Vampire Survivors has hundreds of unlocks and explains almost none of them. They follow a few simple rules, though. Stages unlock by level, Hyper modes by killing a specific boss, permanent features by picking up relics, and most characters and items by doing one specific thing in a run. Once you know which unlocks open the next ones, the order almost writes itself.
Everything here is checked against the community wiki for the current version (1.16, which added Legacy of the Bloodmoon). Names are the English in-game names.
Unlock these first
In the order most players can reach them. Each row makes later runs faster or opens the next layer.
| Unlock | How | Why it matters early |
|---|---|---|
| Imelda | Buy her for 10 gold | Auto-aimed Magic Wand and up to +30% experience; stage unlocks are level-based |
| Hollow Heart | Survive 1 minute with any character | Whip + Hollow Heart is your first realistic evolution |
| Inlaid Library and the Grim Grimoire | Level 20 in Mad Forest; the relic is far west of the Library's start | Opens stage selection; the Grimoire lists every evolution you have discovered |
| Empty Tome | Hold 6 different weapons at once in one run | Cooldown passive for any build, and the key to Holy Wand |
| Dairy Plant and the Milky Way Map | Level 40 in Inlaid Library; the map is far south of Dairy Plant's start | Pause-menu map showing coffins, relics, stage items and chests |
| Pugnala | Open the coffin in Mad Forest, then pay 1,000 gold | Strong early character; level 50 with her unlocks the Gemini Arcana |
| Gallo Tower and the Randomazzo | Level 60 in Dairy Plant; the relic is far north of Gallo Tower's start | Turns on Arcanas, the biggest build layer after evolutions |
| Your first Hyper modes | Kill a main stage's 25:00 boss in that stage | Each one counts toward the bonus stages; four open Moongolow |
| Glass Vizard | Buy it from the Moongolow merchant for 10,000 gold | The merchant then appears in every stage |
| Yellow Sign | Moongolow lunar eclipse, then east in Holy Forbidden | The master key for the Forbidden Scrolls, Limit Break, Adventures and several secret characters |
A green arrow on screen points to most relics, and stage selection marks a stage that still holds an uncollected relic with an exclamation mark. Walk to the arrow early in the run, before the crowds get dense.
How unlocks work
- Unlocks (achievements). The in-game "Unlocks" menu is the achievement list, and on Steam these are also the platform achievements. It lists conditions and rewards (stages, weapons, passives, characters, features or gold), which makes it the best checklist in the game. Some entries stay hidden behind a gate; the Arcana entries, for example, appear only after the Randomazzo.
- Gold. Gold buys characters, PowerUps and merchant items. Stages are never bought. Reaching a stage's time limit pays 500 gold, and the first evolution of each base-game weapon pays 500 gold once. Each character you buy raises later character prices by 10%.
- Relics. One-time pickups in stages, each switching on a permanent feature.
- The Collection. It lists every weapon, passive, pickup, relic and Arcana you have used at least once. Filling it is itself an unlock condition: 50 entries unlock the Mindbender (character setup such as max weapons and skins), 60 to 100 entries the Banish ranks, and the full Version 1.0 section unlocks Queen Sigma.
| Relic | Where | What it unlocks |
|---|---|---|
| Grim Grimoire | Inlaid Library, far west | Evolution and union list in the pause menu |
| Milky Way Map / Ars Gouda | Dairy Plant, far south | Pause-menu map / Bestiary |
| Randomazzo | Gallo Tower, far north | Arcanas, starting with Sarabande of Healing |
| Sorceress' Tears | Gallo Tower, far south | Hurry mode: the timer runs twice as fast, +25% experience |
| Magic Banger | Green Acres, north-east | Music selection |
| Glass Vizard | Moongolow merchant, 10,000 gold | Merchant in all stages |
| Yellow Sign | Holy Forbidden, east | Hidden stage items (rings, Metaglio) and the three relics below |
| Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane | The Bone Zone, dropped by the Sketamari | Secrets menu and spells |
| Great Gospel | Cappella Magna, from The Ender after 30:00 | Limit Break |
| Atlas Gate | Boss Rash | Base-game Adventures |
| Gracia's Mirror / Seventh Trumpet | Eudaimonia Machine | Inverse mode / Endless mode |
Stages and how to unlock each
The five main stages
| Stage | How to unlock | Hyper boss (25:00) | Worth grabbing there |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mad Forest | Open from the start | Giant Blue Venus | Coffin: Pugnala |
| Inlaid Library | Level 20 in Mad Forest | Hag | Coffin: Giovanna. Grim Grimoire |
| Dairy Plant | Level 40 in Inlaid Library | Sword Guardian | Coffin: Poppea. Milky Way Map, Ars Gouda. Chests before 10:00 can evolve |
| Gallo Tower | Level 60 in Dairy Plant | Giant Enemy Crab | Coffin: Concetta. Randomazzo, Sorceress' Tears |
| Cappella Magna | Level 80 in Gallo Tower | Trinacria | Coffin: Zi'Assunta (5,000 gold). Great Gospel after the Yellow Sign |
The Hyper boss must die in its own stage; a Giant Blue Venus killed elsewhere does not count. Hyper mode makes you and the enemies much faster and pays at least +50% gold, so it doubles as the main gold farm.
