How to Beat Extermination in Yet Another Zombie Survivors
Twenty waves, a paused clock, elite loot, and a kite that never camps.
Extermination is not Default with a new skin. It is the wave exam 0.6 shipped with Green Hell, and after version 1.0 launched on 20 August 2026 it still sits on every map that has earned it. Twenty waves. The timer pauses between waves so you can pick a survivor, take a level-up, and grab an item. Then the next pack can land on the tile you occupy. Play on patch 1.0.0c2. You still steer a single-player squad of three. Nobody else is coming. There is no co-op. There are no redeem codes. Nintendo Switch is planned and not released. Ranger unlocks at Survival Level 175, which is not a wave-one lead.
If you cannot kite Isolated City Default, stop. Finish dawn, then How to beat Hardcore, then open game modes and hover the Extermination icon. Unlock is per map. Isolated City Extermination does not gift Bio Lab Extermination. This page is how to beat the twenty waves without building a turret museum on your own feet. Geography lives on maps. Local bestiary lives on enemies. The tickable list is the unlock checklist.
Twenty waves, a paused clock
Each wave is a density exam. Trash fills the screen. Standard enemies can spawn as Elites with better stats and better loot. Faster clear times go to the leaderboards. Speed below 100 percent on PC disables the board. The pause between waves is not a campfire. Spend it: accept a rescue if a ping is legal, evolve the gun, take one item that is not Glass Cannon unless a shield is already online. Then move before the next spawn.
Wave 20 is still a kite. Standing next to Automatic Turret when the next wave spawns is how turret museums lose. The next wave does not politely spawn off-screen. It can spawn on your feet. Fire, rockets, and shield still work. Huntress decoy still steals axe attention. Movement still beats a pretty pistol that never evolved.
Infinite is a different toy: thirty minutes of Endurance per arena after hotfix 1.0.0c. Hardcore is ten mean minutes. Boss Rush is a minute-ten finale. Extermination is twenty waves with a polite pause that will still kill you if you treat it like Default dawn.
Workhorse kits
Lead SWAT, rescue Engineer and Tank, as best squads still ranks S. Rifle, Energy Shield, rockets. That trio clears Isolated City and Vile Wasteland Extermination with honest hands. Ghost belongs on tight waves once you already kite: Protocol: Critical deletes elite bars that a turret cannot. Do not lead unranked Ghost into wave one on a map you still fail at Default.
Mechanic ice is the specialist for Green Hell and Dead Terminal, where packs clump in vegetation and interiors. Ice buys a lane. It does not buy a camp. Bio Lab Extermination still has the toxic ring. Orbit the safe band. Do not plant Tesla on the red zone and hope. Read Bio Lab before you accept a clipboard that wants the lab’s twenty waves.
Huntress can replace Tank after the fifteen-minute unlock if Eagle Eye is online. Medic lead is a Camp errand. Unranked Ranger still dies here. Team Bond, the 1.0.0c name for Friendship, feeds shared Cash and Specialization from missions and caps at 250. You do not need a story briefing to kite a wave.
Map badges
Extermination achievements are per map, not global. Isolated City stamps Hasta La Vista Baby. Vile Wasteland stamps Waves In The Sand. Green Hell stamps Blood Makes The Grass Grow. Dead Terminal stamps Final Destination. Bio Lab stamps No Hard Feelings. Hover the icon. Green Hell is the map that taught the mode. If you never played 0.6, treat Isolated City Extermination as school and Green Hell as the original exam. Vile Wasteland adds the worm. The worm does not pause because a wave ended. Dead Terminal punishes turret clutter in tight halls. Bio Lab paints the floor.
The chain is Isolated City → Vile Wasteland → Green Hell → Dead Terminal → Bio Lab. Modes do not skip that order. Winning Default on one map opens the next. Winning Extermination on Isolated City does not open Green Hell Extermination.
Challenge badges
Three extra stamps sit on top of the map clears. Recruit a survivor after wave 10 and the game stamps Come With Me If You Want To Live. That one is listed on Green Hell. Finish a wave in twenty seconds or less for Decide Their Fate. Clear the whole mode as a solo blob, no rescues, for The Terminator.
These are not beginner plans. Come With Me wants a ping you can walk to without dying, after wave 10, when density is already rude. Decide Their Fate wants a finished gun and a small wave, not wave 18. The Terminator is a restriction run: one survivor, twenty waves, no third gun. Take it after the map badge is boring.
Between waves: what to pick
Survivor pick: accept the first two rescues unless you are hunting The Terminator. A rescued teammate donates half of their leader perk. Skipping pings to stay small is a challenge run, not a first-clear plan. Cap is three including the leader. There is no fourth friend.
Level-up: force the leader weapon. Refuse extra gadgets until the rifle, rockets, or protocol is on an evolution path. Turrets are extra DPS while you keep moving, not a museum. If the board will not show the gun, reroll if you still have one. Auto Selection is a farm-night toy, not a wave-one plan.
Items: magnets for the gem ring you refuse to enter. Pickup radius. Shield partners. Skip Glass Cannon without Engineer. Joke dolls are a Steam bit for One Hit, not a wave plan. Health kits look like red hearts and expire if you leave them. Walk over a heart only when you are actually hurt.
Bio Lab still cooks
Bio Lab Extermination does not drop the ring because the mode changed. Toxic fumes at the border. Red decontamination band. Orbit. The pause between waves is when you re-center on the safe band, not when you camp the geometric center. If a Camp mission asks for Bio Lab Extermination before you own the map, decline it. The Camp will still be there. Story is optional. Badges are not.
If you keep wiping on wave 14, you stopped moving, you planted turrets on the spawn tile, you brought unranked Ranger, or you learned Bio Lab here. Refund Training. Role Player so evolutions arrive before the elite waves. Gotta Go Fast so the kite is free. Bigger Bullets for the gun. Then take Isolated City Extermination until Hasta La Vista Baby is boring. Then Vile Wasteland. Then Green Hell.
The video in this article is a Vile Wasteland Extermination clip with Ghost. Use it for tone. Use the workhorse for the first badge. Then swap Ghost in when the waves feel tight and the bar will not die.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common questions.
How many waves is Extermination?
Twenty. The timer pauses between waves so you can pick a survivor, take a level-up, and grab an item.
Is Extermination just Default with a new skin?
No. It is a wave exam from 0.6. Standard enemies can spawn as Elites with better stats and loot.
What squad should I use?
SWAT, Engineer, and Tank for the first badge. Ghost for tight waves. Mechanic ice on Green Hell and Dead Terminal.
Does Bio Lab Extermination drop the toxic ring?
No. The ring still cooks. Orbit the safe band. Do not plant turrets on the red zone.
What are the per-map Extermination achievements?
Hasta La Vista Baby, Waves In The Sand, Blood Makes The Grass Grow, Final Destination, and No Hard Feelings.
How do I get The Terminator?
Clear Extermination solo with no rescues. Take it after the map badge is boring.