id Software has released Update 3 for DOOM: The Dark Ages, expanding the Ripatorium arena mode and adding a number of campaign quality-of-life changes, encounter tweaks and bug fixes.


Ripatorium 2.0

  • Ripatorium is now round-based, with up to 5 rounds per run
  • Each round can have:
    • Its own enemy setup
    • Up to 10 respawn waves
    • A unique passcode for sharing the full round configuration
  • New Encounter Presets:
    • Medium
    • Challenging
    • Sadistic
  • Presets can be used together with any overall difficulty setting
  • End-of-level summary now includes:
    • Difficulty tab with all modifiers used
    • Arena Setup tab with demon kill breakdown (Fodder / Heavy / Super Heavy)
  • Additional arena updates:
    • Icons over the last remaining enemies
    • Extra line-of-sight blockers in all Ripatorium arenas

Jukebox

  • Five new tracks added:
    • “Theomachy”
    • “Bloodspill”
    • “Divine Retribution”
    • “From the Ashes”
    • “Wither and Writhe”

Gameplay & Quality of Life

  • Brink of Death now adjustable in the Difficulty tab:
    • Normal – default support
    • Hard – reduced support at low health
  • Input bindings:
    • Players can swap their active Shield Rune and Melee Weapon in gameplay
    • Four new bindings:
      • Next Melee Weapon
      • Previous Melee Weapon
      • Next Shield Rune
      • Previous Shield Rune
  • Controller vibration:
    • Vibration slider correctly affects external Xbox controllers on PC
    • Vibration now behaves correctly with the BFC equipped

Combat Encounter Updates

  • Many encounters across the campaign have been adjusted to reduce some heavy respawns, remove certain enemies or add a few new ambushes. Among the updated levels:
    • Holy City of Aratum – after the Vagary spawns in the final encounter, extra Mancubus spawns are replaced with Imps; Chaingunners removed from the final fight
    • Siege Part 1 – some enemies in Morale fights no longer respawn; certain Stone Imps and a Nightmare Imp Stalker removed
    • Siege Part 2 – Hell Knights in the Tank Hangar that spawn after the Leader Battle Knight no longer respawn
    • Forsaken Plains – one Arachnotron spawn removed from both tower objectives
    • Hellbreaker – an additional Revenant spawn removed in the final encounter
    • Sentinel Command Station – several Mancubus and Arachnotron spawns no longer respawn in key fights
    • From Beyond – certain Mancubus and Revenant spawns tied to Morale no longer respawn
    • Belly of the Beast – Battle Knight “maintain status” removed in the first arena; some Mancubus/Arachnotron spawns removed from the Vagary fight
    • Harbor of Souls – Arachnotron ambush and extra Revenant/Arachnotron spawns removed in several encounters
    • Reckoning – additional ambushes added (Hell Knight/Imp Stalker, Mancubus, Wraithstone pickup) and a Nightmare Imp Stalker swapped to a normal Imp Stalker

Tweaks & Adjustments

  • Atlan
    • Brink of Death tuned for all difficulties so players have a better chance to recover
    • Slight increase to health gained from killing Titan enemies
  • Prince Ahzrak
    • Reduced acceleration of projectiles from the Super Dive Bomb attack
    • Reduced base damage of Spear Throw so it no longer breaks the Shield in a single hit at moderate damage sliders
  • The Old One
    • Slightly increased health gained from Glory Strikes
    • Reduced damage scaling on the Gravity Well explosion at higher damage sliders
  • Cacodemon
    • Slightly reduced speed of Lightning Wall projectiles
  • Cosmic Baron
    • Reduced damage of Guillotine Projectile so it doesn’t instantly break the Shield on block
    • Fixed a bug where extra damage could be applied on hit
  • Combat feedback
    • Adjusted gore activation for more consistent feedback across weapons
    • Adjusted ragdoll behaviour for melee attacks and Shield Charge to better punctuate hits

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed an issue with Atlan’s Brink of Death activating despite successful Perfect Dodges on AOE attacks
  • Shield block spark VFX no longer appears from environmental damage or other sources that bypass the Shield
  • Fixed a bug with the Lore Nerd Milestone not completing correctly after a 100% playthrough
  • Fixed an issue with the Perfection Skin not unlocking if the player force-quits during the third Ripatorium match
  • Resolved a rare problem where campaign Pause/Dossier menus could be replaced by Ripatorium menus, leading to save and menu issues
  • Fixed debug text appearing after dying in the projectile parry tutorial
  • Interrupting Combat Shotgun burst fire with Shield block no longer leaves the camera slightly tilted
  • Fixed a Ripatorium issue where both Shredder and Accelerator mods could be active simultaneously after reload/death
  • Hitting a Chaingunner with a pinned fodder demon no longer instantly kills the demon
  • Armoured enemies now falter correctly when their armour is destroyed by the Ravager and Pulverizer
  • Fixed a bug where the first hit after a checkpoint would not mitigate damage correctly if taken from behind
  • Killing a Vagary, Agaddon Hunter or Komodo in the Ripatorium no longer triggers campaign milestones
  • Ripatorium now:
    • Saves the equipped melee weapon from the previous attempt
    • Fully replenishes melee charges if you swap weapons before the first round starts
  • Fixed issues with firing SFX getting stuck in a loop when swapping from the Auto Turret Rune to another Shield Rune mid-fire

Known Issues

  • Ripatorium Encounter Presets may not fully reset after using “Reset All Ripatorium Rounds to Default”
  • Quick Swap Rune and Quick Swap Melee may display incorrectly in the Ripatorium for accounts that have not progressed beyond the opening of the campaign
  • Default Time Limit can display inconsistently when enabling Encounter Presets

Full Update 3 release notes for DOOM: The Dark Ages are available on the official Slayers Club site.