DOOM Eternal UltraNightmare guide for beginners

[TenenteZashu]

DOOM ETERNAL Ultra Nightmare guide to Demons and Weapons.

By TenenteZashu

 

This guide will give you a general idea on how to behave around certain enemies, on which weapon mods you should spend points and time to master and general tips about the game, let's start with

 

Weapon Mods

 

1) Combat shotgun

 

Now this is a bit of a no-brainer, obviously you want to get the sticky bomb mod, mostly because it's useful to take out weak spots and because it can one-shot every fodder demon but i advise you not to waste time trying to upgrade this mod, mostly because primary fire will be replaced by the SSG and secondary fire by the precision scope or the ballista after the DOOM Hunter base.

 

2) Heavy cannon

The precision scope is generally preferred over the micro missiles, mostly because the scope is very effective at taking out weak spots and you should either learn how to quick scope or equip the crono-strike rune asap, in this case too i don't advise spending time and weapon points on this mod.

 

3) Plasma gun

Here the decision may look obvious, you got for the Heat Wave, but maybe you should reconsider your choice. Don't get me wrong, the Heat Wave is the most useful of the two mods but, as for the Heavy Cannon, the second mod can be very useful too, especially against Archviles, Mancubi and DOOM Hunters but watch out because when using the Microwave bean, it will slow you down and since you have to focus on the enemy you're attacking the other demons (mostly prowlers and whiplashes) will be able to flank you in mere seconds. I use the plasma gun in conjunction with the Heat Wave as a ''pray n spay'' weapon since every projectile you'll fire will build up heat that later on will be used against a big group of fodder demons or against revenants to take care of those rocket launchers, also it's useful to soften fodder demons and scoring a quick glory-kill, but we'll go back to this topic later.

 

4) Rocket Launcher

This is a very useful weapon against a lot of enemies, namely hell knights, whiplashes, mancubi and prowlers, all enemies that can be one shotted by the Lock-On mod, which is almost mandatory if you want to beat the Gladiator and the Khan Maykr (trust me, i learnt it the hard way). The remote detonation can be a good and reliable way to get rid of the revenant's cannons or the DOOM Hunter's floating sledge. This time yes, you should spend time and points into mastering this weapon, especially the Lock-On mod because in most arenas you'll always encounter either an hell knight and whiplash, two hell knights or two whiplashes, both demons that can be one-shotted by this mod and the Lock-On mastery lets you lock on up to two demons, paired with good reflexes, crono-strike or an ice bomb you can get rid of what would otherwise be two dangerous pressure units.

 

5) Super Shotgun

Not much to say about it, just learn how to use the meat hook at your advantage during a fight and the flaming meat hook is a big quality-of-life improvement that you should get asap, luckily is not very hard to obtain.

 

6) Ballista

Ah yes, the almighty ballista which paired with the previous weapon, the SSG, or the rocket launcher will make most fights almost trivial, the mod you want to choose is the Air ballista, which can one shot cacodemons, put in bad conditions pain elementals and revenants. The ‘’vanilla’’ weapon is very useful to target weak spots and on the Urdak level is mildly useful when it comes to pop the drone's heads.

 

7) Chain gun

I never used the chain gun during my ultra-nightmare run because during ''normal'' fights is not very useful if there isn't a bulky demon such as the Mancubus. If you want to put this weapon to good use then the Icon Of Sin's boss fight is the perfect place. As far as mods are concerned go for the mobile turret that you should master quickly in order to get rid of that pesky overheating.

 

8) Super weapons (BFG 9000, Unmaykr)

As you may know the BFG is simply superior over the Unmaykr, not only to acquire the Unmaykr you have to risk your entire run with slayer gates but when using it you will also have to focus on one single enemy, maybe useful against the Khan Maykr, the Gladiator or maybe even the Icon but the BFG is still better because not only you don't have to be very accurate and a single shot will clear an entire room (and destroy an entire part of the Icon and skip one phase of the Khan Mayrk), but also because you don't have to risk the run over the slayer gates.

A small tip about the BFG: if you’re in a room with a tall ceiling or in a roof-less arena shoot at the sky because the longer the BFG ball travels the more damage it will deal.

 

Demons:   Mortally Challenged:

 

Fodder Enemies

They don't pose any kind of threat unless you are low on health but with a couple shots from your plasma gun you'll be able to stagger them and glory-kill them to get back on your feet (pro tip; when doing to remember to flame-belch them).

