Best Doom: The Dark Ages Weapons & How To Unlock Each

The Combat Shotgun is your primary in Doom: The Dark Ages. It’s your default weapon for Chapter 1’s Village of Khalim, and its high firing rate makes it ideal for clearing fodder demons and for collecting armor-shard drops from the Incendiary Shrine upgrade, which has enemies spewing out shards when they are aflame, replenishing your health and armor.

Even late in the game, its constant damage and low ammo consumption enable you to switch back to it to accelerate shard farming when more threatening enemies threaten your cache.

Cycler

Unlocked alongside the Super Shotgun in Mission 5: Holy City of Atratum, the Cycler is the remodeled plasma cannon type suited for mid- to long-range fighting. Its Amplify Shrine upgrade inflicts shock buildup on multiple hits, rendering it an ambush weapon against clustered demons.

It’s better at shredding energy shields than the Shredder and excellent boss-role DPS if you’re looking to shave down big targets at range.

Flail

Among the three melee options introduced in Doom: The Dark Ages, the Flail stands out for its area-of-effect prowess and fast recovery. It not only deals respectable cleave damage but, when paired with the Shard Harvest upgrade, forces staggered enemies to drop armor shards, an invaluable tool when you’re low on ranged ammo and need to recharge defensive gauges quickly.

Its straightforward mechanics make it a reliable lifesaver in a chaotic, tight spot!

Impaler

First obtainable in Mission 4: Sentinel Barracks, the Impaler is a precise bolt rifle that’s very good at one-shooting mid-class demons when you manage headshots. Its projectiles are slow-moving, but the Stalwart Shrine upgrade recharges ammo on Shield Throws and parries, so you pretty much have an endless ammo cycle for high-damage targets.

This does make it perhaps the most boss-efficient weapon in the game, just shoot straight and let the colossal damage speak for itself.

Rocket Launcher

Coming in with Mission 10: The Forsaken Plains, the Rocket Launcher releases unparalleled explosive power. Its Cannibalism upgrade converts self-damage into healing for a limited period after defending against a Hell Surge attack, enabling aggressive “hit-and-heal” tactics in large arenas full of fodder demons.

Despite lacking smart-tracking capabilities, its raw blast radius and synergy with burn-status damage make it essential in crowds and heavily armored targets.

How to Unlock Every Weapon In Doom: The Dark Ages

Each of the 15 listed weapons gets unlocked automatically on predetermined story points, so you absolutely can’t miss any as you work your way through each chapter. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use this list to plan out your upgrade and loadout priorities the moment you acquire each weapon! If you’d like a deeper look into each weapon, check it out here. In the meantime, though, here’s the gist of it:

• Combat Shotgun – Mission 1: Village of Khalim
• Power Gauntlet – Mission 1: Village of Khalim
• Shredder – Mission 1: Village of Khalim
• Accelerator – Mission 2: Hebeth
• Shield Saw (Shield) – Mission 2: Hebeth
• Impaler – Mission 4: Sentinel Barracks
• Pulverizer – Mission 4: Sentinel Barracks
• Super Shotgun – Mission 5: Holy City of Atratum
• Cycler – Mission 5: Holy City of Atratum
• Flail (Melee) – Mission 6: Siege – Part 1
• Chainshot – Mission 6: Siege – Part 1
• Grenade Launcher – Mission 8: Abyssal Forest
• Rocket Launcher – Mission 10: The Forsaken Plains
• Ravager – Mission 12: Sentinel Command Station
• Dreadmace (Melee) – Mission 15: City of Ry’uul

Pro Tip! As soon as you unlock a new weapon, head to the nearest Sentinel Shrine and select an upgrade based on your playstyle. Whether that’s survival (i.e., Cannibalism on Rocket Launcher), resource acquisition (Incendiary on Combat Shotgun), or simple damage multiplication (Amplify on Cycler).

Final Thoughts

With this breakdown, you’ll have a clear roadmap to optimize your loadout at every stage of Doom: The Dark Ages. Prioritize the Combat Shotgun for reliable shard farming, equip the Cycler or Impaler for ranged damage, rely on the Flail when ammo is scarce, and keep the Rocket Launcher on standby for heavy crowd control.

Follow the unlock schedule and integrate new tools into your arsenal smoothly, and have nothing in the way of total demon eradication in Doom: The Dark Ages.