Doom 3 > Weapons

Weapons

All the weapons that were available to players of DOOM! and DOOM! Hell on Earth are available in Doom 3 and/or its Resurrection of Evil (ROE) expansion.

At the start of Doom 3 you start out with just your fists and collect your basic weapons in the Mars City Underground level. In ROE you start off better armed. From there you collect better weapons to blow away your enemies and finish your missions.

Weapons Table

Legend

Cap
capacity, how much your weapon can hold.
Res
reserve, how much ammo you can carry with you.
Hit
hit points, how much damage each round from your weapon can inflict.
x
y
Some weapons in ROE have greater reserve than in Doom 3. ROE reserves are marked in red on gold.
Weapon Summary Cap Res Hits
Fists Offering critters knuckle sandwiches is most cathartic, but you will not be doing it for long. Fists are a weapon of last resort if you have completely run out of ammo. Fists are adequate against zombies (provided you dodge their blows), but are useless against Z-Secs and demons. With the Berzerk power-up, however, fists turn into weapons of mass liquification for a half-minute. n/a n/a 20
Flashlight This is your tool for finding your way in the mostly dark Mars Base, assuming you haven't found the Duct Tape mod. The flashlight's light is somewhat dim and narrow, but its battery lasts forever, so it will never go out. It also doubles as a club for beaning zombies and weaker critters. n/a n/a 40
Grabber In ROE, the Ionized Plasma Levitator lets you lift and move objects below a certain weight without touching them. It works for several seconds before running out of charge, after which you need a second or two to recharge. With the Grabber you can:
  • grab armor, ammo and medkits from distant or high places;
  • catch an enemy's fireballs and throw them back at it;
  • pick up and toss barrels at your enemies;
  • destroy smaller enemies (lost souls, trites, ticks, and cherubs) with it, saving ammo.
n/a n/a n/a
Pistol Your semiautomatic pistol is good for taking out weaker enemies and as a backup when you run out of other ammo. With it you can pick off enemies from a distance; set off exploding barrels; and shoot prone zombies to see if they're playing possum. The pistol is not a good weapon against stronger monsters unless you have nothing else. 12 348 14
Shotgun This is a hand cannon that delivers lethal damage, up close and personal, to zombies and Z-Secs and many kinds of demon. This kills Imps and similar critters instantly with a shot to the head. It is useless for medium- and long-range attacks, as the shot has too much spread. It also takes a long time to reload. 8 312 182
Double Shotgun This is Sargeant Kelly's pride and joy. You find it in his old office at the Erebus Labs in ROE. As advertised it delivers twice the damage as a single-barrel shotgun, killing Imps and Vulgars instantly and, when used with the full Artifact, sending Hellknights and Bruisers flying in a gently curving arc of death. Its big drawbacks: It holds only two shells at a time, uses both at once, and takes twice as long to reload as a regular shotgun, eating the single-barrel's lunch with every reload. 2 364
Machine Gun This delivers continuous firepower with amazing accuracy even at long range. Thus you can stand at a distance and pick off your enemies with it. Its ammo is common, as most Z-Secs use machine guns. Its rounds are weak, though, which means you need a lot of ammo to stop most demons. And its rapid fire depletes ammo very quickly, as you can see on the readout on the gun's stock. 60 540
600
9
Grenade This is the fun bomb: A hand-delivered device that kills enemies either on impact or from splash damage in a wide radius. It is useful in flushing out enemies in entrenched positions or hiding in ambush. You can gently release a grenade or hold its pin down for less than three seconds to toss it hard, or make it bounce off a wall or floor.
A grenade can bounce right back at you; explode if you hold down its pin too long; and be detonated by enemy fire before it hits its target. This makes the grenade the Weapon Most Likely To Backfire and Gib You since its introduction in Quake in 1994.
1 50 150
Chaingun The Mach 3 Chaingun, nicknamed the Saw, delivers a fast stream of belt-fed armor-piercing rounds that rip up zombies, Z-Secs and critters at short-to-medium distances. It's very unwieldy, though, and it needs time for its barrel to warm up before firing, so it is useful only for mop-ups rather than hand-to-hand fighting. 60 540
600
20