 

Hell knights

The Hell Knights can be a very dangerous ‘’pressure unit’’ unless you target them with the lock on mod of the rocket launcher, one barrage and they’re gone, the problem is that you the rocket launcher mid-level on cultist base but don’t worry, two sticky bombs and one blood punch should send them in their glory kill state.

 

Mancubi

They are very similar to Hell knights, get distracted for a few seconds and they'll roast you in even less time. My strategy against them is a lock on barrage followed by a hit with the precision scope or the ballista, if I’m at closer range i go for the SSG.

 

Whiplashes

Now they really are a pain in the ass, luckily nothing that a lock on barrage can’t fix but remember that the first Whiplash you’ll have to fight will appear before you can get your hands on that mod for the rocket launcher, I dealt with her by using an ice bomb, a blood punch and then two sticky bombs.

 

Revenant

At first they might look dangerous, and yes they are but nothing that a blood punch followed by a ballista shot can't fix. Early on, when you still don’t have the ballista I recommend using a blood punch followed by three sticky bombs, if they won’t die use the precision bolt or a heat wave with the plasma gun.

 

Dread Knights

The best way to get rid of them is by freezing them with the ice bomb, using a barrage of rockets from the lock on mod and if they’re still alive use the meat hook to deliver a close shot with the SSG or a lock-on barrage followed by a charged shot from the air ballista

 

Aracnatrons

Especially during hell on earth they can be a bit tricky but if you manage properly your chainsaw fuel you can get rid of them in seconds, on the later levels go for the lock on and ballista combo, if you still don't have the ballista then use a grenade (or two if you got the perk) and a blood punch, in this way you will either put them in stagger or kill them on the spot.

 

Cyber-Mancubi

Repeat the Mancubi’s strategy but remember to blood punch them first so you won’t waste more ammo to destroy their armor.

 

Pinkies

A blood punch can kill them right away but I suggest keeping them for the Cyber-Mancubi and instead use the ice bomb to freeze them, then get behind and use the SSG, the ballista or a couple shots with the auto-shotgun mod.

 

Prowlers

I know, they might look like a pain to deal with but if you use a lock on barrage or simply meat hook them and shot them with the SSG they’ll be dead in mere seconds.

 

 

Archviles

Archviles are assholes, especially if you let them be for too long.

When it comes down to how kill them I suggest a shot from the BFG 9000, by doing so you will get rid of most enemies in the arena and will put the Archvile in bad conditions or kill him if it’s a direct hit. But remember to specifically aim at the Archvile and try to shot him at close range because (at least during my experience) if the BFG projectile doesn’t hit them directly they will survive, albeit heavily damaged.

 

Maykr Drones

Have some distance between them and you so they won’t be whipping you with that annoying tentacle attack. While it’s easy to quick-scope them with the precision scope mod it’s even easier using a sticky bomb or better a shot from the ballista. If they’re too fast for you use an ice bomb or equip the crono strike rune

 

Cyberdemons Tyrants

The Tyrants are dangerous only if you're low on health or ammo, unlike classic DOOM they won’t be able to kill you with two rockets, to kill them use the Crucible, it’s a fast way to kill them and won’t use any "main" ammo, just be sure that no other enemies are around him otherwise the Crucible may target them instead of the Tyrant.

 

Pain Elementals

The Pain Elementals are usually easy enough to kill, you can use the SSG-ballista combo or put that chain gun to good use and shoot them down with the mobile turret

 

Cacodemons

Early on go for a frag grenade or sticky bomb to the mouth to stagger them, as soon as you get the ballista and the air ballista mod then you can use them to one shot them.

 

Cueballs

They don’t pose any real threat, at least to you. I advise on using them against Mancubi or Aracnatrons.

 

Tentacles

As long as you don’t work for Watch Mojo you should be fine.

 

Marauders

Again: as long as you don’t work for Watch Mojo you should be fine.

Jokes aside if you’re trying an UN run you should already know the SSG-ballista combo and how to use it.

 

Fire Barons (Barons of Hell)

They’re pretty much a carbon copy of the Dread Knights, just more powerful and with a bigger health pool. If you feel particularly brave you could use the chain gun with the mobile turret but since it slows you down I’d advise against, stick to the SSG-ballista combo and you’re good to go.

 

Doom Hunters

The ones that you’ll fight during Doom Hunter base are tougher than the normal ones but I’ll talk about them later on, as for the ‘’normal’’ ones two blood punches are enough to destroy they hoover tank and two lock on barrages with the rocket launcher are everything you’ll need to kill them.

 

Bosses:

 

Doom Hunters

As I said above these three are tougher than the ones you meet in the levels, my strategy is to use the plasma gun to soften up the fodder demons, glory kill to build up my blood punch and use it on them, when their hoover tank is destroyed I go for three lock on barrages with the rocket launcher.

