Vampire Survivors News

Vampire Survivors 0.5 adds Arcana power-ups and lots of cats

The new Vampire Survivors 0.5 patch notes are here along with the big new update for the roguelike game, which - as developer Poncle previously confirmed - is headlined by the inclusion of Arcana power-ups that can completely change the game. Also, cats. Lots of cats.

With the vampire game now at the halfway point, the big new Vampire Survivors Arcana update adds the long-promised "major new gameplay mechanic", which Poncle now reveals as power-ups. By finding the Randomazzo in Stage 4, players can unlock up to six major Arcana buffs - including the likes of critical attacks, improved healing, and even mid-match revivals.

Poncle describes this update as "the real Early Access content", as the introduction of Arcanas is apparently "largely untested due to the large amount of interactions it could have". The developer assumes there will be "major changes" to this mechanic in future updates, but hopes players will still "have fun finding new ways to break the game and reach 1 fps again".

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Patch 0.5.0

New Content

Contains 4 (?) new achievements:

- 1 new relic/major gameplay feature (Arcana)
- 1 more level of Banish
- 1 new weapon
- Inlaid Library Coffin

The new content in this patch will allow you to summon chaos and vicious creatures and also tap into the great occult power of the Arcanas. It sounds like this though:
[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

Tweaks:
- Minor changes to spawn waves
- Changed base drop rate of some Treasure Chests from 80% to 100%
- Reduced Cooldown of Carréllo
- Each rank in "Skip" now gives 2 skips instead of 1
- Specified Clock Speed in Stage Selection
- Removed special BGM from weapons (it stays on special characters only)

Bugfix:
- Game data will now be saved when backing out of selection menus

[h3]How to unlock Arcanas as a game mechanic[/h3]
- Find the Randomazzo at the top of Stage 4. Be careful.

[h3]How to unlock more Arcanas[/h3]
- After finding the Randomazzo, new unlocks will be available and visible in the Unlocks menu. There are 6 Arcanas in this patch, more will be added in future patches.

[h3]How to activate Arcanas during a run[/h3]
- You get to choose any unlocked Arcana at the start of a new run. After that, if you have unlocked more arcanas than just the default one, then there is a chance you can get a random draft from Trasure Chests. Most Treasure Chests containing Arcanas are carried by bosses spawning at minute 11:00 and 21:00. You can carry a maximum of 3 Arcanas at the same time.

The real Early Access content

Because of the way I've originally tested the game mechanics in VS, most of what we've seen so far has somewhat always been from the realm of the expected.

With Arcanas that's going to change a little.

This new layer of game mechanics will be largely untested due to the large amount of interactions it could have, so there might be major changes to them as we move forward in patches.

Please keep this in mind when discussing Arcanas, there will inevitably be talks about what's trash and what's op, but my concern is about people fighting over this kind of stuff and forgetting the main point of the game: having fun.

So I hope you have fun finding new ways to break the game and reach 1fps again, and fingers crossed there won't be need for nerfs, only buffs :)

Vampire Survivors 0.5 update adds Arcanas this week

The Vampire Survivors 0.5 update is coming this week, developer Poncle confirms - in fact, it should drop in the next two days. This is a big patch for the vampire game since it adds Arcanas, the "new major game mechanic" the team has teased for a while.

Due to the popularity of Vampire Survivors on Steam Early Access, Poncle previously revealed that the planned roadmap for the roguelike game has expanded significantly. While the final 1.0 release is still a while off, Vampire Survivors is officially hitting the halfway point this week - patch 0.5.0 will drop either tomorrow or Wednesday, April 12-13, as Poncle revealed on its Discord server.

The biggest part of Vampire Survivors 0.5 is the addition of the big new gameplay mechanic called Arcanas, which - going by the roadmap - is a new relic based around some sort of card system. Additionally, there will be a brand weapon, ten new achievements to unlock, and a number of quality-of-life fixes.

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Vampire Survivors weapon evolution guide

Want to know how to evolve weapons in Vampire Survivors? This roguelite indie game is rapidly gaining in popularity, as players discover the sheer joy of walking around a forest or library, slaying an ever-growing encroaching horde of monsters that just want to be very close to you.

It's a relatively simple game to play, but mastering it and unlocking Vampire Survivors characters can get a little tricky if you don't spec into the correct build from the start. To evolve an item in Vampire Survivors, you must first level up a weapon to its maximum level, collect its linked item when it appears on the level up screen, then kill a boss monster and open the chest it leaves behind. Unfortunately, you only have a few slots for weapons and items, so you must choose carefully.

The items that synergise well with a weapon aren't necessarily the items you need to evolve them, so while you'll want to pick up the candelabrador if you have the garlic weapon, you also need a pummarola to power it up. To help you figure out which items to keep, we've put together a list of all the possible Vampire Survivors weapon evolutions and which items you need to pick up when you level up.

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Vampire Survivors update 0.42 brings new stage and weapon

There's a whole batch of new content for breakout hit roguelike game Vampire Survivors out today in a new Early Access patch. The update, dubbed patch 0.4.2, adds a brand new stage called the tower. There are seven new achievements to unlock, which means you can expect a new weapon, a new weapon evolution, and more.

The new stage is Vampire Survivors' spookiest level yet, with gothic skull statues, a deep blue tiled floor, and vampire-friendly red carpeting accenting the staircases and traps littered around the floor. It features a new set of enemies and special events, and if you've been following along since last time, it'll mark another step toward your ultimate goal of finding the resting place of the vampire himself.

If you want to work out how to acquire all of this new stuff yourself, you may want to stop reading here. Part of the fun in Vampire Survivors is experimenting with new builds and discovering the new synergies yourself, so we completely understand if you want to go in blind.

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