Plasma Gun This fires bright blue orbs of superhot plasma that burns anything it hits. It is useful in roasting roomfuls of zombies, Z-Secs and critters; and in spreading flak that clears the air of fireballs and rockets. It is an excellent weapon for short, medium and (unless a critter is fast: orbs travel very slowly) long range. 50 450
500
16
Rocket Launcher For when critter death absolutely, positively has to be there, there is nothing like a rocket launcher, which fires rockets that deliver massive damage at medium to long distances. The rockets fly in straight paths to explode on impact (or if detonated by enemy fire). Don't handle this weapon lightly: Like grenades, rocket explosion can harm you as well as your enemies; and the launcher is very slow to reload.
Rocket jumping, where you jump and fire a rocket launcher at the same time to fly into the air, is not as effective in Doom 3 as it is in the Quake series, as the splash damage is too great.
5 91 170
BFG 9000 The most powerful weapon in the Doom series, in Doom 3 the BFG 9000 is the UAC's most advanced weapon. One shot from it can clear an entire room of enemies. The BFG fires a single energy orb with a control module inside; the module identifies enemies and softens them with small beams of energy (five hits per second) just before the orb itself explodes in five seconds or on impact. The only defense against it is to shatter an orb's control module with small arms fire.
You can make the orb more powerful by holding down the trigger to add up to four charges. If you hold the trigger too long, however, the BFG itself will explode, taking you with it.
4 28 200
Chainsaw Woo-hoo! Let's find some meat!! Shipped to Mars Base by mistake, the Beavertooth chainsaw will cut up zombies instantly and most demons in seconds. You will never need your fists or flashlight as a weapon again once you get your hands on this nasty toy. Regretably, it is not available in ROE. n/a n/a 20/s
Barrel Although not strictly a weapon, barrels are useful in taking out groups of enemies. You lure your enemies to a barrel, shoot the barrel from a distance with your pistol, and watch them fly! Or, in ROE, pick a barrel up with a Grabber and throw it (quickly!!) at your enemies. Just be sure you are nowhere near one when it goes boom, because the blast can kill you as well as your enemies.
There are three kinds of barrel. An orange barrel explodes instantly. A yellow barrel fumes for a couple of seconds before going off. A blue barrel does not explode; however, in ROE you can still injure critters with it by throwing it at them with a Grabber.
n/a n/a #
Soul Cube The Soul Cube was made by an ancient Martian civilization to defeat the first demon invasion. Dr. McNeil's archeological team found it; Dr. Betruger gave it to the demons in return for power; you retrieve it from Hell as the key to defeat the demons again. You charge the Soul Cube by killing five demons. When it is ready (by telling you Use us!) you throw it at an enemy like an Archvile or Hellknight to kill it at once and take from it its hugh reserves of health. Then you must kill five more enemies to charge it, so don't waste a throw by killing an Imp or other weak enemy with it.
The Soul Cube is the only weapon that can hurt the Cyberdemon, Doom 3's final boss. Use the many Imps and Maggots to charge the Cube, then throw it at the big fellow. You need six throws to kill the Cyberdemon.
Sargeant Kelly/Sabaoth is not all the demon that he can be; but while the Soul Cube will not kill him, it can soft him up for your other weapons.
n/a n/a 1000
Artifact An infernal engine that looks and throbs like a human heart, the Artifact is the very heart of ROE, as your mission is to keep it out of the hands of Hell. The Artifact, also known as the Hellstone, is not a weapon in itself but augments the powers of the player and whatever weapon is in play. It is powered by up to three human souls from the newly deceased, whose bodies disintegrate as their agonized souls are absorbed. When the appropriate Hunter demon is killed, the Artifact grants the player:
  • Hell Time. Time slows to a crawl, allowing the player to evade traps, to dodge bullets and fireballs, and strike enemies before they can strike back.
  • Berzerker. A longer-lasting version of the Berzerker power-up, but you can use your weapons as well as your hands to deal instant death.
  • Invulnerability. No blow or energy can harm you, although you can still get knocked off your feet.
When the Artifact is chosen, it hovers just out of the player's reach, giving the player's hands the look of decay. When activated all available powers are active for five seconds per soul, during which your vision is seriously blurred.
3 3 n/a