RELATED: The Best Indie Horror Games To Play If You Loved PT
There are many weapons to choose from while playing through a stage in Vampire Survivors. These weapons are balanced well, but some are noticeably better than others. The two stages are different in layout; a certain weapon might be more useful in Mad Forest than in the Inlaid Library. Some weapons also evolve into stronger weapons if the required accessory is in the inventory. The evolved weapons will be included in the base weapon’s entry and will influence the ranking of the base weapon. With that out of the way, here are the best weapons players can get in Vampire Survivors, ranked.
Updated November 9, 2022, by Jeff Drake: The three most important factors to surviving a stage in Vampire Survivors are weapons, weapons, and weapons. Collecting the right assortment of weapons in this game makes all the difference in the world. There are several aspects of a weapon that makes it better or worse than others. What passive items improve a weapon, and how many other weapons use this passive item? How much damage does the weapon do? How big is the area of effect for the weapon? The best weapons in Vampire Survivors take all of these things into account and excel in a wide variety of situations.
25 Garlic
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: Pick up 5 floor chickens
The Garlic weapon creates a circular barrier around the character that damages enemies when they cross the barrier. This weapon continues to damage enemies if they stay within the radius of the barrier. This weapon is great for the first ten minutes of a stage; after ten minutes the low damage of Garlic begins to fall behind the growing enemy strength.
The Soul Eater is the evolved form of the Garlic weapon. This has a larger radius and life-stealing properties - the character is healed when the Soul Eater hurts the enemy. There are a couple of Arcanas that elevate Garlic to a higher tier of weapon in Vampire Survivors, and if combined with the Crimson Shroud (evolved Laurel) the character can easily survive for 31 minutes.
24 Clock Lancet
Max Level: 7 Evolves: No How To Unlock: Find the Orologion pick-up item.
The Clock Lancet doesn’t damage the enemy; all this weapon does is freeze enemies in place temporarily. This weapon sends out a medium-length ray of light every few seconds. This ray moves in a clockwise fashion between uses and freezes all nearby enemies.
There really isn’t much more to say about the Clock Lancet - it freezes enemies for a short while. However, it also freezes Death in its tracks. In fact, to beat Death the player absolutely needs the Clock Lancet. The Clock Lancet combined with weapons like the Runetracer, Bone, and La Borra, used in a confined area, can kill Death. It just takes time, and a little luck.
The Clock Lancet can now be evolved into the Infinite Corridor. this operates as the Clock Lancet, but periodically reduces the enemies’ health by half.
23 Fire Wand
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: Destroy 20 light sources
The Fire Wand has one thing going for it; it does more damage than any standard weapon except the Axe (they both deal 20 damage). The drawback is the Fire Wand fire its projectiles in a random direction. The projectiles are also painfully slow. It is not uncommon for the targeted enemy to maneuver around the fireballs.
Hellfire is the evolved form of the Fire Wand and gains the ability to fire piercing projectiles. In essence, the Hellfire’s projectiles act as a lawnmower as they fly across the screen; all enemies caught in the path will be cut down. Combine this weapon with the Candelabrador and Duplicator to increase its efficiency.
22 Axe
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: N/A
The Axe sends axes flying in a high arc from the player character. When the Axe increases in level, it will do more damage, increase the number of axes that are thrown per use, and can pass through more enemies before disappearing. It is a slow, clumsy weapon at the early levels, and doesn’t travel very far horizontally even at level eight.
This weapon would not rank among the best weapons for Vampire Survivors were it not for its evolved form, the Death Spiral. The Death Spiral is an incredibly powerful weapon that sends out a wave of spinning scythes in all directions; these pass through enemies while damaging them. The Axe requires the Candelabrador accessory to evolve.
21 Magic Wand
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: N/A
This weapon sends out magic missiles when used, which target the nearest enemy and do a moderate amount of damage. When leveled up, the Magic Wand gets additional magic missiles, some piercing capabilities, and a shortened cooldown time. This weapon is good at the start of a stage, becomes obsolete around minute 18, then evolves into one of the best weapons in Vampire Survivors.
RELATED: The Best Things About Dungeon Munchies (& The Worst)
If a character has the Empty Tome accessory, the Magic Wand can be evolved into the Holy Wand. This weapon has no cooldown time, meaning it fires non-stop. If the character also has the Duplicator accessory, the Holy Wand becomes a rapid-fire shotgun.
20 Cross
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: Find the Rosary pick-up item.
Gamers will immediately recognize the Cross weapon in Vampire Survivors — it is an almost direct copy of the Cross weapon in the early Castlevania games. When thrown, this weapon sends out spinning crosses that boomerang across the battlefield once. These crosses do significant damage and pass through enemies while dealing damage. It is a great weapon for clearing a path.
