Summary
The main goal of the gameVampire Survivorsis to survive for 30 minutes. Players pick a character, a stage, and then attempt to keep that character alive as enemies rush the player in ever-growing numbers and difficulty. As the player kills thousands of enemy creatures and increases their character’s level, new weapons and accessories will be acquired. Picking the right load-out is important if the player wishes to see the 30-minute mark.
There are other factors that a player must consider if they want to get to the end of the stage in one piece. This indie title’s gameplay loop can get overwhelming quickly, especially since the game has quite a bit of depth to it.Vampire Survivorsbeginners might have a hard time staying alive for the full 30 minutes.
Updated May 2nd, 2024, by Jeff Drake:Vampire Survivors can be frustratingly difficult; this is doubly true for beginners. The game is unforgiving for new players, as they will not have invested in the global powerups yet. New players will also be selecting characters, arcana, weapons, and passive items from a limited pool. None of this helps new players survive the constant onslaught of enemy creatures. This list ofVampire Survivor tipshas been updated with a few more tips to help noobs survive until death crashes the party at the end of the stage.
1Save Vacuum And Rosary Pick-ups
These Pick-ups Should Be Saved Until The Right Time
When wandering the stage, it’s not an uncommon occurrence to come across a Vacuum or Rosary lying on the ground. It’s tempting to pick it up, but it’s better to wait. For the Vacuum, keep the item on the edge of the screen and let the experience gems accumulate in the area before triggering it.
The Rosary can kill boss creatures, not all bosses, but many of them. The stage bosses usually appear at the minute mark, every minute. If the timer is close to the minute mark, wait until then to pick-up the Rosary to kill the boss, and all onscreen enemies, instantly.
2Learn The Exploits
Surviving Is Easy If One Knows How To Game The System
As with many games, there are systems withinVampire Survivorsthat can be taken advantage of to produce a lopsided advantage for the player. There are plenty of exploits in this game; a simple one is to start with a character that gets a bonus to weapon speed, get every passive item and arcana that improves speed, and pair this build with the King Bible and Runetracer.
Another great exploit is to use the Cosmo character, who starts with the Peachone And Ebony Wings weapons for free - they don’t take up a weapon slot. Get the Gemini arcana; this loadout gives the player four free weapons at the start of the stage. The player can still get these two weapons while playing, giving the player six bird followers (weapons).
3Know Your Enemy
Learning What To Expect When A New Enemy Type Appears Is Key To Survival
There is an impressive number of enemy units the player can encounter in the various stages ofVampire Survivors. Many are simple palette swaps or enlarged versions of weaker monsters. It’s important to know how each enemy unit behaves, as well as the difference between the enemy variants.
One prime example of this is the skeleton. The gray-colored skeletons are easily defeated; however, the red skeletons, which are also easy to defeat, rise and continue to fight a few seconds after being defeated. Some enemy units travel in irregular patterns; some have distance weapons. It helps to know what to expect from an enemy type as soon as they appear onscreen.
4Prioritize Crowd Control Weapons Early
Enemy Swarms Get Larger - Be Prepared
Point defense weapons, like the Magic Wand, are great supplemental weapons; they are perfect for dealing with the odd enemy that slips through the weapons designed for crowd control. Waiting until the enemy swarms get larger and stronger to get a crowd control weapon might be too late. Remember, crowd control weapons are typically very weak at low level. So, allow time to get it a few levels before the ten-minute mark.
Starting a character’s load-out with two crowd control weapons and a point defense weapon provides a solid base and will allow the character to survive the larger enemies that begin around the 12-minute mark. The Santa Water, King Bible, and Spell String weapons are an effective starting trio.
5Watch Your Life Bar
Maintaining Max Hit Points Is Important
There’s no lack of eye candy inVampire Survivors. With the weapon effects, arcana effects, and swarms of ever-changing enemies, it becomes difficult to focus on one thing for more than half a second. One thing players should force themselves to glance at from time to time is their character’s life bar.
There will be times when, after checking your life bar, you realize the character is near death. When having to run through a mass of enemy units, it pays to focus on the life bar. A single enemy won’t do too much damage, but when being swarmed, any character’s hit points can be dropped to zero instantly.
6Start Unlocking Content Early
Grow The Character And Weapon Pools For Better Odds Of Survival
After the first few runs have been lost and players finally get a feel for the game, the next step should be making sure new content is being unlocked with every run. At the very least, use runs to get closer to unlocking content that will require multiple runs, like defeating a required number of enemies.
Most of the content in the game needs to be unlocked, including a lot ofpowerful characters and weapons. It’s best to start early. Don’t waste those early runs using the same character, with the same weapons and passive items, on the same stage. Check to see what can be unlocked easily on the next run, and select a character build based on that.
7Don’t Be Afraid To Experiment
Weapon Combinations Don’t Always Work As Planned
Now that a large portion of the game’s content has been unlocked, it’s time to start experimenting withdifferent combinationsof character, weapons, passive items, and arcanas. Some weapon combinations seem more powerful than the sum of their parts would indicate.
Some characters can exploit the abilities of weapons and arcanas; for example, Poe with the Blood Astronomia arcana and Garlic. Part of this game’s charm lies in the variety of options given to the player and the replay value that stems from all the different possible combinations.
8Get The Most Out Of The Candyboxes
Pick Any Weapon With This Rare Item
The Candybox is one of the best weapons in the game. The reason is simple: the Candybox becomes any standard weapon of the player’s choice when it’s obtained. There is also the Super Candybox II Turbo, which grants any evolved weapon of the player’s choice.
These can be given in treasure chests in place of coin bags. This means, to have a chance of this happening the player needs to have gotten all weapons and passive items to max level (and evolution). Getting these two weapons in this way allows for more than six weapons. Lastly, if the player buys the Candybox or gets it when leveling up, they cannot get it from a treasure chest later.
9Maximize Rerolls
Use Rerolls To Get Required Passive Items
One of the many power-ups the player can spend their gold to unlock is Reroll. This increases the number of times the weapon and item selection can be rerolled, giving a new list of weapons and items from which to choose. This is one of the most useful tools at the player’s disposal.
Rerolls are especially useful early in the game when specific weapons are desired to unlock content. This power-up can be purchased five times, giving ten additional rerolls. Unlocking this power-up (and additional levels for it) requires getting certain characters to level 80 during a run:
10Use A Controller
Controller > Keyboard
Players can use the keyboard or mouse to move the character, and there is an entry below about which is better. However, players who want the best chance of surviving a run shoulduse a game controller. This gives the player a superior level of control.
Fortunately, PC-compatible generic game controllers are super cheap, and most are compatible withVampire Survivors. Players can also use an old Xbox 360 controller, which is certainly better than the average generic controller.
