If you’ve spent hours slashing through hordes of corrupted knights and demonic entities in Doom the Dark Ages, you’ve probably glanced at your trophy list a few times wondering how to tick off those last few tricky unlocks. I’ve put 70+ hours into the game across three playthroughs, and I’ve nailed down every trick you need to grab every single one without wasting time on redundant runs or missed collectibles. The platinum trophy unlocks automatically once you get all other 34 trophies, so once you work through this guide, you won’t have to guess what you’re missing. This guide breaks down every unlock condition, common pitfalls to avoid, and shortcuts that don’t require modding or cheat codes to pull off.
How to Unlock All Doom the Dark Ages Trophies Without Multiple Playthroughs
Most players assume you need three separate playthroughs on easy, normal, and cursed difficulty to grab all difficulty-related trophies, but that’s not the case. Play on the "Cursed Difficulty" setting from the start and you’ll automatically unlock the easy and normal difficulty trophies as soon as you beat the final boss, no extra runs required. This cuts your total playtime for the platinum down by almost half right off the bat.
You’ll also want to turn on collectible tracking in the game settings before you start your first run. I missed two hidden runes on my first playthrough because I forgot to turn this on, and I had to do a two-hour collectible sweep later to get the associated trophies. The tracking feature marks which regions you’ve found all collectibles in, so you don’t have to second-guess yourself as you move between zones.
Most of these hidden Doom the Dark Ages trophies have zero hints in the in-game menu, so it’s no surprise less than 8% of players have unlocked all of them according to recent platform stat data. If you want to avoid having to look up random unlock conditions halfway through your run, keep these hidden trophy requirements in mind as you play:
Common Mistakes That Lock You Out of Trophies Mid-Playthrough
The biggest mistake I see new players make is saving over their only pre-boss save file before checking if they have all collectibles in that area. Almost all regions are locked off permanently once you beat the regional boss, so you can’t go back to grab missing runes or complete unfinished side quests. Make a separate save slot before entering every boss arena, so you can load back in if you realize you missed something.
Using any cheat codes, even the cosmetic ones that change your character's appearance, will disable all trophy unlocks for that save file. I made this mistake on my first run when I used a code to get a custom knight armor skin, and I didn’t realize I wasn’t earning trophies until I beat the first boss. There’s no way to re-enable trophies for that save once you enter a code, so you’ll have to start over from scratch if you slip up.
Abandoning side quests halfway will also cost you trophies. If you pick up a side quest from a villager and don’t finish it before moving to the next region, it will disappear from your quest log permanently. You can track active side quests in your menu, and I recommend finishing all of them in a region before you take on the boss to avoid missing the “Savior of the Realm” trophy for completing all side quests.
Tips for Grinding Challenge Trophies Fast
There are five challenge trophies that require you to complete repetitive tasks like kill 100 enemies with fire attacks, parry 50 times in a row, or survive 10 minutes in a cursed zone without healing. You don’t have to grind these naturally as you play, there are specific spots in the game that make these tasks way faster.
The best place to grind kill-based trophies is the Cursed Catacombs checkpoint, where infinite weak zombie enemies spawn until you cross the gate to the boss room. You can stand there and use fire rune attacks for 10 minutes to knock out all the kill count trophies in one go, no need to run around different regions looking for enemies. The zombies don’t do much damage even on cursed difficulty, so you don’t have to worry about dying mid-grind.
You can reset the parry counter by fast traveling back to the nearest shrine if you mess up, so you don’t have to start from zero again if you get hit mid-parry streak. The best spot to grind the 50 parry trophy is the first bandit camp in the Prologue, since the bandits use slow, heavy attacks that are easy to parry. You can finish this grind in less than 15 minutes if you focus.
For the speedrun trophy that requires you to beat the game in under 3 hours, don’t attempt it on your first playthrough. Wait until you know all the map layouts and boss fight patterns, then do a dedicated speedrun where you skip all side quests and collectibles. Most players finish this run in around two and a half hours once they know where they’re going, so you don’t have to rush too much to hit the time limit.
At the end of the day, unlocking all Doom the Dark Ages trophies doesn't have to be a frustrating grind if you plan ahead and avoid the common mistakes I outlined above. I got my platinum trophy last month, and the only part that felt like work was the collectible run I had to do because I forgot to turn on tracking at the start. If you follow these tips, you'll be able to grab that platinum in under 25 hours of total playtime, no fancy tricks or paid guides required. The only extra reward you get for the platinum is a custom character skin, but it’s worth it for the bragging rights if you’re a completionist like me.
