Vampire Crawlers offers that same "one more game" fun of its predecessor, and even uses a majority of the same characters, levels, and mechanics that fans have come to know and love. However, this turn-based dungeon crawler is a totally different type of experience from Vampire Survivors' isometric action. To help you navigate these new challenges, we have compiled these essential Vampire Crawlers Beginner's Tips for your opening hours.
Essential Vampire Crawlers Beginner's Tips: Upgrades and Strategy
With such limited gold available early in your adventure, it is reasonable to feel uncertain about where to put your upgrade points. While there is not necessarily a wrong answer, the most efficient route is to prioritize Greed as soon as it is unlocked. This will increase your coin acquisition by 25% per rank, so getting it to a minimum of Rank 2 or 3 will dramatically improve your progress.
You should also make sure you are putting points into Might very early. At least a couple of ranks in this upgrade will make a significant impact on your damage output. While other upgrades like Max Health can be important, you have options for mitigating incoming damage through armor and cards like Pummarola. Consequently, dishing out more pain to your foes is usually the better bet.
Don't forget that you can reset your points at any time. You should always feel free to move them around to different upgrades based on your current goals. Implementing these Vampire Crawlers Beginner's Tips regarding resource management will keep your character scaling effectively.
The Power of Card Combos
During the tutorial, you will unlock the Combo Stack relic, which allows you to improve the power of cards when played in ascending mana cost order. While the game provides a small explanation, it is easy to overlook how vital this mechanic is during future encounters.
Basically, playing your cards in ascending order of their mana cost allows you to power up the following card. For example, if you play a 0-cost card, any 1-cost cards in your hand will glow and receive improved stats for the next move. If you then play that 1-cost card, any 2-cost cards will receive improved stats, and so forth.
This does not just apply to damage; it also affects utility. For instance, comboing into a Pummarola card can provide a huge boon to your healing. You can even combo into a one-time use card like Hollow Hearts to boost the amount of max health it grants you.
Scavenging and Survival
As you explore the map, you will commonly spot lit braziers, candles, and other light sources. Make sure you always bump into these, as they frequently drop coins, one-time use cards, or consumable chicken to heal you. After you find the Guiding Light relic in the Inlaid Library, you can even spot these light sources on your map to ensure you don't leave any behind.
When it comes to using consumables, strategy is key:
- Save your chicken for when you really need it.
- Avoid using chicken unless you are extremely low on health or facing an imminent death.
- Use chicken after beating a boss to boost your health before entering the next level.
Since you often have Pummarola cards or other healing methods to top you off, wasting chicken during regular battles is unnecessary.
Advanced Progression and Grinding
Your playstyle will evolve as you reach the later parts of the game, but during the early hours, there is no Arcana with a better modifier than Sharp Mind. This Arcana allows any unused mana in a turn to carry over to the next turn.
Most characters start with a low mana pool, often making it impossible to use 3-cost cards without upgrades or a lucky Tome card draw. With Sharp Mind equipped, you can stockpile mana by skipping unnecessary cards. Combined with capacity upgrades and proper use of Tomes, you can eventually unleash devastating amounts of mana.
As dungeons get progressively harder, it may become impossible to pass certain levels without more village upgrades. During the first few hours, make a habit of running previous levels multiple times with a focus on coin acquisition. You can combine these runs with other goals by using the Unlocks menu to:
- Level up new characters.
- Try to unlock new evolutions.
- Track overall game progress.
Sometimes, it's best to just cash out when you open chests or interact with certain upgrade stations, as you will be prompted to choose from a list of ge
