The Ultimate Vampire Survivors Weapon Guide: Dominate the Night!
Introduction
Vampire Survivors has taken the gaming world by storm, and for good reason. Its deceptively simple mechanics, addictive gameplay loop, and a massive arsenal of weapons to wield create an experience that’s both challenging and incredibly rewarding. You’re thrust into a horde of ever-increasing enemies, and your survival hinges on carefully selecting and upgrading your character’s abilities and, crucially, their weapons. But with so many options available, it can be overwhelming to know where to start. Which weapon is right for which situation? Which items complement which weapon? What hidden synergies lie waiting to be discovered?
This article serves as your comprehensive guide to all things weapons in Vampire Survivors. We’ll break down each weapon, examine their base stats, explore their powerful evolutions, uncover potent synergies, and provide invaluable tips and strategies to help you craft the ultimate builds and survive the night. Consider this your handbook to navigating the vast world of Vampire Survivors weaponry.
By the end of this guide, you’ll be equipped with the knowledge to:
- Understand the different weapon types and their inherent effects.
- Master the art of weapon evolutions, knowing precisely which items are needed for each transformation.
- Uncover hidden weapon synergies and construct devastating combinations.
- Make informed decisions about weapon selection, tailored to specific characters and stages.
Let’s delve into the arsenal!
Understanding Weapon Basics
The weapons in Vampire Survivors can be broadly categorized based on their attack style. Understanding these categories will help you choose weapons that complement each other and your overall playstyle.
Weapon Types
Projectiles: These weapons fire projectiles at enemies, either in a straight line, an arc, or in a spreading pattern. Examples include the Knife, Magic Wand, and Fire Wand.
Melee: Melee weapons attack enemies at close range, often dealing continuous damage. The Whip and Garlic fall into this category.
Area-of-Effect: These weapons create zones of damage that affect multiple enemies simultaneously. Santa Water and Lightning Ring are prime examples.
Summons: Summon weapons call forth entities to fight alongside you. The King Bible and Peachone (and Ebony Wings) are weapons that create summons.
Base Stats Explained
Each weapon has a set of core stats that determine its effectiveness. Understanding these stats is crucial for making informed decisions.
Damage: The amount of damage a weapon deals to each enemy hit.
Cooldown: The time it takes for a weapon to be used again after each attack. A lower cooldown means a faster attack rate.
Speed: The speed at which projectiles travel or the speed at which melee attacks are executed.
Duration: The length of time an area-of-effect weapon persists or the lifespan of a summoned entity.
Area: The size of the area affected by the weapon. Larger area means more enemies hit.
Rarity and Levels
As you level up in Vampire Survivors, you’ll have the opportunity to upgrade your weapons. Each level increases the weapon’s core stats, making it more powerful. Some weapons, when maxed out and combined with a specific item, will evolve into significantly stronger versions.
Weapon Selection
Choosing the right weapons is essential for success. Consider your character’s starting weapon and passive abilities. Also, think about the stage you’re playing on and the types of enemies you’ll encounter. Early game, you want to focus on weapons that can quickly clear out large groups of weaker enemies. Late game, you’ll need weapons that can deal high damage to tanky bosses and elites.
The Weapons Arsenal: A Comprehensive List
Let’s explore the individual weapons that are available in Vampire Survivors. Keep in mind that this list is continually updated with new content.
Axe
Description: Throws axes that travel in an arc.
Base Stats: Moderate damage, medium cooldown.
Evolution: Death Spiral (Requires Candelabrador)
Evolution Effect: Axes now pierce enemies and travel further.
Synergies: Candelabrador, Garlic, Santa Water.
Tips & Strategies: Effective for clearing groups of enemies in front of you. The Death Spiral evolution is a strong upgrade.
Clock Lancet
Description: Freezes enemies in a small radius.
Base Stats: Low damage, high cooldown, but freezes.
