There’s no shortage of willing participants ready to step up and face Vampire Survivors’ endless hordes. As of the most recent count, there are 58 of them, in fact – an astounding figure, and one that makes it easy to get lost when deciding who to choose for your next run.
Fear not, however, as that’s where our Vampire Survivors character tier list comes in. We’ve broken down every character in the game, looking at their strengths and weaknesses, and divided them into five tiers. These range from D (Don’t even bother) to S (Simply Sensational), and hopefully they’ll help you with any pre-run indecision you might be experiencing.
The comprehensive Vampire Survivors tier list
D Tier
Arca Ladonna
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Fire Wand | Weapon cooldown is reduced by 5% every 10 levels (max 15%). |
Look up the word “underwhelming” in the dictionary and you’ll see a picture of Arca Ladonna. A terrible starting weapon, combined with a barely significant passive Cooldown reduction, makes Arca one Survivor you’d rather stub out than light up.
Christine Davain
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Pentagram | Starts with 1 extra level. |
While the Pentagram looks amazing to a new player, it’s actually a trap – one that can stunt your growth early on in a run. Factor in huge penalties to Max Health and Might, and not even a free level can save Christine from the bottom of our Vampire Survivors character tier list.
Iguana Gallo Valletto
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Clock Lancet | Starts with 1 extra level. Gains +10% Growth every 5 levels (max +50%). |
The Clock Lancet is not a real weapon, and Growth is not a big deal until the later stages of a run. Since these are the only things Iguana brings to the table, you’re better off picking a Survivor who can actually kill enemies right away instead.
Babi-Onna
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Mirage Robe | Ignores weapons cooldown. Weapons fire at a fixed interval while moving. |
One of the most unique Survivors in the game, Babi-Onna unfortunately demands a playstyle in which you’re constantly moving, which clashes with the usual end goal of standing still and watching the hordes melt away. It can also lead to a lot of unnecessary deaths due to contact damage, landing her in the D tier.
Exdash Exiviiq
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Ebony Wings | At least they’re lucky. (Gains +10% Luck every 10 levels, max +50%) |
100% base Luck is nowhere near impactful enough to make up for Exdash’s abysmal stats in every other area, even when it goes up by 50% later on. Ebony Wings is a fine starting weapon, but it would be better in the hands of nearly any other Survivor.
Toastie
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Peachone | So much potential. (Gains +20% Luck every 10 levels, max +100%. Gains +9998 Max Health at level 100, and +65520 Armor at level 200) |
More of an intentional challenge mode than a real playable character, Toastie begins with stat reductions across the board and just a single point of Max Health to his name. This means that your chances of keeping him alive long enough to see those incredible Health and Armor gains later on are slim to none. Not one to pick unless you’re in a masochistic mood.
Gyorunton
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Bracelet | Gains +1% Curse every level. Can find evolutions in any Treasure Chest. |
A good character in theory, but even Gyorunton’s great starting stats can’t counterbalance a Curse stat that scales up endlessly without increasing any of your other stats to compensate. Eventually, you’ll be overwhelmed, and no amount of early evolved weapons from chests will be able to save you.
C Tier
Imelda Belpaese
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Magic Wand | Gains 10% more Experience every 5 levels (max +30%). |
The Magic Wand isn’t great early on, and even at its peak, Imelda’s Growth bonus is barely significant. You’ll find it particularly hard to manage large crowds with her, which all but rules her out once the Charm and Curse power-ups come into play.
Pasqualina Belpaese
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Runetracer | Projectiles get 10% faster every 5 levels (max +30%). |
While things do get better for Pasqualina later on, once her Runetracer evolves and she picks up other weapons to support it, her early game is incredibly rough. There are better choices for projectile builds, armor builds, and really any kind of build you’d want to use her for.
Krochi Freetto
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Cross | Starts with 1 Revival. Gains 1 more Revival at level 33. |
The Cross is not a good weapon, despite how powerful its Castlevania inspiration was in the past. This makes Krochi hard to use until you hunt down another weapon, and even then his other bonuses only grant two more Revivals, which won’t save a failing run. They work well with Phieraggi and Arcanas, but alone not so much.
Giovanna Grana
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Gatti Amari | Gains +1% Projectile Speed at every level. |
Giovanna’s passive ability, an uncapped Projectile Speed scaling effect, is excellent, and can lead to some crazy late-game runs. It’s balanced out by the Gatti Amari, however, which has a good chance of ending your run prematurely thanks to its accurate portrayal of feline companions, and the damage their constant scratches can deal to you.
