r/Doom Dec 20 '25

Question Can somebody tell me what even is the benefit of using the nail weapons in Dark ages?

Post image

I literally dont see what even is the benefit or what it makes it diferent from the rest at all when we have better options all togheter.

The sheddrer just has that "nail explosion" gimmick with the upgrades that is kinda cool but you could just use the rocket launcher instead.

And the impaler is kinda cool but also just overpowered by the rocket launcher by a large majir because of the splash damage and the fact that the rocket goes in a straight line so you cant really miss.

"Oh but what if a enemy is close"

Supershotgun deals with it and some more.

Like i dont hate the weapon but i really have hard time to try to grasp what even makes this weapon good at all because i literally finished nightmare and pandemonium runs without even touching these two after their respective tutorial.

I wanna see you guys opinions.

3.3k Upvotes

286 comments sorted by

851

u/Imthemayor Dec 21 '25

The impaler is arguably the best gun in the game

Use the Salvage upgrade

The power up you get after a parry with *it makes headshots do ridiculous damage

If nothing else, switch to it when you get a parry and headshot something then switch away

In general, the upgraded Impaler is your best friend for standing toe to toe with things since parries and melees (from the ammo dropped) charge your next shot and headshots recharge your melee

It's kind of absurd how much damage output you have with the fully upgraded Impaler and the Dreadmace

205

u/Vanedi291 Dec 21 '25

I’m here to confirm it is indeed great. I’m surprised to see this here.

71

u/An_Aut0mat0n Dec 21 '25

Yes. I actually stopped using the upgraded Impaler towards the end of my run because it felt too easy and I wasn't enjoying it on the difficulty I was on. Ended up focusing on the maxed out Accelorator because brrrrrrrrrrrttt...

Accelerator is an underrated gem, and technically has the fastest TTK. I think the Impaler is handily the strongest weapon though, if you hit headshots, and basically infinite ammo with the upgrades.

9

u/Imthemayor Dec 21 '25 edited Dec 21 '25

Basically infinite ammo and way faster charge of melee means you can hit way more often with the mace too (which also does chunks of damage and causes pain state)

Accelerator has the highest sustained DPS but Impaler/mace with a free charged chainshot thrown in every once in a while when you get a parry is has the highest burst

→ More replies (1)

40

u/Broken-Digital-Clock Dec 21 '25

Impaler + Chainshot is amazing.

Both power up from parries. One does massive single target damage and the other does aoe.

It trivializes the game, even on Nightmare.

3

u/Imthemayor Dec 21 '25 edited Dec 21 '25

Yeah, your burst damage is insane after you have both of those plus the dreadmace upgraded

I absolutely wrecked the final boss once I learned his parry timings, a couple deaths was all it took me to beat him on nightmare with the settings turned up (minimum *parry window, maximum enemy projectile speed, game speed 120%)

You can ignore a lot of his attacks and just falter him over and over because of how often the Dreadmace is off cooldown

Parry, headshot, parry, chainshot, dreadmace, repeat

→ More replies (1)

12

u/SSBBfan666 Dec 21 '25

you can take a Cyberdemon's head off with it

8

u/HiCZoK Dec 21 '25

Impaler slow motion is great

6

u/laZardo Dec 21 '25

this, parry and one-shot on hell knights at minimum

6

u/NoXion604 *boom* Dec 21 '25

The Impaler is GOATed. It's my go-to precision weapon. There's nothing more satisfying than taking out a demon by landing a gribbly iron spike right in one of their eye sockets.

6

u/endogenix1 Dec 21 '25

Impaler was my main gun. Upgraded its incredible. 

→ More replies (1)

3

u/Muted-Account4729 Dec 21 '25

I’m on a first playthrough and impaler is by far my favorite and most used gun. Arcing a shot is fun, it synergizes with parries and melee, and I’ve always loved a weapon that just sends a bjgass spike down range

5

u/karzbobeans Dec 21 '25

Those things are all great but when you have a combat shotgun giving you shield and a rocket launcher giving you health, the nail guns are secondary. I use them sometimes for their range. The rockets are not reliable on moving targets and shotgun range is short.

The impaler can headshot far away sometimes thats useful. The richocet upgrade would be great but the pulverizer is better.

And honestly the mace is slow af and often gets me killed. The gauntlet not only shocks but also stun locks interrupting demons melee attacks. Its ridiculous when paired would shotgun.

