The most recent Doom title was a breath of fresh air in the series, bringing the game back to its roots while offering new, modern twists on several aspects of the formula. The frenetic, fast-paced action and the copious amounts of blood, guts, and assorted viscera made for an experience that really, truly felt like a proper Doom game.
One of the new mechanics introduced in 2016's Doom was a Rune Trial system. These were tests of skill, sometimes hidden in the levels, that when completed unlocked a Rune for players to use as an augment to their gameplay. The effects of these Runes varied wildly, from minor adjustments to the way the game worked to dramatic, life-saving powers. Let's take a look now at five of the best Runes from Doom - and five of the worst.
10 Worst: Blood Fueled
Many of the Runes in Doom are focused on the Glory Kill system, a mechanic which allows players to instantly execute a staggered demon in melee range, making them drop health pickups. This particular Rune, Blood Fueled, causes the player to move faster for a short period of time following a Glory Kill, and can be upgraded to extend the length of this speed boost.
This Rune is certainly not the worst in the game. Movement is a key part of a successful run in Doom, and the ability to move a little quicker is very handy in some circumstances. However, there are simply a huge variety of Runes that are simply better than this one, which provides only a small benefit for a short time.
9 Best: Seek And Destroy
Another Rune that is connected to Glory Kills, the Seek and Destroy power operates a little differently to Blood Fueled. This Rune lets you launch into a Glory Kill from a greater distance than just melee range, significantly increasing your options for handling tough monsters. You can also upgrade the Rune to further increase the distance.
This Rune is most useful when it comes to dealing with certain types of demons that are dangerous at close range. It's very beneficial to take out their health with distance weapons, and then use this Rune to enter a Glory Kill from a greater distance than melee. Since demons don't stay staggered forever, this is definitely a good way to close the gap instantly and take out your foes.
8 Worst: Savagery
Yet another Glory Kill focused Rune, Savagery speeds up the process, letting players execute a Glory Kill faster before they head back into the fight. This is, on its surface, a good thing as Doom is a game where you want to move quickly, shifting focus from objectives as soon as they're complete. However, this Rune is something of a double edged sword.
While performing a Glory Kill, players are immune to any and all damage that would be dealt to them by other demons. This can allow for a useful short break in the action to collect yourself, followed by the guaranteed health dropped by the Glory Kill. So while Savagery does let you get back to the fight more quickly, it also decreases this period of invulnerability, making it a bit of a dilemma to use.
7 Best: Ammo Boost
One of the most precious resources in Doom, aside from your health, is ammunition. While the game offers many ways to obtain ammo, from normal pickups to the devastating Chainsaw, the Ammo Boost Rune can provide a welcome helping hand. Quite simply, it increases the amount of ammo you receive from all sources.
This isn't the whole story, though, as fully upgrading the Rune causes demons to occasionally drop BFG ammo. As the single most powerful gun in the game, ammo for the BFG is very rare and difficult to come by, meaning that the ability to obtain it from random demons is a very useful thing to have on hand.
6 Worst: Vacuum
The Rune Trial for the Vacuum Rune will likely be one of the first that players encounter over the course of their playthrough, and it serves as something of an introductory course for what Rune Trials are. Therefore, it's no surprise that Vacuum is one of the lesser Runes in the game.
All Vacuum does is draw the pickups dropped by demons towards the player from a greater distance. While this may be useful some of the time, most of the time you'll already be standing right over the demon after finishing a Glory Kill or a Chainsaw execution, meaning that Vacuum will be significantly less useful.
5 Best: Dazed And Confused
This Rune is, perhaps unsurprisingly, another Rune that deals with Glory Kills. Dazed and Confused isn't concerned with how quickly you execute the kill or the range at which you can launch into it, though. This particular Rune is focused on the demons themselves, making them stay in their staggered state for a longer period of time, which can be extended by upgrading the Rune.
When you need to deal with multiple threats at once, you'll often find that you stagger a demon, but there's another monster requiring your attention in the moment. Dazed and Confused gives you the time you need to deal with threats while still getting those critical health dropping Glory Kills.
4 Worst: Equipment Power
One rather minor mechanic from Doom is the equipment system. These include the Frag Grenade, which would damage enemies; the Hologram, which would distract them; and the Siphon Grenade, which would absorb health from them. While all of these tools are somewhat useful, they weren't really the stars of the show, meaning that the Rune Equipment Power was a bit lackluster.
As the name implies, the Equipment Power Rune increases the strength of all your equipment. However, given that there are often much better ways of destroying the demons than lobbing a single grenade at them (such as shooting several rockets at them instead), the Rune simply isn't very good.
3 Best: Saving Throw
In a game that's all about single-handedly taking on the legions of Hell, it's not unimaginable that players will die at some point over the course of the campaign (perhaps even several times). That's where the Saving Throw Rune comes in, as it gives players effectively a second life, restoring them after something that would normally have killed them, and can be upgraded to have two charges instead of just one.
This Rune offers what is simply one of the most powerful effects in the game, and there's just nothing else quite like it. That alone makes it one of the best Runes in Doom, and an absolute must-have ability for any playthrough.
2 Worst: In-Flight Mobility
For our final worst Rune, we've selected the In-Flight Mobility Rune which can be obtained in destroyed Argent Facility, some time after you've obtained the double jump ability. This Rune gives you more control over your double jumps midair, and that's about it. Even upgrading it only extends the effect to single jumps, which is a bit underwhelming.
In a game that's all about shooting, punching, and chainsawing demons, the ability to jump isn't really anything special. While the extra control is certainly a good thing that can augment exploration somewhat, there's nothing in the game that requires you to have the amount of control offered by this Rune, making it absolutely the worst one available in Doom.
1 Best: Rich Get Richer
Finally, the best Rune you can find in your Doom playthrough has to be the Rich Get Richer Rune, found late in the game in the Lazarus Labs mission. In a game all about managing resources liked health, armor, and ammo, this Rune effectively lets you ignore one of those as it lets your fire your normal weapons without consuming ammo if you have at least 100 armor (75 armor after upgrading).
This ability synergizes well with the vast collection of guns players will have by the end of the game. While this will likely be most applicable at the start of a fight, nimble players who can avoid taking damage could make their way through encounters without spending a single actual bullet, making this the absolute best Rune in Doom.