Poppea Pecorina
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Song of Mana | Gains +1% Duration at every level. |
Duration isn’t a hugely impactful stat, even on weapons like the King Bible that really care about it, so Poppea’s passive ability is negligible at best. Throw in the Song of Mana, a weapon rarely used outside of the Tower of Gallo stage, and you have a character you probably forgot existed until now.
Yatta Cavallo
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Cherry Bomb | Gains +1 Amount every 20 levels (max +3). |
One of the near-identical characters unlocked by killing a large number of a specific enemy, Yata Cavallo is a solid choice for a projectile-based build and gets even better if you can evolve him via the Chaos Rosalia Relic. Thanks to his underwhelming Cherry Bomb weapon, however, he falls short of the competition in this arena.
Bianca Ramba
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Carréllo | Gains +1 Amount every 20 levels (max +3). |
Bianca Ramba feels very unique, thanks to the Carréllo, which sends horizontal mine carts across the screen in an attack that’s unlike any other weapon in the game. This pairs nicely with Ramba’s Amount bonus but still isn’t enough for the big leagues.
O’Sole Meeo
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Celestial Dusting | Gains +1 Amount every 20 levels (max +3). |
While he gets bonus points for being a very good boy indeed, O’Sole Meeo also loses a lot due to the god-awful Celestial Dusting weapon. If you can get your hands on the Chaos Altemanna Relic, you can unlock a powerful evolved form for him post-level 80, but that doesn’t help his shambolic early game much.
Miang Moonspell
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Silver Wind | Recovery also multiplies all healing sources. Over-healing slightly increases Max Health. |
Miang Moonspell sounds like a powerful and interesting character on paper, but unfortunately, the extra Max Health she gains through her ability feels massively undertuned, failing to impress even after a run’s worth of overhealing. If you want to tank damage, you’re better off choosing an Armor-based character instead.
McCoy-Oni
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| 108 Bocce | Area temporarily increases at fixed intervals. |
Starting with a weapon that can’t evolve, and an ability that barely impacts gameplay at all, McCoy-Oni unfortunately doesn’t live up to his excellent visual design when it comes to his mechanics. You can try a Luck or Curse build with him, but it won’t be as effective as other options.
Eleanor Uziron
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| SpellString | Receives SpellStream at level 10 and SpellStrike at level 20. Receives Academy Badge at level 30. |
Is a bunch of free stuff enough to balance out a complete lack of passive abilities? Not in Eleanor Uziron’s case. While SpellStrom is very powerful, and you get all the ingredients for it as guaranteed drops when playing as Eleanor, it’s not enough to define a run by itself, relegating her to the lower tiers.
Genevieve Gruyère
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Shadow Servant | Triggers a Vacuum when leveling up. Once per life, triggers World Eater after receiving fatal damage. |
Getting a free Vacuum effect at every level is incredibly handy, but in practice, it doesn’t change the dynamics of a run much at all, particularly later on. The fact that Genevieve’s other, more powerful ability only triggers when she dies makes it more of a last resort than a reliable build-around.
Keitha Muort
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Flash Arrow | Gains +1% Luck every level. Receives Academy Badge at level 30. |
Luck is one of the least impactful stats in Vampire Survivors, so the ability to scale it up infinitely isn’t as useful as it sounds. Despite this, reliable access to both the Academy Badge and Flash Arrow makes Keitha a solid choice for a projectile build.
Random
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Any random base weapon | Random. (Starts with randomly generated base stats. Gains stats at randomly generated rates) |
A character that could easily slot into any of our five tiers depending on how the RNG gods are feeling when you start a run with them, Random can start with any weapon, and any mix of stats and stat growth rates. Try them out if you’re feeling bored, but stick to more reliable characters for your serious runs.
Boon Marrabbio
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Thousand Edge | None. Notably low base Projectile Speed at -110%, however. |
An incredibly unique character, Boon Marrabio’s base Projectile Speed of -110% causes his weapons to fire backwards, and very slowly. You can get this up to -100% with one point in the Projectile Speed power-up, which will cause all your projectiles to remain static. An interesting approach, especially with his starting Thousand Edge.
Peppino
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Soul Eater | Starts with temporarily reduced Area (-60%, fully restored by level 21). Notably low MoveSpeed of -100%, which prevents any kind of movement without passive items or power-ups. |
A character seemingly designed to encourage the kinds of no-movement challenge runs streamers have attempted in the game, Peppino can’t move at all if you’re working with his base stats. He also starts with very low Area, which greatly limits your options and makes his early survival a matter of luck rather than skill.
MissingNo
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Axe or Death Spiral | Base stats are randomly generated every run. |
Much like Random, MissingNo can vary wildly in terms of effectiveness, from invincible scythe god to fragile Axe thrower. He’s a fun unlockable curio, but not a reliable character to jump into runs with.
