DOOM Eternal: Complete Guide

How to actually play DOOM Eternal the way it's designed: the resource loop, weapon mods and weak points, upgrade priorities, the campaign's collectibles, The Ancient Gods DLC, difficulty and Ultra-Nightmare advice, plus official mods.

Researched September 2026 — current as of Update 6.66 Rev 3 plus the August 2025 PC Mods Update (official mod support and launcher). Live games change; check the linked sources if something differs.

Status: DOOM Eternal (March 2020) is content-complete. Its last content was The Ancient Gods Part One (October 20, 2020), Part Two (March 18, 2021) and Horde Mode (October 2021). In September 2023, Update 6.66 Rev 2.2 removed Denuvo Anti-Tamper and the Boosters feature. In August 2024, Update 6.66 Rev 3 opened an opt-in PC Mod Preview and the idStudio beta, and on August 7, 2025 the PC Mods Update made mods officially supported, with a new launcher and more than 650 community mods at the time. id's next game is DOOM: The Dark Ages (May 15, 2025), a medieval prequel.

Quick Start

• The game is a resource loop, not a cover shooter.
• Glory Kill staggered enemies for health.
• Chainsaw fodder for ammo (it refuels over time and always has at least one fuel pip for small demons).
• Flame Belch enemies for armor shards.
• Always be moving. Double-jump, dash, monkey bars and wall-climbing are how you avoid damage. Standing still is death on higher difficulties.
• Switch weapons constantly. Every gun is best at something. Quick-swapping (for example, Super Shotgun into Ballista) is the core of high-level play.
• Kill fodder is a resource, not a nuisance. Leave a few imps and zombies alive as health and ammo pickups.
• Learn weak points (table below). Hitting them removes the demon's strongest attack.
• Pick "Ultra-Violence" or lower for a first run unless you're a veteran of DOOM (2016). Nightmare is brutal.
• Explore. Secrets hold Praetor Tokens, Sentinel Crystals, Sentinel Batteries, Empyrean Keys, cheat codes, toys and music.
• The Fortress of Doom is your hub. Spend Sentinel Batteries there to unlock rewards, and visit the Ripatorium to practice.

Weapons and Mods

Each weapon has two mods (found at Field Drones), and each mod has upgrades bought with Weapon Points and a Mastery challenge.

Weapon | Mod 1 | Mod 2 | Best use

Combat Shotgun | Sticky Bombs | Full Auto | Sticky Bombs strip Cacodemon mouths and armored weak points

Heavy Cannon | Precision Bolt | Micro Missiles | Precision Bolt headshots and weak points (Revenant shoulders, Mancubus cannons)

Plasma Rifle | Heat Blast | Microwave Beam | Carcass shields, Doom Hunter shield, Heat Blast crowd damage

Rocket Launcher | Lock-On Burst | Remote Detonation | Heavy demons, crowds, and Marauder dog cleanup

Super Shotgun | Meat Hook (built-in) | none | Point-blank burst plus mobility via the hook

Ballista | Arbalest | Destroyer Blade | Long-range burst and the classic SSG-to-Ballista combo

Chaingun | Mobile Turret | Energy Shield | Sustained DPS on big targets

BFG 9000 | none | none | Room-clear panic button, with rare ammo

Crucible | none | none | One-shots almost anything, with limited charges

Unmaykr | none | none | Unlocked via the Slayer Gates' Empyrean Keys

Equipment: Frag Grenade (or Ice Bomb) on the equipment launcher, plus Flame Belch and the Blood Punch (charged by Glory Kills).

Weak Points Cheat Sheet

Demon | Weak point / trick

Cacodemon | Grenade or Sticky Bomb in the mouth, then an instant Glory Kill

Arachnotron | Shoot the turret on its back (Precision Bolt)

Mancubus | Arm cannons (Precision Bolt, Sticky Bombs)

Revenant | Shoulder rocket launchers

Pinky | Its armored front is tough, so dash around and hit its tail/back

Spectre | Hard to see. Use explosives

Carcass | Shoot its shields with the Plasma Rifle

Whiplash | Keep moving and use explosives. It dodges well

Doom Hunter | Plasma to pop its shield, then rockets on the sled

Marauder | Only shoot it when its eyes flash green (it's about to attack). Super Shotgun or Ballista in that window. Kill its dog with explosives

Blood Maykr | Headshot it right after it fires its projectile

Tyrant | Big damage target. Keep your distance and use the Chaingun, Rockets or BFG

Upgrade Systems and Priorities

System | Where it comes from | Priorities

Praetor Suit tokens | Hidden pickups in each mission | Environmental Resistance (hazards and barrels) and Equipment upgrades (faster grenade/Flame Belch recharge) first; the map-scanning upgrades make secret hunting much easier

Sentinel Crystals | Hidden per level | Health, Armor and Ammo capacity, plus bonus perks. Take the armor/health perks first

Runes | Rune trials found in several campaign missions | Air Control, Blood Fueled, Chrono Strike, Savagery, Seek and Destroy and Punch and Reload are common picks. You equip three at a time

Weapon Points | Combat and challenges | Max your favorite mod first (Sticky Bombs, Precision Bolt, Meat Hook)

Mastery Tokens | Secret Encounters and the Fortress of Doom | Skip grindy masteries (for example, the Chaingun shield) and use tokens there

Rune picks for first-timers: Air Control, Blood Fueled (speed after Glory Kills), and Seek and Destroy (launch-to-Glory-Kill).