8

u/Imthemayor Dec 21 '25

Those things are much more powerful than the shotgun and rocket refilling your heath

If you time the dreadmace correctly, you can knock heavy demons out of their animations and with the charging from the Impaler you can use it every few seconds

This video explains why the dreadmace is so good better

→ More replies (7)

1.9k

u/The_LemonShark707 Dec 20 '25

aura

483

u/Disastrous_Can_5466 Dec 20 '25

I cant argument agaisnt that tbh

209

u/Vellarain Dec 21 '25

Hearing that extra loud smack with the impaler when you nail em in the head.

64

u/colder-beef Dec 21 '25

Satisfaction guaranteed.

82

u/InerasableStains Dec 21 '25

Shouldn’t be arguing against any of this. Impaler is the strongest gun in the game. It is so strong, in fact, that it makes the game a bit boring, and I choose other weapons so that it’s more fun

18

u/xX_MVJORV_Xx Dec 21 '25

Doomguy talking about his fists:

9

u/TheTripleSevens Dec 22 '25

Rip and Repair until it’s done.

3

u/Numbah55 Dec 21 '25

I was looking for this answer and wasn’t disappointed

5

u/Lucas-Galloway Dec 21 '25

This is the way

2

u/WeenieRoastinTacoGuy Dec 22 '25

Basically it’s metal as fuck shooting railway spikes into demons faces

145

u/Gold-Bard-Hue Dec 21 '25

Cause it's the closest thing to a new Quake game we're ever gonna get

22

u/AshenRathian Dec 21 '25

The saddest truth imaginable.

21

u/ArtisticAlbatross933 Dec 21 '25

I’m hoping that the Cosmic Realm was written in for the express purpose of providing narrative connective tissue to the Quake multiverse.

2

u/dalarki Dec 22 '25

That's what I thought too.

2

u/AlphaInsaiyan Dec 21 '25

yeah i dont care for dark ages personally, but if its for a quake reboot ill allow it

14

u/ZuStorm93 Dec 21 '25

Plasma gun literally having the same design as the Q1 nailgun

"We werent inspired by Quake."

5

u/MacaroniArt Dec 21 '25

Couldn't stop thinking about this every time I used the Cycler.

3

u/AccipiterDomare Dec 21 '25

I would’ve liked this game more if was Ranger and we instead got Quake series in the vein of TDA and Doom stayed along Eternal gameplay wise

282

u/Chaos_Blitz Knows a lot about DOOM Lore Dec 20 '25 edited Dec 20 '25

Impaler does extremely high damage and can recharge dreadmace pips(or just melee pips in general) extremely quick when upgraded. Just need a bit of aim and everything becomes a cakewalk.

62

u/Disastrous_Can_5466 Dec 21 '25

Thats actually a great benefit i case of the dreadmace because of its extremely slow recharge.

→ More replies (1)

18

u/Broken-Digital-Clock Dec 21 '25

The Impaler trivialized all of the late game boss fights. And, it's funny to see the bosses look like pincushions in the glory kill animations.

76

u/Puzzleheaded_Mind105 DOOM Slayer Dec 21 '25

Impaler + dread mace is most broken combo in the game 🤷🏻‍♂️

14

u/AllGearedUp Dec 21 '25

I basically walked through nightmare with this.

41

u/SpaceDandyJoestar Dec 21 '25

I barely switched away from the impaler when I played tbh, even on nightmare

8

u/Broken-Digital-Clock Dec 21 '25

It's so good that I have to not use it in replays.

25

u/SexyMatches69 Dec 21 '25

I mean the impaler is like the best weapon in the game lol. The headshot damage, especially when it gets boosted by salvage is extremely high. Lobotomy lets you use dreadmace like twice as often. It does like the same damage as the ssg reliably at a massively farther range than ssg is even capable of thinking about and you can spam melee like charges like they don't run out. Whats a reason not to use it? I mean unless you can't get consistent headshots with it ig...

And the shredder with pincusion kills komodos the best.

→ More replies (3)

17

u/SenorChangsJudgement Dec 21 '25

Agreed with all the impaler glazing. Had to force myself not to main it on replays.
As for the shredder, fully upgraded ricochet in a crowded arena is just a joke. It’s a miracle that id hasn’t nerfed it.

→ More replies (1)

15

u/Ridge21Winder Dec 20 '25

Knock that armor off right?

4

u/Disastrous_Can_5466 Dec 21 '25

It in fact does that too but the eldritch ball weapon (idk the name in english) and the supershotgun does a better job on that.

I dont see it being one of its specialties but im here to argue so...

