For most of Doom‘s lore, you’re usually tasked with ripping and tearing hordes of demons, with no room for diplomacy. Doom: The Dark Ages, however, somehow lets you break that cycle of hate, as one player discovered that you can pacify or befriend one of the most iconic demons in the franchise, the Hell Knight.
This experiment was performed by Doom fan and Reddit user Edde799. Edde799 was just casually obliterating the typical hellspawn when he managed to blow off both arms of a Hell Knight amid the frantic gameplay. Good thing Edde799 was more observant than the usual rabid Doom player, since he noticed that the Hell Knight he “disarmed” (heh) could no longer attack him, but it was still keen on getting close to him.
Turns out Hell Knights are harmless without their arms, and the best thing they could do is to follow you around (albeit aggressively) after you dismember them. It’s not clear whether this is a bug or a glitch, or if the Hell Knight forgot they can kick or bite. It’s also possible the devs forgot to put in other attack animations for the Hell Knight.
Soon after, another player hatched a diabolical idea in their Doom Slayer helmet: “disarming” several Hell Knights to create a crew of enthusiastic but possibly angry hell followers. Reddit user Earthyboii managed to collect four armless Hell Knights in the same spot and form a crew.
Sadly, Earthyboii had to put his Hell Knight friends out of misery, though he assured everyone that he felt bad about butchering the armless demons.
Halo Flood Buddy Flashbacks Intensify
It’s not clear whether this method works for other enemy types or just Hell Knights, but Doom: The Dark Ages‘ combat appears to be more precise and tactical now that dismemberment against demons doesn’t outright cause their death. If we’re lucky, some madman might just try a non-lethal Hell Knight friends run, depending on how much the game actually allows.
Funny enough, some of the older fans in the Reddit thread were reminded of a similar mechanic in the Halo trilogy, where Master Chief can glitch out Flood enemies by shooting off their limbs or appendages. These limbless enemies can then turn into reluctant followers or “Flood Buddies” as their AI script still compels them to get close to the players.
Halo, however, made it more fun since you can technically have infinite Flood Buddies following you around, depending on how accurately you shoot. With how most Doom: The Dark Ages levels work, the game likely won’t let you keep Hell Knight Buddies around, though some modders or challenge runners are still welcome to try.
