# Vampire Survivors: Fun indie, rogue-lite game with 72,000 "Overwhelmingly Positive" reviews on Steam, costs $3 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Tags:** video-games-e-games\ **Created:** [April 13, 2022, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791 "2022-04-13T21:52:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![omenran](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omenran/32/3318_2.png) [@omenran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omenran)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/21 "2022-04-15T02:47:32Z")
I got this a while back after catching it being played by a friend. It’s been updated so many times and a bunch of stuff had been added, and more is planned. Things sort of evolve gameplay wise as you buy power ups and unlock more stuff. I was watching a different streamer playing who just started and how they had to go about things is quite different from mine. (All unlocks and all but the most expensive power ups- which aren’t as critical for a run.) The game seems to standout and being a sort of reverse bullet hell game. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/22 "2022-04-15T03:02:26Z")
First try 6 minutes, second try 8 minutes. There will be many more tries… ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/23 "2022-04-15T03:26:03Z")
Hang in there. Steam says it took me 10 hours and I just had a drop-dead easy run on the first map. At the end everything melted (I had three evolved weapons). I spent most of ten hours prior to this running away. This time was kinda ridiculous. Time to get to the next level I think. One thing I learned that helped was re-speccing in the loading screen. You can cash in all of your upgrades and re-do them as much as you want and with no penalty. And it is super easy and fast so no biggie. Items increase in price as others are bought so, cash in all your upgrades and then buy the most expensive item you want first. And fill out from there. I am a long way from getting all the things but this still helps. [![](https://i.imgur.com/ASsTEe1.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/ASsTEe1.png) ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/24 "2022-04-15T04:19:55Z")
Great tip, thanks much! Will do, likely right now. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/25 "2022-04-15T05:07:50Z")
Next two tries were 10 minutes then 11. Both times I was doing great, and then the screen just filled up and killed me. On the plus side, my first two upgrades are set. I went with the obvious: two ranks in movement speed. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/26 "2022-04-15T15:09:44Z")
I had my first successful run with Gennaro (sp?). He has knives and starts with +1 projectile. I then also bought +1 projectile from the store and had +2 speed. So, he started with three knives and went from there. Once knives were maxed out they pretty much mow anything down in front of you (especially if you evolve the knives). Great for getting out of mobs. Maxed bibles and/or axes is pretty great too. I found that around 15 (ish) minutes my only goal was non-stop moving and never, ever doing anything like going for gems or chests (unless a chest was almost exactly on my path). Run, run, run, run. Later, when you get more powerful, you can have runs where by 17 minutes you are nearly untouchable and are just waiting for time to pass. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2022, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/27 "2022-04-15T15:33:02Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > I found that around 15 (ish) minutes my only goal was non-stop moving and never, ever doing anything like going for gems or chests (unless a chest was almost exactly on my path). Run, run, run, run. It’s kinda the fun paradox of the game. You need to constantly move to survive at the beginning, but if you’re not picking up gems then you’re going to be hopelessly outclassed by later waves. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/28 "2022-04-16T00:45:42Z")
> [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Let us know how it goes (I am curious if that will work). It turns out it isn’t available. Not all Steam games are. I think it’s a compatibility mode that has to be created for each application. I’ll probably just play it on my PC, I might try it out this weekend. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/29 "2022-04-16T01:52:00Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > I might try it out this weekend. I just realized, I’m having a Vampire Weekend. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/30 "2022-04-16T02:42:41Z")
my fav character so far is the 2nd one… it mentions other stages but so far I haven’t a clue about those stages or if you can even get to them tips please if anyone knows and thanks the exp counting is uneven I noticed that for like 2 minutes I wasn’t getting points picking up gems then all of a sudden I went up 2 lvls in a row One thing they need to work on is making it easier to get the torches if you just run into them you don’t get anything usually another question what kills the green zombies with their arms outstretched? they give out better exp …but I hit them forever and they don’t go down…Also, the flower circle of doom is scary at first but all you have to do is outlast it ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/31 "2022-04-16T04:45:30Z")
