The Combat Shotgun in Doom: The Dark Ages doesn’t try to be clever. It’s loud, straightforward and unlocked by default, so you don’t have to break a sweat getting or using it. But if you want to squeeze every drop of usefulness out of it, the upgrades make all the difference. Some increase how many projectiles you shoot at once. Others apply Burn instantly or after dealing enough damage. A few build on Burn itself, adding effects like armor drops or explosive deaths.
Each upgrade gives you a different reason to reach for the Combat Shotgun more often. And they all feed into that aggressive playstyle Doom expects. They either help you kill quicker, stay alive longer, or both. But if you want to know which upgrade is the best of the best, here’s a breakdown.
6 Eat This!
Gives Your Combat Shotgun a Little More Bite Every Time You Shoot
Eat This! packs more projectiles into every of your shots. You’re still firing the same shell, but instead of sending out the usual spread, you’re launching a denser wave of pellets toward whatever’s in front of you. That means each blast has a better chance of landing more hits, especially at close range, where shotguns do their best work.
This upgrade doesn’t change how the gun feels to fire, but it does tighten up the results. The extra projectiles fill in the gaps, making each shot feel fuller and more powerful. Fodder demons go down faster and tough bossesflinch more often. You get a little more damage without needing to reload more or waste extra ammo.
5 Flare-Up
Automatically Burns Weaker Enemies with Every Shotgun Blast
Flare-Up makes fodder demons burn the moment you hit them. You don’t have to build anything up or wait for a second shot. Just fire, and the smaller enemies are already burning. It’s a straight-line shortcut to getting your Burn effects going right away.
It doesn’t pretend to turn the shotgun into a new weapon. What it really offers is saving time. If you’re leaning into a Burn-based playstyle, Flare-Up is a clean way to keep the status effect active without juggling weapons or relying on chance. It helps keep your momentum going, especially when you’re swarmed by weaker demons and don’t have time to slow down. You’ll need 1 Ruby to unlock it, which is decent.
4 Incendiary
Inflict as Much Damage as Possible and Burn Demons
Incendiary is all about rewarding you for sticking with the fight. If you beat a demon long enough, it suffers burns. Not right away with the first hit, but once you’ve crossed a certain damage threshold. After that, the demon is under the Burn effect, and that opens a new opportunity: if you kill them while they’re still burning, they’ll drop armor.
You don’t need to go out of your way to make Incendiary work. It’s built to support aggressive, close-range play. If you’re already the type to dive into fights and stay in the thick of it, this upgrade naturally rewards that style.
3 Tune Up
Fires Three Rounds with One Trigger
Instead of firing one shell every time you pull the trigger, Tune Up makes sure you now shoot three rounds in quick succession. This makes the shotgun feel tighter, faster and way more responsive in the middle of a fight. The burst doesn’t spread all over the place either, instead staying focused enough to keep pressure on whatever demon you’re trying to delete.
Tune Up is a clean way to push more damage into a fight without having to empty your whole mag or stand still longer than you want to. The Combat Shotgun starts feeling less like a slow brawler and more like a fast, brutal finisher with this upgrade.
2 Smelt
Burned Enemies Drop More Armor When Killed with the Combat Shotgun
Smelt doesn’t make your shots melt tougher enemies or change how you use the Combat Shotgun. What it does is make sure you get more armor every time you take down a demon that’s under Burn. That’s it. If the Burn came from your Combat Shotgun, and the demon dies while it’s still burning, you get extra armor. This upgrade works best when paired with something like Incendiary or Flare-Up, because they help you apply Burn more often and more reliably. Once that Burn is active, Smelt takes care of the rest.
Smelt costs 125 Gold, which is pricey, but at least it doesn’t ask you to do anything differently. You play the way you normally would: blast demons with the shotgun, apply Burn through whatever upgrade you already have and the armor just starts flowing in heavier amounts. That makes it great if you’re the type who likes staying on offense and keeping the pressure up without constantly searching for resources.
1 Blast
Burn, Kill, and Blow Up
Blast is the most satisfying shotgun upgrade for me in Doom: The Dark Ages. If a demon is under Burn from your Combat Shotgun and you kill it, it explodes. Not some giant screen-clearing blast, but enough to damage anything dumb enough to stand nearby. It’s especially nice when you’re dealing with weaker demons grouped up. One good shotgun blast, and if they’re all burned, the explosions can quickly turn a crowd into ash.
With Blast, you’re not getting more damage per shot, but you’re getting more out of each kill. It spreads your damage without needing a separate weapon or ability. Blast performs even better when you use upgrades like Incendiary first to help you apply Burn faster.
