” flag. Next it’s time to shoot three rooster-shaped weather vanes located on the top of two different houses and one barn that are also near the “A” flag. After these six items are shot, immediately look over the hills to the south and you’ll see three giant balloons floating upwards carrying a house. These balloons are the colors of the French flag, and this image is nearly identical to the floating house in “Up.” Detailed instructions for finding this Easter Egg are described by JackFrags in the video above.
Behind the “C” flag on the Rupture map is a saber stuck into the ground. There’s a weapons symbol in the shape of a pistol indicating where it is as players look towards it (see above screen). Players have to run out of bounds towards a tree in the corner of a wooden fence and quickly grab the sword and then return before time runs out. This is the same lethal saber that horsemen use, so it’s one-hit, one-kill. Sadly, players lose it when they die and it doesn’t respawn. This means that everyone in the know makes a mad dash for the saber at the beginning of the round.
Unsolved Easter Eggs
There’s a painting leaning against a building near the “A” flag on Ballroom Blitz. On the bottom right corner is a symbol with letters in place of the standard signature. Who knows what this means? This symbol/letter combo has been found in at least one other spot in vanilla BF1 maps. On April 1st, an unexpected event resulted in a gigantic crashed meteor on the Suez level. Players who approached it heard Morse code that, when translated, played the official BF1 theme. Inside the meteor were several clues including: a mini-gramophone, wooden crates, and a well with a red top. Even though the meteor is gone, the mystery continues.
DICE introduced numerous Easter Eggs with They Shall Not Pass, and I find it hilarious that there are baskets of actual Easter Eggs located on Soissons. Two Easter Baskets have been found on this level so far, so it seems like there’s more to this Easter Egg than a literal translation. In addition, there are several mini-villages made up of what look like gnome houses on Rupture. These houses can be destroyed with projectile weapons, but no one has discovered their purpose. There are also indestructible gramophone records found on different DLC levels with the words “Les Requins: you will need a bigger moat.” Les Requins translates into “the sharks” and the rest of the wording is a reference to the movie, Jaws. I wonder if this leads to another clue on one of the behemoth battleships. You’d definitely need a bigger moat to hold one of them.
Last on this list is an audio Easter Egg on Fort De Vaux that will make people’s skin crawl. Near the “B” flag is a room with the word ISOLEMENT (isolation) over a heavy metal doorway. It has chains across the front and is blocked by wooden boxes. Simply attack the door, and after a few seconds you’ll hear what plainly sounds like an aggressive zombie making…well…zombie sounds. It may just be an audio Easter Egg or it may be related to the fabled “zombie soldiers” who defended the Ottoic Fortress in Poland during WW1. Maybe there will be a zombie mode DLC similar to the CoD series. Time will tell.
There are plenty of Easter Eggs so far, and who knows what DICE may add in future DLC such as the upcoming Russian-themed add-on titled In the Name of the Czar. Now go claim your secret dog tag and celebrate Easter with your own BF1 Easter Egg hunt. Sound off in the comments if you’ve found any Easter eggs not mentioned here. I’m sure there are many more secrets that have yet to be discovered
Update
I wasn’t surprised to find out that DICE has added an Easter Egg dog tag just in time for the holiday. From April 12-18, players can obtain this special dog tag simply by joining a party with someone on their friend’s list and then winning one match of Battlefield 1. I assume that both the friend and the player have to play together in the winning match to get credit. Sounds simple enough, doesn’t it?
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