I’m almost but not quite to the point the OP was at when this thread was posted. The Gennaro dude is my clear favorite, the one with an extra projectile for all weapons. I did get to 15 minutes once, but only barely (15:20 tops) and even that was over a full minute faster than my second best run. I’ve got a bunch of 13:xx minute runs, no 14s. It’s really fun. How do I evolve a weapon? My preferred setup, in priority order: garlic, whip, bible, axe. No other weapons or defensive buffs except movement speed, plus the extra projectile for all weapons upgrades. So that’s 6 total I work on upgrading, but stupid Genaro starts with Knife. Gah! I’d almost rather be the whip guy, because then at least I’d be starting with one of my six items I want to upgrade. That extra projectile is huge, though. Anyway, given my preferred setup – garlic, whip, bible, axe, movement speed, extra projectiles – what weapon should I try to evolve first? Whip? Is there any other power I need to be upgrading in order to evolve whip, axe or bible? I’m assuming it doesn’t make sense to evolve garlic first, but I would love to. ---
**Author:** ![omenran](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omenran/32/3318_2.png) [@omenran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omenran)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/32 "2022-04-16T11:21:25Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > it mentions other stages but so far I haven’t a clue about those stages or if you can even get to them tips please if anyone knows and thanks The second level can be unlocked by reaching level 20. Most things you can find to unlock are mentioned in the game’s internal achievements list. Some won’t make sense until you unlock stuff, but it gives an idea of what to do as youre surviving. > [@nightshadea](#): > > another question what kills the green zombies with their arms outstretched? they give out better exp …but I hit them forever and they don’t go down… You just need more damage. Certain waves/times being stronger does and you will need to adjust and manage when they start showing up. > [@EllisDee](#): > > How do I evolve a weapon? My preferred setup, in priority order: garlic, whip, bible, axe. No other weapons or defensive buffs except movement speed Weapons require being max level and a specific upgrade/powerup to evolve, and then only from a chest (just leveling won’t do it). You may be missing the companion part to your weapon by not having them unlocked. The game at least will remember what you have evolved before now, so if you have the item/weapons and can pick the matching half it’ll have a little tooltip. Originally you just had to remember. For you Ellis, you need pummarola, hollow heart, spellbinder, and candalbrador for desired evolutions. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/33 "2022-04-16T11:23:41Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > the exp counting is uneven I noticed that for like 2 minutes I wasn’t getting points picking up gems then all of a sudden I went up 2 lvls in a row Apparently there was an issue with too many gems slowing the game down (way down…remember this is an Early Access game). The dev solved this by having a lot of blue gams make on red gem. That red gem counts for hundred of blue gems. Note: There are “normal” red gems too which, while being worth a lot more than blue gems and drop off of those occasional special looking monsters (usually an outline around them) that is not the same as the red gem that is occasionally used to concentrate a lot of blue gems. AFAIK there is no way to distinguish those apart but running over the concentrated red gem might get you a few levels in one go. Any red gem is worth going after though (assuming you don’t die trying). > [@nightshadea](#): > > …what kills the green zombies with their arms outstretched? Called Green Mudmen and they are tough. Mostly you just need to lay a lot of damage on them. AoE weapons, unless really high level, don’t tend to do well against them. Bibles, for instance, only damage once when they hit, then need to wait for the next bible to hit and then you sometimes need to wait for the bibles to respawn after a cooldown. Garlic likewise only procs like once per second and just is not enough against them. Runetracer is good but you cannot control where that goes. I like weapons you can “aim” like Whip or Knife. You can keep applying damage to one enemy and bring them down. Maybe Bibles are softening them up as they come in. Magic Wand is great but its DPS is not the best. Of course, part of the fun of the game is finding out what works for you. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/34 "2022-04-16T11:28:01Z")
> [@omenran](#): > > You may be missing the companion part to your weapon by not having them unlocked. Just to be clear, the item needs to be unlocked so it is available to be found in the game. Then you also need that item in your inventory during a match (an upgrade you selected). Once the weapon you want to evolve reaches max-level the next time you open a chest you should get the evolved weapon. ---
