Battlemode

Battlemode is the multiplayer mode in Doom Eternal. It is available on PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch, but does not allow cross-play. On the consoles, it requires subscription to the platform's online services (PlayStation Plus, Xbox Live Gold, Nintendo Switch Online).

Overview
Instead of a traditional deathmatch, battlemode consists of 2-against-1 fights, pitting two player-controlled monsters against one Slayer with a fully upgraded (but not all weapons mastered, and without access to the microwave beam or destroyer blade mods) arsenal, 175 health, and 125 armor in a best-of-five format.

At the start of a round, both sides jockey for position; until the starting countdown finishes, they cannot attack but are able to move freely. It should be noted that many areas can only be reached by the Slayer, as demons cannot use portals, jump pads, or monkey bars.

The demon side wins a round by killing the Slayer, while the Slayer has to kill both demon players within 20 seconds of one another; if more time passes after the death of one demon player without the second demon player dying, the dead demon will respawn at half health.

The demon side needs to use teamwork and combine their unique abilities to gain the upper hand, while for the Slayer it is a test of skill and mobility.

Both the Slayer and the demons can choose to equip different skins (with the Slayer also getting access to weapon skins), intro animations, podiums, and victory animations in order to personalize their appearances. These can be acquired either through playing the campaign, earning XP through Battlemode matches, accumulating Slayers Club points, or completing certain out-of-game tasks.

Playable demons
Each demon has two different action sets to choose from that determine the non-unique abilities it can use, and has a play style focused on a specific role.
 * Arch-vile: Able to teleport a short distance, and specializes in area denial and movement restriction. Has the Agile and Summoner action sets.
 * Dread knight: Added in Update 6.66. Fast, able to double-jump, and possesses a wide variety of attacks, but several of its attacks have a cooldown that restrict how frequently they can be used.
 * Marauder: Superior mobility via double-jumping and dashing, and good at pressuring the Slayer with close range attacks. Has the Ranged and Pressure action sets.
 * Mancubus: Slow, but strong and hard to kill; also able to double jump, but cannot attack after the second jump until it lands. Has the Tanker and Support action sets.
 * Pain elemental: Can fly freely and air-dash, but has difficulty taking cover from attacks. Has the Pressure and Summoner action sets.
 * Revenant: Balanced, with the ability to fly for a short time. Has the Offensive and Defensive action sets.

Abilities
The Slayer has access to dash, glory kill, frag grenade, and flame belch, as well as most weapons and weapon mods, including the chainsaw. Demons all have access to the "block loot" ability, All demons can jump (except the pain elemental, which can instead fly). Demons have access to two different "action set" profiles each, which gives them different sets of additional abilities. The demons can summon various NPC monsters, set up healing areas, generate damaging floors, and prevent NPC monsters from dropping loot in order to deprive the Slayer of resources. Each player can only summon one monster of a given type (except of course for the shield soldiers); trying to summon another will kill the first one and cause it to drop loot that the Slayer can pick up. These abilities have a cooldown time between uses.


 * Aerial dash:Performs a single dash in the air. The ability then needs to recharge.
 * Afterburner:Allows to perform a dash by burning jetpack fuel.
 * Arachnotron:Summons an arachnotron.
 * Armored:Reduces damage taken by half during four seconds.
 * Block loot:Destroys loot drops from AI demons and prevents more from spawning during three seconds. (Loot from player demons is not blocked.)
 * Cacodemon:Summons a cacodemon.
 * Carcass:Summons a carcass.
 * Dash:Allows to perform dashes. Two such moves can be done before the ability needs to recharge.
 * Fireball:Shoots a fireball (one for the arch-vile, two for the mancubus).
 * Flame wall:Summons a wall of fire in front of you that blocks the Slayer and his attacks for a short period. You can attack through the flame wall.
 * Flamethrower:Short range attack with burning flames. Must be charged by using Fireball.
 * Hell knight:Summons a Hell knight.
 * Haste:Increases your movement speed by 50% for five seconds.
 * Healing zone:Creates an area lasting eight seconds in which player demons heal for 100 health per second.
 * Jetpack:Allows you to fly around. Fuel recharges while on the ground.
 * Lake of fire:Summons a circle of fire wherever the crosshair is pointed
 * Maykr drone:Summons a Maykr drone.
 * Noxious hazard:Creates a hazardous area lasting four seconds in which the Slayer takes damage.
 * Prowler:Summons a prowler.
 * Rocket barrage:Shoots a barrage of rockets.
 * Shield soldier duo:Summons a pair of shield soldiers to defend the area where they are spawned.
 * Shotgun:Shoots a double-barreled shotgun.
 * Smoke bomb:Hinders visibility and removes demon outlines in a large volume.
 * Soul shield:Summons several lost souls that can be launched as a barrage and protect you from frontal attacks.
 * Soul spit:Shoots a lost soul.
 * Summon wolf:Summons a spectral wolf to your side to harass the Slayer.
 * Teleport:Teleports you a short distance, but only on the ground or a ledge.
 * Throw axe:Ranged attack with the marauder's axe.
 * Twin rockets:Shoots a pair of homing rockets.

