Doom The Dark Ages Revelations - New Weapon & Boss Strategies
Chain Spear mastery guide for the Revelations DLC. Controls, empowerment timing, combo flow, enemy counters, and boss strategies for Henchman and Xal'Goroth.
What the Chain Spear Changes
The Chain Spear is the core new tool in Revelations. It functions as both a weapon and a movement system: grapple to enemies or surfaces, dash, parry via timed strikes, and execute stab, slash, slam, and throw attacks. The spear feels underpowered early but unlocks strong upgrades and combos that reward aggressive play.
Quick-swapping between the Chain Spear and Shield Saw is the key to surviving the DLC's tougher encounters. The spear handles mobility and offense, the Shield Saw handles grounded defense and parries.
The spear fixes mobility complaints from the base game. Air control, ricochet dodges (back dash deflects hitscan), and aerial weapon charging make aggressive airborne play the dominant strategy. Stay in the air, stay moving, stay attacking.
Chain Spear Basics
How to Get It
Acquired early in the Proving Grounds chapter after the initial enemy waves. You'll get a tutorial sequence that introduces the basic controls. Practice in the Purgatory hub before committing to harder missions.
Empowerment System
Fill empowerment bars via perfect dodges (time your dash like a shield parry on green attacks) or parries. One or two good dodges often fill a bar. Empowered state unlocks the slam attack and advanced moves. The early tutorial teaches this with imp stalker green projectiles.
Combo Flow
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Grapple: Use Meat Hook to close gaps or reposition. Pull toward enemies or swing for aerial control. This is your primary movement tool.
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Stab / Slash: Close-range attacks. Stab deals high damage to heavies. Slash breaks armor on shielded enemies.
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Throw: For flying enemies or precision shots. Upgrades allow piercing projectiles, making it useful against ranged threats.
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Slam: Grapple into the air, then slam down before hitting the ground. Area damage plus health drops with upgrades. Best against groups.
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Quick-swap to Shield Saw: Switch to Shield Saw for grounded defense and parry, then back to spear for pressure. This swap is the core of DLC combat.
Focus Platinum on one spear upgrade line early. Pick Slam for aggressive AoE play or Throw for safe ranged damage. Don't spread across all lines. Master one, then expand after campaign progression.
Enemy Counters
- Buzzsaw Sidestep the charge attack, target the wheel, punish recovery frames. Use spear grapple to reposition quickly after dodging.
- Archvile Keep range, use spear to close fast and interrupt summons or ritual casts. Clear shadow minions with spear AoE or guns. The spear is vulnerable during summon animations, so time your approach.
- Agaddon Brute Champion Sustained fire with fast-firing guns to fill the purple stun bar, then execute when stunned. Use spear for mobility against Pinky Rider adds. Always clear adds before focusing the champion.
- General Fodder Clear with AoE weapons (Shredder Pincushion, Rockets) before focusing leaders. Use spear stab on super-heavies to set up glory kills. Prioritize casters and fast chargers first.
Boss Strategies
Henchman (Campaign Stumbling Block)
- Phase 1-2: Parry melee attacks with Shield Saw (timing is tighter than base game). Use spear dodge and grapple to avoid projectiles and sentries. Destroy sentries for heal drops.
- Damage phase: Spam spear attacks plus Accelerator or Plasma for constant damage while staying mobile. Never stand still.
- Phase 3: Use orbit spear ability during stationary attacks. Dash through projectiles. Perfect dodges for empowerment to maintain slam pressure.
- Controls: Rebind if weapon swapping feels clunky. Some players swap slash and grapple buttons for smoother flow.
Praetor Fights (Vagary, Acolyte)
- Add priority: Clear all other demons first with AoE weapons before focusing the Praetor boss
- Single-target: Use Impaler or Reaver Chainshot for sustained damage once the arena is clear
- Collect: Gather Praetor Essences and Astral Boss Key pieces from each encounter
Xal'Goroth the Imprisoned (Astral Boss)
- Mastery test: This fight requires full spear mobility and all unlocked upgrades. It's the ultimate test of DLC mechanics.
- Air dominance: Stay airborne using grapple and slam. Ground time is death in this fight.
- Empowerment cycling: Maintain empowered state through perfect dodges. Slam whenever available for burst damage.
- Post-defeat: Unlocks Master Arenas and additional Ripatorium content for endgame play.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Ignoring empowerment and parry timing. The spear feels weak without empowerment. Practice perfect dodges in the hub.
- Not quick-swapping between Shield Saw and Spear. You lose both defensive and offensive options by sticking to one.
- Focusing the boss while adds overwhelm you. Always clear fodder first with AoE weapons.
- Spreading Platinum upgrades too early. Commit to one spear line before diversifying.
- Missing aerial weapon charging. Some guns (Pulverizer, Accelerator, Shredder) charge faster while you're airborne with the spear.
- Poor control rebinding. If default spear controls feel off, rebind before committing to harder missions.