**Author:** ![EllisDee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellisdee/32/4531_2.png) [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/35 "2022-04-16T13:54:31Z")
Okay, so I just had a supremely satisfying run to end my gaming session. (City Skylines is going just ridiculously well. So fun!) I gave it another couple tries after my previous post upthread, but nothing special: 13 minutes then 11, IIRC. Each of these 13ish minute runs typically nets me 2 or 3 hundred coins, so upgrades have been a bit of a grind. So I went back to city skylines for the rest of the night and then finished with a single vampire run. A single, glorious run. Generally speaking I’m a melee guy, not ranged, and certainly not aimed. So I hate knife. Upthread I mentioned my ideal _theoretical_ loadout (garlic, whip, bible, axe, wings, duplicator) and mused about trying the whip guy to maximize my upgrades. Boy were my instincts good, at least for my playstyle. Started with whip guy, first upgrade lucked out with garlic, then like 18 of my next 20 upgrades were one of those six abilities. One of 5, actually; I didn’t get my first wings until the 20-minute mark. With maxed garlic and Bible, the combined knockback affect is almost comical. The Bible knockback alone is crazy good; I could sprint full speed through tough mobs who didn’t die but would get bounced right out of my way, parting like the red sea wherever I wanted to go. From minute 20 to around 25 I was frantically running away from swarms of bats and ghosts for fear of their waves pushing stronger mobs onto me. Turns out the Bible kickback is stronger than the swarm wave; I started waiting for Bible then running _toward_ the waves. Anyway, end result was an easy first 30 minute completion, a hair over 3000 coins, and I managed to evolve… Garlic! WOOHOO!!! The only thing better would have been Bible. ETA: Steam says I’m 5.6 hours in. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/36 "2022-04-16T14:43:21Z")
It’s really great when you get that breakthrough game and just start whomping on everything. I just did my first Library run and was doing really great. I did manage to get to 30-minutes but that last minute or two…wow. I was wailing on everything and then next thing I know I was barely hanging on and running for my life. Clock Lancet saved me (if only just). It is worth noting that frozen enemies (e.g. using clock lancet) cannot harm you and you can run right through them. I’ve learned it can get me out of some stick situations. Just try not to be on them when the freezing thing wears off. > [@EllisDee](#): > > The only thing better would have been Bible. Bible at level-8 is really great. Unholy Vespers (evolved Bible) is a freaking buzzsaw. The only caveat I have is I had the thing that increases range (forget what it is). My Unholy Vespers were way out there which, mostly, is great. But, some mob bosses can walk through it and once inside the ring the bible doesn’t hurt them. I was able to deal with them with other weapons I had but that was a surprise and I got knocked down to 25% health once because I did not realize that and the monster got in. Don’t get me wrong though…Bible is kinda meh at the start but upgraded it is one of my favorites. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/37 "2022-04-16T15:57:36Z")
It also has to be later than 10 minute into a run. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/38 "2022-04-16T16:12:57Z")
Of what use is curse? I can see it increases the difficulty but I also see many super-advanced players say they need it to do whatever it is they want to do. ---
**Author:** ![omenran](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omenran/32/3318_2.png) [@omenran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/omenran)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/39 "2022-04-16T18:14:52Z")
It doesn’t have to be 10, at least i have evolved weapons before the 10 min mark on at least one map. I wasn’t expecting it and I tried to repeat it on a different map. So if it wasn’t a bug or glitch, then I suspect it’s map based. It’s not easy to get a weapon ready before then in my experience. > [@Whack-a-Mole](#): > > Of what use is curse? Besides needing a level for an unlock, I haven’t levelled it, but i can see a desire for being able to crank DPS and damage numbers. Also more enemies means more EXP faster, which let’s you get your build faster. So it appears to be a tradeoff of early difficulty for quicker endgame/afk time. Easier with the power ups already bought. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2022, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791/40 "2022-04-16T18:17:22Z")
What am I missing about using Santa Water? I see many expert gamers using it to good effect but, for the life of me, I never seem to get it to be remotely worthwhile. No doubt it is me, just not sure what I am doing wrong with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vampire-survivors-fun-indie-rogue-lite-game-with-72-000-overwhelmingly-positive-reviews-on-steam-costs-3/962791.md?page=3)