{
"post": {
"title": "Tips and tricks for newbies?",
"selftext": "So I have picked up VS when it launched on switch last week and have got about 8 hours into it so far, I haven't yet managed to complete a stage or get past the 15 min Mark. I've unlocked some characters like Po and some he man looking dude.. I've also got a few unlocks/power ups going on but yeah. \n\nAny tips, tricks suggestions would be greatly appreciated? \n\n****EDIT*********\nJust got to death in the first stage with Gennearo and got instakillled looool \n\n\nThanks!",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/VampireSurvivors/comments/165l5an/tips_and_tricks_for_newbies/"
},
"comments": [
{
"body": "For me, who is still a newbie. What helped me was Garlic, Santa Water, Kings Bible. I leveled them up as quickly as I could so I would have a sort of shield around me. I farmed the library level because it was easier than the forest so I could afford power ups l. I just made it to the 32nd minute in the Library even with the Reaper appearing at 30. I am no expert but that was key for me early to get where I am now.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Jeesuz! I thought the 2nd level was much harder than the first as I've just unlocked it. \n\nThe wooden head things seem to take more damage than the bats from the first level",
"replies": [
{
"body": "You’ll get there! The 2nd level was hard for me at first. But now it’s my “go to” easy level. I’m almost at 100% with the latest DLCs and it’s just a lot of fun. But a lot of dying at the start."
},
{
"body": "There are three of the books that increase cooldown reduction in the library to the left of the starting spot. They are in little nooks at the top of the screen. Just start scrolling left and keep going until you have all three. It takes a while.\n\nCooldown reduction is super powerful. It reduces the time between attacks."
},
{
"body": "You can level up very quickly in library using poe or getting garlic early"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Garlic is super op"
},
{
"body": "I got to level 65 today playing in this library. I got the grimoire and figured that weapons can be combined to create new stronger ones. This game is so much fun, can’t wait to finish work for the day and get back into it 😂"
},
{
"body": "Theres more than 1 level?... oh how much I have to learn"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Just search for some threads here. To give some of the most common tips:\n\n- Don't worry about dying a lot or get discouraged by it. It's normal at the beginning! The game needs a while to get going but eventually starts to snowball hard\n\n- Keep buying the \"Power-Ups\" in the main menu. They're the biggest permanent buff you can get. Focus on the offensive ones (Might, Cooldown & Amount), and the ones that help you level up (Growth & Magnet)\n\n- Use the \"Unlocks\" menu as a guide. It tells you exactly how to progress in a nice sorted checklist\n\n- Prioritize leveling the stuff you already have over taking new things. Screen clutter may look cool, but it's common knowledge here that one Lv.8 weapon is *far* more valuable than an inventory full of Lv.1 stuff\n\n- Garlic is every beginner's best friend. It can carry you a lot at the beginning!\n\n- Stage 2 is a lot easier and more beginner-friendly than stage 1. Most people have their first 30m-run there! Stage 3 on the other hand is a huge and sudden difficulty spike\n\n- Don't be afraid to look things up. The game explains almost none of its mechanics in detail. I'd especially look up how evolutions work, as soon as you can consistently reach 10 minutes",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Nice presentation of tips. Couldn't of said any better myself. \n\nI would just add that rushing to get the map on stage 3 would make finding things much easier."
},
{
"body": "If you are lucky enough to get garlic on your first xp power up, you're sitting pretty. I was able to go the full 30 minutes and max out all my items, eventually getting new undiscovered items before the grim-reaper appeared on screen. Garlic is definitely a beginners best friend."
},
{
"body": "1 year later I used these tips, thanks!"
},
{
"body": "How to get garlic?",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Gotta find 5 floor chickens which pop up from destroying braziers and candle, that will unlock the garlic, them if u get it to level 7 u get Poe and he starts with garlic"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "The biggest piece of advice that changed this game for me was not to run too much from enemies at the beginning. You shouldn't be moving too far in any one direction early on; enemies despawn if you get too far from them, and the early enemies are the easiest ones to kill so you want as few of them as possible despawning. Once you adjust to corralling enemies into a big ball and circling it to whittle them down you'll find yourself doing much better. \n\nRunning really far in one direction makes it way easier to survive but denies you tons of experience. Not getting those early levels will cost you your run when the game starts getting serious post 10 minutes.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "There are some incorrect things stated here so allow me to clarify. First off, enemies do not just \"despawn;\" the one exception to this I have noticed is the skull pillars that shoot projectiles. Every other enemy in the game will \"wrap\" the screen and reappear elsewhere. This can most easily be noted with the boss enemies that drop chests.\n\nSecondly, gems do despawn but you don't really ever \"lose\" the XP unless pentagram erases it. Eventually the game will place a red gem that contains all the despawned gems and any new ones that spawn over the gem limit. If you just keep running and despawning gems you will eventually find the red and get all the unearned experience. Pentagram and Vicious Hunger can and will delete this gem though, and at that point the XP is fully lost.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "This is the actual misinformation. Enemies definitely despawn, and it's incredibly easy to prove. Pick a character. I chose Queen. Load up the first map. Take the arcana that makes you stronger for having fewer weapons level 1. Take honestly whatever you want after that- I only chose ones that don't effect her weapon. Every level up, hit skip. The first time you do this, stay in one area and move in circles, careful to rarely go out of range of your enemies. I did this and in the first minute I had killed around 1100 enemies. After 1 minute the next wave appears and the large red eyed bats cease existing. I was level 17 at 1:12 with no starting enemies left to kill.\n\nThe next run do the same thing but from the start run in a single direction. I chose northwest. Take all the same cards, skip every level up. At 1 minute I had killed around 650 enemies, and then the red eyed bats disappeared from my screen as they left my view and the enemies spawned. I was level 12 at 1:12 with no starting enemies left to kill. I effectively robbed myself of \\~400 basic bats because I was running the whole time.\n\n​\n\nThe experience thing may be true; I know exp does condense in red gems, though I'm not convinced all of it does, but enemies certainly do despawn. The only ones that won't are the enemies with chests.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I've definitely had clusters of enemies left from previous waves while running to get items on the stage before, and if you do the circling thing it's very easy to note that enemies coming on screen are lesser in number than say, standing still and killing or running one direction. This is because the game can't replace enemies that are already active, so they just start coming from a different direction."
