Vampire Survivors Best Characters Tier List

Author: Verdict Games Editorial Team Last Updated: October 3, 2026

The Bottom Line

Queen Sigma is the strongest base-game character, followed by Pugnala (+1% Might every level, no cap) and Leda (+100% Might from the start). Arca and Antonio are the best of the early roster for a normal 30-minute run. For beginners, buy Imelda for 10 gold first. In Endless mode only the characters whose bonus never stops growing keep up, and among the DLC characters Vlad Tepes Dracula (Ode to Castlevania) and Colonel Bahamut (Operation Guns) stand out.

Summary

Every Vampire Survivors character is a starting weapon plus a passive bonus. Once weapons evolve, what separates the top of this list is how the passive scales: flat, capped at a level, or growing all run. This tier list ranks the base game on that basis, names the best beginner pick, rates the strongest characters in every DLC pack, shows when each scaler overtakes the others, and explains how Hyper, Inverse and Endless change the ranking.

Who This Is For: Vampire Survivors players choosing which characters to unlock, buy and main, including DLC owners Intermediate

Key Points

Rank characters by how their passive scales, not by the starting weapon. Weapons evolve; a bonus with no cap keeps working long after a flat one stops.

S tier in the base game: Queen Sigma, Pugnala and Leda. Arca and Antonio are the best of the early, cheap roster.

Best for beginners: Imelda (10 gold). Her Magic Wand aims itself and she gains up to +30% experience, which speeds up every level-based unlock.

Pugnala's Might bonus trails Antonio's until level 51 and then pulls ahead for good. Judge scalers by minute 25, not minute 5.

Endless mode adds +100% enemy HP every cycle, so uncapped scalers (Pugnala, Queen Sigma, Zi'Assunta, Dracula) rise and flat-bonus characters fall.

Every character in Vampire Survivors is two things: a starting weapon and a passive bonus. The starting weapon decides your first evolution and how the opening minutes feel. The passive decides the rest of the run. Some passives are flat (Gennaro's extra projectile), some grow and then stop at a level cap (Antonio's Might stops at level 50), and a few grow every level with no cap at all. Because weapons evolve and builds converge, that last group is what separates the top of this list.

The base game has 56 characters (34 standard, 22 secret) and the DLCs add 169 more, so this list ranks the characters that matter rather than all 225. Every stat below is checked against the community wiki for the current version (1.16, which added Legacy of the Bloodmoon). Prices are base prices; each character you buy raises later prices by 10%.

The short answer

If you want	Pick	Why
The strongest character overall	Queen Sigma	+50% Might, -25% Cooldown, +1 Amount and +1% Might every level with no cap. A late unlock
The strongest you can get early	Pugnala Provola	Coffin in the first stage, +1% Might every level with no cap
The easiest start (beginners)	Imelda Belpaese	10 gold, a wand that aims itself, up to +30% experience
A safe all-rounder for 30-minute runs	Arca Ladonna	+10% Might at once and up to -15% Cooldown by level 30
Endless runs	Pugnala, Queen Sigma, Zi'Assunta	Bonuses that never stop growing

Base-game tier list

Queen Sigma — Victory Sword 333 Max Health, +3 Armor, +50% Might, -25% Cooldown, +1 Amount and +1 Revival from the first second, then +1% Might and +1% Growth every level with no cap. 108 Rerolls, Skips and Banishes let you force almost any build. The only weakness is the unlock: the whole Version 1.0 Collection. Pugnala Provola — Phiera Der Tuphello and Eight The Sparrow +1% Might every level, no cap. She trails Antonio's bonus until level 51 and stays ahead after that, so her damage keeps climbing when every capped bonus has stopped. Two guns from the start, which unite into Phieraggi. Leda (secret) — Holy Wand +100% Might, +5 Armor and -10% Cooldown at level 1, the biggest starting Might in the base game. Paid for with -20% Move Speed and -80% Greed, so she is slow to reach far-off items and poor at farming gold.

