Vampire Survivors is a fantastic rogue-like bullet hell game that has taken Steam by storm while in Early Access, thanks to its pulse-pounding arcade action. The game's low cost, matched with its engrossing gameplay, have combined to make it a smash hit. Those who spend just a few minutes with this kinetic game’s slot machine-esque rewards may just find it sinking its teeth into them.
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The cast of playable characters in Vampire Survivors have a wide range of different starting weapons and abilities, so experimenting with new additions is a great way to progress and learn to wield the various arsenals available in the game. To aid fans in unlocking the plethora of characters available in the game (including a separate secret roster of characters), the conditions to acquire them all are revealed below. In addition, some recommendations are also provided.
The Main Cast of Characters
Vampire Survivors grants four unlocked characters from the start. Only Antonio is immediately playable, however, as each character will need to be purchased with earned currency to be selected. Most of the main cast can be acquired through natural progression (defeating certain amounts of common enemies, for instance), but characters like Lama and Gallo have somewhat inscrutable requirements, as defined below.
Character | How to Unlock |
Antonio | Unlocked from the start of the game |
Imelda | Unlocked from the start of the game |
Pasqualina | Unlocked from the start of the game |
Gennaro | Unlocked from the start of the game |
Arca | Get Fire Wand to Level 4 |
Porta | Get Lightning Ring to Level 4 |
Lama | Survive 20 minutes with at least 10% Curse |
Poe | Get Garlic to Level 7 |
Clerici | Recover a total of 1,000 HP |
Dommario | Earn 5,000 coins in a single run |
Krochi | Defeat a total of 100,000 enemies |
Christine | Get Pentagram to Level 7 |
Pugnala | Find and open the coffin in the Mad Forest |
Giovanna | Find and open the coffin in the Inlaid Library |
Poppea | Find and open the coffin in the Dairy Plant |
Concetta | Find and open the coffin in the Gallo Tower |
Mortaccio | Defeat a total of 3,000 skeletons |
Cavallo | Defeat a total of 3,000 Lion Heads |
Ramba | Defeat a total of 3,000 Milk Elementals |
O’Sole | Defeat a total of 3,000 Dragon Shrimps |
Ambrojoe | Defeat a total of 6,000 Stage Killers |
Gallo | Obtain the Infinite Corridor by combining the Clock Lancet with a max level Silver Ring and a max level Gold Ring |
Divano | Obtain the Crimson Shroud by combining the Laurel with a max level Metaglio Left and a max level Metaglio Right |
Zi’ssunta | Find and open the coffin in Cappella Magna |
Sigma | Complete all entries in the Collection, found in the Main Menu |
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These characters are listed in the Unlock Menu, which can be used to verify which characters have and have not been unlocked. Once the requirements are met, each character will cost a specific number of gold coins to be playable, and the cost for each will rise depending on how many characters have already been purchased.
Secret Characters
There are also secret characters that are easily missed while playing Vampire Survivors or via viewing the Unlock screen. Obtaining the Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane in The Bone Zone stage will provide allusions to the names of the secret characters and reveal vague hints for unlocking them.
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These characters require more specific circ*mstances to unlock than the regular cast, so prepare for some difficult and obscure late-game requirements. The table below plainly breaks down the steps to acquire each of these enigmatic additions.