Bonus and challenge stages
| Stage | How to unlock | Why go there |
|---|---|---|
| Il Molise | Hyper mode on 1 main stage | 15-minute stage where enemies do not move |
| Green Acres | Hyper mode on 2 main stages | Magic Banger |
| The Bone Zone | Hyper mode on 3 main stages | Forbidden Scrolls, after the Yellow Sign |
| Moongolow | Hyper mode on 4 main stages | Merchant, Glass Vizard, the eclipse, Xanthia's disks |
| Boss Rash | Hyper mode on all 5 main stages | Atlas Gate, after the Yellow Sign |
| Eudaimonia Machine | Collect every standard relic from every stage | Inverse and Endless modes |
| Bat Country, Astral Stair, Mazerella, Tiny Bridge | Level 80 in Inverse Mad Forest, Inlaid Library, Dairy Plant, Gallo Tower | Late challenge stages with their own relics and secret characters |
| Whiteout / The Lycaeum / The Coop | Find 20 Orologions / 50 Vacuums / 500 Floor Chickens in total | Survive 20 minutes for She-Moon Eeta / Para Kooleo / Gazebo |
| Laborratory / Westwoods / Space 54 | Find 33 Rosaries / 23 Little Clovers / 5 Gold Fingers in total | Survive 20 minutes for Santa Ladonna / Chula-Reh / Space Dude |
| Room 1665 | Cast the spell forbiddenbox | Darkasso, which adds Darkanas |
The pickup counts are lifetime totals, so breaking light sources every run is what fills them. The Lycaeum is the newest base-game stage (version 1.15).
The Moongolow lunar eclipse
This is the step most players miss. It only starts if you enter Moongolow with one of the 20 original Collection characters: Antonio, Imelda, Pasqualina, Gennaro, Arca, Porta, Lama, Poe, Clerici, Dommario, Krochi, Christine, Pugnala, Giovanna, Poppea, Concetta, Mortaccio, Yatta Cavallo, Bianca Ramba or O'Sole Meeo. A glowing blood moon on Moongolow's title card in stage selection confirms the character qualifies.
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Survive to 14:00 in Moongolow
From 12:00 the background turns red and different enemies spawn. At 14:00 an angel-like boss appears.
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Kill the boss
The screen distorts and freezes, and you are moved to Holy Forbidden.
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Go east and take the Yellow Sign
Holy Forbidden strips your Revivals, Armor and other bonuses. Taking the Yellow Sign ends the run, and no other normal unlocks are granted for it.
Characters worth unlocking early
Characters come from an achievement or a stage coffin, and then cost gold. Prices are base prices.
How strong each character is in a run is covered in the Character Tier List, and the early item unlocks (Wings, Crown, Bracer and so on) in the Beginner Guide.
Arcanas: how they unlock and which to use first
With the Randomazzo collected, you pick one Arcana at the start of a run and can get two more from special bosses at 11:00 and 21:00. Switching Arcanas off in stage selection removes those bosses. Most base Arcanas unlock by reaching level 50 with a specific character; four need minute 31 in Mad Forest, Inlaid Library, Gallo Tower or Dairy Plant, which means outlasting or killing the Reaper.
Typing aintnobodygottimeforthat on the main menu unlocks the four minute-31 Arcanas and Game Killer (0) at once.
The Darkasso in Room 1665 adds a second set, the Darkanas. Which Arcana suits which build is in the Best Builds Guide.
Secret characters and key secrets
The base game has 23 secrets, all findable without help. With the Forbidden Scrolls, the Secrets menu shows a cryptic hint for each and lets you type a spell that unlocks it directly; each key must follow the last within 30 seconds.
| Character | How to unlock (short version) | Base price |
|---|---|---|
| Exdash Exiviiq | Type x-x1viiq quickly on the main menu (no Scrolls needed); each Little Clover picked up also has a tiny chance | 777 |
| Toastie | After Exdash: kill The Stalker, The Drowner or The Trickster with an instant kill (such as the Rosary), then press Down and Enter together while Toastie flashes bottom-right | 777 |
| Leda | Keep heading south in Gallo Tower until the screen darkens, then defeat her | 666 |
| Mask of the Red Death | Kill the Reaper | 666 |
| Boon Marrabbio | After the Yellow Sign, take Mad Forest's Pummarola and Skull O'Maniac and follow the trail of pies | 666 |
| Random | Open a coffin you have opened before | 5,000 |
| Queen Sigma | Complete the Version 1.0 section of the Collection (five items excepted) | 0 |
Others belong to the bonus stages (Peppino in Il Molise, Gains Boros in The Bone Zone, Gyorunton for surviving Boss Rash with one weapon, Big Trouser for maxing all 16 accessories in Moongolow). Their hints are puzzles in themselves, so we stop at this level.