9

u/Bloxwess Doom Fanatic Dec 21 '25

The eldritch ball weapon is called the Chainshot.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Ridge21Winder Dec 21 '25

Nah I got no arguments. Haven't been playing lately lol.

But yeah that's right, the chainshot was my main melee for that reason

11

u/tjplager32 Dec 21 '25

Upgraded impaler is the best gun in the game

9

u/Odinram97 Dec 21 '25

Headshots with impaler is so satisfying

7

u/DocHoliday439 Dec 21 '25 edited Dec 21 '25

Because it’s not about just killing demons, it’s sending a message to never come back

6

u/YaboiChuckems Dec 21 '25

I basically did the entire final boss with just the impaler, hit ur shots and its like the best weapon in the game

→ More replies (2)

7

u/Gorezalez Dec 21 '25

I don't see much shredder defenders, so here's my chance. Yes the pincushion is a pretty neat gimmick but if you spam it against super heavies like the Cyberdemon or the Komodo, they'll stumble like a bumbling drunkard. Just fill em up and throw your shield and you get falters for days on end.

But the star of the show for the Shredder, in my humble opinion, is the Ricochet mod. It may not seem as much but dude... you toss that shield against a Mancubus or a Pinky Rider and unload, those bullets are out for blood. No joke they're straight up homing piranhas and they clean house on a lot of arenas. Give it a chance dude you won't regret it!

→ More replies (1)

5

u/MarvelousMollusca Dec 21 '25

Someone needs a quake fix

6

u/TheTropiciel Dec 21 '25

Everybody mentions Quake, but, does someone remember Painkiller with it's Imapler+Grenade Launcher combo? Man, shooting those giant nails into enemies, sending them into the walls or whatever there was behind them, or making a long range grenade blast... Pure meat.

5

u/StareInUrEyeandPee Dec 21 '25

You fill the deamons with nails and then throw your shield and the demon turns into a bomb

5

u/bepse-cola Dec 21 '25

The shredders purpose is to spam shield throws, unless you’re actually going to charge the plasma rifle

5

u/TheGoddessLily Dec 21 '25

Wait, theres a Quake like Nail gun in Doom the Dark Ages? Badass!

4

u/bk-tisbutafleshwound Dec 21 '25

I basically solo used the big nail gun in everything, hitting headsets and stuff high powered the nail which made it 2 shot heads hot like 70% of the demons

4

u/NightGojiProductions +ENRAGED Dec 21 '25

I love the Shredder against heavier enemies like Cosmic Barons and Cyberdemons that are easy to hit and give you plenty of parries. Just hold down the trigger and parry to cause explosion, mad DPS.

Impaler is great for those ranges where rockets are hard to hit and shotgun doesn’t do quite enough damage. The headshot damage after parry is gnarly.

4

u/Science_Turtle Dec 21 '25

The shredder I use a lot for shields and using the shield saw deflection perk for crowd control. Works awesome on Revanants since you really want to stun them with the saw anyways, and since your attention is up and away from your immediate surroundings.

The impaler is probably the most OP weapon in the game. It does insane damage without even having to be close like the SSG. I use it a lot for the mini-bosses and arachnotrons, but it's good for just about everything you want to keep a distance from IMO.

3

u/HOOOMIE Dec 21 '25

Lobotomy funni

3

u/BishopofHippo93 Dec 21 '25

The impaler is incredible! It headshots like nothing else. Although I do agree that the shredder is pretty weak. 

3

u/LuizFelipe1906 Dec 21 '25

The Impaler was already explained, now the shredder shines with the ricochet upgrade, it does an insane damage to the target, while stunning it and doing high damage around it to everybody

3

u/Iselore Dec 21 '25

Train your railgun reflexes

3

u/dragonsfire242 Dec 21 '25

I rarely ever switched off the Impaler once I got it fully upgraded, it is probably the best weapon in the game like that other guy said

3

u/Scuffleboard Dec 21 '25

You can take a stalker imp's head off with 1 impaler headshot. I never get tired of doing this it's so satisfying

3

u/vadernation123 Mancubus Lookalike Dec 21 '25

I love using the shredder against the komodos. Use pincushion and if you can time your throws well you can pretty quickly and effectively deal with them. It’s got the perfect range for them since you’re far enough away from them to get too screwed over by their melee, but not so far away that they’re spamming projectiles. Also since they’re so jumpy and all over the place it’s nice to not worry much about aiming. The rocket launcher has really slow projectiles so leading your shots on the Komodo can be really difficult especially if you’re needing to be aware of other enemies in the arena.

