Doom: The Dark Ages is arguably the most accessible entry in the modern Doom series. It features a wide range of difficulty sliders and accessibility options, allowing players to tailor the experience to their preferred challenge level.
While the difficulty selection menu sets the stage well, I’ve also gathered all the gritty details and numbers you’re looking for, including what additional gameplay challenges await at higher difficulty levels in Doom: The Dark Ages.
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Doom The Dark Ages difficulty levels
Doom: The Dark Ages features six difficulty levels, with Aspiring Slayer as the easiest and Ultra-Nightmare as the hardest.
Each level ramps up the difficulty, with concrete changes to several aspects, including damage dealt to the player, enemy aggression, the daze duration, and resource values. The following values are changed at least once while you’re selecting the default difficulty presets.
| Difficulty Level | Parry Window | Damage to Player | Enemy Aggression | Daze Duration | Resource Values |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aspiring Slayer | 5/5 (Largest) | 50% | 1/4 (Least) | 150% | 5/5 |
| Hurt Me Plenty | 4/5 | 100% | 2/4 | 100% | 3/5 |
| Ultra-Violence | 3/5 | 200% | 3/4 | 75% | 3/5 |
| Nightmare | 3/5 | 250% | 4/4 (Most) | 75% | 2/5 |
| Pandemonium | 3/5 | 250% | 4/4 (Most) | 75% | 2/5 |
| Ultra-Nightmare | 3/5 | 250% | 4/4 (Most) | 75% | 2/5 |
At Aspiring Slayer, both Enhanced Targeting and Empowered Attacks are enabled for even smoother, easier combat encounters. The following adjustable variables are consistent across all difficulty levels:
- Damage to Demons: 100%
- Game Speed: 100%
- Enemy Projectile Speed: 3/5
Additional challenges at each difficulty level in Doom The Dark Ages
Doom veterans are all too familiar with the additional challenges and conditions that come with selecting higher difficulties, and I’ll explain what each level brings to the table in Doom: The Dark Ages.
| Difficulty Level | Additional Challenge(s) |
|---|---|
| Aspiring Slayer | None |
| Hurt Me Plenty | None |
| Ultra-Violence | None |
| Nightmare | None |
| Pandemonium | Life Sigils will allow you to restart a chapter. If you die and have no Life Sigils, your campaign ends. |
| Ultra-Nightmare | One death and the campaign ends. Only saves on Chapter completion. Life Sigils only heal you. |
This makes Ultra-Nightmare the ultimate test of skill, where a single death puts you right back at the starting line. I do not recommend jumping straight into this at any cost.
Doom The Dark Ages difficulty modifiers
Since Doom: The Dark Ages is the most accessible Doom yet, you can basically modify every single aspect of the difficulty if you aren’t happy with the traditional difficulty presets. This allows you to make the game super easy, or insanely hard, way beyond what’s offered in Nightmare. Here is everything you can modify, and to what degree.
| Modifier | Lowest Value | Highest Value |
|---|---|---|
| Parry Window | 1 | 5 |
| Damage to Player | 50% | 500% |
| Damage to Demons | 50% | 1000% |
| Enemy Aggression | 1 (Least) | 4 (Most) |
| Game Speed | 50% | 150% |
| Daze Duration | 50% | 150% |
| Enemy Projectile Speed | 1/5 (Slowest) | 5/5 (Fastest) |
| Resource Values | 1/5 (Lowest) | 5/5 (Highest) |
You can also enable or disable the following:
- Enhanced Targeting
- Empowered Attacks
Overall, Doom: The Dark Ages offers something for players of every skill level. The modifiers help you adjust aspects of the game that you’re struggling with or find too easy. If you don’t want to toy around with these modifiers, then the default difficulty presets are more than enough to provide you with a varied experience.
Published: May 13, 2025 08:15 am