Arca Ladonna — Fire Wand +10% Might from the start and -5% Cooldown every 10 levels, reaching -15% at level 30. Cooldown helps every weapon you own. The best of the cheap early roster for a normal 30-minute run. Antonio Belpaese — Whip Free. +20 Max Health, +1 Armor and +10% Might every 10 levels up to +50% at level 50. Tough and dependable; the cap at level 50 is why he slips behind Pugnala in long runs. The Whip only hits sideways. Zi'Assunta Belpaese — Vento Sacro +0.5% Might, Projectile Speed, Duration and Area every level, no cap. Slow to pay off (the wiki puts her past Antonio's Might only at level 101), so ordinary in a 30-minute run and excellent in Endless. 5,000 gold. Mask of the Red Death (secret) — Death Spiral Starts with an already evolved weapon (Death Spiral is the Axe's evolution), +20% Might, +100% Move Speed and 255 Max Health. Unlocked by killing the Reaper, so it arrives when you need it least. Gyorunton (secret) — Bracelet 300 Max Health, +30% Might, +2 Revivals, and any Treasure Chest can contain an evolution. +1% Curse every level keeps the pressure rising. Unlocked by surviving Boss Rash with one weapon. Space Dude — Phas3r Occasionally fires every weapon twice: about every 10 to 15 seconds at no Cooldown reduction, about every 3 seconds near the -90% cap. Stack Cooldown and he doubles your whole build. Survive 20 minutes in Space 54.

Gennaro Belpaese — Knife +1 Amount (one extra projectile on every weapon) and +20 Max Health from the start. The wiki's own verdict: one of the stronger characters early, falling behind in the mid and late game. Imelda Belpaese — Magic Wand +10% Growth every 5 levels, up to +30% at level 15. Faster levels mean faster unlocks, but the bonus stops at 15 and never adds damage. Mortaccio, Yatta Cavallo, Bianca Ramba, O'Sole Meeo +1 Amount every 20 levels, up to +3 at level 60. That is a large late bonus (the Amount PowerUp gives +1 for 5,000 gold), held back by awkward starting weapons; O'Sole's only fires backwards. Concetta Caciotta, Poppea Pecorina, Giovanna Grana +1% Area, Duration or Projectile Speed every level, no cap. Weak starts: they trail Porta until level 31 and Dommario until level 41. Good in Endless, middling in a normal run. Krochi Freetto — Cross +1 Revival from the start, a second at level 33, and +30% Move Speed. Forgiving rather than strong. Lama Ladonna — Axe +10% Might, Move Speed and Curse at the start, +5% of each every 10 levels to +30% at level 40. The Curse means more and tougher enemies. Dommario — King Bible +40% Duration and Projectile Speed make King Bible strong early, but -40% Move Speed is a real handicap. Porta Ladonna — Lightning Ring +30% Area for the whole run. The -90% Cooldown she starts with fades by 30% per level and is gone at level 4.

Pasqualina Belpaese — Runetracer Up to +40% Projectile Speed. Buy her for the unlocks (surviving 5 minutes unlocks Runetracer, which leads to Spellbinder), not for her runs. Poe Ratcho — Garlic -30 Max Health in exchange for +25% pickup range. Suor Clerici — Santa Water +50 Max Health and +0.5 Recovery. The +400% Area she starts with is gone by level 5. Christine Davain — Pentagram 50 Max Health and -35% Might. Pentagram can wipe the pickups and chests on screen along with the enemies. Exdash Exiviiq, Toastie, Smith IV (secret) Joke characters with 77, 1 and 7 Max Health, worse stats across the board and +100% Luck. For challenge runs.

The rest of the roster (Sir Ambrojoe, Iguana Gallo Valletto, Divano Thelma, Gazebo, Santa Ladonna, Bat Robbert and most secret characters) is left out on purpose. Each is built around one mechanic, such as retaliation damage or overhealing, and ranking them on the same axis as Pugnala would mislead more than help.

Best for beginners: Imelda

Your first run is with Antonio, who is free. Buy Imelda for 10 gold straight after. Her Magic Wand fires at the nearest enemy, so you only have to move, and her experience bonus (+30% at level 15) matters because stage unlocks are level-based. Gennaro (500 gold) is the next purchase: his extra projectile makes the first 15 minutes noticeably easier. Move to Pugnala as soon as you find her coffin in Mad Forest. The full opening route is in the beginner guide.

What actually makes a character strong

Three things, in this order over a full run.