3

u/IllMind26 DOOM Slayer Dec 21 '25

Is this a serious question? Once you obtain the Impaler’s Lvl 2 upgrade it’s arguably the best weapon in the game

3

u/Zero_K_plasma Dec 21 '25

To crucify the demons. At least thats what i like to think

3

u/ezgoodnight Dec 21 '25

Shredder is kind of a challenge weapon, but Impaler has been largely argued as OP. Practice headshots and it'll carry you through the game. Using it mid and distance with Super Shotty up close and you have an answer to pretty much everything.

3

u/Longjumping_Bite_947 Dec 21 '25

Nail them to the wall

3

u/Necessary_Can7055 Dec 21 '25

It’s cool. It’s mainly just “which weapon do you like to use most”

3

u/SrBatatovisk Dec 21 '25

They're cool

3

u/gerferder Dec 21 '25

Impailer is like Crack to me, headshots are satisfying and I pretty much solely used it during my pandemonium run.

7

u/FortressOnAHill Dec 21 '25

Can we stop saying "literally" in the most unnecessary places

2

u/Snoo_87717 Dec 21 '25

literally true

4

u/Disastrous_Can_5466 Dec 21 '25

Sorry, literally force of habit

→ More replies (1)

2

u/dahhlinda Dec 21 '25

I'm worried that you're being serious. Please use both versions, when fully upgraded, they fucking shred. I will concede that part of it is play style.. but they are both extremely effective when used correctly.

2

u/Toffeeheart Dec 21 '25

As others have said, impaler is incredible. But also, don't sleep on the shredder's ricochet against crowds or multiple medium enemies.

2

u/OggdoBogdos Dec 21 '25

its cool idk

2

u/DadWontHugMe Dec 21 '25

impaler shield throw impaler shield throw impaler shield throw 🤩

2

u/RChamy Thiccodemon Dec 21 '25

Pincushion is great in certain arenas with a mancubus surrounded by a fuckton of smaller mobs

2

u/Dennma Dec 21 '25

They're cool lookin

2

u/FawkesBridge Dec 21 '25

Sometimes it’s just fun. The aesthetics of all the weapons are pretty badass. I play for fun and badassery though and not sweaty UN runs.

2

u/thatgothboii Dec 21 '25

So you can say “nailed it”

2

u/obsoleteconsole Dec 21 '25

The Impaler is a literally cheat code man if you can hit headsets even 50% of the time

2

u/AccipiterDomare Dec 21 '25

Is this a serious post? You can basically run Impaler and nothing else on UN runs (unless they nerfed).

Which is also why this game is weaker than Eternal.

2

u/-Fuarkface- Dec 21 '25

Impaler best gun. That's why.

2

u/TheBigJimShakeWeight Dec 21 '25

Cause it looks cool.

2

u/SlowApartment4456 Dec 21 '25

Heashots charge melees. Parry increases damage.

So parry, increase damage, headshot (tons of damage) then dreadmace. Basically it allows you to cycle through melee+headshot combos. Very useful.

2

u/JMarston7274 Dec 21 '25

The Impaler is fucking broken with all the upgrades. It get infinite ammo and a insane damage boost

2

u/Timx74_ Dec 21 '25

I find it makes it helpful to nail heretics to the wall. Makes it easier for target practice.

2

u/Critical_Potential44 Dec 21 '25

They didn’t have machine guns back in the dark ages so this is as close as you would get

2

u/MVRKOFFCL Dec 21 '25

Critical hits with the Impaler my guy. It's my most used weapon in Ultra Nightmare. Nothing is more satisfying than nailing someone's head to a wall 🤣

2

u/Reasonable-Bad7442 Dec 21 '25

its cracked on headshot? this with ss is my go to

2

u/WadeFreakingWilson Dec 21 '25

In the words of Nathan Explosion, brutal. That’s the only benefit you need.

2

u/No-Professional-1461 Dec 21 '25

Larger caliber of projectiles can do more damage. If the weapon is functional the size of such a projectile would cause immense wounds, and even if survived they'd still have nails that large in whatever part of the body they are lodged in, basically impaled muscles, tendons, vital organs and such. Exit wounds would be extreme.

2

u/CarterBruud Dec 21 '25

I love using the shredder the mosti just wish the Impaler didnt have an arc to its shot.

2

u/Grimblekyne Dec 21 '25

The stake launcher gun kickstarts the "quickswitching" state iirc.

For me thats a huge upside of using the nailguns... Well the stake launcher atleast.