Campaign and Collectibles

Missions:

• Hell on Earth
• Exultia
• Cultist Base
• Doom Hunter Base
• Super Gore Nest
• ARC Complex
• Mars Core
• Sentinel Prime
• Taras Nabad
• Nekravol
• Nekravol – Part II
• Urdak
• Final Sin

Collectibles per mission: Toys, Codex pages, Cheat Codes, Album records, Praetor Tokens, Sentinel Crystals, Rune trials, Secret Encounters, Slayer Gates and Sentinel Batteries.

Slayer Gates: optional hard arenas that require a Slayer Key. Completing all six awards Empyrean Keys, which unlock the Unmaykr in the Fortress of Doom.

Mission Select: you can revisit completed missions to finish collectibles. Automap stations reveal every secret on a level.

Master Levels: remixed, harder versions of missions. They're good practice for Nightmare.

The Ancient Gods (DLC)

• Part One (UAC Atlantica Facility, the Blood Swamps, the Holt) and Part Two (the World Spear, Reclaimed Earth, Immora) continue the story after the base campaign. They're much harder than the main game.
• Part One adds new threats such as Spirits (which possess and buff demons, and must be finished with the Microwave Beam) and Turrets.
• Part Two adds the Sentinel Hammer, a ground-slam that stuns enemies and makes them drop resources, plus new enemies such as Stone Imps, Screechers and Cursed Prowlers.

The DLC is a good challenge after you finish the campaign. Play Part One first, and don't start it on a difficulty you haven't beaten.

Difficulties and Modes

• I'm Too Young To Die, Hurt Me Plenty, Ultra-Violence, Nightmare: standard difficulties. You can change them in the pause menu, except on Ultra-Nightmare.
• Ultra-Nightmare: Nightmare with permadeath. You'll see a skull marking your death location on future attempts.
• Extra Life: permadeath with extra lives you collect as secrets. It's a softer way to practice for Ultra-Nightmare.
• Horde Mode (Update 6.66, October 2021): wave-based survival across rounds on campaign-style arenas, with its own unlockable cosmetics.
• BATTLEMODE: a 2v1 multiplayer mode (one Slayer against two player-controlled demons).

Mods (PC, since August 2025)

• Getting started: launching DOOM Eternal on PC opens the DOOM Eternal Launcher. Choose Play DOOM Eternal for the unmodded game, or browse and enable mods.
• Skip the launcher: choose "Skip the Launcher and open DOOM Eternal" on the launcher's Welcome message. To get mods back later, restore the launcher from the taskbar while the game is running and toggle the skip setting off.
• Disable mods before troubleshooting crashes: mods are a PC-only feature (Steam and the Windows/Xbox PC app).
• Making mods: the idStudio toolset (beta) lets creators build and publish mods.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

• Fighting with one weapon. Ammo runs out, and you're slower.
• Not using the chainsaw. Ammo problems are chainsaw problems.
• Staying on the ground. The arenas are designed for vertical movement.
• Ignoring Flame Belch until your armor is empty.
• Trying to fight the Marauder like other demons. Wait for the green eyes.
• Hoarding the BFG and Crucible until you die holding them.
• Skipping Sentinel Crystals and Praetor upgrades that make later fights much easier.

Advanced Tips

• Quick-swap combos: Super Shotgun into Ballista (Arbalest) into Super Shotgun is the bread-and-butter heavy-demon combo. Rocket Launcher Lock-On into swap also works.
• Precision Bolt headshots stagger many demons. Practice on Revenants.
• Ice Bomb freezes and makes demons drop health when damaged. Great for Nightmare survival.
• Blood Punch breaks shields and clears crowds. Charge it with Glory Kills.
• The Meat Hook's Flaming Hook upgrade sets hooked demons on fire, so they drop armor while you close in.
• Ultra-Nightmare prep: play the level on Nightmare first, learn each arena's spawn order, and use Extra Life mode.
• Bind weapons to individual keys rather than the wheel. Swapping speed is a big part of Nightmare play.

FAQ

Is DOOM Eternal still updated? No new content. The last updates were minor (Update 6.66 Rev 3 in August 2024), plus the August 2025 PC Mods Update.

Does DOOM Eternal still have Denuvo? No. It was removed in Update 6.66 Rev 2.2 (September 2023).

What order should I play in? The base campaign, then The Ancient Gods Part One, then Part Two.

How do I beat the Marauder? Keep mid-range distance, wait for his eyes to flash green, then hit him with the Super Shotgun or Ballista. Kill his wolf fast with explosives.

How do I unlock the Unmaykr? Complete all six Slayer Gates to get the Empyrean Keys, then use them in the Fortress of Doom.

Is BATTLEMODE still playable? It's still in the game, but player counts are low, so it's easiest with friends.

Sources

• DOOM Eternal on Steam
• Steam news: PC Mods Update (Aug 2025), Update 6.66 Rev 2.2 and Rev 3
• Wikipedia: Doom Eternal
• idStudio (official mod tools)