Shield Runes in Doom: The Dark Ages enhance your parry abilities, turning defense into offense. This guide covers how to unlock all four runes, what they do, and how to upgrade them for maximum impact. Learn when each rune becomes available and how to use them to dominate tougher encounters.
Unlocking Shield Runes in Doom: The Dark Ages
As you progress through the main campaign of Doom: The Dark Ages, Shield Runes will start becoming available — starting in Chapter 9. The first one, Ground Fissure, is given to you automatically at the beginning of that chapter, so you don’t need to hunt it down.
What Do Shield Runes Do?
Shield Runes upgrade your parry ability, making it a deadly weapon. Whenever you parry a green projectile, the equipped rune unleashes a special attack. For instance, Ground Fissure rips open the ground in front of you, dealing damage to any demon caught in the line of fire.
All Shield Runes and When You Get Them
There are four Shield Runes in total, each unlocked at different points in the story:
- Ground Fissure – Chapter 9
- Holy Swarm – Chapter 11
- Auto Turret – Chapter 12
- Heaven Splitter – Chapter 14
No need to worry about missing any — they’re all tied to story milestones and unlock automatically as you move forward.
Upgrading Your Shield Runes
Each rune can be enhanced using gold, allowing you to customize how your parries behave. This is especially useful on higher difficulty levels, where mastering parries and maximizing damage is key to survival. Investing in these upgrades gives you a solid edge against tougher demonic enemies.
