Where to Find Demonic Essence in Doom The Dark Ages

In Doom The Dark Ages, you’ll come across multiple currencies, including Demonic Essence. Compared to your weapon and shield upgrade currencies, this one is the hardest to come by.

Unlike Gold, Ruby, or Wraithstones, you can’t find this currency in the wild. Instead, you’ll have to bring your A-game while combating the forces of hell, because you’ll get this item if you defeat a particular type of enemy. It’s a very unique currency because you’ll need it to purchase upgrades, but you cannot choose what upgrade you want, nor can you buy it at a time of your choosing!

How to Get Demonic Essence in Doom The Dark Ages

You can get Demonic Essence by defeating an enemy type called “Leaders.” These spawn randomly across maps, so you don’t have to go off your regular route to find and defeat them. They’re stronger than the regular enemies you face, and some of them are mounted, so you might have some difficulty eliminating them.

Since they usually spawn whenever you’re fighting a horde of enemies, we recommend that you destroy the smaller enemies first and then target the Leader for their Demonic Essence in Doom The Dark Ages. Smaller enemies are easier to deal with, and if you shield bash one from a group, somehow the entire group gets dismembered.

The recipe for killing Leaders is simple: parry all the green attacks, and lay down fire on the demon. If you can, toss your chainsaw shield to create an opening. Keep doing this for a while, and you’ll see the enemy glow purple. Move in and press the keybind you see to finish off the enemy.

However, remember that the purple glow is only active for a few seconds, so make sure you close the gap and finish the enemy the moment you see the glow. When you defeat a Leader, Slayer will automatically rip its heart out and consume the Demonic Essence to unlock an upgrade in Doom The Dark Ages.

What Does the Demonic Essence do?

Demonic Essence will help you upgrade one of the three following stats:

• Health
• Shields
• Ammo Capacity

While you cannot pick which upgrade you want, each Leader in Doom The Dark Ages has an icon on top of its head, signifying what upgrade you’ll get. There are 32 Demonic Essences for you to find.