Best Upgrades Doom: The Dark Ages
The ancient war against Hell is about to ignite once more, and this time, the Doom Slayer is bringing an entirely new level of medieval brutality to the battlefield. Doom features an upgrade system that gives players some freedom in how they play the game. Not all upgrades are equally powerful. Not to worry, in this guide, we’ll show you the best upgrades for Doom: The Dark Ages.
The upgrade system is divided into attribute and equipment upgrades. Attribute upgrades, which improve your Ammo capacity, Health, and Armor, require Demonic Essence. Equipment upgrades involve visiting Sentinel Shrines and spending resources to enhance your gear.
Best weapon upgrades in Doom: The Dark Ages
Combat Shotgun
First off, let’s start with the Combat Shotgun Upgrades. This is your starting weapon, and you’ll be using this quite a bit in the early and mid-stages of the game. There is one must-have upgrade.
- Incendiary: This upgrade is almost crucial, as this sets enemies ablaze and causes them to drop armor pickups. Maintaining armor is important, especially for those who like to play on higher difficulties. Smelt increases the number of armor pickups, which is probably worth it as well.
Shield Saw
Another important weapon to upgrade is the Shield Saw. You’ll use this the entire game, so investments are well worth it.
- Retaliation: Parrying attacks will trigger a more powerful shockwave. You’ll be parrying a lot in this game, and the retaliation upgrade gives a good crowd control effect. I can set you up for glory kills, interrupt enemy attacks, and give you some breathing room. Must have upgrade in Doom: The Dark Ages.
- Blade Master: Increases the stun duration when you embed your shield saw into a demon. Stunning larger demons for a longer time is great. You get in more free hits, which lets you kill them more easily.
- Steadfast: This recovers your shield faster after taking damage and breaking. Steadfast increases your shield’s uptime and reliability.
Rocket Launcher
The rocket Launcher is also a weapon that we recommend upgrading. Here, you have 2 upgrades that stand out.
- Cannibalism: Lets you heal when you do self-damage. You have to parry first. Very good ability to survive.
- Bloodlust: This increases the duration of cannibalism. Both of these upgrades might not seem great on paper, but they are absolutely worth it.
Cycler
The Cycler is also a great choice to upgrade imo. The weapon provides a lot of support, and you’ll be using this a lot throughout the game.
- Shock: Shooting enemies applies shock, making them take increased damage. Killing shocked enemies spreads the shock effect to nearby demons.
- Fulmination: The duration of the shock effect is increased, and enemies now spread more lightning to others when killed.
Ravager
The last weapon making our list is the Ravager. It belongs to the SkullCrusher class, and you unlock it in chapter 12. The Ravager has one big impact upgrade that you need to do.
- Vampirism: When killed by the Ravager, Demons drop more health.
After unlocking these upgrades, I’d advise you to upgrade the weapons you prefer playing with. The list above includes those that are the strongest and most important to me, but there are no bad choices. Next up are shield rune upgrades.
Best shield upgrades in Doom: The Dark Ages
Upgrading the shield is done through shield runes (which require gold to upgrade). You get four shield rune options. Shield runes are activated when you parry Hell Surge attacks and projectiles. You can upgrade shield runes at Sentinel shrines. Upgrading your shield should be high on the priority list.
As there are only 4 shield upgrades, I included them all in this guide.
Heaven Splitter
The most important upgrade is the Heaven Splitter shield rune. It transforms Hell Surge projectiles (glowing enemy attacks) into a bolt of energy that calls down a lightning strike. This damages and stuns nearby demons. It’s a shame that you have to wait until chapter 14 to unlock it.
Ground Fissure
So, the first upgrade that you can do is probably the second-best shield upgrade in the game. Ground Fissure staggers and damages enemies. It can also scorch enemies once it is fully upgraded, making them drop armor pickups. It’s a great upgrade, but the crowd control on Heaven Splitter is better. You unlock Ground Fissure in chapter 9.
Auto Turret
Auto Turret is also a strong shield rune upgrade. It comes very close to Ground Fissure in terms of strength. Auto Turret is especially strong against bosses and powerful enemies. Fully upgraded, you increase its damage, duration, and rate of fire. It also causes enemies to drop health pickups. You unlock Auto Turret in chapter 12.
Holy Swarm
Holy Swarm is the least powerful upgrade, in my opinion. It is still quite good, but it falls behind the other three. Holy Swarm summons ethereal daggers that damage enemies. Further upgrades increase the damage and the number of daggers. You unlock Holy Swarm in chapter 11.
Best Melee upgrades in Doom: The Dark Ages
Power Gauntlet
You unlock the Power Gauntlet in chapter 1, which means that these gauntlets will see some use.
- Duelist: This speeds up the regeneration rate of your melee charges. Rather important as you want to use melee weapons to save and gather ammo.
- Jolt: The first hit of the Power Gauntlet applies a shock debuff. When an enemy is shocked, they take increased damage.
Flail
The flail is also a good choice to upgrade as you get it rather early (chapter 6). You can also recover ammo when using melee weapons, so you’ll be using them quite a bit. The flail has a few upgrades that are worth picking.
- Ignite: This sets enemies ablaze, making them drop armor similar to the combat shotgun. More armor = more survivability.
- Engulf: Sets even more enemies ablaze in the vicinity. Increasing armor drops and damage.
- Resonant: Another great flail upgrade. This increases damage against shields and armor. Again, increases the armor drops as well.
Dreadmace
The Dreadmace is the last weapon to unlock in Doom: The Dark Ages. It’s already powerful, but it has one upgrade that is a must-have to increase survivability.
- Reaper: When you kill enemies with the Dreadmace, they drop additional health orbs.
Doom: The Dark Ages How to Upgrade Weapons
You upgrade your weapons, shield, and melee gear at Sentinel Shrines. These are glowing green checkpoints found from Chapter 2 onwards. They are easy to find as the game alerts you when you are close to one.
To upgrade your guns, you’ll need Gold, Rubies, and Wraithstones. Initially, upgrades cost only Gold, but mid-tier passive abilities require Rubies. Wraithstones are needed for the final gun upgrade. Upgrades for Shield Runes and melee weapons only cost you Gold.
- Gold: A common resource, found scattered throughout levels and rewarded for completing challenges.
- Rubies: Less common, often hidden in secret areas or obtained by completing challenges.
- Wraithstones: The rarest resource, primarily used for final-tier upgrades.
Unfortunately, upgrade paths are a thing in Doom: the Dark Ages:
- There are separate upgrade paths for Weapons, the Shield Saw (and its runes), and Melee weapons.
- You must unlock upgrades in sequence.
- Some weapons offer a choice between two abilities at certain upgrade tiers; you can freely switch between these without additional cost.
Demonic Essence Upgrades
You get Demonic Essence upgrades by defeating Leader and Elite enemies. These upgrades permanently increase health, armor, and ammo capacity: green logo for shield, blue for health, and yellow for ammo.