Doom The Dark Ages is finally in the hands of players who wanted to spend extra cash on the premium edition of the game, with the actual release date being tomorrow, May 15. Id Software has gotten out there to answer questions about the game ahead of release and to warn players of potential bugs and glitches found in the game. One of which has the most Doom-like solution possible.
In an FAQ posted on Steam , the developers answer a number of questions about the game, such as if the Steam Deck is supported (sadly, no) or if the game requires a Bethesda.net account to play (also no), before going into known issues.
In Doom: The Dark Ages, once you fully upgrade a weapon, you are given "Mastery Challenges," which require you to pull off feats with the gun to unlock something special. For the Shotgun and Super Shotgun, these challenges are "Barrel Stuffer" and "Super Barrel Stuffer." These require you to hit demons with every single pellet of a shotgun blast a number of times.
The issue is that smaller demons crumble under the power of the shotgun, so id Software has devised the most Doom-like solution possible, simply saying, "Try on Heavy and Super-Heavy Demons for more consistent progress."
A lot of Doom: The Dark Ages' combat encounters have you get up close and personal with the demons you're fighting anyway thanks to the new parry system, so if you're struggling to get the Barrel Stuffer, running right up to a massive Mancubus and blasting away at its belly is the optimal tech for now – but given that the problem is listed as an issue, it's probably safe to assume you'll be able to get it by hitting little demons eventually.
Make sure to read our full Doom: The Dark Ages review to get our verdict on the new Doom game
