18 essential weapon mods, upgrades and Masteries in Doom Eternal

As Doomguy returns to Earth to rip apart countless hordes of demons in Doom Eternal, he'll collect a familiar assortment of guns that anyone who played Doom (2016) will probably recognize, with a few notable exceptions. Like in the Slayer's last bloody adventure, each of those weapons has unlockable mods and other upgrades. With a limited number of Mod Bots out there, you're probably wondering which weapons are worth your time and resources. Wonder no more; we're breaking it down here.

What weapons do you get in Doom Eternal?

At the beginning of Doom Eternal, the Doom Slayer begins his adventure with his trusty Combat Shotgun and gradually unlocks the Heavy Cannon, Plasma Rifle, Rocket Launcher, Super Shotgun, Ballista, Chaingun, and the iconic BFG-9000 naturally as part of the game's story. You'll also be introduced to Mod Bots fairly early on. These unlock special attachments that transform your weapon with the press of L2 (on PS4) in battle, enabling unique attacks.

The very first mod you unlock is Sticky Bombs for the Combat Shotgun, which fires grenades that stick to surfaces and enemies. This is particularly useful on enemies like the Arachnotron, a giant brain-spider thing with a turret for a tail, and the Cacodemon, a gross flying mouth with one eye that spits at you. Alternatively, there's a Full Auto mod for the Combat Shotgun that effectively decimates armored enemies like the Pinky.

Everything pertaining to guns can be found in the Arsenal tab of the in-game menu.

What are the 7 best weapon mods to prioritize in Doom Eternal?

Mod Bots are scattered throughout the world, but you can also find two of them in Doomguy's hub base, the Fortress of Doom. There are a total of 13 purchasable mods across your various weapons. While it's possible to unlock them all, some are far more useful than others.

Here's a quick rundown of the most important mods in the game, which could vary depending on your playstyle.

1. Sticky Bombs for the Combat Shotgun — This grenade launcher does solid overall damage and is the best way to disable an Arachnotron's tail turret. You can also stagger a Cacodemon by shooting one right in its big mouth.
2. Precision Bolt for the Heavy Cannon — This is your only long-distance sniping option that can also handle the Arachnotron's tail while also being the best option for taking out a Revenant's shoulder-mounted turrets.
3. Lock-On Burst for the Rocket Launcher — Your best option for targeting larger enemies at medium- to long-range distances. This is a pretty straightforward lock-on feature we all see so often with rocket launchers in games, except it fires a three-rocket burst for extra oomph.
4. Improvements for the Super Shotgun — Super Shotgun only has one mod that offers vague "general improvements," but this weapon is essential in the late game for the grappling hook feature. It can also one-shot most smaller demons.
5. Mobile Turret for the Chaingun — Unlock this ASAP, as it'll transform the Chaingun into a multi-turret beast that deals more damage-per-second than anything else in the game. Without it, the final boss battle will be impossible.
6. Destroyer Blade for the Ballista — You get the Ballista late in the game, but Destroyer Blade can slice huge crowds in half with a wide wave of energy, making it your second-best option for crowd control. It's also your only option before you get BFG-9000.
7. Arbalest for the Ballista — This mod charges a projectile that embeds in enemies and then explodes. It does serious damage to the target and also hits nearby enemies, and it does bonus damage to any flying enemies.

What are the best weapon upgrades to purchase first in Doom Eternal?

Weapon Upgrades in Doom Eternal are tethered to mods and purchased with Weapon Points gained by defeating demons. Some regular fights will get you Weapon Points, as will most boss fights, all secret encounters, and each of the six Slayer Room challenges. They're plentiful and don't seem to be capped like most currencies, but you should still prioritize the best upgrades available.

Upgrades vary wildly from weapon to weapon and mod to mod, but in most cases, it'll be something like a reduction to reload speed or an increase in transform speed. As a general rule of thumb, go for the Upgrades that come with the mods mentioned above. Here's a targeted list of Upgrades to get ASAP, along with the mod and weapon they're attached to:

1. Quick Rack (Sticky Bombs, Combat Shotgun) — Sticky Bomb reload speed is increased by 20 percent
2. Bigger Boom (Sticky Bombs, Combat Shotgun) — Sticky Bomb explosion size is increased by 45 percent
3. Fast Reset (Lock-On Burst, Rocket Launcher) — Lock-on Burst recharge time decreased by 37.5 percent
4. Quick Lock (Lock-On Burst, Rocket Launcher) — Lock-on speed is increased by 50 percent
5. Quick Hook (Improvements, Super Shotgun) — Meat Hook recharge time is decreased by 25 percent
6. Fast Hands (Improvements, Super Shotgun) — Super Shotgun reload speed increased by 33 percent
7. Rapid Deploy (Mobile Turret, Chaingun) — Mobile Turret mode transform speed increased by 50 percent
8. Fast Gunner (Mobile Turret, Chaingun) — Increased movement speed while in Mobile Turret mode

What are the best weapons to master first in Doom Eternal?

Unlocking all the available upgrades for a weapon's mod opens up a Mastery Challenge that grants you a remarkably useful perk. Each challenge involves using a weapon's mod effectively, usually against a specific enemy, a certain number of times. There are also a scant few Mastery Tokens that allow you to bypass the mini-quest and master the weapon right away. You'll get a lot of use out of the Upgrades above, but some of the Mastery perks are too good to pass up, even if the weapon overall won't get a lot of use.

• Flaming Hook (Super Shotgun Mastery) — Arguably the single best mastery, the grappling hook attachment on the Super Shotgun now ignites enemies. By shooting them, they'll drop valuable armor.
• Headshot Blast (Heavy Cannon Precision Bolt Mastery) — Every headshot kill causes the enemy to explode, dealing damage to nearby demons, making this an excellent long-range option in niche encounters.
• Ultimate Cooling (Chaingun Mobile Turret Mastery) — The Mobile Turret no longer overheats and stalls when fired for too long, so you only have to worry about running out of ammo. Again, this is your best damage dealer against bosses and larger enemies.

Doom Eternal is available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox X/S, Nintendo Switch, Stadia, and PC.