DOOM The Dark Ages has finally been released, and despite its medieval setting, the Doom Slayer is still out here wrecking hellish invaders with an arsenal of weapons that definitely do not belong in this era. If you have never played a single DOOM game in your entire life or just need a few tips to get you going if it has been a while, then this guide will try to help you out!
DOOM The Dark Ages – Beginner’s Guide + Tips & Tricks
First up, the most obvious thing you should do before you hop right into the game is to configure your settings. As with any other first person shooter, maximizing your comfort should be your priority right from the get-go.
The difficulty settings are mainly just your personal preference, and you can finetune your experience by changing very specific combat settings rather than just picking a preset difficulty.
If you feel like you are going to have a hard time, try to start with a high parry window and keep the damage settings at default. This will help you get used to the shield in this game while also leaving you a lot of room to make mistakes.
Turn on auto sprint as well if you find that the game is going a little too slow for your liking and you would rather not hold down the button to run. Having weapon bob off will also slightly help if you start feeling nauseated while running.
Fiddle with the FOV settings as well to help with visibility and to prevent motion sickness, if you are prone to it. This is something you should be doing in every first person shooter anyway, so some of you probably already thought of that.
Get Used to the Shield
The shield is a new feature in this prequel, and it is going to be an essential tool throughout your entire playthrough. Get used to parrying, charging, and more, as its moves will carry you past even the toughest enemies in the game.
Shield charge in particular can be an amazing tool for mobility, as it lets you reach enemies perched up in high ground or just dash straight into enemies to slap them right in the face.
Parrying is also amazing against even the hardest foes, and you should not be afraid to walk right up to bosses as some of their attacks are easier to parry while you are up close. Pay attention to projectiles that have a different color, such as green.
Whenever you parry projectiles, they will home in on enemies, so you just need to get the timing down. No need to worry about aiming the shield at the enemy itself, just focus on the things they are firing. Take note that you can change parryable attack colors at the accessibility settings page.
There are further upgrades you can make to the shield, among other things, as you progress further in the game. Those are all based on personal preference though, so you are on your own for that one as recommendations we give might not work as well for you.
Stop Playing Passively
DOOM is not a cover shooter or military game. It is an incredibly fast paced shooter that rewards incredibly aggressive playstyles. If you are taking it slow and hiding behind walls as hordes of enemies approach you, you are objectively doing it wrong.
Ditch the “slow and methodical” gameplay and embrace the chaos that comes with facing demons head on. Again, learn to parry and charge accordingly, so you can keep yourself alive while slaying tons of enemies as quickly as humanly possible.
As you play aggressively, you will notice over time that enemies actually do drop a lot of health for you. Even if you find yourself taking a lot of damage, you will be able to keep your health at a safe enough number as long as you are fighting back.
Find The Secrets
Secrets are a staple of any DOOM game ever since the very first one in the early 90s. Make sure to check every corner you can go to in the map. Shoot and bump walls, look for suspiciously accessible pathways off the beaten path, and just keep looking around in general.
You are going to find a lot of these with very little effort, so just keep checking everything. These will always contain some useful resources for you, and they might even save your life in some cases.
And those are the beginner tips we have for DOOM The Dark Ages. Again, it is just your typical DOOM game, and we mean this in the most positive way possible. The game is a blast (literally), so just hop in there and slay demons!
He is a writer and avid gamer who spends a lot of his free time looking for the next game to add to his collection. If he’s not busy working, there’s also a non-zero chance that you stumble into him in pretty much any multiplayer game.