10 Doom The Dark Ages tips and tricks to help you rip and tear

Doom The Dark Ages Doom Slayer and Sentinels — (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

Our Doom The Dark Ages tips can each you some basic tricks that’ll greatly help with your demon-slaying crusade. The sheer number of weapons, tools, and upgrades at the Doom Slayer’s disposal means beginners on their first infernal outing need to learn the ropes of combat quickly, particularly parrying. However, for experienced Hellwalkers coming from Doom Eternal, the relatively slow pace of Doom the Dark Ages definitely takes some getting used to.

Regardless of your demon-killing experience, the tips and tricks we’ve outlined below from our extensive time playing will help you throughout your campaign. Here are 10 tips and tricks for Doom The Dark Ages to help with combat and exploration.

Never stop moving

Doom The Dark Ages firing plasma cycler at demons — (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

This is an incredibly simple bit of advice for any of the modern Doom games but is especially the case for Doom The Dark Ages. The fact that the Slayer has no dash or double jump and generally moves a bit slower compared to Doom Eternal means you must stay on the move constantly to avoid the many projectiles and attacks that’ll be coming at you at any time. Also, don’t forget to jump and remember to use your Shield Charge for movement as well as battering enemies.

Strafe and try not to let enemies get behind you

Doom The Dark Ages firing ravager at pinky slayer — (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

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Always being in motion is a good start but strafing around enemies is even better in Doom The Dark Ages. Strafing allows you to keep as many enemies in front of you as possible without getting into the thick of combat. This obviously lets you easily gun down enemies but also helps you see any attacks coming your way so that you can negate them by strafing out the way, blocking or parrying.

If you charge into a group and lots of enemies end up at your sides and behind you, you’re highly vulnerable. Not only will you take lots of damage, but blocking and parrying will become much tougher and that can lead to easily avoidable deaths.

Use the shockwave from jumping to your advantage

Doom The Dark Ages Doom Slayer dropping on demons — (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

You will have no doubt noticed that whenever the Doom Slayer crashes to the ground from a height, he creates a gigantic shockwave that instantly kills fodder enemies, and you should definitely use this to your advantage. Verticality doesn’t feature much in Doom: The Dark Age’s combat arenas but sometimes jumping off a small hill can be enough to splatter everything around you.

Of course, your shield bash and throw are also excellent for clearing out weaker demons, but this quake is another trick in your arsenal to bear in mind.

Block with your shield more often than you think

Doom The Dark Ages blocking hell knight attack with shield — (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

As more enemy types are introduced and combat encounters get larger, you’ll quickly learn how useful simply blocking attacks with the Doom Slayer’s shield can be in Doom The Dark Ages. Strafing can only get you so far, so make sure you raise your shield if you’re moving and not firing a gun instead of using it purely for parrying and shield throws – you can sprint while blocking too!

Get good at parrying because it’s essential for beating certain enemies

Doom The Dark Ages Vagary demon firing hell surge parry attacks — (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

Parrying green Hell Surge attacks in Doom The Dark Ages is hugely powerful because it perfectly reflects the attack back at the enemy, dealing damage and often dazing them. This gives you an opportunity to quickly follow up with one of your harder-hitting weapons, such as the Super Shotgun or Chainshot, for easy damage. Furthermore, it also helps with recharging your powerful melee weapon attacks to help you deal damage up close and get ammo.

While you don’t have to parry for most enemies, bigger foes, such as Cyber-Demons, Vagaries, and Agaddon Hunters, are almost impossible to beat without parrying their attacks, so mastering it early will help you in the long run. If you’re struggling, you can always increase the parry window in the game’s settings to make things easier.

Throwing the Shield Saw to stun enemies is hugely powerful

Doom The Dark Ages shield saw stuck in Mancubus demon — (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

Another excellent use of the shield is to throw it at larger or more manoeuvrable demons, such as the Mancubus, Archnotron, Pinky Rider, Revenant, Whiplash, invisible Imp Stalker, to stun them. Assuming they’ve got no armor, you can launch your Shield Saw into them to hold them in place and make them unable to attack.

Obviously, this gives you a chance for easy damage, but you can also use it silence an enemy while you reposition. And if you’re finding it hard to aim your shield, you can hold L1/LB to temporarily slow time, letting you line up the perfect throw.

Use the right weapon for the job

Doom The Dark Ages firing plasma accelerator at shield — (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

While we reckon the Super Shotgun is the best weapon in Doom The Dark Ages, some weapons are better suited to bringing down certain demons. You need to be switching weapons when the situation calls for it rather than sticking to the same gun or two, but be aware that hot-swapping (a fast weapon-switching technic employed in Doom Eternal) is not a viable tactic in this game.

Plasma weapons can overload energy shields, the Flail and Shield Saw are great for breaking metal armor, the Pulverizer and Shredder are perfect for destroying hordes of fodder demons, and the Super Shotgun and Chainshot are excellent against larger enemies. If you want to learn how each weapon works and how to unlock it, we’ve got a guide covering all Doom The Dark Ages weapons here.

Check the Automap frequently

Doom The Dark Ages automap with secrets — (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

If you want to 100% every level and find all the toys, codex entries, life sigils, and other resources, you need to be looking at the Automap a lot when you’re not in combat. Checking the map all the time is a bit of an annoyance, but it’s a necessary one since it automatically marks secrets but only when you’re close to them. Make sure you thoroughly explore an area before moving on and be wary of points of no return!

Collect as much gold as you can

Doom The Dark Ages smashing gold chest — (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

Gold, in the form of varying numbers of bars and smashable gold chests, is the main currency for weapon and shield upgrades from Sentinel Shrines, particularly early on – we’ve also got a separate guide detailing the best Doom The Dark Ages upgrades to focus on. There is a finite amount of gold in each chapter, and it’s vital that you collect as much of it as possible, ensuring you’re loaded for the next Sentinel Shrine you find.

Later in the game, you’ll also need Rubies and Wraithstones for upgrades, but these are much rarer and harder to find in some cases. For example, getting both Doom The Dark Ages Spire of Nerathul Wraithstones isn’t especially straightforward.

Check and pin mission challenges

Doom The Dark Ages mission challenges — (Image credit: Bethesda Softworks)

From the game’s fourth chapter, you’ll get at least two mission challenges to complete for every chapter. Completing them is strongly advised as most will give you even more gold, but it’s easy to forget about them as they’re buried in a menu.

Whenever you start a mission, open the challenges tab in the dossier, read the challenges, and press X/A on each one to pin it, providing a progress counter on the left side of your screen. This’ll help you when you need to kill lots of demons in a particular way or need to find a specific chapter feature, such as Doom The Dark Ages Artillery Cannons or Doom The Dark Ages Secret Layovers.