The shape of the passive. A flat bonus is worth the most at minute 1 and the least at minute 30. A capped bonus grows until a fixed level and then stops. An uncapped bonus is weak at first and keeps growing.
Which stat it boosts. Might (damage) and Cooldown help every weapon. Amount (projectiles) is rare and valuable. Area, Duration and Projectile Speed help some weapons a lot and others barely.
The starting weapon. It is your cheapest first evolution, but it is one slot out of six, and by minute 20 it is rarely what carries the run. How to build around it is in the best builds guide.

This is the comparison most tier lists skip: when each scaler actually pays off. The crossover levels come from the wiki's character pages.

Character	Passive	Cap	When it pays off
Gennaro	+1 Amount	Flat	Level 1; fades from mid-game
Imelda	+10% Growth per 5 levels	+30% at level 15	Early levelling only
Arca	-5% Cooldown per 10 levels (+10% Might at start)	-15% at level 30	Minutes 10 to 30
Lama	+5% Might, Move Speed, Curse per 10 levels	+30% at level 40	Mid-game
Antonio	+10% Might per 10 levels	+50% at level 50	Mid-game, then flat
Mortaccio and the other Amount scalers	+1 Amount per 20 levels	+3 at level 60	Late game
Concetta	+1% Area per level	None	Passes Porta's Area at level 31
Poppea / Giovanna	+1% Duration / Projectile Speed per level	None	Pass Dommario at level 41
Pugnala	+1% Might per level	None	Passes Antonio at level 51
Zi'Assunta	+0.5% Might, Speed, Duration, Area per level	None	Passes Antonio's Might at level 101
Queen Sigma	+1% Might and Growth per level on top of +50% Might	None	From level 1

The PowerUps you buy with gold apply to every character on top of these bonuses, which is why the early levels feel so similar across the roster once your shop is maxed. For the uncapped scalers, the wiki recommends the Wicked Season (XIII) Arcana, which speeds up levelling.

DLC and free-expansion characters by pack

The paid DLCs and the two free expansions (Emerald Diorama and Ante Chamber) add their own characters. These tiers are based on each character's starting stats and passive as listed on the wiki. Several have mechanics unique to their pack (Survarots, Showstopper, followers), so treat DLC tiers as less certain than the base-game ones. How to reach each pack is in the unlocks guide.

Legacy of the Moonspell (12 characters)

Character	Tier	Why
Megalo Menya Moonspell	S	+100% Might, +100% Move Speed, -20% Cooldown, and cannot be damaged at all. The run ends at the time limit, so no Endless. 100,000 kills in one run with Menya, then 50,000 gold
Megalo Syuuto Moonspell	A	Night Sword, 250 Max Health, +50% Might and +1% Might every level with no cap, but +50% Curse. 100,000 kills in one run with Syuuto
Miang Moonspell	B	The pack's coffin character (Silver Wind). Recovery multiplies all healing: sustain, not damage

Tides of the Foscari (8 characters)

Character	Tier	Why
Je-Ne-Viv	S	250 Max Health, +5 Armor, +50% Might and +1% Might every level with no cap. 300,000 gold after 100,000 kills in one run with Genevieve
Luminaire Foscari	A	7 Revivals, a Rosary on every level-up, and +200% Might with -100% Cooldown for a short time after each revive
Eleanor Uziron	B	Coffin character. SpellString, then SpellStream at level 10 and SpellStrike at 20, plus +25% Growth

Emergency Meeting (9 characters)

Character	Tier	Why
Megalo Impostor Rina	A	+80% Might, +80% Move Speed, -10% Cooldown, and a hidden Sharp Tongue every 6 levels (up to 6). 1,000 gold after 100,000 kills in one run as Impostor Rina
Engineer Gino	A	An extra passive item choice at levels 2, 12 and 22, plus 20 Rerolls, Skips and Banishes. The best build control in the pack
Ghost Lino	C	Cannot be damaged, but cannot deal damage either (-100% Might), and disappears at the time limit

Operation Guns (12 characters)

Character	Tier	Why
Colonel Bahamut	S	Metal Claw, 200 Max Health, +2 Armor, +80% Move Speed, +50% Might, and +1% Might per 1% Greed or Curse with no cap. Defeat Big Fuzz in Neo Galuga, then 5,000 gold
Probotector / Stanley	B	200 Max Health, +1 Armor, +20% Might, with Armor and Might feeding each other. Unlocked by finding 14 Barriers / 21 Rapid Fires
Bill Rizer	B	Coffin character (Long Gun). Gains Might at kill thresholds with no cap, but each threshold is 1.3 times the last, so the gains slow down quickly

Ode to Castlevania (96 characters)

20 are visible from the start, 20 more open after an event inside the DLC, and 56 are secret.

