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Doom: The Dark Ages
Difficulty Settings Explained
☆ Doom: The Dark Ages is live now!
★ Collectibles | Secrets | Walkthrough
┗ Resources | Codex | Toy
★ Trophies | Beginner's Guide | Enemies
☆ Skins: Twitch Drops | Prince St. Pizza
★ FAQs: Co-op | DLC | Specs | Glory Kills
Doom: The Dark Ages comes preloaded with six sets of difficulty levels that can be adjusted accordingly. Read on to see how the difficulty options differ from each other, and the new slider options to customize the difficulty of your game!
| Related Guides | |
|---|---|
| Difficulties Explained | Pandemonium and Ultra-Nightmare |
List of Contents
Doom: The Dark Ages Difficulty Levels
All Difficulty Levels and Features
| Difficulty | Features |
|---|---|
| Aspiring Slayer | • Enemies attack less often and deal less damage • Projectiles are slown down • Resources are made more common |
| Hurt Me Plenty | • Enemies attack and deal damage at manageable levels • Projectiles are faster and stronger • Resources are plenty |
| Ultra-Violence | • Enemies are powerful and tank more damage • Projectiles are fast and deadly • Resources are rarer • Enemies attack in hordes |
| Nightmare | • Enemy HP and damage brought up to monstrous levels • Projectiles are quick fatalities • Armor and HP are a dwindling resource • Enemies attack in overwhelming numbers |
| Pandemonium | • Same level of challenge as Nightmare • Life Sigils can be used to restart the current chapter • If Life Sigils runs out and you die, the campaign ends prematurely |
| Ultra-Nightmare | • Same level of challenge as Nightmare • One death and the campign ends prematurely |
Taking a change from its last installment, difficulties have become more like presets in Doom: The Dark Ages. Players can completely customize their game to be tailored to their playstyle.
Is There a Difficulty Trophy?
No, But There Are 2 Milestones
|
Pandemonium Complete Beat the campaign on Pandemonium difficulty. |
Select Pandemonium as the diffculty at the start of your campaign.
Pandemonium Guide Rewards: Reverent Slayer Skin Reverent Slayer Skin  |
|
Ultra-Nightmare Complete Beat the campaign on Ultra-Nightmare difficulty. |
Select Ultra-Nightmare as the diffculty at the start of your campaign.
Ultra Nightmare Guide Rewards: Conqueror Slayer Skin Conqueror Slayer Skin  |
While there is no Playstation Trophy or Steam Achievement for completing the game on the highest difficulty, there are two milestones available in game that reward you with 2 in-game exclusive Slayer skins.
On the brightside, all trophies can be obtained on any difficulty even with all the sliders set to minimum.
Trophy Guide and List of Achievements
How to Set Custom Difficulty Level
Adjust Difficulty Sliders to Preference
| Modifier | Description |
|---|---|
| Tutorials | Toggle a Tutorial window to pop up whenever prompted. |
| Objective Marker Style | Toggles between Always on Screen, Migrate to Compass, Disabled. |
| Damage to Player | Increase or decrease the percentage of how much an enemy attack or projectile can hurt the player, ranging from 50% to 500%. |
| Damage to Demons | Adjust the amount of damage inflicted to enemies, ranging from 50% to 1000%. The lower the slider, the less effective the player's weapons will be against enemies. |
| Enemy Aggression | Control the amount of incoming attacks from enemies activated at the same time, and its frequency. |
| Game Speed | Speed up or slow down the overall speed of the game. Certain mechanics that make use of time-scaling, such as the weapon-wheel, will be unaffected. |
| Daze Duration | Control the duration enemies are dazed. Ranges from 50% to 150%. |
| Enemy Projectile Speed | Control the speed of projectiles fired by enemies. Ranges from Slow to Fast. |
| Resource Values | Changes the amount of drops available once an enemy is slain. Ranges from Low to High. |
There are four unique presets for each difficulty options, and players can customize their game to however they prefer beyond the presets. Players can choose to change their difficulty, in the fourth tab of the menu. In there are the different options and modifiers available to the player.
