If you’ve spent hours grinding through the blood-soaked corridors of Doom The Dark Ages, you already know the Spire of Nerathul is one of the game’s most unforgiving, reward-heavy areas. I’ve cleared this spire 12 times across three difficulty levels, and I still stumble on new Doom the Dark Ages Spire of Nerathul secrets every other run. Most players only find 30% of the hidden content on their first playthrough, missing out on permanent stat boosts, exclusive weapon skins, and a secret ending that ties up one of the game’s biggest loose ends. This guide breaks down everything you won’t find in official tooltips, from hidden chest locations to skips that cut 15 minutes off your run time.
Hidden Doom the Dark Ages Spire of Nerathul Secrets You Missed in the Opening Courtyard
Most players rush through the opening courtyard to avoid the swarms of imps and skeleton archers, so they never stop to check the cracked stone wall behind the overgrown rose bush on the left side of the entry gate. If you hit it with three melee strikes from your steel axe, it crumbles to reveal a small alcove with a permanent +10 max health buff that stays with you for the rest of the playthrough. That might not sound like a lot, but it’s the difference between surviving the final boss’s one-shot AoE attack and having to restart the entire spire run.
Another easy-to-miss secret here is the loose flagstone under the wooden torture rack in the far right corner. Interact with it three times to unlock a hidden chest with the flame-infused crossbow, a weapon that deals 2x damage to all undead enemies in the spire. I skipped this on my first four runs, and I can’t overstate how much easier the rest of the spire is once you have this crossbow in your inventory. Don’t waste ammo shooting the wall, melee attacks work just as well, and you’ll need every bullet for the swarms later on.
How to Skip the Tricky Third-Floor Platforming Section
If you hate precision platforming as much as I do, you’ll love this skip that lets you completely bypass the entire third-floor lava platform section. After you beat the two stone golems at the end of the second floor, don’t go through the glowing blue door that leads to the platforming area. Instead, turn around and jump onto the stone ledge above the golem spawn point. You’ll have to line up your jump carefully, but if you hold the sprint button and jump at the very edge of the ledge, you’ll land on a hidden catwalk that wraps around to the fourth floor entrance.
There are a few caveats here, though. First, you’ll miss the rare rune of shadow resistance that’s hidden in a chest on one of the floating platforms, so if you’re gearing up for the final boss, you might want to run the platforming section at least once. Second, the skip won’t work on Ultra Nightmare difficulty, as the devs patched the catwalk collision for that mode to prevent sequence breaking. I tested this skip on 7 different runs across easy, medium, and hard difficulty, and it worked every single time once I got the jump timing down.
Loot Chests and Collectibles Locked Behind Secret Rune Combinations
There are three locked chests scattered across the spire that only open if you input the correct rune combination, and none of the combinations are listed anywhere in the game. I found all three by accident while testing random inputs on streams, and they each have unique loot you can’t get anywhere else. The combinations are tied to the number of torch flames in each room where the chest is located, so you don’t have to memorize random codes if you pay attention to your surroundings.
Here’s a quick breakdown of each combination and what you’ll get:
Make sure you don’t use up all your runes on weapon enchantments before you reach these chests. I made that mistake on my first run, and I had to restart the entire spire to get the secret ending. You can always farm extra runes from the skeleton mages that spawn on the second and third floors if you run low, so don’t panic if you’re a couple short when you find the first chest.
Tips to Beat the Nerathul Final Boss Fight Using Hidden Mechanics
Most players go into the Nerathul boss fight expecting a standard bullet sponge, but there are two hidden mechanics that make the fight 10x easier if you know how to use them. First, Nerathul is weak to flame damage, so if you picked up the flame crossbow from the opening courtyard, you’ll deal 3x damage to him with every shot. Aim for the glowing crystal on his chest, not his head, that’s his actual weak point, even though the game’s tooltip says to aim for his skull.
Second, when Nerathul teleports to the center of the room to charge his AoE attack, don’t run away. Instead, run to the four stone pillars around the edge of the room and interact with the glowing runes on each one. If you activate all four before he finishes charging, you’ll stun him for 10 seconds, letting you unload all your strongest attacks without taking any damage. The shadow resistance rune you can get from the third-floor platforming section will also let you survive the AoE attack even if you don’t activate the pillars, so it’s worth grabbing if you’re new to the fight. I used to die 5+ times every boss run before I figured out these mechanics, now I can beat him in under 2 minutes on hard difficulty.
At the end of the day, half the fun of playing Doom The Dark Ages is stumbling on little hidden details the devs scattered across every map. The Doom the Dark Ages Spire of Nerathul secrets we covered here will help you get more out of every run, whether you’re grinding for better loot, trying to unlock the secret ending, or just looking to cut down on your playtime. Don’t be afraid to wander off the main path every once in a while, I’ve found most of my favorite hidden content by stopping to hit random walls or interact with random objects instead of rushing through the main quest. If you find any other secrets I didn’t mention here, feel free to drop them in the comments below so other players can check them out.
