Vampire Survivors is all about surviving in a sea of classic movie monsters. But once you reach the thirty-minute mark, the game ends with Death swooping in and killing you instantly. However, there is a way you can survive this encounter, and even defeat 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 the run
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).
When your power-ups are set up, select the Inlaid Library map, turn hyper mode on (and hurry mode off), and select Clerici as your character (whom you unlock by regenerating 1,000 health total).
Now, start the run.
Setup
Image: Poncle via Polygon
Once you load in, select the Awake or Slash Arcanas before you start. Once you have control of Clerici, you need to move fast.
Walk up and to your left. Grab the green gem to instantly level up once and grab Runetracer. If Runetracer doesn’t appear in your options, reroll until you get it or quit and restart — Runetracer is mandatory for this strategy.
Once you have Runetracer, quickly run around the table to your left and walk up into the little cubby. Place Clerici’s right hand (when she’s facing you) just under the clock. Her head should be in-line with the left-most crack in the bookshelf. Check the image above and mimic our placement.
At this point, you should still be level two. 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.
All you need to do now is wait until 30 minutes. You might take some damage on occasion, and you might die. But if you’re dying regularly, you’re likely out of position. This isn’t an exact science and there is some luck involved.
Killing Death
After 30 minutes, Death will kill everything and swoop into the map. Once you see him, quickly run out and look for the red gem on the floor. This gem will have dozens of levels worth of XP in it.
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 Tome
- Candelabrador
Knife, Bone, Attractorb, and Magic Wand are all good additions to fill in the rest of the build.
Once you’re set up and leveled up, grab the chests around you and try to evolve your weapons. (Your Laurel should be protecting you from Death and Clock Lancet should be freezing him).
With your build fully put together, position yourself behind the table, on the other side of the clock, and unleash hell on Death.
By using this method, you should definitely be able to reach 31 minutes and unlock the Disco of Gold Aracana. Killing Death, on the other hand, is a bit more of a crapshoot. Keep focused on him and he’ll eventually die. If he or his other Death cronies defeat you, restart and try again using this same method.
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