How to unlock everything in the Vampire Survivors Darkasso update

An unexpected update was recently released for Vampire Survivors, with a surprising amount of content. It contains the first few cards in the new “Dark Arcana,” serving as the groundwork for some incredibly powerful abilities.

There’s more: A new stage, some new secrets, and a new character are also awaiting you. We’re here to make sure you know how to find and unlock everything in Vampire Survivors‘ Darkasso update.

How to unlock the new stage

The first thing you’ll need to start on the path to unlocking everything is the new stage. While the clue might be obvious, we’ll still explain the details. The stage unlocks when you “cast a spell” called “forbiddenbox.” As long as you’ve collected the Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane, you’ll have a main menu option called “Secrets.” Go there, and navigate to the “Cast Spell” box. Type out the spell’s name, “forbiddenbox.” But be prepared, you’ll immediately drop into the new level with a random character!

This is the surprisingly spooky new stage, Room 1665. You’ll need to navigate south by killing enemies until the door opens. I wouldn’t worry about build outside of assisting whatever character you’re dealt. Just get your most powerful weapons and survive. When you hear a strange laugh, the next door will open.

When you see a little treasure goblin walk across the stage, aim for them, as they will drop a treasure chest. The corridors between rooms have candles in them for supplies like floor turkey. The stage is a shorter one, only 20 minutes long. As long as you reach the bottom room, however, you’ll have everything you need for now.

Sadly, characters who can pass through walls cannot skip the door mechanic. You have to wait through each room, of which there are 16 in total.

Getting to the end of the stage unlocks the Darkasso: Rhe Dark Arcana used to mix up your runs. You’ll have Number VI – Moonlight Bolero by default. It causes an extra treasure boss to spawn every minute. The treasures it carries might allow you to have more Arcana cards or Passive Weapons than you can normally carry. It’s incredibly powerful in beefing up the back half of your run while helping level all your weapons faster.

How to unlock each of the new Dark Arcana in Vampire Survivors

There are five new Dark Arcana cards total, all incredibly powerful. They are still subject to change based on feedback from the players.

You’ll start with the Moonlight Bolero once you unlock the Dark Arcana so that one is out of the way. The next one you’ll want is the Sapphire Mist, which requires you to reach a Cooldown Bonus of -85% with Space Dude. If you don’t have him, you’ll have to survive 20 minutes in the Space 54 stage.

Once you have him, I recommend playing on The Library, as it has an Empty Tome you can pick up. You’ll need this as part of the challenge. Before you start, I also recommend using as many Seals as you can to lock away as unevolved weapons. When you start your match, you’ll want to pick Arcana XX – Silent Old Sanctuary. It grants you extra Rerolls, Skips, and Banishes. But the more important aspect is that it gives you 20% Might and -8% Cooldown for each active weapon slot left empty.

As you play, you’ll need to always Banish weapons, and only ever pick up Passive Weapons. As long as you have five empty Weapon slots, you should have a -85% cooldown. The trick to unlocking this is that you have to finish the stage with this cooldown reduction. Once you do, a powerful new Dark Arcana will be yours.

For Hail the Future, you’ll need to play as Santa Ladonna. If you haven’t unlocked her, you’ll need to survive 20 minutes on the Laboratory stage. Santa Ladonna has a passive ability that triggers a Rosary when her health reaches a critically low level. As far as I could tell, you just need to trigger this ability to unlock the Arcana.

Forcing it to trigger by taking damage was the only unusual thing I did for the stage when I played her. The same applies to the next card, Crystal Cries. Except you’ll use the character She-Moon Eeta. She’s unlocked by surviving 20 minutes in Whiteout. She-Moon has a similar low-health ability that triggers, though hers freezes enemies for 10 seconds. Force yourself to take damage until it triggers, and you should be all set.

For the final card, you’ll need to reach +665 Max Health with Bat Robbert. You can unlock him by unlocking his weapon, which itself is unlocked by beating over 160,000 bats. If you need help with this, play Bat Country a few times. Bat Robbert gains +32 Max Health whenever his health reaches a critically low level. Between this and the Hollow Heart item, it shouldn’t be difficult to get him to max.

I recommend taking some Revive passive items and Arcana to help protect yourself if your health gets too low. You’ll have to trigger it multiple times, so keep an eye on the pause menu to see what your health buff is. If it goes over 665, that’s okay.

How to unlock the new character Bats Bats Bats

To unlock Bats Bats Bats, you’ll have to follow one of the most cryptic clues in the game. “It’s as easy as ABC, find the Ring of Rings.” The “ABC” in this clue is a reference to the stage Bat Country, which features a secret set of lettered tiles that let you play with the background visuals. You’ll need to find the “Ring of Rings,” which is more literal than it sounds. In Bat Country, there is a circle made of the Golden Ring item on the right side of the map.

Be careful when you acquire them – not only are they cursed items, but each of the six rings has an Atlantean Ring Wraith protecting it. Once you collect the items, you’ll hear the unlock sound effect and Bats Bats Bats will be available from the character select screen.

Bats Bats Bats starts with a special version of the evolved form of the Pako Battiliar, the Mazo Familiar. Its Damage and Amount are affected by your Max Health. The original item requires the Hollow Heart to evolve into the Mazo Familiar, but it’s still a good idea to pick it up for the bonus damage. Bats Bats Bats’s version continues to grow stronger when you level up. Also, if you revive during a match, it increases the weapon’s Amount and gives you a follower bat. He’s incredibly powerful when teamed up with the IV – Awake Arcana and the Tirajisu.

How to unlock new old characters

Two classic characters, Poe Ratcho and Imelda Belpaese, have new versions that can be unlocked. To do so, you’ll need to clear their respective Adventure Mode campaigns. If you already have, but you do not see these characters unlock, try opening up their Adventure Mode menus and see if that prompts the achievements to collect.

Once unlocked, you can select these new versions of the characters from the Character Select screen. You’ll have to select the originals and then select their alternate appearances. Select the character, then press Left on the D-Pad from the Start button. You’ll be able to pick from the normal, the original sprite, and the new versions. The new versions also come with level 5 versions of the Passive Weapon that evolve their default item.