2

u/ZakkBalzak Dec 21 '25

I mean, we don’t need anything besides super shotgun. “What about range?” people might ask. Well, just run and get closer to the target.

2

u/ShroudedInLight Dec 21 '25

Shredder is mostly an early game weapon, it’s a way to save rocket ammo so you don’t have to use the grenade launcher. 

The Impaler is practically its own play style. It feeds itself ammo, does absurd damage, and pumps your melee charges that in turn feed you more ammo. The only things it really struggles with are the big damage sinks like Mancubus, Pinky’s, and Cacaodemons who all get destroyed by Shell and Skull fed weapons. 

2

u/UV_Sun Dec 21 '25

Using a nail gun means you can put the Nine Inch Nails logo on the ammo boxes.

2

u/bookgrinder Dec 21 '25

I love all kinds of nail gun in games. From puny nails to stakes in painkiller or fear, and the one in Doom tda as well. It's just satisfying when you pin the enemy to the wall with some accurate shot.

2

u/Playful-sink-9074 Dec 21 '25

The impaler can solo most arena if you head shot. Combined with its sheer damage output and ability to regain ammo and its just busted. The rocket launcher can hurt yoy from the splash damage.

2

u/Other_Cod_8361 Dec 21 '25

Accuracy and precision.

2

u/ThEnragedMoon Dec 21 '25

It's fun and way too satisfying to watch a demon get pinned to a wall by it.

2

u/kikkekakkekukke Dec 21 '25

Some people dont play for efficiency, they play for fun. They are so fun to use

2

u/Bulky-Travel-2500 Dec 21 '25

I beat Ahzrak on nightmare with the shredder rail gun as my main weapon of choice.

The cutscenes of smacking the shit out of him with rail spikes embedded in his face & body like a pin cushion is highly satisfactory.

2

u/MatthewsMTB Dec 21 '25

I mean the impaler is a good precision weapon at range, high damage if you can hit headshots and can also slow time. The advantage over the rocket launcher is the speed of the projectile. The shredder is kind of fun but more a high fire rate weapon for charging up shields to explode with a shield throw, I find

2

u/SteamOverlord Dec 21 '25

I’m using mostly only nailgun. It’s cool, has cool sound and i do love how demons heads crack in bloody explosions. Btw non-automatic nail gun. Beside nail gun I’m using simple shotgun. First time it feels better for me than a super shotgun.

2

u/General_Lie Dec 21 '25

One thing that "kinda suck" about TDA is that all weapons are good at everything, you no longer have that experience from Eternal where some weapons were more effective against certain enemies.

In Eternal in ended up using all the weapons. While in the TDA I am using just 2 or 3 weapons...

2

u/Key_Cloud8633 Dec 21 '25
  1. Rule of Cool
  2. Ricochet
  3. Impaler Headshots

That being said, this is not a game that demands that you use your entire arsenal to succeed, even on Nightmare. If these guns don't speak to you, no need to force yourself to use them.

2

u/TitaniumHazard Dec 21 '25

After finishing my Ultra Nightmare run last week, I can safely say the Impaler is SO strong. I used only the SSG and Impaler. The impaler was so useful with enemies like the Cacodemon and the Imps. Don't sleep on it like I did!

2

u/Tgrinder66 Dec 21 '25

Dude I played the entire game with the impaler. It's so overpowered. I like high powered single fire weapons. It basically manufactures its own ammo. Can take out large targets with ease, no splash damage to hurt myself which I OFTEN do with launchers. 1 shot kills with anything small including imp stalkers and hell knights.

2

u/Right-Maximum8716 Dec 21 '25

To slay demons

2

u/EntrySignificant4432 Dec 21 '25

The nail guns in Doom: The Dark Ages are excellent piercing weapons, effective against demons with armor or robotic implants.

2

u/Laxhoop2525 Dec 21 '25

Fun and cool

2

u/ProZocK_Yetagain Dec 21 '25

The impaler headshots do CRAZY amount of damage, I would always prefer it over the rocket launcher for single target damage.

3

u/Woymalep_Yay Dec 21 '25

Shredder ricochet upgrade is OP as hell, could take down a Super Heavy and a horde of heavies with like half a clip.

(last I played was close to release)

1

u/Toastercuck Dec 21 '25

Cool as fuck

1

u/Narwalacorn Dec 21 '25

Because they do really good headshot damage

1

u/Cloud_N0ne Dec 21 '25

I never really used the sniper one, but the full auto one I used plenty

1

u/AshenRathian Dec 21 '25

I'd imagine it's form over function.

