DOOM: The Dark Ages Full Campaign Walkthrough — All 22 Chapters, Key Decisions & Missable Upgrades

The campaign spans 22 chapters across roughly 15 hours. It's a prequel set entirely on Argent D'Nur, the Night Sentinels' homeworld, and it leads directly into the opening of DOOM 2016. The storytelling here is different from previous DOOM games. id Software swapped codex entries for cinematic cutscenes, which means you actually see the Doom Slayer's imprisonment by the Maykrs and his time under the Tether's mind control instead of reading about it in optional lore pickups.

I finished my first run on default difficulty with moderate slider tweaks in about 16 hours, taking time to explore. Speedrunners are already pushing sub-4-hour times, but that's a different conversation.

Chapters 1-4: The Tether and Breaking Free

You start imprisoned. The Maykrs have the Slayer leashed through a device called the Tether, using him as a weapon against Hell's forces. The opening chapters are deliberately slower paced, teaching you the Shield Saw, the mace, and the rhythm of Stand and Fight combat.

Chapter 1 is a tutorial dressed as a prison break. You'll learn basic movement, shield blocking, and melee combos against waves of lesser demons. Nothing threatening, but pay attention to the parry timing. It'll save you later.

Chapter 2 introduces the first real arena. Hell Razers and Imps in mixed waves. The game wants you to learn target priority here. Kill the Hell Razers first because their ranged beam attack tracks and chips your armor even through a block. Clean up Imps after. The Spiked Flail unlock is at the end of this chapter, and I strongly recommend grabbing it even if you plan to main the mace. There's a tunnel encounter in Chapter 3 that is miserable without a sweep weapon.

Chapter 3 is where the map opens up. First side areas, first blue torch secrets, first optional combat encounter. Look for a cliffside path behind the broken siege tower. There's an armor upgrade and a hidden arena that drops enough tokens for your first major flail upgrade.

Chapter 4 introduces the Mecha Dragon. It's a scripted aerial sequence, not free flight, but the spectacle is absurd. Gatling guns mounted on a cybernetic dragon. You'll strafe ground forces and duel a Hell carrier in the sky. The dragon controls are weighty. Lead your shots and don't stop moving. The carrier's tracking missiles can be shot down with the gatling guns if your aim is sharp.

Chapters 5-10: Night Sentinel Strongholds

This is the core of the game. You're gathering Night Sentinel allies, raiding Hell outposts, and unlocking the Atlan Mech.

Chapter 5 drops the Electric Gauntlet in your lap. Use it on the Shield Soldiers who start appearing here. One gauntlet stun into a mace overhead combo kills them before they can raise their guard.

Chapter 7 is the first Atlan Mech sequence. Thirty stories tall, fighting a building-sized demon called the Ravager. The mech has a health bar, a punch, a shoulder cannon, and a grab. The grab is what matters. When the Ravager rears back for its charge, grab its arm and you'll trigger a QTE that tears it off. Two arm tears and the fight ends. The mech sections are pure power fantasy, no subtlety required.

Chapter 8 has a decision point that I didn't realize was a decision until my second playthrough. When you reach the split in the Sentinel fortress, heading left leads to a weapon mod for the plasma rifle. Heading right gives you an armor core upgrade. You can only get one per run. The plasma mod is better for general use, the armor core for higher difficulties.

Chapters 9-10 escalate steadily. Expect much denser enemy compositions. The Mancubus equivalent shows up here and its flamethrower passes through your shield block. You have to dodge, not block. First enemy that forces movement, and it'll catch you off guard if you've been turtling.

Chapters 11-16: The Kreed Maykr Arc

Kreed Maykr is a traitor within the Maykr ranks, and these chapters are about hunting him down. The environments shift toward Maykr architecture: gold, angular, lots of verticality despite no double jump. You'll use shield throw anchor points to traverse.

Chapter 13 boss fight against Kreed Maykr is the game's first real skill check. He has three phases. Phase one: fast melee combos you need to parry. Phase two: he summons clones that fire homing projectiles. Phase three: he merges with a Maykr construct and gains AOE ground slams. The parry window slider matters here more than anywhere else. Set it wide if you're struggling.

Chapter 15 is a full Atlan Mech level, not just a boss sequence. You'll walk through a Hell siege, stomping infantry and punching down fortress walls. The scale is genuinely impressive the first time.

Chapters 17-22: Ahzrak and the Endgame

Prince Ahzrak is the final antagonist, a Hell lord who's been corrupting Argent D'Nur. The last stretch of the game throws everything at you. Mixed enemy types, environmental hazards, mech sections, dragon sections, and back-to-back boss fights.

Chapter 20 is the Ahzrak encounter proper, and it's a gauntlet. You fight him three times across different arenas, each with a different moveset. First fight is pure melee. Second adds ranged attacks. Third adds arena hazards. Bring a fully upgraded weapon. At this point you should have enough tokens to max two melee weapons and have a solid ranged backup.

Chapter 22 is the finale. No spoilers on the ending, but there are no missable collectibles here. Once you beat Ahzrak's final form, you get a post-credits scene that directly ties into the opening of DOOM 2016. If you've played 2016, it'll land. If you haven't, this is actually a decent entry point despite being a prequel.

After the credits, you unlock chapter select. Go back and grab anything you missed. The only permanently missable content is that Chapter 8 split decision. Everything else is clean-up accessible.

Boss Fight Quick Reference

Hell Carrier (Chapter 4, Mecha Dragon): Shoot weak points, dodge missiles, chase the shield generator. More spectacle than fight.

Ravager (Chapter 7, Atlan Mech): Count his attacks. Two sweeps then a charge. Grab during the charge. Repeat twice. Done.

Kreed Maykr (Chapter 13): The wall. Phase two clones are the hardest part. Look for the gold outline on the real one. Parry aggressively.

Prince Ahzrak (Chapter 20): Three arenas, three movesets. Don't stand in fire in arena two. Burn all consumables in the final DPS race.

If you're stuck on any boss, widen the parry window and go in with Mace + Gauntlet. That combo has the highest stagger output and the safest damage windows. I beat every boss except Kreed Maykr on first attempt with this setup. Kreed took six tries. He's the exception.