If you’ve spent hours blasting through hordes of corrupted medieval demons in Doom: The Dark Ages and still feel like you’re missing half the fun, you’re not alone. Most players finish their first playthrough with less than 40% of the game’s hidden content unlocked, even if they spend extra time peeking around corners. We’ve put together this deep dive after three full 100% playthroughs to break down Doom: The Dark Ages all secrets, from easy-to-miss runes to entire hidden levels you’d never stumble on by accident. You don’t have to be a Doom veteran to find every last hidden item, just a little patience and the right pointers.
How to Find Doom: The Dark Ages All Secrets in Every Main Level
The biggest mistake players make when hunting for secrets is assuming hidden areas only show up in remote, out-of-the-way spots. Half the game’s hidden collectibles are tucked right next to main path areas, you just need to know what cues to look for. Cracked stone walls with faint red glowing cracks are the most common tell for hidden areas, but most players ignore them because they look like generic environmental damage. You only need one melee punch to break these walls, no heavy ammo required.
Floating candle clusters out of place are another easy-to-spot cue for secret platforms or teleport spots. For example, in the Citadel of Ash level, the three candles sitting on the edge of the broken bridge lead to a teleport that takes you to a secret area with a permanent health upgrade. You’ll know you triggered a secret correctly if you hear a distinct chime and see a small pop-up in the corner of your screen, even if you haven’t found the collectible itself yet.
Don’t waste your ammo shooting every wall you see, that’s a common mistake new players make. If you don’t hear a chime or see one of the cues above, you’re better off moving forward and coming back after you clear the area of enemies, when you can explore without distractions.
Hidden Permanent Upgrades You Won’t Unlock Through Normal Progression
Most players assume all upgrades are found through main story missions, but there are 7 permanent power-ups tied exclusively to secrets that make even the hardest ultra-nightmare difficulty feel manageable. The unholy lifesteal rune, for example, lets you leech 5% of all damage you deal back as health, and it’s hidden behind a fake bookshelf in the Monastery of Blight level, right after you beat the first Hell Knight boss. You have to punch the bookshelf three times in the exact spot where the cross is carved to open it, no gunshots will trigger the mechanism.
Another fan favorite is the double jump boost, which lets you jump 30% higher than the standard double jump, hidden in the underwater section of the Flooded Catacombs level. You have to swim through a small, unmarked hole in the cave wall to find it, and most players rush through the underwater section to avoid taking breath damage so they never spot it. If you miss these upgrades on your first playthrough, you can still go back and get them on any difficulty level, and they’ll carry over to all your save files, even if you start a new campaign. That means you can unlock all the secret upgrades on an easy difficulty playthrough first, then use them to make your ultra-nightmare run far less frustrating.
Keep in mind that none of these upgrades are required to beat the game, but they make repeat playthroughs far more fun, especially if you’re trying to beat speedrun records or take on harder difficulty levels.
Secret Levels and Easter Eggs Hidden in the Campaign
There are three full secret levels in the game that most players never find, each with their own set of unique rewards and nods to classic Doom games. The first one, Return to E1M1, is a full remake of the first level of the original 1993 Doom, recreated with the Dark Ages medieval art style. To unlock it, you have to find the hidden floppy disk in the first village level, tucked under the floorboards of the blacksmith’s shop. The level even has the original MIDI soundtrack, remastered with heavy medieval instrumentation.
The second secret level is a crossover nod to another Bethesda franchise, where you fight a horde of demons alongside a very familiar dragon-slaying protagonist, and it’s unlocked by lighting all eight hidden torches in the Castle Courtyard level in a specific order. The third secret level is a joke level set in a modern office building, where you fight demons that are dressed as accountants and project managers, unlocked by typing the classic “idkfa” cheat code on the hidden keyboard in the Hell Portal level.
It’s worth playing all three even if you don’t care about 100% completion, because they’re packed with extra loot and some of the funniest writing in the entire game. The devs have also hinted that they’ll be adding a fourth secret level in a future free update, so keep an eye out for new cues in existing levels after patches drop.
Tips to Track Unfound Secrets Without Using Third-Party Tools
You don’t have to pull up a full walkthrough every time you get stuck trying to find the last secret in a level. The game has built-in hints that most players don’t even know exist, if you know where to look. The in-game map will show a small, faded question mark on the edge of the area if there’s still an unfound secret in that section, you just have to zoom all the way out to see it.
If you’ve cleared all enemies in a level, you can also talk to the survivor NPCs that spawn near the exit, and they’ll give you a vague hint about where the remaining secrets are, like “look near the well” or “check behind the altar”. One trick I use all the time is to stand in the center of a level and fire a rocket at each wall: if the rocket explodes on contact like normal, it’s a solid wall, if it passes through or makes a hollow sound, that’s a hidden wall you can break. Just make sure you don’t fire a rocket too close to your feet, I’ve died more times than I can count trying that trick when I was low on health.
Don’t feel bad if you miss a few secrets on your first run, some of them are intentionally hidden so well that it took our playtest group three runs to find all of them. The devs have said they intentionally added extra secrets that aren’t listed on any official achievement trackers, just for players who love to explore every corner of the map.
At the end of the day, hunting for hidden content is half the fun of playing any Doom game, and this guide gives you all the tools you need to track down Doom: The Dark Ages all secrets without spoiling the joy of discovery for yourself. You don’t have to find everything on your first playthrough, feel free to come back to levels you’ve already beaten once you have better upgrades to reach areas you couldn’t access before. Whether you’re chasing 100% completion, trying to unlock all the game’s achievements, or just want to find every last cool hidden item, these tips will save you hours of aimless wandering and missed content.
