2.2|Oct 15, 2025
View on Steam↗Update 2.2
4/5 Significant
DOOM: The Dark Ages is now Steam Deck Verified with massive handheld optimizations, alongside major combat encounter balancing and a shield-break nerf for heavy enemies on Nightmare.
Key Changes
- 1Official Steam Deck Verified status with dedicated handheld performance optimizations.
- 2Reduced damage from Agaddon Hunter, Cosmic Baron, and others to prevent one-hit shield breaks on Nightmare.
- 3Removed infinite enemy respawns across multiple boss fights and morale encounters in 8 different levels.
- 4Re-tuned the 'Brink of Death' system to match launch-day values for better near-death combat engagement.
- 5Fixed several rare crashes involving the BFC, Shield Throw, and checkpoint loading.
- 6Added handheld-specific features including benchmark mode and autodetection of optimal settings.
- 7Resolved a progression-blocking bug where opening the Dossier could fail triggers for locks and switches.
- 8Corrected shield behavior to prevent input lockout after being staggered during a melee strike.
- 9Fixed various visual issues including flickering gore overlays and incorrect civilian head placement.
- 10Optimized SFX and VFX specifically for handheld devices without affecting PC or Console.
All Changes
🎮Handheld & Performance(14)
- newSteam Deck: DOOM: The Dark Ages is now officially Steam Deck Verified.
- newHandheld Devices: Added Handheld Setting Autodetection to find optimal settings on first launch.
- newHandheld Devices: Settings are now stored per device to allow customization across different hardware.
- changeHandheld Devices: General performance improvements specifically for handheld devices.
- newHandheld Devices: Added advanced optimization settings specifically for handheld users.
- changeHandheld Devices: Optimized SFX and VFX specifically for handhelds (does not affect PC/Console).
- newHandheld Devices: Added a dedicated Handheld benchmark mode.
- changeSteam Deck: Steam Deck performance target set to 720p @ ~30FPS.
- changeZ1 Devices: Z1 Devices (ASUS ROG Ally) performance target set to 720p @ ~30FPS.
- changeZ1E Devices: Z1E Devices (ROG Ally X, Legion Go) performance target set to 1080p @ ~30FPS.
- changeZ2A Devices: Z2A Devices (XBOX ROG Ally) performance target set to 720p @ ~30FPS.
- changeZ2E Devices: Z2E Devices (XBOX ROG Ally X) performance target set to 1080p @ ~60FPS.
- changeHandheld Devices: Added QOL input improvements for handhelds when docked to a stand.
- newHandheld Devices: Added controller detection for wireless and wired external controllers on handhelds.
⚔️Combat & Balance(5)
- buffShield: Reduced damage from Agaddon Hunter, Cosmic Baron, Hell Knight, and Komodo to prevent one-hit shield breaks on Nightmare difficulty.
- changeBrink of Death: Adjusted the Brink of Death system on all difficulties to be more in line with launch day values.
- buffShield: Shield now correctly recovers from being staggered out of a melee strike, preventing input lockout.
- fixGameplay: Fixed an issue where death and damage stats were not registering properly on the same frame as an entity death.
- fixAccelerator: Fixed a bug where the Accelerator mastery challenge was not incrementing properly.
🗺️Levels & Encounters(13)
- changeSentinel Barracks: Mancubus no longer respawns during the Vagary Champion boss fight in Sentinel Barracks.
- changeSentinel Barracks: Removed Hell Knight and Stalker Imp reinforcements from Mancubus Leader spawn wave in Sentinel Barracks.
- changeSiege – Part 1: Hell Knights, Stalker Imps, and Imps no longer respawn during Vagary fights in Siege – Part 1.
- changeAncestral Forge: Arachnotron no longer respawns during the Agaddon Hunter fight in Ancestral Forge.
- changeSpire of Nerathul: Chaingun Arachnotron no longer respawns during the cathedral stasis emitter encounter in Spire of Nerathul.
- changeTemple of Lomarith: Arachnotron and Cacodemon no longer respawn during the shipwreck morale fight in Temple of Lomarith.
- changeResurrection: Armored Arachnotron no longer respawns during the first morale fight in Resurrection.
- changeReckoning: Arachnotron no longer respawns during the buffed Agaddon Hunter encounter in Reckoning.
- changeRipatorium: Vagaries in the Ripatorium now only spawn in open areas where they can move.
- fixHebeth: Fixed an issue in Hebeth where objectives could vanish after reloading checkpoints.
- fixSiege – Part 1: Fixed an issue in Siege – Part 1 where the wolf statue ruby could get stuck behind a red energy gate.
- fixSiege – Part 2: Fixed an issue in Siege – Part 2 where an errant Titan could appear when reloading checkpoints.
- fixTemple of Lomarith: Fixed melee pickups not appearing correctly on the secret boat encounter in Temple of Lomarith.
🐛Bug Fixes(9)
- fixPrince Ahzrak: Fixed a rare crash when using the BFC during the enhanced Prince Ahzrak boss fight.
- fixShield: Resolved a rare crash when using shield throw on Plasma Shield Soldiers with the Power Surge upgrade.
- fixAncestral Forge: Fixed a potential crash when loading a checkpoint after dying in the Agaddon Hunter fight in Ancestral Forge.
- fixPerformance: Fixed a crash when Alt-Tabbing during a load screen.
- fixEnemy AI: Fixed Sentinel civilians' heads being out of place in Hebeth, Siege, and Sentinel Command Station.
- fixUI: Fixed an issue where opening the Dossier after using a switch could block progression.
- fixAudio: Fixed Shield Saw grinding SFX stopping if the Dossier was opened during use.
- fixUI: Resolved Ripatorium tutorial appearing every time the menu was entered.
- fixUI: Fixed second codex not registering progress if mission select was used.
👁️Visuals(5)
- fixPrince Ahzrak: Corrected Prince Ahzrak blood pillar visuals to render correctly when expiring.
- fixCycler Plasma Gun: Cycler Plasma Gun no longer glows white when firing with Berserker Power.
- fixVFX: Fixed weapon/shield effects appearing during toy pickup animations.
- fixCacodemon: Removed stray purple lines when overloading a Cacodemon with the Cycler.
- fixVFX: Fixed first-person gore overlay flickering during AI executions when resolution scaling is active.
Summary
Update 2.2 focuses heavily on the handheld experience, achieving Steam Deck Verified status and introducing device-specific optimizations including benchmark modes and autodetection. Beyond performance, the update significantly rebalances combat encounters by removing infinite respawns in several boss fights and morale encounters across eight different levels. Nightmare difficulty players will also find relief as damage from heavy hitters like the Agaddon Hunter and Cosmic Baron has been tuned to prevent instant shield breaks, while the 'Brink of Death' system has been reverted to its launch-day values.