Character	Tier	Why
Vlad Tepes Dracula	S	Wine Glass, 666 Max Health, +100% Might, +1% Might every level, Curse adds to Might, incoming damage capped at 10 (the cap shrinks in Endless). Reach the end of the stage as Richter and open the coffin
Julius Belmont	A	Vanitas Whip, 180 Max Health, +40% Might, a Revival and the Heart of Fire Arcana; Might rises as his health drops. Second coffin, in a hidden room of the library
Soma Cruz	A	Hand Grenade, +1% Might every level and immune to health drain. Defeat Gergoth as Julius
Trevor Belmont	A	Starts with the Beginning Arcana and gains +1 Amount every 10 levels, up to +3 at level 30. Defeat the Giant Medusa Head as Leon
Leon Belmont	B	The first coffin (Alchemy Whip). A large stat package once he evolves the Vampire Killer

Legacy of the Bloodmoon (12 characters)

Character	Tier	Why
Baal'Thamut	A	Damnation, +100% Might and Duration, cannot take damage, +1% Might per 100 kills. The run ends at the time limit, and it costs 100,000 gold
In' Kujata	B	400 Max Health and +100% Might, but +45% Cooldown (slower attacks), -50% Move Speed and no regular weapon
Malice Bloodmoon	B	Coffin character (Scarlet Needle). +40% Move Speed and a blood hex when hit that grows with levels and Recovery

Emerald Diorama (free, 16 characters)

Character	Tier	Why
Lita Caryx	A	Glaive, +100% Move Speed, +100% Projectile Speed and +1 Amount. Showstopper at critical health gives +100% Might and -100% Cooldown
Final Emperor	A	Flamberge, +50% Might, and triggers techs more often than other characters
Tsunanori Mido	B	The first coffin (Fleuret). +20% Move Speed, Projectile Speed and Duration, and a follower every 20 levels (up to 4)

Ante Chamber (free, 4 characters)

Survarots are stat-bonus cards that work a little like Arcanas; this pack is built around them.

Character	Tier	Why
Perkeo	A	Celestial Booster and 100 passive item slots, enough to carry every passive in the game
Chicot	A	Halves the health of every boss and blocks some special attacks. Starts with a Survarot draft
Jimbo	B	The coffin character. Starts with a Survarot draft and a Survarot multiplier of 4
Canio	C	Using Skip on level-up can trigger a Survarot draft. Niche

How tiers shift in Hyper, Inverse and Endless

The tiers above assume a normal run. The modes change which kind of passive wins.

Mode	What it changes	Who gains	Who loses
Hyper	You and enemies move 65–75% faster, projectiles 15–25% faster, +50% gold	Slow characters such as Leda and Dommario feel the speed penalty less	Low-health characters: everything reaches you sooner
Inverse	Enemies start with +200% HP and gain +5% HP and +0.5 Move Speed every minute; +200% gold	High starting Might (Leda, Queen Sigma) and uncapped scalers	Flat early bonuses such as Gennaro's
Endless	Each cycle: enemies +100% base HP, +50% spawns, +25% damage; your damage cap drops by 1	Uncapped scalers: Pugnala, Queen Sigma, Zi'Assunta, Dracula, Megalo Syuuto	Capped bonuses; characters whose run ends at the time limit cannot continue at all

Fully powered-up, the gap narrows. Maxed PowerUps, three Arcanas and Limit Break (which keeps levelling maxed weapons) lift every character. In a normal 30-minute run with a full shop, the difference between the A and B tiers shrinks a lot. The gap that survives is the uncapped scalers in Endless.

