DOOM Eternal is no joke — which is why we’ve put together these essential DOOM Eternal tips for players on all difficulty levels! The game is a good deal harder than its predecessor, with frantic action and tons of enemies in any given battle. But it’s not impossible to mitigate the mayhem. These tips should help you run through the best and worst the game has to offer — from platforming challenges to busting through bosses. And if they don’t, well, you might just be doomed… Just kidding! You probably just need to find some upgrades and return to some of the challenge stages later. Until then, though, here are our DOOM Eternal tips — going over some of the biggest things the game doesn’t tell you.
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Let Your Jump and Dash Run Their Course
DOOM Eternal goes heavy on the jumping puzzles. Luckily, it gives you plenty of tools to overcome these challenges. Both a double jump and a double dash unlock very early in the game. These will be vital to progressing through the story, and definitely important for catching some of the many secrets scattered throughout each level.
The puzzles themselves are typically straightforward. Getting through them, however, takes some getting used to DOOM Eternal expects you to really milk your maneuvers for all their worth — letting your dashes and jumps run their course on some of the longest chasms. If you’re having trouble reaching a platform, odds are that you’re jumping or juking too early. Try to get as much distance as you can out of every move instead. It really makes a big difference once you know just how far you can get with a single button press.
Know Your Splash Damage
Things explode in DOOM Eternal. It’s shocking, I know, but it’s also a bit of a complicated truth. That’s because different things explode in different ways — even the bombs you produce yourself. Exploding barrels and mines, for instance, will damage both enemies and yourself (if you’re caught in the blast). This can be mitigated with an upgrade that makes them only effect demons, however. It’s not a bad little upgrade!
Then there are frag grenades and rockets. Grenades are one of your earliest abilities — and don’t affect you whatsoever. Even the ice bomb won’t bother you if you get caught in its blast! Feel free to use them to your heart’s content whenever they’re off cooldown. But be more careful with the rocket launcher. This classic weapon will blow up right in your green, partially obscured face if you’re in its blast radius. That makes it a surprisingly tricky weapon to use in many situations.
Save Your Dashes
The dash move isn’t just for puzzles. You also use it a good deal in combat. In fact, if you’re like me, your first instinct will be to button mash for as much mobility as your walking tank is worth. That’s not the right move, though (like a lot of bad habits I have). You actually want to save the quick sprints for a rainy day. Particularly during boss fights, or against Revenants, this is your best hope for avoiding big attacks and getting out of melee range. You’ll know what I mean once you get to the Doom Hunter boss battle…
Here’s How the Chainsaw Works
Chainsaw good! Gas mileage bad… The melee mulcher is an absolutely crucial component in the Doomguy arsenal, but it chew through fuel like it chews through flesh and bone. The game tells you about this once you get it. However, it’s not super clear about the specifics. Here’s why you might be getting an error message anytime you try to saw a Hell Knight.
Much like in the 2016 game, the DOOM Eternal chainsaw classifies different demons differently. “Light” demons, like Imps and Zombies, are fair game for the single pip of refilling fuel you have available at nearly all times. Medium and heavy demons, like Pinkies and Arachnotrons, require a totally full tank. That’s exceedingly rare to come by. Because you burn through ammo so quickly, odds are that you’ll need to drain the saw on a weaker enemy just to get bullets back, rather than save it for a one-hit-kill on big guys. Plan accordingly, and don’t get caught standing around like a fool, trying to rip and tear a major villain with a mostly empty weapon.
Some Weapons Share Ammo
It’s not immediately obvious, given that the numbers look different, but different weapons often run on the same gun food. The shotgun and Super Shotgun, for instance, both use standard shotgun ammo — despite the fact that the Super Shotgun eats up more of it per shot than its counterpart. The same goes for the Plasma Rifle and the Ballista. You can tell which guns run on which ammo type by simply checking the colors in your weapon wheel! The numbers won’t match, but the shades of purple, orange, and the like will. This is an important factor to consider when going up against foes that require specific weapon types to attack reliably (e.g. the Doom Hunter).
Get Ready to Grab Ledges
DOOM Eternal is straight-up fiddly sometimes. While the game says you’ll auto-claw into ribbed surfaces when you dash, it doesn’t… always work that way. This seems to be the least reliable portion of the game’s platforming, but it’s got an easy solution. Ninety-nine percent of the time, if you’re close enough to think you should have automatically latched onto a wall, you’re close enough to hit the action button and do it manually. You’ll see a prompt on-screen, but it might not be fast enough. Just be ready to grab onto something in case of emergency. It’ll save you quite a lot of hit points!
Falls Don’t Kill you… at First
This is something you will figure out for yourself the second you fall into a gaping chasm. But just for reference, or to keep you from playing it too safe at first. I’ll just let you know that falls don’t kill you in DOOM Eternal. They do damage, though. It’ll even affect your armor! So you have a good bit of wiggle room if you just can’t make that necessary jump. However, if you take enough damage, the fall will kill you just as dead as a fireball to the face. Don’t get too comfortable.
Reload and Flame Belch
The Flame Belch is a shoulder mounted weapon. That sounds obvious. DOOM Eternal tells you as much once you get it! But think about what that means for a second… You can activate the device hands-free during battle. This is useful for stringing together combo moves — like stunning an enemy for a Glory Kill, torching them with Flame Belch for the extra armor, and reloading a slow weapon (e.g. the Super Shotgun). This is one of my smallest DOOM Eternal tips by far, but it comes in surprisingly handy given how hectic the game gets partway through.
Keep Moving While You Switch Things Up
Time slows down considerably when you open the weapon wheel. That’s not the same as stopping entirely. Enemies will continue to hammer away at you as normal. But the same is true for you; it’s possible to switch weapons and keep moving at the same time. You can’t do much, obviously, trapped as you are in the limbo between guns. But you can keep your thumb or finger pressed down on the left analog stick or WASD. This will throw off enemy aim ever so slightly — putting you in a better position when you return to normal time.
You’re Going to Take Damage
Given how fast you move, and how many options are at your disposal, it’s easy to feel like you’re playing DOOM Eternal “wrong.” I get it! Taking constant Imp fire doesn’t exactly feel good. But it’s kinda just the nature of the game — especially on anything higher than normal difficulty. You’re not really meant to duck and weave between every single hit. Keeping on the move is a good thing, because it lowers the overall damage you take, but it won’t stop the pain completely.
You must mix in Glory Kills and the Flame Belch throughout enemy encounters to stay standing. Boss fights will even throw infinite fodder enemies at you to give you a steady supply of hit points (and ammo via your chainsaw). Don’t forget to take advantage of these. Then, once you top yourself off, focus on damaging the larger foes.
