Id Software unleashed Doom Eternal upon the world on March 20th of this year. True to the storied first-person shooter franchise’s spirit, the title is chock full of glorious demon-slaying action and enough pints of blood to fill up the world’s oceans. The Doom Slayer comes equipped with a hefty arsenal to help him dispatch of the hellish hordes.
In addition to guns, various items and upgrades assist him along the way. Some of these are invaluable to success in battle, while others can be left at the wayside, as the following list shows. To the game’s credit, even the items listed as bad still have their usage to a player who knows how to fully utilize their toolset.
10 Best: Crucible
Doom Eternal wants players to feel powerful, and nothing delivers this feeling better than the Crucible. This beam sword defeats just about every demon with a single blow, excluding bosses, slicing them in two like a heated knife against warm butter.
The only drawback is its limited usage, but it is only fair for such a powerful accessory to have limitations. Pickups in the field refill its energy.
9 Worst: Chainsaw Fuel
The Chainsaw is an invaluable tool one needs to use properly and frequently in order to best the game’s tougher encounters. Slicing a demon in two with it nets a massive amount of ammo and some health. One can have up to three uses stored up at a time, though it refills if the player runs out.
To get three, one picks up fuel canisters in the world. However, if one is efficient enough and times their Chainsaw usage wisely, picking up fuel in the world becomes unnecessary. It is always nice to have extra, but it is not a vital pickup and one rarely feels the need to dash for on in the middle of a fight unless they are truly in a bind.
8 Best: Chrono Strike Rune
Chrono Strike slows down time in mid-air. This is not only valuable for lining up shots against smaller weak points and headshots, but it also affords the player a few valuable moments to breathe during chaotic firefights.
A late-game enemy, in particular, gives bonus ammo upon scoring a headshot, so jumping, engaging slow motion, and aiming with the Heavy Cannon’s sniper rifle modification becomes a potent strategy.
7 Worst: Savagery Rune
The Savagery Rune speeds up Glory Kills to a breakneck pace. This way, one can jump right back into the action after netting some health from the special melee executions.
While it helps, the advantage of getting out of a Glory Kill before surrounding enemies move in closer is minuscule, acting more as a convenience than anything else. Considering one can only have three runes equipped at a time, it is better to leave this one to collect dust while using something more useful.
6 Best: Ice Bomb
Some enemies zip around the map like they are rushing towards a Black Friday sale at Target. For these hasty demons, the Ice Bomb is a perfect counter. The special grenade freezes enemies in their tracks, giving the Demon Slayer a few uninterrupted moments to blast away at the stunned foes.
This is particularly useful against Whiplash demons, but also comes in handy when fighting heavier monsters with more health like the Mancubus.
5 Worst: Overdrive
Overdrive is the yellow power-up found in the field, granting the player increased movement and unlimited ammo for a short time. One should not miss it if it pops up in an arena, but it is also the weakest of the three power-ups lying around.
The purple Onslaught pickups offer quadruple damage while the red Berserk grants a series of one-hit melee kills on almost anything that gets in the way. While no Doom Slayer in their right mind will turn Overdrive away, they’ll also wish a different one had shown up instead.
4 Best: Extra Life
Extra lives harken back to an era when checkpoints were either rare or non-existent. These green helmets the player collects stack up and allows them to continue right where they left off upon death instead of loading the last checkpoint.
Getting far into a fight only to fall when victory is within reach is endlessly disappointing, and this feature offers a slight forgiveness within an otherwise challenging game. Many of them are hidden throughout the levels, so keep your eyes peeled.
3 Worst: Frag Grenade
Many of the tools at Doom Slayer’s disposal net a certain resource in return. The Flame Belcher spews out armor from enflamed enemies, Glory Kills net health and the Chainsaw grants ammo. The Frag Grenade offers nothing of the sort. It is simply an explosion damaging enemies in a small radius.
It is comforting to know it is there to get out of a jam, but one will more than likely stick to using Ice Bombs most of the time. At least it is not dependent on ammo and is based on a charge.
2 Best: Air Control Rune
The Doom Slayer spends much of his time jumping, especially on the higher difficulties. With this in mind, one desires as much control as possible when soaring through the air.
The Air Control Rune lets players control the protagonist just as easily in mid-air as they do on the ground. This isn’t only useful in combat, either. Many of the breaks between battles consist of light platforming segments, and this rune makes these bits easier.
1 Worst: Dazed And Confused Rune
Once an enemy is staggered, the player has a limited time to perform the Glory Kill. However, one has plenty of time between when they are staggered and when they regain composure that using a Rune to extend this period is unnecessary.
Some of the bigger enemies have shorter stagger times, but even then the player should not have trouble going in for the kill when they start flashing blue.
