Doom: The Dark Ages – How To Find All Secrets | Chapter 9 Guide

The Ancestral Forge is where your Doom Slayer will unlock the true power of the shield. This nonlinear level of Doom: The Dark Ages gives you the freedom to tackle your objectives in any order you want, but if you want to find all the hidden secrets, you’ll need to search carefully — and acquire the hidden Secret Key. Here’s where to find everything in the Ancestral Forge.

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Challenges | Chapter 9

• Nothing But Nade: Score 10 direct hits with the Grenade Launcher weapon.

Very simple. Use the new Grenade Launcher weapon to score direct hits — that means you need to hit enemies directly with your launcher instead of hitting them with splash damage. The grenades will explore instantly if you land a hit on an enemy.

• Sawed Off: Lock down demons with the Shield Saw for 20 seconds total.

The Shield Saw will stunlock enemies that don’t have armor for several seconds. To earn this, keep using the Shield Saw throw attack on large demons until the timer is full. You can keep hitting the same demon over and over to accomplish this.

• Seven Secrets: Discover 7 secret areas.

Follow the guide below to find all nine secrets in this level.

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All Collectibles & Secrets Locations | Chapter 9

NOTE: This level is essentially one large circle around the center — the giant heart. We’ll move through the level going left and circling around to the right side (from the start) to collect everything.

Secret #1 (Life Sigil): Going left from the start, approach the first objective. On the left side of the objective area, there’s a quarry with scaffolding and cranes. Use Shield Throw to Shield Jump onto the green statue and reach a secret area. The path leads to a switch that lowers a Life Sigil from the crane.

Secret #2 (Gold x50): Enter the mineshaft at the back of the area with the Life Sigil in the previous secret. Through the tunnel, look right for a spot you can drop down into. There’s a path of gold pick-ups leading to a large chest.

Gold x16: Clear out the first objective (to the left from the start) area of enemies, then check the edge of the map facing the skybox. There’s a wooden ledge below with two large gold pick-ups.

Collectible #1 (Codex): The first collectible is in the back-left of the map, near the second (back-left) objective. In the area with multiple floors on the map, go to the left edge facing the sky box. There’s yet another wooden platform you can drop down onto with gold and a Codex collectible.

Demonic Essence: Found at the third (right-most) objective marker. Defeat the Hell Knight guarding the switch to earn +10 maximum health.

Secret Key: The Secret Key is available at the right-most objective arena. As you enter, look left for a wooden wall with a blue marker. Smash through with Shield Charge to collect the key — there are multiple locked doors in this level, so let’s go back and find them.

Secret #3 (Gold x50): From the Secret Key, drop down and run directly forward toward the start of the level. There are two locked Secret Key doors (on both sides of the cave wall) that lead to a large gold chest. This is likely the first Secret Key door you spotted in the level.

Secret #4 (Ruby) + Collectible #2 (Toy): Return to the second objective (back-left) and look to the right for a gap you can reach with a running-jump. The gap leads to a ledge with three gold and a locked Secret Key door. Follow the path and fight through the enemies to find a Toy collectible and a Ruby upgrade stone.

Wraithstone: Near the third objective (right-most) you’ll find a large courtyard with huge wolf statues surrounding a forcefield protecting a Wraithstone statue. To remove the forcefield you’ll need to find and destroy all the Wolf Statues in the area.

• Wolf Statue #1 + Secret #5: Return to the entrance of the level and look on the right wall (facing the heart) to find another locked Secret Key door. Enter to find one of the wolf statues

• Wolf Statue #2: Found between the left and back-left objective areas — there’s a field with this wolf statue in the back-left, near the sky box vista.

• Wolf Statue #3: The last statue is located directly above and to the right of the Wraithstone, and above the right-most statue. Look up and throw your shield to smash it.

Secret #6 (Ruby): The rest of the secrets in this level are found past the Point-of-no-Return elevator. In the second room (after the elevator) with the giant blue vats, go to the back-left corner and smash though the brick wall with Shield Smash. It leads to a Ruby.

Secret #7 (Gold x50): Entering the large storeroom / archive with floating platforms, you’ll reach a turn. Stop here and drop off the edge to find a mechanical switch that activates by throwing your shield into the gear. Stand below the gear symbol and ride the lift up to access a large gold chest.

Secret #8: The last two secrets are nearby. Continue to the next platform area of the archives (very close by) and reach the back-edge of the platform you need to climb up using the climbable wall. At the back, look down for a small section with a few extra gold pieces that are easy to miss.

Secret #9 + Collectible #3 (Weapon Skin) + Collectible #4 (Codex): Look up from the top of the platform from the previous secret. There’s a heated chain you can break holding up a platform — smash it, then jump across toward the objective — there’s another gear symbol here. Activate it but turn around and jump onto the platform we just lowered.