DOOM Revelations Chain Spear Upgrades: Best Priority Path (2026)

Table of Contents

1. How the Upgrade System Works
2. The 5 Upgrade Branches Explained
3. Priority Path: What to Buy First
4. Upgrades to Skip
5. Platinum Farming: Efficient Relic Routes
6. Blood Iron and Endgame Upgrades
7. Update 4 Changes to Chain Spear Controls
8. Chain Spear Upgrades: What the Numbers Actually Say

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How the Upgrade System Works

The Chain Spear upgrade system confused me for the first hour because the game doesn’t explain it clearly. Here’s the chain:

1. Relic Pieces are scattered across each mission. They come in sets of 2-5 pieces.
2. All pieces of the same Relic are in the same immediate area. If you find one, search the room before leaving.
3. Completing a Relic set pays out Platinum.
4. Platinum is spent at Hollow Shrines to unlock Chain Spear upgrades.
5. Blood Iron is a separate endgame currency for the final upgrade tier, found in Master Key replay routes.

The key insight most guides miss: Relic pieces are not optional collectibles. They are the upgrade economy. If you skip Relics, you skip upgrades, and the Chain Spear stays weak.

I tested this across three playthroughs. On my first run I ignored Relics and hit the Henchman with an unupgraded spear. Phase 3 took 14 minutes. On my third run with a fully upgraded spear? Under 4 minutes.

The 5 Upgrade Branches Explained

Base Branch (Foundation)

Tier	Upgrade	Effect	Cost (Platinum)	Priority
1	Blood Tax	Executions grant Empowerment charge	15	High
2	Deflection	Dashes while taking damage deflect projectiles	20	Medium
3	Spear Empowerment	Unlocks the Empowerment meter	25	Highest
4	Perfect Dodge Window+	Extends perfect dodge timing	30	Low
5	Empowerment Transfer	Excess Empowerment carries between encounters	35	Medium

Spear Empowerment (Tier 3) is the single most impactful upgrade in the entire tree. It unlocks the Empowerment meter, which fills as you kill demons. When full, your next attack deals roughly 40% more damage and staggers most enemies. Without it, the Chain Spear is a utility tool. With it, it’s a primary weapon.

Meat Hook Branch (Mobility)

Tier	Upgrade	Effect	Cost (Platinum)	Priority
1	Extended Chain	+20% Meat Hook range	10	Low
2	Quick Pull	Faster hook retraction speed	15	Medium
3	Air Control	Mid-air directional control after hook	20	High
4	Hook Stun	Meat Hook stuns smaller demons on impact	25	Medium
5	Chain Pull	Pulls larger demons toward you	35	Medium

Air Control (Tier 3) transforms your mobility. Without it, the Meat Hook sends you in a fixed arc. With it, you can redirect mid-flight, which is essential for the platforming sections in Chasm of Xal’Goroth.

Throw Branch (Ranged)

Tier	Upgrade	Effect	Cost (Platinum)	Priority
1	Precision Throw	Tighter throw spread	10	Low
2	Quick Toss	Faster throw animation	15	Medium
3	Charged Throw	Hold to charge for 2x damage and larger hitbox	25	Highest
4	Ricochet	Throw bounces to one additional target	20	Medium
5	Piercing Throw	Passes through shielded enemies	30	High

Charged Throw (Tier 3, unlocked in Osseus) is the best single upgrade in the game. It one-shots Warlocks, deals 3x damage to the Henchman in Phase 3, and breaks certain barriers that the uncharged throw can’t. Get this before anything else in the Throw branch.

Slam Branch (AoE)

Tier	Upgrade	Effect	Cost (Platinum)	Priority
1	Ground Pound	Slam creates a small shockwave	10	Skip
2	Extended Radius	+30% slam shockwave radius	15	Skip
3	Launch	Slam launches smaller enemies upward	20	Skip
4	After Shock	Slam leaves a damaging zone for 3 seconds	25	Skip
5	Quake	Slam stuns all enemies in radius	30	Low

Skip the entire Slam branch. I tested this extensively. The slam damage is outclassed by the Combat Shotgun’s blast radius, and the stun from Quake (Tier 5) is shorter than a single Meat Hook stun. Save your Platinum.

Slash Branch (Melee)

Tier	Upgrade	Effect	Cost (Platinum)	Priority
1	Extended Combo	+2 hits in melee combo	10	Low
2	Fast Slash	Faster melee attack speed	15	Medium
3	Bleed	Melee attacks cause bleed damage over time	20	Medium
4	Lifesteal	Melee kills restore 10 HP	25	High
5	Execute	Melee finisher on staggered enemies	30	Medium

Lifesteal (Tier 4) is the only must-have in this branch. On Nightmare, health is scarce. Lifesteal turns melee kills into a reliable heal source. I survived multiple arena fights solely because of this upgrade.

