Demons in Doom: The Dark Ages are tougher, smarter, and deadlier than ever-but so is your arsenal. From a shield that transforms into a whirling sawblade to a rocket launcher that lets you heal by blasting enemies at point-blank range, the right upgrades can turn the tide of any battle. But with limited resources and a dizzying array of choices, which enhancements truly turn the Doom Slayer into an unstoppable force? Here’s your guide to the most game-changing upgrades every demon hunter should unlock first.
The upgrade system in Doom: The Dark Ages splits between attribute upgrades and equipment upgrades. For the former, you need to acquire Demonic Essence and they raise your Ammo capacity, Health, and Armor. On the other hand, the latter involves visiting Sentinel Shrines and spending resources to make your favorite pieces of equipment stronger.
In this guide, you find all the best upgrades in Doom: The Dark Agesfor your weapons, shield, and melee weapons.
How to upgrade weapons in Doom: The Dark Ages
To upgrade weapons in Doom: The Dark Ages, you need to locate Sentinel Shrines, which are special upgrade stations found throughout the game’s chapters. At these shrines, you can spend resources-primarily Gold for early upgrades, with Rubies and Wraithstones required for more advanced enhancements-to improve your guns, melee weapons, and shield. Each weapon has its own upgrade path, and some offer dual upgrade options that can be freely switched between after unlocking them. Since resources are limited, it’s wise to prioritize upgrades for the weapons you use most often, as upgrades are permanent and cannot be undone. Be sure to explore thoroughly to gather enough materials, and visit Sentinel Shrines whenever you have the resources to keep your arsenal at its best.
To upgrade your guns, shield, and melee weapons, you must visit a Sentinel Shrine. You can only find them during the chapters in specific locations, so you can’t upgrade your gear before starting a mission.
You need Gold, Rubies, and Wraithstones to upgrade your guns. Most of the initial upgrades cost only Gold, but eventually, you’ll need a couple of Rubies to unlock mid-tier passive abilities. Wraithstones are used to unlock the final upgrade of a gun.
Upgrades for the shield (and Shield Runes) and melee weapons only cost you Gold.
Since you can’t respec, consider what weapons you’d like to keep using before spending Gold or any of the other materials.
Best weapon upgrades in Doom: The Dark Ages
To maximize your demon-slaying efficiency in Doom: The Dark Ages, prioritize weapon upgrades that enhance both your survivability and crowd control. The Rocket Launcher’s Cannibalism and Bloodlust upgrades provide significant sustain, while the Combat Shotgun’s Incendiary mod inflicts burn on enemies, causing them to drop armor pickups for you. Upgrades like the Cycler’s Shock mod make enemies more vulnerable to damage, and the shield’s Blade Master or Auto Turret runes offer crucial defensive and offensive utility-especially when parrying projectiles or stunning tougher foes. These enhancements ensure you stay in the fight longer and deal with waves of enemies more effectively.
If you have all the materials, you can also opt to upgrade every weapon you have. There are, however, crucial upgrades to focus on and unlock as soon as possible.
For the Rocket Launcher, you want to have its Cannibalism and Bloodlust upgrades unlocked because they give you more sustain during fights. Along the same lines, you want the Combat Shotgun’s Incendiary upgrade, which applies Burn to enemies, making them drop Armor pickups.
You should unlock Cycler’s Shock upgrade. As implied by its name, this upgrade applies Shock to enemies, making them more vulnerable to damage received. The support this weapon offers is amazing and shouldn’t be overlooked.
Once you have unlocked all these upgrades, you are covered for most situations in the game. Everything that can increase the damage of your favorite weapon or make it more useful during combat should become the baseline to decide where to spend resources from this point on.
Best shield upgrades in Doom: The Dark Ages
The best shield upgrades in Doom: The Dark Ages center on maximizing both offense and defense, with key abilities like the Auto Turret and Heaven Splitter Shield Runes standing out for their game-changing effects. Auto Turret deploys a machine gun when you parry a Hell Surge projectile, providing both extra firepower and, with upgrades, health orbs for increased survivability. Heaven Splitter, however, is widely considered the top choice: parrying Hell Surge projectiles stuns nearby enemies-including tough bosses-and its final upgrade adds Shock damage, amplifying the harm done to affected foes and making Heaven Splitter indispensable for late-game encounters.
