Vampire Survivors guide: Survive 31 minutes, kill Death

Vampire SurvivorsThis game is about how to survive in a sea full of movie monsters. After the 30 minute mark, Death will attack and kill you. But there’s a way around this. You can even beat the grim reaper.

In this guide we’ll teach you how to survive for over 31 minutes in the Inlaid Library to unlock the Disco of Gold Arcana and defeat Death to unlock the secret Red Death character.

Before and during the race

For both surviving Death and eventually defeating him (the latter being the much harder task of the two), you’ll need to have already spent a lot of gold on upgrades and power ups. If you don’t have enough gold to buy most of the upgrades, this is probably a task best saved for later in your Vampire Survivors journey.

If you’re ready to take on Death, though, purchase all the power-ups except for three: Growth, Curse, and Magnet. If you’re low on gold, you can also ignore Greed for this purpose. (Note that you can easily refund your gold if you’ve already invested in the three power-ups listed above).

Once your power-ups have been set up, go to the Inlaid Library map and turn hyper mode (and hurry mode) on. Next, choose Clerici to be your character. (Whom you unlock when you regenerated 1,000 health).

Start the run.

Installation

Photo: Poncle via Polygon

When you’re done loading in, choose the Awake and Slash Arcanas to start. After Clerici has been mastered, it is time to act quickly.

Turn left and walk up. To instantly level up, grab the green gem and get Runetracer. If Runetracer doesn’t appear in your options, reroll until you get it or quit and restart — Runetracer is mandatory for this strategy.

After you’ve obtained Runetracer quickly sprint around the table and then walk up to the cubby. Place Clerici’s right hand (when she’s facing you) just under the clock. The left-most crack on the bookshelf should align with Clerici’s head. Refer to the above image and copy our position.

This will make you level 2. If you’ve accidentally leveled up to level three or higher, back out and try again.

If you’re in the correct position and still a low level, you’ll shoot out a massive Runetracer, blocking the entrance to the nook. This is due to Clerici’s special bonus, which increases the area of her weapons while she’s still low level.

Now, wait 30 minutes. There are times when you could sustain serious injury, or even death. But if you’re dying regularly, you’re likely out of position. This isn’t an exact science and there is some luck involved.

The Death Penalty

Within 30 minutes Death will take over and destroy everything. Run quickly to the nearest red gem and find him. You will find dozens of levels of XP within this gem.

As you grab XP and chests on the way to the gem, here are the items you’re looking for:

• Santa Water
• Runetracer
• Laurel
• Clock Lancet
• Bracer
• Spellbinder
• Empty Totem
• Candelabrador

You can also add Bone, Knife, Attractorb, or Magic Wand to complete your build.

Once you’re set up and leveled up, grab the chests around you and try to evolve your weapons. You should have your Laurel protecting you from Death. Clock Lancet should be freezing.

After you’ve assembled your whole build, sit down at the counter and unleash all the hell that Death has to offer.

This method should allow you to achieve 31 minutes, and then unlock Disco of Gold Aracana. The Killing Death is more difficult. Keep focused on him and he’ll eventually die. You can restart if he, or any of his Death cronies, defeats you.