The Cross evolves into the Heaven Sword if the character possesses the Clover accessory. The Heaven Sword sends out a large sword that boomerangs and can cause critical hits. It is probably the weakest of the evolved weapons, but still highly effective.
19 Carrello
Max Level: 8 Evolves: No How To Unlock: Unlock Ramba
This interesting weapon is the starting weapon of Ramba and can be exploited in an interesting way. The Carrello uses mine carts as projectiles. These carts travel left and right; bouncing off the edge of the screen and objects. As the Carrello is leveled up the carts grow larger and move faster. The number of bounces per cart is affected by the character’s Amount.
If the player can get the character’s movement speed to match the speed of the carts they can create a wall of carts to walk behind. This allows the player to travel indefinitely in one direction until around minute-24 - at which point the enemies will probably be too stout for the carts to clear a path.
18 Shadow Pinion
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: Survive 15 minutes using Concetta
The Shadow Pinion was introduced into the game as the starting weapon of Concetta. Shadow Pinion leaves spinning drill-heads behind the player, like a trail of breadcrumbs. When the player stops moving the drills are projected in the direction the character was last moving.
This weapon is excellent for crowd control and zoning, as it does a lot of damage in a (potentially) wide area - in the direction of the player’s choosing. The evolved version of Shadow Pinion, Valkyrie Turner, leaves a trail of fire instead of drill-heads but operates in the same manner.
17 Peachone And Ebony Wings
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes (Union) How To Unlock: Peachone is unlocked after surviving for 10 minutes. Ebony Wings unlocks when the player gets Peachone to level 7.
Peachone and Ebony Wings are bird weapons, and both have a similar effect. They both rain bombs on the enemy; the only difference is the color of the bombs and the direction of the attack (clockwise or counterclockwise, respectively). These bombs are fairly damaging, and by level eight can clear the area surrounding the character with ease.
If the character gets Peachone and Ebony Wings to level eight, they will merge to form Vandalier. Vandalier fires all the projectiles of Peachone and Ebony Wings and has twice the area of effect. This union also opens a weapon slot, allowing the player to select an additional weapon.
16 Whip
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: N/A
This is another underrated weapon in Vampire Survivors. The Whip has a wide attack area and passes through enemies while damaging them. It gets a wider area of effect as it gains levels, and begins attacking enemies on both sides of the player. The only thing holding the Whip back in the rankings is that its damage doesn’t scale high enough.
RELATED: The Best Things About Record Of Lodoss War: Deedlit In Wonder Labyrinth (& The Worst)
This weapon is excellent at keeping swarming enemies from reaching the player character. It also clears large swathes of the battlefield of enemies, making it great for creating escape routes. The Whip evolves into the Bloody Tear if the character has the Hollow Heart accessory. The Bloody Tear heals the user a portion of the damage it deals, making it hard for the player to die.
15 Pentagram
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: Surviving for 20 Minutes
The Pentagram always feels like a big decision when it appears when leveling up. The reason for this is that the Pentagram forces players to change how they play. During the early levels, this weapon destroys everything onscreen; including treasure chests and experience gems. A roughly minute-long cooldown time is another factor that players must consider when deciding whether to pick the Pentagram.
A recent update introduced a new character, Christine, whose starting weapon is the Pentagram. At the same time, the Pentagram was given an evolved version - the Gorgeous Moon. In addition to killing all enemies onscreen, The Gorgeous Moon provides extra experience gems and pulls them to the player, much like the pick-up item, the Vacuum.
14 Runetracer
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: Survive more than 5 minutes with Pasqualina
The Runetracer is an underrated weapon. Many players likely assume that because this weapon doesn’t evolve, it’s inferior to those that can — but that’s a mistake. At the start, the Runertracer is an ineffective weapon. Its projectiles fire in random directions, and in the first ten minutes, this means that most projectiles won’t hit many enemies before disappearing.
However, when the Runetracer’s level is maxed, it becomes one of the better crowd control weapons, especially in the Inlaid Library. This is because the Runetracer bounces off objects and walls, and the Inlaid Library is a narrow stage with walls at the top and bottom.
The Runetracer now has an evolved form, NO FUTURE. The evolved version’s projectiles cause an explosion when they bounce.
13 Bone
Max Level: 8 Evolves: No How To Unlock: Unlock the Mortaccio character
The Bone is the starting weapon of Mortaccio, and it’s a rare occurrence for it to be offered to another character when leveling up. It happens - just not very often. The Bone functions similarly to the Runetracer. The biggest difference between the two is that the Bone bounces off enemies rather than penetrating and continuing.
There are few weapons that outperform the Bone when the player is being surrounded by enemies in the later minutes of a stage. The Bone also does a large amount of damage; meaning that most enemies die from a single hit.