How to unlock the top characters

Character	How to unlock	Base price
Queen Sigma	Fill the Version 1.0 section of the Collection (five items excepted)	0
Pugnala Provola	Open the coffin in Mad Forest	1,000
Leda	Head south in Gallo Tower until the screen darkens, then defeat her	666
Zi'Assunta Belpaese	Open the coffin in Cappella Magna	5,000
Mask of the Red Death	Kill the Reaper	666
Arca Ladonna	Get the Fire Wand to level 4	500
Gyorunton	Survive Boss Rash with only one weapon	5,000
Space Dude	Survive 20 minutes in Space 54	500

Because every purchase raises later prices by 10%, buy the characters you will actually use first. The stage and secret chains that lead to these are in the unlocks guide.

Common mistakes

Judging a scaler at minute 5. Pugnala does not pass Antonio until level 51. Uncapped characters look weak early by design.
Taking Gennaro into Endless. A flat +1 projectile is great early and irrelevant by the second cycle.
Farming gold with Leda. -80% Greed throws away most of your income. Use Hyper mode with a Greed-neutral character instead.
Starting Endless with a time-limited character. Megalo Menya, Ghost Lino and Baal'Thamut end the run at the time limit no matter what.
Ranking by starting weapon. Weapons evolve and slots fill up; the passive is what stays.

For which evolution to build, see the weapon evolution guide. Whether the game and its DLC are worth your time is in the honest review.

★Honest Take: the roster is wide, the meaningful choice is narrow

Vampire Survivors has 225 characters and most of them are fun for a run or two, but the game's maths keeps the real decision small. Once weapons evolve and PowerUps are maxed, a flat bonus barely registers, and what is left is the question this list is built on: does the passive keep growing? That is why the same few names (Pugnala, Queen Sigma, and in the DLC Dracula and Bahamut) end up at the top. The criticism is that the game never tells you this. The character screen lists starting stats, not how they scale, so new players pick by starting weapon and wonder why their favourite fades by minute 25. The upside is that nothing here is mandatory: every character in the B tier and above can clear the base stages, and the joke characters exist to make you laugh, not to win.

FAQ

In the base game, Queen Sigma. She starts with +50% Might, -25% Cooldown, +1 Amount, +1 Revival and 333 Max Health, gains +1% Might and +1% Growth every level with no cap, and has 108 Rerolls, Skips and Banishes to force the build she wants. The catch is that she is the reward for filling the Version 1.0 section of the Collection. Before that, Pugnala and Leda are the strongest characters you can realistically get.

Imelda Belpaese. She costs only 10 gold, her Magic Wand aims at the nearest enemy so you can concentrate on moving, and she gains +10% experience every 5 levels up to +30%. Stage unlocks depend on level, so faster levelling means faster progress. Antonio (free, tough) and Gennaro (+1 projectile on every weapon) are the next picks.

Over a long run, yes. Antonio gains +10% Might every 10 levels and stops at +50% at level 50. Pugnala gains +1% Might every level with no cap. The wiki notes that her bonus is very slightly behind his until level 51; after that she pulls ahead and keeps going. In a short run the difference is small, and Antonio's extra health and Armor make him safer.

Vlad Tepes Dracula from Ode to Castlevania: 666 Max Health, +100% Might, +1% Might every level, Curse that adds to Might, and incoming damage capped at 10. Colonel Bahamut from Operation Guns (+50% Might, plus 1% Might per 1% Greed or Curse with no cap) is close behind and needs only one boss kill to unlock. Megalo Menya and Je-Ne-Viv are stronger on paper but cost 50,000 and 300,000 gold.

The ones whose bonus has no cap: Pugnala, Queen Sigma, Zi'Assunta and, with DLC, Vlad Tepes Dracula or Megalo Syuuto. Each Endless cycle gives enemies +100% of their base HP, +50% spawns and +25% damage, so capped bonuses fall behind. Characters whose run ends at the stage time limit, such as Megalo Menya and Ghost Lino, cannot continue into a second cycle at all.

Fill the Version 1.0 section of the Collection. Five items in it are not required: Super Candybox II Turbo, Victory Sword, Sole Solution, Flames of Misspell and Ashes of Muspell. Once unlocked she costs 0 gold. The wiki notes that you may need to start and quit one more run before the unlock registers.

Our editorial policy is honest, no-spin reviews. We separate facts from opinion and back every rating with reasoning. View Editorial Policy

Vampire Survivors Character Tier List — Best Ranked