The consensus is out now, DOOM: Eternal is significantly more difficult than DOOM (2016), meaning you can’t just rip and tear until it is done with the same gleeful abandon. As the Doom Slayer, you just can’t go on and mow down demon after demon like they’re chicken wings on your platter no matter how red or hot they look. Not having a certain strategy and weapon upgrade economics can easily result in frustrating deaths.

It just so happens that you have limited weapon upgrade points in DOOM: Eternal for a single playthrough and prioritizing some over others is a good way to maximize your demon-slaying capabilities. With that said, you can still choose to play with your own preference, these recommendations are just here to make you a bit more efficient, especially in higher difficulties. Here are the upgrades, ranked from least important to most.

10 MICRO MISSILES - HEAVY CANNON

Back in DOOM (2016), micro missiles for the assault rifle or the conventional automatic weapon were a godsend and the popular choice among many players. That’s because the other option, a scope, just doesn’t fit in well with the close-quarters combat. Times have changed in the second game and the micro missiles are less important now.

That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get them, they’re still useful in a pinch especially once you’ve ran out of explosives of any sort. It’s just that their charging and reloading speed can be a liability especially in times where you need to hit a weak spot fast. Do keep them around as they’re good for boss fights.

9 DESTROYER BLADE - BALLISTA

Dealing with small and unthreatening enemies can be rather tiresome and can unnecessarily consume your shotgun ammunition or grenades. This is even more annoying in boss fights where weaker to medium enemies can start piling up on you while you’re busy using the Ballista on the boss.

However, you can get rid of them with a simple alternate fire mode if you have the Ballista’s Destroyer Blade. It launches a horizontal beam after you charge it and is the closest thing ever to a BFG. You can clear rooms or packs of fodder demons with this in a shorter time than it takes to swap weapons and deal with them.

8 MOBILE TURRET - CHAINGUN

Returning from DOOM (2016) is the newly designed Chaingun and one of its more memorable modifications, the Mobile Turret. It’s perfect for when you’re backed into a corner and your field of view is too polluted with hellspawn. The Mobile Turret can act as a lawnmower to keep your view more organized and less demonic.

It’s also useful against boss fights too once you’ve run out of ammunition for your other big guns and still want to dish out consistent damage. The only problem is that you can’t go ham on this one during the early stages of the modification but with improvements, you’ll be unstoppable.

7 ENERGY SHIELD - CHAINGUN

When it comes to the Chaingun, there are two types of people, those who challenge the hand of fate with the Mobile Turret, and those who prefer to put their fate into the hands of a trusty Energy Shield. Arguably, the latter is the safer option especially when you’re facing bosses or bigger demons and want to conserve your health.

The Energy Shield is also a huge lifesaver especially when you’re in a bind and want to score some big glory kills without having to compromise any more of your health. Again, it depends on your playstyle but the higher the difficulty levels, the more you might want to prioritize this one over the Mobile Turret.

6 LOCK-ON BURST - ROCKET LAUNCHER

Are you sick and tired of Revenants with ADHD who tend to move around as often as they can and waste your ammunition? Or are some bosses more mobile than usual? The rocket launcher should be your go-to weapon for that but never use it against them without the Lock-On Burst.

It’s a slow lock-on mechanic for the Rocket Launcher but once it completes, you can just empty your whole rocket supply on them until they go back to hell in pieces. It will leave you more vulnerable to damage while you’re locking on to them, so just be mindful of your surroundings.

5 ARBALEST - BALLISTA

One alternative you can have for boss fights if you’ve run out of rocket launchers or don’t want to leave yourself too vulnerable is the Arbalest modification from the Ballista. It’s a powerful charged single shot that will cause big damage to any target. The demonstration for the modification shows that it can easily one-shot a Cacodemon.

Still, you can perform the same but with a one-two punch using the Shotgun’s sticky bombs. What you can use the Arbalest for is against some tough bosses who have exhausted your rockets or your Super Shotgun ammunition. It’s a great way to whittle down their health before you deal the glory kill.

4 HEAT BLAST - PLASMA RIFLE

Now we’re moving on to the “almost necessary” territory, and one of those modifications is the Heat Blast from the Plasma Rifle. This is a modification so useful and effective, you’ll want to make sure you have it at least before you delve into the very first boss fight in DOOM: Eternal. The Heat Blast is so efficient for taking out smaller demons that you’ll find yourself often using it in favor of grenades.

This makes fights and encounters more skewed towards your favor as the Heat Blast can allow you to just focus on the bigger threats. When it comes to bosses enemies with shields, the Heat Blast is a lifesaver and can easily destroy down anything blue and glowing on the screen.

3 PRECISION BOLT - HEAVY CANNON

Unlike in DOOM (2016) where the best solution to every fight is to jump into the middle of a demon pack and yell “surprise!” using your Super Shotgun, DOOM: Eternal is a lot more tactical. Sometimes you need to eye out certain threats and take them down from afar, such as a Mancubus’ arm cannons or an Arachnotron’s turret.

That’s where the Precision Bolt from the Heavy Cannon comes in. It essentially turns your machine gun into a sniper rifle that can obliterate any weak point before you come in range. It’s also useful, necessary even, for when you’re doing jumping puzzles and pesky Imps are pelting you with orbs from afar.

2 STICKY BOMBS - COMBAT SHOTGUN

Torn between the Shotgun’s Full Auto-mode and the Stick Bombs? Forget the former, it consumes too much ammunition, stick to the Sticky Bombs, they are your friend throughout DOOM: Eternal. With the Sticky Bombs, you can easily take out any demon’s weak spot or head assuming they’re too near for the Heavy Cannon’s Precision Bolt.

You can also use them early on to deal with packs of fodder enemies until you’ve gotten your hands on the Plasma Rifle. This modification here makes Cacodemons, Arachnotrons, and Mancubuses (or Mancubi?) a joke.

1 SUPER SHOTGUN IMPROVEMENTS

There’s only one mandatory modification for Super Shotgun and it’s already unclocked but it still has improvements to be had. So, as soon as you get this ole reliable boomstick, make sure that you focus all your weapon upgrade points on it so you can start working on the Flaming Meat Hook!

This weapon mastery is easy to obtain and serves a dual purpose other than utility once you have the flaming meat hook. For one, flaming enemies drop tons of armor shards and once you have this, you can go for a more aggressive playstyle since you can get more armor while attacking relentlessly. So basically, just love your shotguns and they will love you back, that’s DOOM for you.

NEXT: Doom: 5 Video Game Heroes Doom Slayer Can Slay (& 5 He Can’t)