Evolution: Infinite Corridor (Requires Gold Ring and Metaglio Left)
Evolution Effect: Halves the HP of standard enemies and bosses, halves the speed and damage of death.
Synergies: Laurel
Tips & Strategies: Best for survivability and crowd control, not necessarily for DPS. Essential for the late-game challenges.
Cross
Description: Throws crosses that return like boomerangs.
Base Stats: Moderate damage, medium cooldown.
Evolution: Heaven Sword (Requires Clover)
Evolution Effect: Crosses deal increased damage and explode on impact.
Synergies: Clover, King Bible
Tips & Strategies: Can hit enemies twice (on the way out and on the return), making it surprisingly effective.
Fire Wand
Description: Shoots fireballs that pierce enemies.
Base Stats: Moderate damage, medium cooldown.
Evolution: Hellfire (Requires Spellbinder)
Evolution Effect: Fireballs now explode on impact and can be fired more frequently.
Synergies: Spellbinder, Magic Wand
Tips & Strategies: A solid all-around weapon that benefits greatly from its evolution.
Garlic
Description: Creates a small aura around the character that damages enemies.
Base Stats: Low damage, very short range.
Evolution: Soul Eater (Requires Pummarola)
Evolution Effect: Heals the character and increases the aura’s damage and range.
Synergies: Pummarola, Empty Tome
Tips & Strategies: Excellent for early-game survivability. Synergizes well with movement speed increases.
Knife
Description: Rapidly throws knives in a straight line.
Base Stats: Low damage, very low cooldown.
Evolution: Thousand Edge (Requires Bracer)
Evolution Effect: Knives are thrown even faster and cover a wider area.
Synergies: Bracer
Tips & Strategies: Great for dealing focused damage to single targets. Requires good positioning to be effective.
King Bible
Description: Summons books that orbit the character, damaging enemies.
Base Stats: Moderate damage, medium duration.
Evolution: Unholy Vespers (Requires Spellbinder)
Evolution Effect: Books orbit faster, deal more damage, and have a larger area.
Synergies: Spellbinder
Tips & Strategies: Excellent for both offense and defense. The Unholy Vespers evolution is incredibly powerful.
Laurel
Description: Provides temporary invincibility.
Base Stats: No damage, long cooldown.
Evolution: Crimson Shroud (Requires Gold Ring and Metaglio Right)
Evolution Effect: Provides permanent damage reduction and reflects damage back to enemies.
Synergies: Clock Lancet
Tips & Strategies: Primarily a defensive weapon that’s invaluable for surviving high-damage encounters.
Lightning Ring
Description: Summons lightning strikes that target random enemies.
Base Stats: Moderate damage, medium cooldown.
Evolution: Thunder Loop (Requires Duplicator)
Evolution Effect: Summons more lightning strikes and increases their damage.
Synergies: Duplicator
Tips & Strategies: Effective for clearing large groups of enemies. Benefits from area increases.
Magic Wand
Description: Shoots a single projectile at the nearest enemy.
Base Stats: Low damage, moderate cooldown.
Evolution: Holy Wand (Requires Empty Tome)
Evolution Effect: Fires rapidly and has a much faster cooldown.
Synergies: Empty Tome, Fire Wand
Tips & Strategies: A solid early-game weapon that becomes much more effective after evolution.
Peachone
Description: A bird that flies in a set pattern around the player.
Base Stats: Low Damage
Evolution: Vandalier (Requires Ebony Wings)
Evolution Effect: Combines with Ebony wings and attacks are more frequent.
Synergies: Ebony Wings
Tips & Strategies: Strong to evolve, but can be difficult to use on its own.
Runetracer
Description: Fires projectiles that bounce off walls.
Base Stats: Moderate damage, medium cooldown.
Evolution: No Future (Requires Armor)
Evolution Effect: Projectiles pierce enemies and bounce more times.
Synergies: Armor
Tips & Strategies: Can be very effective in enclosed spaces.