Your shield is not only a tool to interact with the world of Doom: The Dark Ages. It is the most important piece of gear you have and the upgrades it has access to make all the difference when making your way through the final chapters of the game.
The best shield upgrades are the Auto Turret and Heaven Splitter Shield Runes. These runes are abilities which you unlock during the campaign and you can upgrade them with Gold.
The Auto Turret is the third Shield Rune you unlock and the idea behind it is quite simple. Whenever you parry a Hell Surge projectile (melee attacks do not trigger this ability) a machine gun is summoned to attack enemies.
Its third upgrade makes enemies drop Health orbs when hit by the rune’s effect. So, having this rune upgraded means that you have a second gun helping you to kill enemies and stay alive.
Now, Heaven Splitter is the last but most powerful Shield Rune you have access to. With this rune equipped, whenever you parry a Hell Surge projectile, enemies get stunned. Whether they are simple demons or large enemies like a Cyberdemon, they will stop acting for a few seconds, giving you the time you need to recover or kill them.
The fourth upgrade for this rune applies Shock when enemies are stunned, increasing the damage they take. Because you only get Heaven Splitter later in the game, by the time you have unlocked all its upgrades you will be close to the final chapter of Doom: The Dark Ages. Even so, investing all your Gold in upgrading Heaven Splitter is worth it.
Best melee upgrades in Doom: The Dark Ages
Melee weapons are essential in Doom: The Dark Ages, offering both powerful attacks and valuable resource generation. For the Power Gauntlet, prioritize the Duelist and Jolt upgrades. Duelist accelerates melee charge regeneration when you successfully parry Hell Surge attacks, letting you strike more often and conserve ammo. Jolt applies the Shock debuff on the first hit of your combo, increasing the damage enemies take from subsequent attacks. If you prefer the Flail, aim for its final upgrade, Engulf, which scorches enemies and causes them to drop both Armor and ammo orbs, greatly boosting your survivability. For those who unlock the Dreadmace, the Reaper upgrade is crucial-it ensures that demons killed with the Dreadmace drop more Health orbs, maximizing the benefit of each powerful swing, especially since the Dreadmace has only one melee charge. These upgrades significantly enhance your melee effectiveness and resource management throughout the campaign.
Melee weapons have a central role in your gameplay loop since you can recover ammo by hitting enemies with them. The decision on which one to run should be solely based on personal preference. Each of them has, however, upgrades you should unlock as soon as possible.
For the Power Gauntlet, you should go for the Duelist and the Jolt upgrades. With the former, whenever you parry a Hell Surge attack, it speeds up the regeneration rate of your melee charges. This will increase the times you can use melee attacks in a fight, preventing you from running out of bullets.
Jolt is a great upgrade for your Power Gauntlet since it applies the Shock debuff to enemies, who take more damage while under the effect of this status.
Now, if you’re actually running Flail as your melee weapon, be sure to save money and unlock its final upgrade, Engulf. This upgrade capitalizes on this weapon’s best feature, the capacity to scorch enemies, making them drop Armor orbs as well as ammo.
The last melee weapon you unlock in the game is the Dreadmace, a powerful one-hand mace. While all the upgrades for this weapon are good if you plan on using it as your melee weapon, you should unlock its first upgrade Reaper as soon as possible.
What secret weapon upgrade transforms your combat style in Doom: The Dark Ages
The Ravager’s “Vampirism” upgrade is widely recognized as a secret weapon enhancement that transforms your combat style in Doom: The Dark Ages. With Vampirism, damaging demons at maximum fire rate causes them to drop health pickups, allowing you to aggressively sustain yourself in the thick of battle. This upgrade encourages a relentless, close-quarters playstyle, letting you recover health while mowing down enemies, and fundamentally shifts your approach to combat from cautious to all-out offensive.
Which weapon upgrade makes the Ravager unstoppable in combat
The Supplier upgrade is the weapon enhancement that makes the Ravager truly unstoppable in Doom: The Dark Ages. With Supplier, any demon damaged by the Ravager drops skullcrusher ammo, effectively granting you unlimited ammo as long as you keep attacking. This transforms the Ravager into a relentless automatic weapon capable of mowing down even the toughest enemies, such as armored mancubi, Hell Knights, and barons, with ease.