Clicking the Yellow Sign slot in the Collection seven times opens the Secrets menu for the current session without the Scrolls. It still needs the Yellow Sign, so the eclipse comes first.
DLC unlocks, briefly
Each paid DLC stage opens once you own the DLC and have unlocked Inlaid Library. Most follow one chain: open the stage's coffin, survive 15 minutes with that character to unlock a weapon, evolve the weapon to unlock the next character, repeat. Hyper mode is again the 25:00 boss.
| DLC | Stage and how it opens | How the chain starts |
|---|---|---|
| Legacy of the Moonspell | Mt.Moonspell | Coffin: Miang. 15 minutes for Silver Wind, evolve it for Menya |
| Tides of the Foscari | Lake Foscari; Abyss Foscari when Keitha breaks the Seal of the Lake | Coffin: Eleanor |
| Emergency Meeting | Polus Replica | Coffin: Crewmate Dino |
| Operation Guns | Neo Galuga; Hectic Highway when you evolve the C-U-Laser | Coffin: Bill Rizer. Some characters need pickups (14 Barriers, 21 Rapid Fires, 21 Grenades) |
| Ode to Castlevania | Ode to Castlevania | First coffin: Leon. Bosses drop Gates to new areas; surviving the throne-room showdown with Richter opens 20 more characters |
| Legacy of the Bloodmoon | Red Moon Manor | Coffin: Malice. 15 minutes for Scarlet Needle, evolve it for Calogero |
| Emerald Diorama (free) | Emerald Disk from Xanthia in Moongolow, 50,000 gold | Coffin: Tsunanori. Later characters come from fully evolving specific weapons |
| Ante Chamber (free) | Joker Disk from Xanthia in Moongolow, 50,000 gold | Coffin: Jimbo. Evolving his weapons unlocks Canio, Chicot and Perkeo |
The free expansions need Moongolow and 50,000 gold, so they are not day-one content. Several DLC first-evolution unlocks pay 50,000 gold, a quick way to fund the disks. DLC evolution rules also differ from the base game; check the Weapon Evolution Guide before waiting on one.
PowerUp order for unlocking
Refunds return your gold, and since version 0.7.2 the buying order does not change the total cost, so order only decides what you get sooner.
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1
Cheap ranks first
Might (200 gold, +5% damage), Max Health (200), Greed (200, +10% gold), Magnet (300), Recovery (200). Greed and Magnet speed up the gold and levels that unlocks depend on.
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Armor and Area, then save for Amount
Armor (600) and Area (300) make the 25:00 Hyper bosses safer. Amount (5,000, +1 projectile on every weapon) is the first big purchase worth waiting for.
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Curse only for Lama
One rank of Curse lets you unlock Lama. Afterwards, refund and rebuy without it; a fully maxed PowerUp can also be switched off.
Reroll, Skip, Banish, Omni, Charm, Defang, Preserve and the Seals are not in the shop at first; each comes from an achievement or relic (Omni, for example, from Torrona's Box at level 9). Golden Eggs (10,000 gold from the merchant) add a tiny random stat to one character, so finish the PowerUps first. The full PowerUp ranking is in the Beginner Guide.
Common mistakes
- Playing for survival time instead of level. Stage unlocks need level 20, 40, 60 and 80, and a short run at a high level counts.
- Killing the Hyper boss in the wrong stage. Only the 25:00 boss in its own stage counts.
- Running past relics. Grim Grimoire, Milky Way Map and Randomazzo should be taken on your first visit.
- Doing the eclipse with the wrong character. Secret and later characters do not trigger it; check for the blood moon.
- Expecting normal unlocks from the Holy Forbidden run. It grants only the Yellow Sign and eclipse unlocks.
- Spending on Golden Eggs or disks before the core PowerUps. 10,000 gold for a tiny random stat is poor value early.
- Casting every spell on day one. A spell is a fine fallback for one unlock you hate; casting them all removes the game's main reward loop.
Whether the game and its DLC are worth your time is covered in the Honest Review.
★Honest Take: the unlock list is the real game, and it is badly signposted
Vampire Survivors' best design choice is that nearly every run unlocks something; its worst is that it hardly tells you what. The Unlocks menu lists most conditions, but nothing shows the chain between them, and the Yellow Sign, which gates much of the secret content, sits behind an eclipse event the game never points you to. That chain is the gap this route fills. Follow the priority table up to the Yellow Sign, then discover the rest yourself and use the Secrets menu hints only when stuck. Spells are a useful fallback, but using them for everything removes the game's main reward.