Santa Water
Description: Creates pools of holy water that damage enemies.
Base Stats: Moderate damage, medium duration.
Evolution: La Borra (Requires Attractorb)
Evolution Effect: Pools persist longer, deal more damage, and attract enemies.
Synergies: Attractorb, Garlic, Axe.
Tips & Strategies: Great for creating choke points and controlling enemy movement.
Whip
Description: Attacks enemies in front of the character.
Base Stats: Low damage, medium cooldown.
Evolution: Bloody Tear (Requires Hollow Heart)
Evolution Effect: Heals the character when it crits.
Synergies: Hollow Heart
Tips & Strategies: Good early-game weapon that becomes more effective with healing.
(And all other weapons in the game – continue listing with the same format!)
While a tiered ranking system can be helpful, it’s essential to remember that weapon effectiveness is subjective and depends on your play style, character choice, and the stage you’re playing on. Some players might find the Garlic invaluable for early survivability, while others prefer to focus on more aggressive options.
Weapon Evolutions and Synergies
Evolving your weapons is absolutely critical for surviving the later stages of Vampire Survivors. Evolved weapons are significantly more powerful than their base forms, often gaining additional effects or greatly increased stats.
The Importance of Evolutions
To evolve a weapon, you must:
- Max out the level of the weapon (typically level eight).
- Have the required item in your inventory.
- Defeat a boss enemy after meeting these conditions. Boss enemies appear at regular intervals.
The boss will drop a chest containing the evolved weapon.
Powerful Weapon Synergies
Certain weapon combinations create exceptional results, boosting your damage output, survivability, or both.
- Garlic + Empty Tome: The Empty Tome increases the area of the Garlic’s aura, making it much more effective at damaging enemies.
- King Bible + Spellbinder: The Spellbinder increases the duration of the King Bible’s orbiting books, allowing them to deal more damage over time.
- Santa Water + Attractorb: The Attractorb draws enemies into the pools of Santa Water, maximizing its damage potential.
Understanding why these synergies work is key to creating your own powerful builds. For example, the Empty Tome works well with any weapon that has a duration component, while the Duplicator is beneficial for weapons that fire multiple projectiles.
Building Effective Character Builds
Your choice of character will heavily influence your weapon selection. Some characters start with a specific weapon or have passive abilities that synergize well with certain weapons.
Character Considerations
Consider the stage you’re playing on when choosing your weapons. Some stages have narrow corridors, making melee weapons more effective. Others have wide-open areas, favoring projectile weapons.
Example Builds
Here are a couple of sample builds:
- Build for Antonio: Whip, Magic Wand, King Bible, Garlic, Cross, Laurel. This build balances early survivability with escalating damage.
- Build for Imelda: Magic Wand, Fire Wand, Runetracer, Lightning Ring, Santa Water, King Bible. This build focuses on area-of-effect damage and crowd control.
Advanced Strategies and Tips
Early Game vs Late Game Weapon Choices
Focus on quickly clearing out groups of weaker enemies early game. Concentrate on damage and single target output later on.
Prioritizing Weapon Levels
Prioritize leveling up weapons that have a significant impact on your survivability, such as Garlic or King Bible.
Managing Weapon Slots
Manage weapon slots carefully. Don’t be afraid to reroll weapon choices if you don’t see anything you like. Sometimes, choosing an item is more beneficial than adding another weapon.
Conclusion
The vast weapon arsenal in Vampire Survivors is a key element of what makes the game so appealing. Understanding each weapon’s strengths, weaknesses, evolutions, and synergies is crucial for crafting powerful builds and dominating the night.
Experiment with different weapons and combinations to find what works best for you. Each player has their own style, and what works for one person might not work for another. Don’t be afraid to try new things!
The world of Vampire Survivors is constantly evolving. Check back to find updates as new weapons and strategies are implemented. Keep sharing builds in the comments! Good luck, and may your journey be filled with waves and waves of victory.