Enable Combat Assistance for Easier Fights
| Modifier | Description |
|---|---|
| Parry Window | Either widen or shorten the window to Parry a green projectile back to its source. The shorter it is, the more precise the timing. |
| Enhanced Targeting | Enable or disable an aim assistance to control the need for precision in a game. Highly recommended for beginners to first-person shooters. |
| Empowered Attacks | Increase the chance of disrupting an enemy each time they are hit by the player, which will stagger and interrupt the enemy. |
On top of the difficulty sliders now available on Doom: The Dark Ages, there is another category of settings as listed above. Modifying the options available in Combat Assistance can either make the game easier or more challenging for the player.
Related Milestone Rewards
|
Custom Trial |
|---|---|
| Start a campaign with at least one Custom Difficulty setting modified and complete chapter: Village of Khalim. |
You can get a quick milestone for tweaking even one of the difficulty sliders and completing the first chapter of the campaign.
Best Difficulty Settings
| Hurt Me Plenty | Casuals |
|---|---|
| Aspiring Slayer | Beginners |
| Ultra-Violence and Nightmare | Veterans |
| Pandemonium and Ultra-Nightmare | Completionists |
Hurt Me Plenty for Balanced Difficulty
If you crave the sheer ferocity and carnage Doom: The Dark Ages can offer you while still keeping a casual schedule, Hurt Me Plenty is the best choice for a balanced experience. Smash through hordes of demons with the brutal strength of the Slayer to play out the power fantasy Doom craves to provide and be able to enjoy the story without overwhelming pressure of the higher difficulties!
Aspiring Slayer for Story Enjoyers
Aspiring Slayer is best enjoyed by beginners looking to get into the Doom franchise, or if you simply want to enjoy the story. This preset will have you massacring demons like how the Slayer is meant to be, and have the space and freedom to enjoy both the brand new atmosphere and the story this newest installment is offering.
Ultra-Violence and Nightmare for Veterans
Ultra-Violence is best option for anyone looking to challenge their skills in the battlefield. While enemies are savage in their attacks, any mistakes made during a battle can be recovered from easily through quick thinking. Crank it up to nightmare to test your mastery over the game. The brutal gameplay paired with the unending waves of enemies will be sure to provide any challenger a run for their money.
Pandemonium and Ultra-Nightmare for Completionists
Pandemonium and Ultra-Nightmare are the most punishing difficulty settings in-game. Aside from enemies dealing way more damage and being significantly more difficult to kill, your margin of error also drastically decreases, as you cannot revive as easily anymore, if you can revive at all. In these difficulty settings, dying means starting over a new campaign.
Related Milestone Rewards
The only real benefit in trying the game on these difficulties is to get the exclusive in-game skin rewards for reaching milestones.
|
|
Pandemonium Complete |
|---|---|
|
Beat the campaign on Pandemonium difficulty.
Pandemonium Guide Rewards: Reverent Slayer Skin Reverent Slayer Skin |
|
|
|
Ultra-Nightmare Complete |
|
Beat the campaign on Ultra-Nightmare difficulty.
Ultra Nightmare Guide Rewards: Conqueror Slayer Skin Conqueror Slayer Skin |
Customize Settings
The best part about Doom's latest addition of difficulty sliders is that your experience can now be customized!
If enemies in Ultra-Violence are just too beefy to be enjoyable, but are not quite hitting hard enough in Hurt Me Plenty, Enemy HP can be adjusted to compensate for what felt lacking. If Nightmare felt a little too brutal but the punishing hits are too addicting to let go, adjusting the Parry Window can give the breathing room needed to advance the level.
Such examples are just a few of the many new possibilities that open up thanks to the Difficulty Sliders. The complete control over the gameplay gives a completely novel experience to Doom players that feels refreshing and new to those craving something more from Doom.
What is the Highest Difficulty Level?
Ultra-Nightmare Max Difficulty Sliders
Setting all the sliders to the most difficult possible setting can give the player an experience beyond what Ultra-Nightmare can offer. Not only does it force the player to think fast and be tactical, resources will be a premium luxury. A single death in a run cannot be afforded, as that will end the campaign prematurely.
Simply mowing down the demon masses isn't enough when a single shot from an enemy can being the Slayer to his knees. Complete mastery over the weapons and the Shield is demanded in order to advance a single level. There is no space for mistakes with these settings.
Pandemonium and Ultra-Nightmare Guide
Doom: The Dark Ages Related News
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