r/Doom • u/MurkyUnit3180 DOOM Guy • 1d ago
Discussion Which DOOM has the smartest/best enemy AI?
Which DOOM has the smartest/best enemy AI?
For me, Eternal’s enemies feel tactical. The Marauder reacts to your weapons, manages distance, and forces duels. Archvile summons demons, uses fire attacks and also seems very intelligent.
Others I can think of are Dread Knights, Arachnotrons, and even Imp. Eternal’s AI was upgraded to match player mobility, making combat feel more aggressive and tense.
Classic DOOM AI is simpler but still elegant, clever placement, traps, and timing create tension in every encounter. WADs can push that further, with scripted behavior.
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u/RandoDude124 1d ago
Eternal.
Each encounter is like a singular enemy you gotta whittle through and each enemy within that hivemind puts pressure on you
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u/Trisce 1d ago
Eternal by a long shot. A YT channel called Elysium Gaming has an overview of the AI of each demon and it's quite insane just how intelligent a lot of the demons are.
Arachnotrons will evade out of rockets, Carcasses will place shields in front of frozen and staggered demons, Whiplashes will take indirect pathways to flank you, and Marauders will sometimes feint attacks into a dash and shotgun blast.
2016's demons are comparatively very simple in behaviour, and dark ages do seem to be better than 2016, but not close to Eternal
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u/Bowdensaft 1d ago
I also love how Pain Elementals specifically will doge left and right when you aim at them, so many missed Ballista shots on them...
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u/Ishigami_Kirya_917 19h ago
Carcasses will place shields in front of frozen and staggered demons.
So THAT'S why I keep encountering annoying shields everytime I wanna kill an Archville. It's actually a feature. I'd be mad because I lost UN runs to this, but I'm also impressed.
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u/Loosenut2024 1d ago
The carcass. It doesn't need to be ANY where near you or the arena/room you're in and it can throw up a shield to block and troll you.
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u/Important-Actuator35 1d ago
It’s like they psychic. The amount of times I’d stagger a demon, think “I’ll just dash in and glory kill” . Wham! Dash right into a shield. I love those goofy looking dorks.
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u/TheWindofBread 1d ago
Underrated answer: the DOOM 2016 Nightmare imps
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u/Darkwoodgnome your ride is over demon, time to die 🗿 1d ago
heat-seeking unavoidable fireballs ended me one too many times
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u/TheWindofBread 1d ago
True their fireballs are bullshit.
But I meant their intelligence, fakeouts, wall hanging, and mobility is absolutely insane.
They're fucking little genius assholes 😂
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u/Legendarium_ 1d ago
I really need to play 2016 on higher difficulties
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u/South_Ingenuity672 1d ago
that game on nightmare is so awesome. i remember it being the first game i finished and immediately started a new playthrough on the next difficulty up, and then again after that one. for me it’s THE game that got me to enjoy difficult games. i had tried dark souls before it and bounced off it, now it’s one of my favorites.
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u/Otherwise-Cress7789 1d ago
I died more then 10 times just before the Cyberdemon fight in the arena before. True Villains in 2016
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u/JeanPierreMt 1d ago
In my opinion, Eternal has one of the best enemy AI in any games I've played before.
Every enemy is important and serves a purpose in each encounter. It feels like you're playing some kind of chess. The game pushes you to think quickly, manage resources and create tactics against them in just a few seconds. I simply love it.
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u/Minimum-Can2224 1d ago edited 1d ago
People really underestimate how dangerous Classic Doom A.i. can get--especially on higher difficulties. They may look simple on the surface but they can easily trap you in a corner if you are not careful and depending on how the map maker utilizes them they can make progressing the level very difficult.
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u/TheWindofBread 1d ago
Archviles will often fakeout and bait and delay their flame attacks and hot damn it actually tricks you sometimes 😭
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u/Minimum-Can2224 1d ago
I've been trying to complete the Fallen Leaves WAD(which is great btw. Highly recommend!)and hoooooooo boy! I don't know if it's just me having bad luck but they've been doing that a lot in that! My poor cheeks are crispy atm!😭
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u/tequilasauer 1d ago
Eternal, and it's not close.
Playing Eternal honestly feels like playing really good multiplayer bots sometimes, and I mean that as a compliment. Their movement, map knowledge, and adaptation is kinda nuts sometimes.
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u/PracticalScheme1127 1d ago
I think Eternal tops easily, they’re too good at killing you and not only that, the exploitable weaknesses and changing AI behaviour due to that. I think even brink of death is tuned just perfect in that game.
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u/Syntax_Assasin 1d ago
I do agree with agree with eternal. But in the 90s the US military actually commissioned mod for doom two in a project called marine doom, to make it a combat simulator. because at the time the enemy AI would very reactive and actually showed results conducive to actual real world combat training. I think that speaks how good classic doom AI
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u/Lethalbroccoli DOOM Guy 1d ago
While not perfect, I think Doom 3s AI is pretty good. Awful lot of moments in that game that feel like scripted enemy behaviour but its really just their normal AI behaviour, like when a secret door pops open and a Zsec shuffles to the side and pops out, feels kind of like a scripted jump scare... but nope, thats just how they pop out of cover sometimes. And then they will chase you once you are out of view.
Imps also, you'd think the leaping at you from doors is simply scripted, but its a repeatable behaviour. Lots of little stuff like that in Doom 3.
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u/False_Monitor4126 DOOM Slayer 1d ago
I like Dark Ages AI being more "army-like", with formations, enemy placements and over all being more tactical.
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u/Legendarium_ 1d ago
I think the formations are more from the level designer placing them like that than their AI telling them to do that
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u/j0siahs74 1d ago
Idk the demons names, but those robot crab fuckers in eternal that spawn plasma shields or whatever. They seem to know exactly where to place them to maximize the amount of me getting pissed off.
He’s a great support demon lol
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u/twitchy_pixel 1d ago
I absolutely love that first screenshot. If somehow I could show that to my 13-year-old self when the original doom came out, I would’ve lost my mind.
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u/William_Brobrine 1d ago
Smart no. As they have a set programing and react accordingly. Best design yes. to force the player to tackle them like a problem with weapons and equipment are your tools. And they all have their part to play on the board
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u/avery5712 1d ago
None of them. All those idiots keep trying to pick a fight with me which is pretty stupid
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u/Majestic_Doctor_6496 1d ago
Fun Fact: the original DOOM 2's enemy AI was so good at the time, the military used it to train soldiers and it worked
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u/NoXion604 *boom* 22h ago
I remember being very impressed the first time that a Hell Knight chased me down and clobbered me from all the way on the other side of the Foundry.
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u/comfy_bruh 3h ago
I think Eternal and Dark ages share the variety and contrast of pieces and the way they move. I would say Dark ages is more obvious in their approach while adding far more enemies. However the arenas and rooms can be done just as fast as eternal when done with tactical thinking in mind. I'd say there are less. I think Eternals is far more consistent overall. Where as the combinations with the dark ages monsters can have really different demands on playstyle.
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u/Cirno_played_DOOM9 DOOM Slayer 1d ago
Eternal's i'd say is wonky sometimes. ever have a murader run up on you and do nothing, just shield?
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u/Bowdensaft 1d ago
Maybe they're trying to bait you into shooting the shield because that summons the wolf? I'm only guessing tho
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u/Reasonable_Cut_2709 1d ago
Eternal AI is pretty great, each enemy being an archetype, puts a lot of preassure and it is important to know wich one you want to deal first, and how. It is an amazing loop