Upgrades
At the end of each round, both sides are allowed to select upgrades that enhance their inherent abilities and stats. Should the battle extend past three rounds, a power upgrade will be awarded whose effects are much stronger than the standard upgrades.

Slayer upgrades

 * Burning hate:Halves flame belch countdown, increase armor loot drops.
 * Dashing:Dash recharges faster, and instantly refreshes from chainsaw and glory kills.
 * Double down:Increases frag grenade explosion and provides additional charge to the launcher.
 * Master carve:Chainsaw attacks are faster, drop more ammo, and chainsaw recharges faster.
 * Resource drain:Increase health loot drops.
 * Speed demon:Faster glory kill animations, and extended melee range to perform them.

Demon upgrades
All demons have access to the same four basic upgrades: Thieving hand, Bigger bar, Buff minions, and Tactician. In addition, each demon has two upgrades specific to it.


 * Acrobat:Your jetpack fuel capacity is increased by 40%, takes one less second to fully recharge while on the ground, and there is no penalty for running out of fuel with Afterburner.
 * Best friend:Your summoned wolf has 200 more health points, and you get 25% damage reduction for three seconds whenever it successfully damages the Slayer.
 * Bigger bar:Increases your base health by 500 points.
 * Broiling heat:Enemies damaged by lake of fire suffer 25% increased damage from all sources, and inflict 25% less damage while in the area and for four seconds after leaving it.
 * Buff minions:Your summoned minions deal 50% more damage.
 * Bury the hatchet:If you score a direct hit with your axe, you get a 50% speed boost for three seconds.
 * Fit meatball:Your Aerial dash ability recharges 50% faster.
 * Fire specialist:Your flame wall reflects attacks.
 * Hot like fire:Doubles your flamethrower's recharge speed.
 * Lingering soul:Your soul shield projectile create a hazard for four seconds after impact.
 * Quick smoke:Greater speed 3 seconds after throwing smoke bomb (can stack with Haste, causing the Mancubus to run faster than Slayer).
 * Tactician:Your tactical actions last longer and recharge faster.
 * Thieving hand:Heals by half the amount of damage inflicted by your summoned minions.
 * Unstable trigger:Your rocket barrage ability takes three seconds less to recharge, and shoots even more rockets.

Power upgrades
Power upgrades are only available in the fourth and fifth rounds. All demons have the same power upgrades.


 * Baron of Hell:Summons a baron of Hell. The baron is not affected by the "Buff minions" upgrade.
 * BFG-9000:Get access to the BFG-9000 weapon. Damage taken is reduced by three quarters for up to five seconds while a BFG projectile is launched.
 * Bonus boom:The equipment launcher throws two frag grenades at once and demons killed by the explosions spawn additional cluster bombs.
 * Demonic onslaught:Increases your damage output by 25% for ten seconds.
 * Endless rage:After a chainsaw or glory kill, your damage is increased by 50% for three seconds.
 * Instant resurrect:Ability to immediately revive a slain player demon.
 * Fists of fury:Blood punches cause increased area damage and provide you with 75% damage reduction for three seconds.
 * Quick acting:Allows one additional use of Block loot while that ability recharges.
 * Sentinel-infused:Start each round with additional health, armor, and ammo.
 * Team heal:Heal ability that restores 50% of your health and 25% of your teammate's health.

Updates
Battlemode has been updated numerous times with a nearly endless list of balance tweaks, many of which undid previous experimental changes. As of Doom Eternal's v6.66 update of October 26, 2021, a large number of such changes alongside new content, including the dread knight as a playable demon and the Stronghold level, was christened Battlemode 2.0.

The Battlemode 2.0 update also introduced time-limited series of cosmetic rewards separate from the normal Doom Eternal events system referred to as Battlemode seasons. These extra cosmetics, besides being available for only a limited time, were also gated behind "hot streaks," requiring a player to win four or more matches in a row in order to make progress. This system was criticized for favoring only hardcore, highly skilled players, and for being poorly thought-out in various manners, such as not incorporating any forgiveness for elements such as demon partner disconnects. Many players reported being unable to complete the seasons before their deadlines. Information on these seasons is poorly documented, as they were only announced informally via social media and not on the Slayers Club or in mainstream media outlets. The beginning of each season corresponded with a reset of the Battlemode leaderboards.