On the surface, Vampire Survivors seems simple enough, but there are tons of unlockables. From a secret character to the mysterious Stone Mask, seeing everything in the game will take a while. As such, it’s best to go in prepared. This guide will explain our Vampire Survivors best character choice, as well as how to unlock them, and a couple additional options in case you want to diversify.
Who Is the Vampire Survivors Best Character?
While there are several viable options, the Vampire Survivors best character is Gennaro. His passive allows him to have a permanent +1 projectile on all weapons from the start. This means that his starting weapon, the Knife, begins with a second projectile right away. From that moment on, the passive affects every single new item or upgrade that you pick up, which is pretty neat.
In case you haven’t used it yet, the Knife is a ranged-based attack that is shot in the direction you’re moving towards. This also applies to diagonal movements, which helps to cover more ground or make an opening when mobs come your way as you attempt an escape.
His starting stats are solely Max Health at 110 and Amount +1, as per the passive, which may not be anything impressive. But once you consider the advantage of the extra projectile, which affects many of the items you can pick up, it’s definitely worth the try. You can unlock Gennaro with 650 gold, which is obtainable in a couple runs without much hassle.
Now, choosing the Vampire Survivors best character isn’t an easy feat, as there are several viable options. Mortaccio is a good alternative as a skeleton who gets more projectiles every 20 levels, up to a maximum of three times. As such, Mortaccio will have up to three additional projectiles, which are increasingly gained from levels 20, 40, and 60, respectively.
It’s a similar premise to what Gennaro offers, but the biggest difference is it takes a while to gain even just one additional projectile. I’d recommend trying out Mortaccio once you’ve gotten used to the game and have a couple items unlocked already. Reaching level 20 can be hard, and it only gets more difficult from there. The good thing is that the passive’s effect is retroactive, so you immediately gain additional projectiles for all the correspondent items you have already obtained.
If you’re wondering how to unlock Mortaccio, you have to do the following:
- In the main menu, type down Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right ESC Enter
Yes, that is the Konami code. Similarly to how you unlock the secret character, you need to type this down fast for it to work. As well as Mortaccio, you’ll gain a significant amount of gold — I got 2800, but it may vary.
If you hear a distinct sound after inputting the Konami code, head to the character selection screen and you should see Mortaccio. You need 700 gold to unlock him, so that gold drop of the code suddenly makes more sense. You can also unlock the character by defeating 3000 skeletons, but up to you if you want to take the shortcut instead.
Last but not least, if you’re more interested in dealing damage, Antonio is also a good character choice. His passive grants him +10% more damage to his attacks every 10 levels up to +50%, which means he’s getting damage buffs up to level 50.
There are other advantages: Antonio is the first character available in Vampire Survivors, so you don’t have to do anything. Also, his starting weapon is the Whip, which is great for close quarters. I recommend getting at least one upgrade for the Whip when you level up, as this will allow you to attack on both sides (the front and the back), making it easier to defend yourself from attackers that are chasing you.
As I mentioned, your Vampire Survivors best character may vary depending on what you’re looking for in terms of builds, but the aforementioned characters are great options to kick things off.