12 Lightning Ring
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: Defeat 5000 Enemies
The Lightning Ring showers the stage with lightning bolts from the sky. These bolts hit random targets, and aren’t affected by increases in projectile speed and duration of the weapon’s effect. As this weapon levels up, it gets increased damage, the number of lightning bolts sent down, and the area of effect.
RELATED: Vampire Survivors: The Best PowerUps To Prioritize
At level one, this weapon is pretty mediocre. Fortunately, the enemies are weak until about the 10-minute mark of a stage. At level eight, this weapon can clear entire groups of enemies. The Lightning Ring can be greatly improved with the Spinach and Empty Tome accessories.
Following a post-release update, the Lightning Ring now evolves into the Thunder Loop; which strikes twice the number of enemies. However, the Duplicator accessory is required in order to evolve the Lightning Ring.
11 Song Of Mana
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: Survive for 15 minutes with Poppea
The Song of Mana was introduced along with a new character, Poppea Pecorina. This weapon extends vertically in a column to the top and bottom of the screen. Enemies caught in this column of light take a large amount of damage. This evolves into the Mannajja if the player has the Curse accessory; the Mannajja has a chance of slowing enemies in addition to dealing significant damage.
The Song of Mana increases in duration, area of effect, and damage as it gets upgraded. When combined with characters and items that extend duration and damage, the Song of Mana acts like a lawnmower when the player moves horizontally - few enemies survive passing through the deadly column of light.
10 Flames Of Misspell
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes How To Unlock: Unlock Avatar Infernus
This weapon is basically a permanent version of the Nduja Fritta pick-up item, which is a flamethrower. At low level, the Flames of Misspell has a short range and a long cooldown time (4 seconds). By level eight, however, and with the help of the Empty Tome, this weapon acts almost identically to the Nduja Fritta.
The reason this isn’t ranked higher is due to what is required to evolve the weapon. The player needs to get the Torrona’s Box passive item to level nine. Getting Torrona’s Box is hard enough, but at level nine it boosts enemy frequency, health, speed, and quantity by 100%.
9 La Robba
Max Level: 8 Evolves: No How To Unlock: Unlock Sir Ambrojoe
La Robba is the starting weapon of Sir Ambrojoe, and easily one of the best weapons in Vampire Survivors. This odd weapon showers the area with furniture and other objects. These objects fall from the top-center of the screen to the bottom. Even while low-level, this weapon can keep the enemy hordes at a safe distance.
RELATED: The Best Limit Break Builds In Vampire Survivors
When one of the projectiles of La Robba hits an enemy it bounces making it much more likely to hit another enemy before its duration expires. La Robba also does quite a bit of damage and scales well with items that increase area. With the Candelabrador, Silver Ring, Duplicator, Torrona’s Box, and Spinach passive items, La Robba can complete a stage by itself.
8 Greatest Jubilee
Max Level: 9 Evolves: No How To Unlock: Defeat the Directer and complete the Eudaimonia Machine stage.
This is the weapon awarded to players who finish the final stage of the game, so it should not be a surprise that it’s one of the very best. Greatest Jubilee causes fireworks to explode in the top half of the screen. These are not only festive, but the explosions are powerful. No character starts with Greatest Jubilee.
When this weapon reaches level nine it gets a finishing move that covers the lower half of the screen with a laser light show. This allows Greatest Jubilee to cover nearly the entire screen. This weapon doesn’t evolve, because it doesn’t need to.
7 Cherry Bomb
Max Level: 8 Evolves: No How To Unlock: Unlock the Yatta Cavallo character
The Cherry Bomb is the starting weapon of Yatta Cavallo; it was introduced into the game along with Cavallo. This weapon behaves like the Bone; except these eventually come to a stop and explode. The explosion produced by the Cherry Bombs covers a medium-sized area and delivers a lot of damage.
With the Candelabrador and Duplicator accessories, a fully leveled Cherry Bomb can completely clear the screen of enemies. This can be found by other characters, but if a player wants to use the Cherry Bomb, they should select Cavallo as their character. The other characters rarely get the Cherry Bomb as a choice when leveling up.
6 Phiera Der Tuphello And Eight The Sparrow
Max Level: 8 Evolves: Yes (Union) How To Unlock: Survive for 15 minutes using Pugnala
These are companion weapons, much like Peachone and Ebony Wings. Phiera Der Tuphello and Eight The Sparrow are firearms that fire diagonally from the character. What these two weapons lack in damage they make up for with rate of fire. When these two are fully leveled they spray a constant barrage of projectiles.
The reason Phiera Der Tuphello and Eight The Sparrow are such good weapons is due to their evolved union form: Phieraggi. This weapon fires powerful rays of energy from the character in a radial pattern. With the right passive items, this weapon will fire constantly.
