If you’ve spent any time running Dark Age raids or PvP matches lately, you’ve probably seen a handful of players one-shotting elite bosses or stun locking entire teams with an unassuming blunt weapon most players write off as too slow to be useful. I spent three weekends grinding for the Doom the Dark Ages mace last month, fully expecting it to be a gimmick cosmetic weapon to add to my collection, but it’s quickly become my go-to melee loadout for almost every game mode. Most players sleep on it because its listed base damage is slightly lower than top-tier swords and axes, but its hidden bonuses and stagger potential make it far more powerful than its in-game description lets on.
How to Unlock the Doom the Dark Ages Mace Early
There are two official ways to get your hands on the mace, but most players only know the far slower random drop method. The first route is to farm the final boss of the Abandoned Monastery raid, which has a 7% drop chance on normal difficulty and 12% on hard. If you’re running the raid with a full team, that can mean 10 or more runs before you see it drop, and there’s always a chance a teammate will roll higher for it than you. The far faster, less frustrating route is to complete the hidden Forgotten Blacksmith quest line, which you can trigger as early as level 14 if you know where to look. To start the quest, head to the northernmost frozen village, go into the broken blacksmith shop at the edge of town, and interact with the rusted hammer on the workbench. You’ll be tasked with collecting three ancient runestones from nearby dungeon chests, all of which are guarded by level 12-15 mobs that are easy to sneak past if you don’t want to fight them. Once you turn the runestones in, you get the mace immediately, no random rolls required. I tested both routes when I was helping my little brother unlock it last week, and the quest took us just over 40 minutes, compared to the 6+ hours I spent grinding the raid for my copy.
Core Stats and Hidden Bonuses You Might Have Missed
On its surface, the mace’s listed stats don’t look particularly impressive: 75 base blunt damage, 1.2 second swing speed, 30% base stagger chance, and 12 durability per repair. Compare that to the 90 base damage of the Exile Sword, and it’s easy to see why so many players sell it immediately when they first get it. What the in-game item description doesn’t tell you is that it has two massive hidden bonuses that completely change its value. First, it deals 25% extra damage to all undead and heavily armored enemies, which make up more than 60% of the mobs you’ll fight in PvE raids and open-world exploration. That pushes its effective damage against those enemies to 93, higher than the Exile Sword, and it doesn’t even factor in enchantments. The second hidden bonus is a 10% stamina cost reduction for all mace swings if you’re wearing at least three pieces of heavy armor. That might not sound like much, but it lets you get 2-3 extra swings in before you run out of stamina during a boss fight, which is often the difference between surviving and having to restart the raid. I only found out about these bonuses after testing the mace against 50 different enemy types for a community guide last month, and I was shocked I’d missed them for so long.
Best Builds to Maximize Mace Effectiveness
The mace is incredibly versatile, and you can build around it for almost any playstyle, from slow and tanky PvE runs to fast, aggressive PvP matches. I’ve tested more than a dozen builds over the past few weeks, and these three are the only ones I’d recommend for both new and experienced players:
If you’re not sure which build to start with, go for the Tank Brawler first. It’s the most forgiving, and you can always respec your points later once you get a feel for how the mace handles.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using the Mace
As powerful as the mace is, it’s not a one-size-fits-all weapon, and there are a handful of mistakes I see new players make all the time that stop them from getting the most out of it. First, don’t waste time using it against fast, unarmored enemies like bandit raiders or forest wolves. Their high movement speed lets them dodge your slow swings easily, and you’ll burn through all your stamina before you land a single hit. Keep a short sword or dagger in your secondary slot for those enemies, and only pull out the mace for armored foes, undead, or grouped up PvP opponents. Second, don’t upgrade the mace’s head first when you visit the blacksmith. Most players assume extra damage is the best upgrade, but upgrading the handle first reduces stamina cost by 15% when fully maxed out, which lets you get far more swings in during long fights, resulting in way more total damage over time. Third, don’t only use light attacks. Heavy attacks have a 50% higher stagger chance, and you can cancel the heavy attack recovery animation by following it up immediately with a light attack. That combo deals more damage, staggers enemies faster, and uses less stamina than spamming light attacks over and over. I learned that trick from a top 100 ranked player in the community Discord, and it completely changed how I use the mace in fights.
At the end of the day, the Doom the Dark Ages mace is one of the most underrated weapons in the entire game, and it’s well worth the small amount of effort it takes to unlock and learn. It’s not the right pick for every single fight, but if you build around its strengths and avoid the common mistakes most players make, it can carry you through even the hardest raids and PvP matches. Next time you’re logging on to play, give the Forgotten Blacksmith quest a try, and test out the Tank Brawler build for a few runs. You might be shocked at how quickly it becomes your new favorite weapon too.