Character | Type to Unlock |
Exdash | At the Main Menu, type “x-x1viiq” and listen for an obvious audio cue to trigger. |
Toastie | After unlocking Exdash, defeat the Stalker, Drowner, or Trickster and press the Down arrow key and Enter when Toastie appears at the bottom right of the screen. |
Smith | After unlocking Exdash and Toastie, go to the Main Menu and type “spam” to begin a 30-second timer. Now open the Character Selection screen and again enter “spam”. Then move to the Stage Selection screen and enter “spam” again. Start a stage and type “humbug” to unlock Smith when ending the run. And yes, this character's name does appear to be a reference to The Matrix series' Agent Smith. |
Random | Find and open a coffin on a stage that has already had its coffin opened before. |
Marrabbio | After obtaining a total of 100 Floor Chickens and unlocking the Yellow Sign, enter the Mad Forest stage and collect Pummarola and Skull O’Maniac. Pies will begin to appear in a path, leading towards an enemy in silhouette. Defeat this enemy to unlock Marrabbio. |
Minnah | After having unlocked the Yellow Sign, enter the Dairy Plant and obtain the “cheese” Floor Chicken that is west of the Armor item, then defeat the 7 werewolves that spawn. |
Leda | Find and defeat Leda in Gallo Tower by continually heading south from the start of the level into the darkness. It may take some distance, but Leda grows closer when the character’s vision narrows further and further until just a small cone of light remains in the darkness. Only in the darkest depths will the slow-moving, giant ball that is Leda appear. |
Cosmo | After having unlocked the Yellow Sign and Zi’Assunta, enter the Cappella Magna stage with a character that does not have any Golden Eggs. Collect Peachone and Ebony Wings, then head North past the Crown and Tiragisu. Locate and collect a Nduja Fritta Tanto to remove the nearby gate, opening the balcony that leads to Cosmo. Collect Cosmo as if it were an item. |
Peppino | On the Il Molise stage, heal the plant enemies by using O’Sole’s Celestial Dusting for a total of 100,000 HP. When complete, a sound effect will trigger. |
Trouser | On the Moongolow stage, raise all 16 stage items to max level then quit the run. Beating the stage will not trigger the requirement, so be sure to manually quit. |
missingNO | After having unlocked the Yellow Sign, enter the Green Acres stage on Hyper Mode and Hurry Mode. Head Southwest until the environment begins to change dramatically. Large winged eye creatures will then appear. Defeat 128 of these creatures to unlock this nostalgic Pokémon reference. |
Gains | On The Bone Zone stage, head North to reach a ring of flowers that will heal the character. Stay in the ring for at least 10 seconds. |
Gyorunton | Survive the Boss Rash stage using only one weapon for at least 15 minutes |
Red Death | Defeat Death, who appears after the time limit for a stage has run out. Easier said than done! |
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The cast of secret characters are essentially Easter Eggs and are not as well-rounded or balanced in comparison to the main cast. This is also why unlocking them takes significantly more time than the main cast, and pursuing them will usually be a late-game task for Vampire Survivor players. Leda and Red Death may prove to be two of the most difficult characters to unlock, so don’t expect to play as these intimidating sprites early on.
Which Characters Are Best?
It may be dizzying to scroll through both lists of available characters, as there are just so many to unlock and experiment with. However, the top tier of playable characters are relatively simple to unlock, and three of them are obtainable early on.
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As for the main cast, the top-tier characters can be considered to be:
- Imelda
- Arca
- Poe
- Dommario
- Pugnala
- Mortaccio
- Cavallo
As Imelda is unlocked from the start and Arca and Poe unlock very easily, start with these three characters first to focus on unlocking the other four.
Imelda’s starting weapon is a Magic Wand, which automatically fires at the closest enemy. Imelda’s unique ability is a 10% gain to Growth (aka experience gain) every 5 levels until level 15, which makes leveling up quite a breeze.
Arca, a character that looks suspiciously like Castlevania’s Alucard, starts with a very useful Fire Wand that shoots a fireball at a random enemy. Arca gains -5% Cooldown (the delay between weapon attacks) every 10 levels to a max of -15%, and also begins with 10% Might (damage output).
Poe may appear to be a feeble and elderly man, but he makes up for his slow speed with a great starting weapon: Garlic. Garlic is a powerful Area of Effect weapon that keeps enemies at bay and even increases knockback while decreasing freeze resistance. Poe unfortunately does have less health than most characters, but he also starts with a 25% bonus to Magnet (pickup radius).
Vampire Survivors is currently available in Early Access on Steam for $4.99 and on PC Game Pass for free for Game Pass subscribers. There is also a free in-browser demo version available on the Vampire Survivors Itch.io page.
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