Doom The Dark Ages is a monster slaying fest where you can tailor your experience through the various difficulty modes and modifiers.
Given the number of options available, you can approach the game at your own pace. So, even if this is your first FPS title, you can adjust it to your level of comfort by tinkering with the difficulty settings. Thankfully, your choice of difficulty doesn’t affect the trophies and achievements you unlock by completing certain feats.
All Doom The Dark Ages Difficulty Settings
You can select from six different difficulty options when starting a new game. Each option has its own modifiers, including a parry window. This timer highlights the time you have to deflect an incoming attack.
| Difficulty | Description |
|---|---|
| Aspiring Slayer | Aspiring Slayer is the easiest difficulty, and is aimed for players who’ve just stepped into FPS games. Enemies are weak and your shots do more damage than normal. The parry window is the highest and dazing the enemy is as very easy. |
| Hurt Me Plenty | Hurt Me Plenty is the default difficulty setting for every player. Enemy aggression is at normal level and they deal 100% damage. You have a default parry window, so deflecting incoming strikes is easier. |
| Ultra-Violence | The Ultra-Violence difficulty setting in Doom The Dark Ages is meant for individuals who are seasoned FPS players. Enemy aggression is higher than normal, and they deal around 200% extra damage. Demons stay dazed for around 75% of their max duration, considerably reducing the Glory Strike window. |
| Nightmare | Enemies in Nightmare are extra aggressive, and deal more damage. Resource pickups are available but the amount of health, shields and ammo they restore are slightly lowered. |
| Pandemonium | The enemy modifiers are the same as Nightmare, but you can restart a chapter only if you have life sigils at your disposal. If you run out of these sigils then your character will die permanently. |
| Ultra-Nightmare | This difficulty level can also be called the “Hardcore Mode”, meaning your run will end if you die even once. It has the same difficulty as Pandemonium, with perma death being the only difference. |
What Are Difficulty Modifiers?
If the six different difficulty levels that Doom The Dark Ages offers aren’t enough, you can always tweak the challenge by adjusting the difficulty modifiers. These settings let you control how much damage you take and deal in return, and give you more control over your overall experience.
Here’s what all these settings mean:
- Parry Window: The time you have to reflect an attack with your shield.
- Enhanced Targeting: Enabling this will ensure that your shots are more accurate. Aimed at new players.
- Empowered Attacks: Empowered attacks ensure the enemy will be disrupted whenever your shots strike them.
- Tutorials: Doom The Dark Ages offers on-screen tutorials that constantly tell you how to go about the different gameplay elements.
- Objective Marker Style: Lets you choose if you want the objective marker on-screen all the time or not. Can be turned off for blind runs.
- Damage to Player: The amount of damage you take from demons on every hit.
- Damage to Demons: The amount of damage you deal to demons with your attacks.
- Enemy Aggression: This adjusts how aggressive these enemies are towards you.
- Game Speed: Allows you to modify how fast you want your game to be.
Your choice of difficulty entirely depends on the kind of experience you want. If you’re looking for a balance between combat and resource collection, then Ultra-Violence is a good choice. If, however, you’re a new player, Aspiring Slayer is a good place to start.
How to Change Difficulty in Doom The Dark Ages
You can change the difficulty from the options menu at any given point in Doom The Dark Ages. There’s no limit to the number of times you can do this. You can jump between the remaining difficulties at any given point unless you’ve selected Pandemonium or Ultra-Nightmare. For the two mentioned, you’ll have to complete the game or till your run ends!
Published: May 15, 2025 04:47 am