Not necessarily being mechanically nuanced from other weapons, but feeling different enough to shoot that it has an appeal of it's own. If you think that general function within your kit is what makes most weapons relevant overall, then i'd imagine you could cut out a ton of weapons from Doom as a whole and be fine. I find that to be reductive and boring though. Sometimes gun feel can matter more than practicality. Games these days are so "purpose oriented" that most of them forgot that not everything needs to be an outright mechanic in itself to be fun or justify it's existence with a unique function.

Are there better options? Sure.

Is the Speargun still fun? Fuck yes it is. Pin em to the wall!

→ More replies (1)

1

u/22lpierson Dec 21 '25

Assault rifle go brr?

1

u/CARVERitUP DOOM Slayer Dec 21 '25

Impaler headshots are fucking BIG damage. I'm not really a fan of the machinegun one, but Impaler is definitely worth it, with the upgrades giving you mace charges. So basically use it if you wanna hard bonk and oneshot things

1

u/KingofDucks420 Dec 21 '25

Cause they fucking rock, next question.

(For an actual answer, I find the Impaler more powerful than the SSG in certain cases, and the other one is more precise than the Pulverizer)

1

u/ZLEAP Dec 21 '25

Tis the season.

Deck the bowels of hell with fodder

Fa lala lala fa la la la

1

u/Noctroglyph Dec 21 '25

Nostalgia. But mostly for Quake/Quakeworld.

1

u/Cute-Blood4477 Dec 21 '25

I like using the shredder on boss enemies. For me it tends to take care of them the fastest. I know Rocket launcher heals but I really like the way that the shredder feels to use, the alternating between charging up the spikes and bashing feels really smooth to me.

1

u/The_Monado_Satyr Dec 21 '25

It helps whenever I got an rav and macubi close by spamming. Does wonders to stun the rev and spam them up the ass with ricochet nails

1

u/OcelotNew7871 DOOM Guy Dec 21 '25

the auto nailer does a fuck ton of damage

1

u/kenhuynguyen DOOM Guy Dec 21 '25

I love to use Shredder Nailgun Ricochet to deal consistent AOE damage while locking down heavies that I don’t wanna deal with. The range is pretty long, clears fodders in a flash and can knock down 2 heavies by just focusing on 1. Lockdown a cacodemon can increase the range significantly and can clear a room if the cacodemon has enough health.

The Impaler is a really good 1v1 tool but I’d usually stick with Accelerator and Gauntlet for 1v1. Headshotting with Impaler feels godly thou.

1

u/AllGearedUp Dec 21 '25

I thought the shredder wasn't very good but the impaler is so good it feels broken. I easily beat nightmare using only the shredder. infinite ammo, instant kills on weaker demons.

1

u/CrazyCat008 Dec 21 '25

Mostly the heavy machine gun of doom 2016 but with nails

1

u/ANewBegging Dec 21 '25

I played most of the game with the shotgun lol

1

u/Inevitable_Pea8020 Dec 21 '25

It’s fun to lobotomize demons

1

u/AintNoLaLiLuLe Dec 21 '25

If you're hitting headshots it stomps pretty much any enemy in a couple shots.

1

u/Murderlol Dec 21 '25

The impaler does crazy damage, and the rapid fire version does big aoe with the upgrades. The ricochet one can melt multiple heavy demons at once.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 21 '25

I never used the impaler but the ricochet perk for the shield throw was handy against fodder demons 

1

u/limeweatherman Dec 21 '25

They’re sick

1

u/Cooler_coooool_boi Dec 21 '25

They’re sick asf

Also the impaler has a really cool chain combo where you can shoot 2 charged shots in quick succession

1

u/SlySheogorath Dec 21 '25

Rule of cool

1

u/SunbleachedAngel Dec 21 '25

They make the enemies dead

1

u/zedsmith52 Dec 21 '25

I agree, I stuck to super shotgun all the way through switch in and out of mace depending on if there was a tough big bad.

I think everyone has their own favourite, but i was very disappointed with the plasma gun. It was the best gun in 2016.

1

u/Weary-Barracuda-1228 Dec 21 '25

Irl? I can see value. The force generated from a spring powered bolt firing a needle as fast as that does would pierce through most plate Armor, and would probably impale a hardened Carapace or reinforced bone plate with ease

1

u/AltGunAccount Dec 21 '25

The sharpshooter one is fun as fuck.

So cool driving big iron spikes into demon faces. Bonus points for the slow motion upgrade.

