Best Difficulty Settings Guide | DOOM: The Dark Ages

Doom: The Dark Ages brings the blood, the carnage, and a medieval buzzsaw of challenge settings, ranging from a laid-back demon stroll to full-on permadeath hell. Whether you're a fresh recruit or a Doom veteran with a grudge against health pickups, here’s a breakdown of every difficulty option and what they actually change.

All Difficulty Modes Explained & Which to Choose

There are six main difficulties in Doom: The Dark Ages, and you can choose any of them right from the start. The game even lets you change difficulties mid-run, unless you're on one of the permadeath modes (more on that below).

Here’s a plain-English breakdown of how each one plays:

Aspiring Slayer

• Extra-long Parry Window

• Enhanced Targeting and Empowered Attacks are on (aiming is easier, enemies get staggered more often)

• Enemies are passive, deal half damage, and stay dazed longer

• Pickups give more health, armor, and ammo

• Basically “training wheels” with blood

Hurt Me Plenty

• Slightly shorter parry window

• No aim assists or buffed attacks

• Enemies deal normal damage and act normally aggressive

• Resource pickups are standard

• Ideal for new players who still want to play Doom, not coast through it

Ultra-Violence

• Enemies are more aggressive

• They hit for double damage

• Parry timing gets tighter, daze duration is shorter

• Still totally doable—just faster, deadlier, and messier

Nightmare

• Enemies hit for 2.5x normal damage

• They swarm harder, daze for shorter

• Pickups restore less

• You’ll feel the pressure constantly—perfect for FPS veterans

Pandemonium

• Same difficulty as Nightmare

• Limited Lives via Life Sigils

• Run ends if you run out of them

• Yes, you can still change modifiers—but once you start, no switching to normal

Ultra-Nightmare

• Nightmare rules apply

• If you die even once, your run is over

• No checkpoints, no retries, only pain

• Save only happens at the end of each chapter

Which Difficulty Should You Pick?

Player Type	Recommended Mode
Total Newcomer	Aspiring Slayer
Casual Doom Enjoyer	Hurt Me Plenty
Experienced Slayer	Ultra-Violence
Doom Die-Hard	Nightmare
Masochist/Streamer	Ultra-Nightmare

What About Difficulty Modifiers?

If none of the preset modes feel quite right, The Dark Ages lets you tweak individual modifiers from the pause menu:

• Parry Window – Make it tighter or more forgiving

• Damage to Player – Adjust how hard enemies hit

• Damage to Demons – Buff or nerf yourself

• Projectile Speed – Slow them down or speed things up

• Game Speed – Crank it up or play in slo-mo

These modifiers even work on Pandemonium and Ultra-Nightmare, but once you start those runs, you can’t go back to a standard playthrough.

Final Blurb

Whether you're slicing through Hell at your own pace or trying not to blink for 10 hours straight, Doom: The Dark Ages has a difficulty that fits. Start where you're comfortable, then crank it up when you're ready to earn the scars. Just… maybe don’t open Ultra-Nightmare until you’ve had your coffee.

FAQ

Q: Can you change difficulty mid-playthrough?
Yes, except on Pandemonium and Ultra-Nightmare. Once you're in those, you're locked in.

Q: Are there any trophies/achievements tied to difficulty?
Nope. Play what feels right, you won’t miss out on anything.

Q: Can I use modifiers on all modes?
Yes, even on permadeath runs. Just don’t expect to switch modes after you start.

Q: Does Ultra-Nightmare save at all?
Only at the end of a chapter. If you die before then, the whole run is gone.

Q: What's the hardest part about Nightmare and up?
Resource management. Enemies hit like trucks, and healing drops are stingy. Mess up a parry? You’ll feel it.

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