DOOM: The Dark Ages | Update 1 Release Notes

Update 1 is the first major patch for DOOM: The Dark Ages which brings general game balance refinements, improves the audio mix and fixes the bugs noted below

Improvements and Adjustments - All Platforms 

• Adjusted audio mix so music and sound effects are more balanced at Default levels (For best results we recommend you reset audio settings to Default) 

• Reduced the amount of time health drops remain active during Atlan missions 
• Sprint VFX are now disabled for auto-sprint 

General gameplay balance refinements (some of these were previously Active Tunables that have been removed from that article and committed to the game in Update 1). These are denoted below as: (*PT) for "Previous Tunable"

Atlan

• (*PT) Reduced how long health drops linger in the world when in the Atlan
• (*PT) Updated the Atlan combo system so that after using a Finisher, the player can still use the previous one

• Players were paying too much to use a Finisher, which led to holding on for the most powerful attacks and then cashing out. This creates a more dynamic combat experience that rewards building up multiple Finishers for extended combos and more strategic decision-making

Dragon

• Dragon combat experience has been updated to allow players to move more swiftly through the experience

• Most enemies faced when on the Dragon will now only fire Hell Surge projectiles, allowing for more opportunities to empower the Autocannon
• The Empowered state for the Dragon’s Autocannon now lasts longer
• (*PT) Empowered shots from the Dragon’s Autocannon after a perfect dodge will go through projectile shields

Combat Encounter Updates - All Platforms

Village of Khalim

• Courtyard Encounter
• Additional Imps added
• Two Imp Stalkers added

• Beach Encounter
• Added Imps and additional Pinky Rider to fight
• Music state adjustments

Hebeth

• Gore Deck Encounter (Leader Intro)
• Added maintains for Pinky Rider Leader support

Sentinel Barracks

• Tomb Arena Encounter
• Nightmare Imp added
• Stone Imp wave added

• Exterior Burning Tree Encounter
• Hell Knight maintain added
• Lost Souls Added
• Stone Imps added

• Vagary Intro
• Added Mancubus maintain

The Holy City of Aratum

• Tutorial
• Reduced number of Hell Tanks on pillar to 3
• Hell Tank 1 shoots only Up/Down Hourglass projectile variant
• Hell Tank 2 shoots only Left/Right Hourglass projectile variant
• Hell Tank 3 shoots only Up/Down Hourglass projectile variant

• General

• Doubled the length of time the Empowered shot is active

• City Sandbox
• Removed Titan Sentry immediately after Hell Carrier exit

Final Arena

• Mancubus maintain added for Vagary
• Chaingunner Soldiers added

Siege - Part 1

• Vagary Encounters
• Added 2 Hell Knights and small Imp maintain for Trenches Vagary
• Added 2 Hell Knights and small Imp maintain to River Shore Vagary encounter
• Added Imp Stalker and small Imp maintain in Canyon Vagary Encounter

Siege - Part 2

• Hangar Final Encounter
• AI spawn placement adjustments
• Pickup placement adjustments
• Added small Hell Knight maintain
• Added Nightmare Imp
• Added Arachnatron support for Battle Knight

Resurrection

• Dragon Flight to Maykr Ship

• Music adjustment from ambient to light music state

Bug Fixes - All Platforms

Achievements 

• Resolved an issue in which some users could not unlock the Berserker Achievement/Trophy upon obtaining the necessary upgrades. This should resolve retroactively for affected users 

Audio

• Fixed an issue with music potentially pausing when transitioning between levels
• Addressed an issue in which VO was getting cut off during ending cinematic for The Holy City of Aratum

Ultra-Nightmare

• Difficulty Settings - adjusted the modified (M*) tag to persist after reverting to Default Settings in Ultra-Nightmare
• Fixed an issue in which the Death Marker did not display the correct enemy name when killed by an armored Leader or Enforcer
• Addressed the Death Marker so it no longer displays "???" when the player is killed by the ground spike AoE attack from any Cyberdemon variant
• Updated the Death Marker so the Mancubus (who fires acid hazards) name now displays correctly 

Cinematics 

• Fixed an issue in which the sound effects were not consistently playing during the interstitial sequences in The Old One boss fight
• Fixed an issue with music potentially dropping out during cinematics
• Addressed issues with subtitle timings for multiple languages

Crashes

• Fixed rare crash after destroying the gore portal in Siege - Part 1

Gameplay

• Resolved an issue in which the Shredder could lose functionality after performing an execute move
• Addressed a bug where the Shield Saw could lose functionality after being caught, then melee attacking a dazed enemy
• Fixed an issue with upgrade functionality not working when re-equipping a shield rune after maxing out the upgrades

Menus

• Fixed an issue in which some players were unable to select and enter The Holy City of Aratum via the level select menu
• The Battle Knight codex is now obtainable and will appear in the Codex menu
• Addressed issues in which the Chapter Selection text and the Command Bar UI element would flicker
• Fixed an issue encountered by some players where Campaign map completion was reset to 25% after the previous update
• Resolved an issue in which players could skip to future levels by highlighting them in the Level Selection menu
• The Arachnotron Codex page now appears consistently within the Dossier
• Addressed an issue in which the "Field Of View" menu slider could lose functionality after cutscenes or Shield bashing through a wall
• Resolved issues in which opening/closing the Dossier and reloading Checkpoints could cause the Shredder Barbed upgrade to unequip itself and the Pincushion and Ricochet upgrades would be equipped simultaneously
• Menus – the (M*) marker is now present on Campaign Save Files that have been modified

Rendering

• Added an additional control to customize image contrast when using HDR to fix issues where the image appeared washed out for some users

For the latest Active Tunables click here

If you're still experiencing issues, please holler at our amazing Customer Service team here