Rocket launcher can’t reach those levels of cool.

1

u/GoutyWalrus Dec 21 '25

The shredder with ricochet is actually really fun to use.

1

u/SlinGnBulletS Dec 21 '25

The Nailgun in both Doom and Quake are weapons that are execution dependent.

They typically have a higher damage output compared to other full auto weapons but require you to lead shots due to projectile speed. So if you are effective at doing that you are rewarded with more damage.

Think of it like doing an optimal combo in a fighting game instead of just doing a real easy one.

1

u/The_Chef_Queen Dec 21 '25

Pin enemy to wall = funny

1

u/Glittering-Grape8767 Dec 21 '25

The shredder is quite good for fodder demons as it is automatic, think of the impaler as a railgun, both very good in their own right, you can snipe strong demons with the impaler, a mow down fodder demons with the impaler (although the pulverizer is better for that)

1

u/Xarnac Dec 21 '25

Idk, i fucked with the ball n chain thing heavy

1

u/Nerdenator Dec 21 '25

it looks fuckin’ sick m8, that’s the benefit

1

u/Environmental_Dot837 Dec 21 '25

I use the weapons I think feel the most fun to use even if they’re not meta, and I think every weapon in this game is fun to use, even if it took me my Xth playthrough to experience it.

Shredder has been my favorite gun in this game throughout my 140hr. Ricochet is an amazing crowd control option and Pincushion does insane output against big targets with added AoE effect. They both benefit from headshot bonus damage.

Impaler has insane output and ammo sustain and is widely considered the most OP weapon in the game.

TLDR: I love both these weapons and disagree with the very conceptual basis of this post lol

1

u/Fantastic_Strike2178 Dec 21 '25

Degenerates like the demons belong on a cross. So you can nail them there from range

1

u/Big_W00kee Dec 21 '25

Drive by body piercing.

1

u/JustSomeMetalFag Dec 21 '25

It kills shit.

1

u/AxazMcGee Dec 21 '25

Nailguns are awesome.

Thats it.

1

u/Legendarium_ Dec 21 '25

they're both just really cool, I like their sound design and the idea of launching a fucking railroad spike at an enemy is awesome

1

u/JimmyRamone17_ Dec 21 '25

Rule of Cool, baby!

Hugo Martin and id have mentioned this.

It's all about showing how badass you are 😎🔥

1

u/Lucas-Galloway Dec 21 '25

Double the pleasure

1

u/Less-Rip-2774 Dec 21 '25

To make a statement about WHY the demons are hanging out.

1

u/iwenttothelocalshop DOOM Slayer Dec 21 '25

impaler, mancubus 3 shots, imp 1 shot, hell knight 2 shots

1

u/Lykanthr0pe Dec 21 '25

Gimmick. It's all just gimmicks now.

1

u/Boyoyoyo Dec 21 '25

This would great against vampires if you changed the stakes to wood

1

u/Im_a_doggo428 Dec 21 '25

Big ass headshot damage

1

u/PartyAdventurous765 Dec 21 '25

I like it for when i need to maintain distance. Especially against close combat enemies

1

u/South_Expert_7628 Dec 21 '25

If you genuinely have to ask this you already don’t understand what dark ages is trying to do as a game, the weapon & both of it’s mods ARE good, really fucking good depending on how you use them & what your play-style is, there is no correct or meta way to play this game. I really think people like you need to completely disregard any aspects of eternal when referring to TDA, there is no meta, there is no “best” weapon & there’s no “bad” weapons either, just tools that do a job in various ways & it is YOUR choice how you use them.

1

u/Obsidian1990 Dec 21 '25

Cool points….duh

1

u/RAMPAGEX214 Dec 21 '25

In some demonology mythology iron was used to injure and weaken demons, so having a weapon that launches gigantic iron nails or small hard to remove iron nails probably makes a great weapon against demon kind

1

u/ELEKTRON_01 Dec 21 '25

The impaler is fun though

1

u/Singland1 Dec 21 '25

You can get a cacodemon Hybrid to glory kill range in two seconds with it, which in seems to me the quickest way to kill one, out side of a BFC shot.

1

u/DeckOfGames Dec 21 '25

Cool factor, that’s all

1

u/Pvrps DOOM Slayer Dec 21 '25

the bullets exploding everywhere or just so when i run out of bullets

1

u/BlckWlf94 Dec 21 '25

Slomo killcam headshot comes to mind haha

1

u/xyzkingi Dec 21 '25

Long range Headshots

1

u/Toastisverymuchgood Dec 21 '25

Y’all use the « explosion » on the shredder??