Another way to deal with them is by using the remote detonation mod on the rocket launcher by shooting the sides of the Doom Hunters, when the rocket is right next to them detonate it.

 

Marauder

See the ‘’Demons’’ section

 

Gladiator

First use the ballista to stagger him, it shouldn’t take too long to finish the first phase, then when he loses his shield, stagger him with the ballista when he’s doing other attacks use the lock on mod of the rocket launcher. If you managed to get some BFG ammo with you then use those shots when he’s doing the attack where you’re stuck between two energy walls and he sends those yellow lasers at you.

 

Khan Maykr

Her fight is pretty simple but also dangerous, mostly because of the damaging floor that she’ll spawn or the buffed Drones, try to remain in air and you should be just fine.

My main choice of weapons is rocket launcher and SSG, two barrages are enough to bring her shield very low, at that point a shot with the SSG will stagger her, when you’ve blood-punched her use the sticky bomb to pop some drones and repeat till it’s done.

 

Icon of Sin­

Shoot him until he dies, preferably with the BFG 9k and my personal favorite precision bolt and ballista.

 

Tips for The Ancient Gods : Part 1

 

- To deal with possessed demons use the same strategies from above but twice, i.e. if to kill a hellknight you need one lock on burst from the rocket launcher, to kill a possessed hellknight you'll need two.

 

- The maligog bossfight can be a bit overwhelming but if you focus on hellknights and pinkies you will give the eyes enough time to attack you, and speaking of the eyes, two or four ballista shots are enough to take them down.

 

- It's not about where you want to be but where you want the AI to be, toy around with the demons and get them into spots where you can easily counter their attacks and in case they start to close in you would still have some time to get away.

 

- Later I'll be posting some general footage to highlight fights that are not required and would only cost you the run.

 

- This time the Unmaykr actually becomes useful, combine it with the granades, microwave beam and twin missiless to make quick work of possessed demons, especially barons and the pain elemental during the Samur bossfight.

 

Zashu's pro tips:

- Unless you're 100% sure you can take Ultra Nightmare right from the get-go maybe you should do some runs on Nightmare first and see where you die the most and how and try to come up with a better strategy.

 

-Don't waste ammo on fodder zombies, they won't trigger new waves like imps or zombie men will.

 

-Learn how to use granades instead of sticky bombs to send cacodemons in their glorykill state, it's quicker and you don't have to switch gun and won't waste your shotgun shells.

 

-The Icon of Sin actually grows stronger if the fight lasts longer so try to be quick if you don't want waves of Barons to deal with (especially on phase 2).

 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2021 by TenenteZashu

[Yourgo]

Thanks. I wanted to do Ultra Nightmare, but I had nowhere to start (I beat it on nightmare, died around ~200 times) and this will help. I'm nowhere near good, but this will be a major quality of life improvement! 

[Kristian Nebula]

Really nice instructions that can be really helpful indeed! I have to disagree on one point though, about the weapons, the chaingun and specifically which mod to pick. I find the shield mod much more useful than the mobile turret, as it can save you in tight spots from for example a surprise flame thrower from the Mancubus + it allows you to dash and falter demons + fully upgraded lasts much longer and the shield can be sent flying to falter demons somewhere in front of you. All in all it might give you a few extra seconds to react in order to save yourself from going back to beginning. :) 

[TenenteZashu]

1 hour ago, Kristian Nebula said:

Really nice instructions that can be really helpful indeed! I have to disagree on one point though, about the weapons, the chaingun and specifically which mod to pick. I find the shield mod much more useful than the mobile turret, as it can save you in tight spots from for example a surprise flame thrower from the Mancubus + it allows you to dash and falter demons + fully upgraded lasts much longer and the shield can be sent flying to falter demons somewhere in front of you. All in all it might give you a few extra seconds to react in order to save yourself from going back to beginning. :) 

you have a point, tbh I don't really use the chaingun outside of Final Sin that much so I may need to update the guide in the future.

[Kristian Nebula]

2 hours ago, TenenteZashu said:

you have a point, tbh I don't really use the chaingun outside of Final Sin that much so I may need to update the guide in the future.

 

I also disliked the chaingun initially, didn't really find use for it and I don't really use it at all almost but I take the shield over mobile turret especially on UN for the reasons in my earlier post. I learned of it's true value with the shield mod after hours and hours of Battlemode, where it really can save you from a charging Mancubus player demon, and turn the tide at your favor. :)