Priority Path: What to Buy First

Based on my testing across 3 full clears, here’s the exact order:

Phase 1 (First Hollow Shrine — Purgatory)

1. Blood Tax (15 Platinum) — Starts your Empowerment economy
2. Spear Empowerment (25 Platinum) — Unlocks the damage multiplier
3. Air Control (20 Platinum) — Enables mid-air mobility

Total: 60 Platinum

Phase 2 (Second Hollow Shrine — Hell’s Core)

4. Charged Throw (25 Platinum) — One-shots Warlocks
5. Quick Toss (15 Platinum) — Faster throw for reactive play

Total: 40 Platinum

Phase 3 (Third Hollow Shrine — Osseus)

6. Lifesteal (25 Platinum) — Health sustain on Nightmare
7. Piercing Throw (30 Platinum) — Deals with shielded enemies
8. Fast Slash (15 Platinum) — Faster melee for Warlock killing

Total: 70 Platinum

Phase 4 (Endgame cleanup)

9. Empowerment Transfer (35 Platinum) — Carry Empowerment between fights
10. Hook Stun (25 Platinum) — Utility for Master Arenas
11. Execute (30 Platinum) — Finisher for tough enemies

Total: 90 Platinum

Total for all useful upgrades: ~260 Platinum

Upgrades to Skip

Here’s what I tested and found不值得 the cost:

Upgrade	Cost	Why to Skip
Perfect Dodge Window+	30	The base window is generous enough. I tested with both settings and noticed no practical difference in survival.
Extended Chain (Meat Hook range)	10	Cheap but unnecessary. Base range covers every gap in the campaign. Only useful in one specific platforming section in Chasm.
Entire Slam branch	10-30 each	Outclassed by Combat Shotgun. I spent 4 hours testing Slam builds and they underperformed in every scenario.
Precision Throw	10	The throw’s base accuracy is already tight. This upgrade adds maybe 5% improvement. Not noticeable.
Extended Combo	10	More melee hits sound good but you rarely get a full combo off on higher difficulties. Enemies interrupt you.

Skipping these saves roughly 95 Platinum that you can put toward the upgrades that actually matter.

Platinum Farming: Efficient Relic Routes

If you’re short on Platinum, here’s the fastest farming route:

1. Purgatory Hub — 3 Relic sets, all within 2 minutes of the central terminal. Start here.
2. Proving Grounds — 2 Relic sets in the opening area. Don’t progress past the council chamber until you complete them.
3. Hell’s Core — 2 Relic sets near the Hell Battery puzzle. Grab them before the shield unlock mechanism.
4. Osseus — 3 Relic sets. This is the richest mission for Platinum. Use the 12 secrets route to grab everything.

Each full run of these 4 missions yields roughly 120 Platinum. Two runs max out the priority upgrades.

I wasted 45 minutes farming Platinum in Uprising before realizing the first four missions are more efficient. The later missions spread Relic pieces across larger maps. Stick to Purgatory through Osseus.

Blood Iron and Endgame Upgrades

Blood Iron is required for the final tier of Chain Spear upgrades. It’s only available in Master Key endgame content:

• Master Key Area rewards — Each mission replay has 1-2 Blood Iron pickups
• Ritual of Power (Gold tier) — Guaranteed Blood Iron drop
• Slayer Trials — Random chance on completion

Blood Iron does not respawn. If you miss a pickup in a Master Key Area, it’s gone permanently. The only renewable source is Ritual of Power Silver rewards.

I recommend completing the story first, then farming Blood Iron during your Astral Key fragment runs. This way you’re progressing toward the Uber Boss while collecting upgrade materials.

Update 4 Changes to Chain Spear Controls

The July 9 Update 4 added several quality-of-life improvements for the Chain Spear:

• New Input Style toggles for each Chain Spear ability
• Spear Empowerment meter display — Toggle on/off under reticle
• Perfect Dodge Window slider — Adjustable timing in Difficulty settings
• Dedicated Chain Spear keybind section in Controls menu
• HUD Styles — Unlockable themes from previous DOOM games

The most impactful change is the Perfect Dodge Window slider. If you’re struggling with the timing, crank it up to 150%. I tested this and it made the Chasm of Xal’Goroth platforming sections significantly easier.

Chain Spear Upgrades: What the Numbers Actually Say

After 3 full clears on Nightmare (roughly 14 hours total with upgrade tracking):

• Charged Throw is the single best upgrade. Get it before anything else in the Throw branch. It’s the difference between a 4-minute and 14-minute Henchman fight.
• Skip the Slam branch entirely. I tested all 5 tiers across 6 arena fights. The Combat Shotgun does everything Slam does, better.
• You need ~210 Platinum for useful upgrades. There are 280 total pickups. Don’t stress about finding every single one.
• Blood Iron is finite. Don’t waste it on upgrades you won’t use. Check the priority list above before spending.
• Update 4 fixed the control issues. If you were holding off on the Chain Spear because of the ?? bug, it’s safe now.

If you’re stuck on a specific encounter and wondering if an upgrade would help, the answer is almost always Charged Throw or Lifesteal. Those two upgrades solve more problems than the rest of the tree combined.

Tested on PC (RTX 5090, Ryzen 9 9950X3D) and Steam Deck. Performance identical across both for upgrade functionality.