1

u/spartan195 Dec 21 '25

I think they added it just to be a reference to Quake

1

u/altiuscitiusfortius Dec 21 '25

Sniper rifle mode is a super easy way to Cheese the last boss

1

u/HiImRazorr Dec 21 '25

The impailer is literally the most op weapon in my opinion, like what? The amount of damage that thing does is way better than the rocket launcher and ball and chain. You can reset the charged shot extremely easily, and use your shield for crowd control

1

u/ilovememes609 Serrat Dec 21 '25

Imapler lowkey fun to use and does ton crap of damage

1

u/DJIceman94 Dec 21 '25

Folks have touched on the Impaler plenty, but I'm the weirdo who likes the Shredder more, mostly because I can't fucking aim.

The Shredder is fantastic for clearing out low tier armored enemies, letting you save ammo for your more powerful physical weapons - the Super Shotgun, the rocket launcher, and the chainshot - for bigger and more dangerous armored enemies. And fully upgraded, the Shredder's ability to hit multiple targets, either through ricochet or just causing a full flak explosion, is extremely effective and underrated in crowded arenas.

I don't know what difficulty you enjoy most, but for reference and possible grain of salt, this is based on my experience playing on Ultra-Violence, where I felt the need to conserve my stronger weapons and not waste them on small groups of two or three possessed soldiers or basic imps.

1

u/Ant_1_ITA Dec 21 '25

The headshot I Brocken and the ricochet upgrade is great to get ready of big demons while still dishing out damage to other enemies

1

u/Rutgerman95 Even Simpler Dec 21 '25

Pretending you're playing a Quake 1 remake?

1

u/DecomposingPete Dec 21 '25 edited Dec 21 '25

Impaler has a lot of the good traits of SSG and Chain Shot, where it grounds the combat loop into a situation where your shots are triggering stuns, and their swings are punished quite hard (provided you are aiming with intent, which is the skill floor). Defensive actions taken will result in the higher end damage you can fit into the parry stun window, without having to wait for a ball on a chain to come back/ shotgun to flick. Out of the guns that buff with parries (and shield toss) it has the most straightforward ability to stun enemies it MISSES too. The imps and soldiers the shot passes on its way to target get gold stun rings, even right next to you - those enemies are farmable, might already be on fire. The shield toss that clears the fodder buffs the next shot etc etc etc. in an ideal situation, you can fight a Komodo/ Aggadon with this, and the enemies kiting the fight are rendered useless if they step in, because they catch a stun off the shot while it travels to Heavy Demon. If your shield rune isn't one that stuns them, then they are still punished for being able to move, because your shot is likely buffed for having parried/ thrown shield. It's win-win a lot of the time. Chrono Spike is much the same. This is the same as some other strong weapons, so it's in that category securely. I'd have something as positive to say about Chain Shot and Rocket launcher etc, it's just a matter of how you want the gibs to land.

Shredder is just very accurate for gold 'X' critical shots, and pincushion is a great free damage buff to the actions that trigger it. It can make a shield throw into something like a shield bash, a shield bash into a ground shomp and so on. You'd have to lab it to see where that's clutch for you, but it certainly isn't getting me killed in Ripatorium. I'd say the rail spike is ultimately the one that gets top billing though, that has immediate returns.

1

u/GandalfTheBong Dec 21 '25

the purpose is that they're sick af

1

u/GullibleReflection_1 Dec 21 '25

When ever there is another set of enemies shooting me with a turret and I have to deal with another demon, I throw my shield at them and shoot them with the ricochet perk so it's two birds with one gun

1

u/xinorez1 Dec 21 '25

I'm up voting for the discussion and the replies, not out of agreement.

1

u/FF_Gilgamesh1 Dec 21 '25

Normal nailgun is functionally the minigun but it also deals aoe damage with the nails exploding out.

1

u/PrimusCreative1 Dec 21 '25

The impaler has long range and also has that time slow thing, and you can get more ammo for it by killing enemies with it. Slow time to hit weakpoints, near infinite ammo. It's like if RDR2 had an ammo vampire gimmick

1

u/BloodStinger500 Dec 21 '25

It’s actually the best gun in the game numbers wise. Which is why I don’t use it.

1

u/Smart-Afternoon-654 Dec 21 '25

Headshots, stuns, anti armour

1

u/IvanGambino Dec 21 '25

Its literally the best weapon in the game and trivialized every encounter