If you’ve spent the last few runs grinding through Doom The Dark Ages’ brutal mid-game levels, you already know Chapter 16 is one of the most unforgiving stops on the campaign. It’s packed with swarms of corrupted knights, hidden pit traps, and a final boss that will drain your ammo reserves faster than you can reload. Most players blow through the level in 20 to 30 minutes without even noticing half the hidden content tucked away in its shadowy corridors. Today, we’re breaking down all the doom the dark ages chapter 16 secrets you’ve probably missed, plus how to grab them without getting wiped by roaming enemy patrols.
Doom The Dark Ages Chapter 16 Secrets: Hidden Collectibles That Unlock Exclusive Bonuses
The first set of secrets you’re going to want to track down are the three lost knight relics scattered across the level. Unlike the generic runes you find in earlier chapters, these relics don’t just give you a temporary health or ammo buff. Each one gives you a permanent stat boost that carries through the rest of the campaign, so they’re well worth the extra effort to find.
- The first relic is hidden behind a cracked stone wall 90 seconds into the level, right after you fight the first group of shielded infantry. Hit the wall with your rocket launcher to break it open, and you’ll find the relic sitting on a stone altar, plus a full cache of shotgun shells and a super charge powerup. Don’t use your melee to break the wall, it’ll take too long and attract nearby enemies.
- The second relic is tucked under the broken drawbridge you cross right before the open courtyard battle. You have to drop down to the ledge below the bridge right as you reach the halfway point, and you’ll find the relic hidden under a pile of rotting wood. Make sure you have at least 50 health before you drop, because there are two imps hiding in the corner waiting to ambush you.
- The third relic is in the tower to the left of the final boss arena, hidden behind a tapestry you can slash through with your chainsaw. You can only access this room before you trigger the boss fight, so make sure you grab it before you walk through the large stone gate at the end of the level.
Even if you’re not aiming for 100% completion, these doom the dark ages chapter 16 secrets are worth going out of your way for, since the permanent buffs will save you so much hassle later. If you grab all three relics, you’ll unlock a 20% damage resistance against all dark magic attacks for the rest of the campaign. That’s a game changer for the final three chapters, where almost every boss uses dark magic projectile attacks that can one-shot you if you’re on hard difficulty.
The Skipable Fight That Saves You 10 Minutes of Ammo Wastage
Most players don’t realize that the large courtyard battle against 12 corrupted knights and two hell knights doesn’t have to be fought at all. It’s one of the biggest time sinks in the entire chapter, and it’s incredibly easy to skip if you know where to look.
Right as you enter the courtyard, turn left and run towards the ivy-covered wall in the far corner. You can climb up the wall by jumping on the stacked stone blocks half-buried in the grass, and you’ll end up on the roof of the adjacent guard tower. From there, you can jump across to the other side of the courtyard gate without triggering the enemy spawns at all.
The only catch is that you have to move fast. If you stay in the courtyard for more than three seconds, the spawn trigger will activate and you’ll be stuck fighting the whole horde. Don’t stop to grab the ammo crates in the middle of the courtyard either, you’ll find twice as much ammo in the next room after you skip the fight. This skip is one of the most underrated doom the dark ages chapter 16 secrets out there, and it’s saved me more than a few failed runs when I was low on ammo going into the level. It works on all difficulty levels, even nightmare mode, so it’s a great option if you’re trying to speedrun the campaign or just get past the chapter without a frustrating grind.
Lore Easter Eggs Only Longtime Doom Fans Will Recognize
It’s no secret that Doom The Dark Ages is packed with references to classic Doom games, and Chapter 16 has some of the best hidden Easter eggs in the entire mod. Most casual players walk right past these without a second glance, but they’re a fun bonus for anyone who’s been playing Doom since the 90s.
One of the coolest Easter eggs is the hidden room behind the bookshelf in the guard barracks. If you interact with the third book from the left on the top shelf, the bookshelf will slide open to reveal a small room with a classic Doom 1 plasma rifle, plus a poster of the original Doom cover art hanging on the wall. You can keep this weapon for the rest of the playthrough, and it’s far more powerful than the standard plasma rifle you get in the main campaign, with a faster fire rate and higher damage per shot.
There’s also a hidden audio log from the original Doomguy tucked under the throne in the final boss antechamber. If you pick it up, you’ll hear a 30-second voice line from the original voice actor, joking about how he’s “tired of fighting demons in castles now.” It’s a silly little touch, but it’s a great nod to long-term fans of the franchise. You don’t get any stat boost for finding it, but it’s a fun little reward for exploring areas most players ignore.
How to Unlock the Secret Ending Cutscene for Chapter 16
If you find all three knight relics and grab the classic plasma rifle from the hidden Easter egg room, you’ll unlock a secret ending cutscene for Chapter 16 that most players never see. The standard cutscene just shows you walking through the gate to the next level, but the secret cutscene gives you a huge lore reveal about the origin of the corrupted knights you’ve been fighting throughout the campaign.
To trigger it, you have to interact with the stone altar in the final boss arena after you beat the boss, instead of walking through the exit gate right away. The altar will light up, and you’ll get a two-minute cutscene that sets up the plot for the final three chapters of the mod. You also get a free full upgrade token for your weapons after the cutscene finishes, so it’s well worth the extra 30 seconds it takes to trigger it. This token lets you fully upgrade any weapon in your loadout for free, even the rare endgame weapons you unlock later.
Just make sure you don’t leave the arena before you interact with the altar. Once you walk through the exit gate, you can’t come back, so you’ll miss the cutscene and the free upgrade token if you rush out too fast. I made that mistake on my first playthrough, and I had to replay the whole chapter just to see the cutscene, so learn from my error. It’s easy to get excited after beating the tough final boss, but take 10 seconds to look around the arena before you leave.
Chapter 16 is far more than just a quick filler level between the mid-game and final campaign arcs. All the doom the dark ages chapter 16 secrets we covered today don’t just make the level more fun to explore, they also give you tangible, permanent boosts that make the rest of the campaign way easier to beat. You don’t have to grab all of them on your first playthrough, but even picking up the three relics and the classic plasma rifle will make a huge difference in your runs, especially if you’re playing on hard or nightmare difficulty. Next time you load up the level, take a few extra minutes to look around the shadowy corners, you might be surprised what you find tucked away.