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "- Look at your character's special bonus and starting weapon, and try to pick upgrades that synergize well. I'm still pretty new to the game and it's very satisfying when a build completely wipes the screen with ease.\n\n\n- Amount is probably my favorite stat to focus on. More projectiles = more damage, and it seems to synergize well with almost every weapon. There are some nifty charts that show which stats benefit which weapons.\n\n\n- Garlic is a bit of a noob trap and the Bible seems a lot better in most situations. Garlic and its evolved form are a bit underwhelming, as are the bird weapons and the guns.\n\n\n- XP Gain with Magnet seems to consistently win runs for me because your character will scale faster than the enemies. If you go this route, look into the Pentagram once your build is going (typically the 5th/6th weapon when I grab this) because it can erase items before it's upgraded a bit. I've found this weakness is mitigated with enough xp gain as you'll level enough to cover the weakness in minutes. The evolved pentagram is ridiculously overpowered and makes a nice noise.\n\n\n- Generally, I like to focus on xp/magnet/luck gain as a priority because the levels get harder as time goes on. You want to front load your upgrades so you're beefy when it gets scary after minute 20+."
},
{
"body": "I've done 100% Achievements since picking up the game 4 days ago. Following your \"Unlocks\" in the Main Menu will help you get better since you'll open up new things to use and looking up Evolutions wouldn't hurt you. I ran Porta early game while using Thunder Loop (Lightning Ring + Duplicator), Hellfire (Fire Wand + Spinach), Holy Wand (Magic Wand + Empty Tome) and La Borra (Santa Water + AttractOrb) as my main picks while playing. The moment I got to stage 4 I just killed a Secret Boss and everything was just smooth sailing from there on since I just slowly unlocked everything one by one. \n\n\nThings of note I'd say is that, if you have the DLC Tides of Foscari you could potentially just destroy the game very very early if you manage to unlock Sammy."
},
{
"body": "How you making out now 5 months in? I expect by now you're a pro. I hated this shit for the first few runs but couldn't put it down. Now I've 100% the new content and can't wait for more. This game is incredible for what it is. \n\nGarlic is OP af, some weapons and evos are just nuts, like when you get Sigma, omg her weapon is nuts lol. Hope you're enjoying it and haven't given up.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I have absolutely slayed the game haha I have unlocked most of the characters and haven't been back in a while I'm waiting for the dlc to drop on switch 🤣",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Ayy glad to hear it. We just got our two sons iPads, and one of the first things I did was get VS. The 4 year old likes it. I really only put it on the other IPad for me 😆"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Poe is your go-to guy, it mixes well with Santa water or bible.\n\nAlso, don't use knives if you do, use the magic wand instead."
},
{
"body": "Try out all the characters as you unlock them. Don't focus too hard on improving in one just starting out.\n\nGarlic and bible are great training wheels"
},
{
"body": "🧄"
},
{
"body": "If there are items to pick up on screen, fill your item bar first, then pick it up, because you can have more than 5"
},
{
"body": "Better playing offense than defense - get stronger faster."
},
{
"body": "Gar dang lic"
},
{
"body": "In library upgrade bible and duration staff as m uch as possible \nYou'll obtain evolved bible which never stops"
},
{
"body": "I always die to this round where you get sorrunded by all sides and everything is full of mosters. Is there like a limit how long you can play? Is there like no end? Do i always die to this stupid round ?",
"replies": [
{
"body": "30 mins is max"
}
]
},
{
"body": "You need garlic lvl 7 to unlock character?"
},
{
"body": "Poe"
},
{
"body": "I cleared all stages easily by looking up evolutions and focusing on unlocked section, really helps to be a perfectionist here lol"
}
]
}