A very beginner’s guide to Vampire Survivors

The premise of Vampire Survivors is pretty simple: what if you were the bullet hell? Given gaming’s propensity for fulfilling a player fantasy in terms of might, ability, heroism, fame/infamy, and feeling rested after a good sleep, it’s little wonder that Poncle’s roguelike release – which spins the bullet hell genre on its head – has been receiving significant praise on Steam since it came out in 2022.

But for those who haven’t played the game – or are new to it – its blend of retro-style visuals and the opportunity to “mow down thousands of night creatures” is offset by the sheer chaos and perhaps surprising difficulty, despite the aforementioned power fantasy needs that are met.

So in this very beginner’s guide to Vampire Survivors, I thought I’d give a few pointers so that you, too, can experience the pixelated dopamine surge that is this game.

You’ll die a lot early on – and that’s okay

Get used to seeing that screen above. If you’ve ever played any kind of rogue-ish, run-based game before, you know dying a lot is par for the course. Even though Vampire Survivors is about being this unstoppable slayer with a wealth of projectiles and power-ups spewing out of you like a fire hose through a colander, there’s quite an uphill battle when you first start playing.

But that’s fine. The game doesn’t hand you everything on a plate as soon as you install it. There’s some work that needs to be done. You’ll find yourself being easily swamped by hordes of enemies and once you die, you start the level from scratch.

But like any game of this sort, it’s about learning what works. Use these first few runs to become acquainted with how it all functions. What kind of enemies are you likely to encounter, which ones are the toughest, what does each weapon and power-up actually do. Dying isn’t the end; it’s just another chance for you to get back into the ring – as it were – and try again.

NOTE: Levels go on for a maximum of 30 minutes, at which point The Reaper will spawn to finish you off. Although this results in a Game Over screen, it is classified as completing the map.

Build up your gold

If you want to give yourself a bigger advantage against the throng of baddies coming at you like a SNES-era flash mob, you’re going to need some firepower and additional perks. That’s where the in-game shop comes into play.

As time marches on during a round, you not only level up your weapons and defense items, you also get the chance to earn gold. This could be by smashing certain objects on the map (such as light sources), opening a treasure chest that will also contain an upgraded power-up, or through Gold Fever, which allows you to collect coins from enemies you kill within a certain time limit.

Once you amass enough, you can begin building up your deck with better armor, increasing your speed, having an extra projectile from the start, becoming stronger, increasing the area of attack for your weapons, and more. You can also give yourself a revival so you come back to life at least once when you die, as well as spawning “defanged” enemies, which don’t deal damage.

There’s also a cursed power-up, which makes the game tougher by increasing enemy speed and health. At this stage, best to avoid this one like some sort of cliché saying.

Level 2 is actually more newbie-friendly than level 1

Vampire Survivors has a lot of stages to tackle. Obviously, the game will want you to get to know the basics first, so will start you off on level 1: Mad Forest. This is an open space containing a lot of greenery. You can move about the place, seemingly forever, while fighting off groups of creatures. Here, you’ll acquaint yourself with the fundamentals.

However, there’s an argument to be had that level 2 – Inlaid Library – is actually a better stage for new players. Perhaps the main reason for this is it’s a long stretch from left to right, rather than incorporating all four directions. This means you have a tighter space to fight in, but still enough room to maneuver. There are still some snags, such as bookcases, tables, and alcoves you can get stuck in, but it’s an easy level to navigate.

It’s also not much harder than Mad Forest. All stages begin in a more calm fashion, throwing in a few low-tier enemies so you can concentrate on becoming powerful and strong (like ox). They progressively get harder as time marches on, but Inlaid Library doesn’t have much of a difficulty spike when compared to the first level.

However, you do need to unlock it before you can play it. Fortunately, all this means is getting to level 20 on the first stage. You don’t have to reach the end of the 30 minutes. Just get those levels up nice and quick and stage 2 will be yours.

Stick to more open areas

I mentioned above how there are obstacles on each stage that you can get stuck on. Well, this doesn’t affect your adversaries. I neglected to say that enemies come at you from all angles, regardless of the level’s layout and geometry. This means they come through the literal scenery in order to get to you.

Given this, you’ll want to make sure you’ve got as much room around you as you can. Creatures will advance regardless, but what you don’t want is for a 360-degree circle of pixelated hostiles encroaching on you while you’re bumping your head against a tree or a wall you weren’t expecting to come across because it blends in perfectly with the texture of the floor.

You could say that sticking to areas that are open is generally good advice for a lot of action-based games. However, in the midst of a battle in which you can become swamped by tough hombres, it’s easy to panic and find yourself backed into a space, which just creates more problems for you.

You’ll first notice this in the Mad Forest, with its liberal placement of conifers, which has prompted my girlfriend and I to simply refer to them – at all times – as “Tree Bastards.” We’re in our 40s.

Defense is just as important as offense

One of the game’s biggest appeals is getting to become the bullet hell you always imagined you’d be. Choosing projectiles and explosives that have become so powerful, the screen is nothing more than a headache-inducing visual noise of cascading missiles and magic (Vampire Survivors does come with a sensitivity warning) is pretty much the end goal.

However, you’re not exactly invincible. In fact, when first starting out, you’re actually pretty easy to kill, so you’re going to have to balance powerful weaponry with life-affirming safety. This means choosing defensive items as well as offensive ones.

Everything from extra health, regeneration, shields, armor, and even power-ups that encircle you as they do damage to creatures will go a long way to protecting you from harm.

One that many would recommend – and I would agree with them – is the Garlic item. This gives you a (presumably smelly) ring of defensiveness around you, which deals damage to enemies. If you get this early on, you can watch those low-level enemies just fizzle away as you walk through them.

The best character to choose for this is Poe Ratcho. He’s slow and a bit weaker, but he starts off with the Garlic, which is invaluable – even when you’re not new to the game – at the start of each map. Unfortunately, you do need to unlock him, which involves advancing the Garlic to level 7 during a round and forking over 500 gold. After that, he will be a formidable addition to your roster.