Big Trouser
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Candybox | Gains +1% Greed every level. Gold Fever lasts longer. |
A character designed purely for the purpose of farming Gold, Big Trouser has little to offer in terms of actually clearing runs. Getting to choose any base weapon to start with is nice, but his passive abilities only help your Gold gain, making them useless in regular combat.
B Tier
Antonio Belpaese
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Whip | Gains +10% Might every 10 levels (max +50%). |
The definition of a solid character, Antonio starts with extra Health and Armor, and gains a sizable Might boost over time too. This makes him ideal for bulky Armor-based builds, where his evolved Whip can provide valuable extra healing.
Porta Ladonna
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Lightning Ring | Permanent +30% Area. Starts with a temporary Cooldown bonus (-90%, decreasing by 30% every level before being removed completely by level 4) |
Porta is an unexciting character if you play fair, but if you’re willing to game the system a bit she can perform very well indeed. By waiting until you’ve wiped out a few waves of enemies with her rapid-fire lightning bolts, you can boost your level quickly and avoid the drawback of her losing her Cooldown bonus so early.
Suor Clerici
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Santa Water | Permanent +0.5 Recovery and +50 Max Health. Starts with temporary Area bonus (+400%, decreasing by 100% per level before being removed completely by level 5) |
Similar to Porta, Suor Clerici can do very well if you deliberately avoid leveling up for a while at the start of your run. This will let you make the most use of her huge Holy Water splashes, and set you up nicely for a run built around the powerful La Borra evolution.
Concetta Caciotta
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Shadow Pinion | Gains +1% Area at every level. |
The Shadow Pinion is a tricky weapon to master, and even when you do it isn’t particularly effective. Thankfully, Concetta’s passive ability is excellent, scaling up your Area with every level gained, leading to immensely powerful Garlic/Santa Water builds.
Sir Ambrojoe
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| La Robba | Gains +1 Amount every 20 levels (max +3). Starts with temporary Amount bonus (+10, decreasing by 2 per level before being removed completely by level 6) |
An interesting outlier among the base game’s ‘kill 3000 of X enemy’ characters, Sir Ambrojoe starts off with an absurd Amount stat of 10. This quickly dwindles as he levels up, before rising to 3 at around level 80. He ranks higher than his peers on our Vampire Survivors character tier list due to his strong start, and the fact that his starting weapon drops furniture on your enemies.
Zi’Assunta Belpaese
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Vento Sacro | Gains +0.5% Might, Projectile Speed, Duration, and Area at every level. |
n incredibly well-rounded character, Zi’Assunta grows steadily in four key areas as she levels up. Her passive ability is one of the best in the game, but she’s let down by the Vento Sacro, which is a weak starting weapon, especially early on in a run.
Syuuto Moonspell
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Summon Night | Starts with a hidden Night Sword. Morphs into a stronger version when his base weapon evolves. |
Starting with two weapons is great, but Syuuto Moonspell doesn’t have the best base stats, particularly when it comes to MoveSpeed. This makes it hard to evade damage early on, but if you can ride things out until your Summon Night evolves, you’ll unlock his second, much more powerful form.
Gav’Et-Oni
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Mille Bolle Blu | Gains +1 Amount every 20 levels (max +4) |
Gav’Et-Oni is one of the best ‘unlockable enemy’ characters in Vampire Survivors, owing to his higher Amount cap of +4, and the fact that his Mille Bolle Blu weapon is actually capable of evolving. These factors combine to make him a reliable choice for a projectile-focused build.
Maruto Cuts
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Eskizzibur | Gains a temporary Armor bonus after taking damage (+1 for 10 seconds). Receives Academy Badge at level 30. |
An excellent character for tapping into the retaliatory damage mechanic, Maruto gains additional Armor when damaged, and starts with the powerful Eskizzibur sword. He also has access to the Academy Badge, which is surprisingly effective alongside weapons like the Night and Victory Swords.
Rottin’Ghoul
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Party Popper | Gains +1 Amount every 20 levels (max +4) |
While Rottin’Ghoul’s unique Party Popper weapon is certainly interesting, it unfortunately can’t evolve. He does still match Gav’Et-Oni in terms of potential Amount, however, making him a comparable character and a decent projectile-slinger.
Sammy
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Vicious Hunger | Gains Experience when picking up Gold Coins and Coin Bags. Starts with temporarily reduced Might (-60%, reduced by 10% at fixed levels before being removed completely by level 21). |
Starting with a powerful evolved weapon and gaining extra Experience from Gold, Sammy is a powerful choice, especially if you pair him with the Disco of Gold Arcana. The fact that he’s a caterpillar cake is just the icing on top.
Minnah Mannarah
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Bloody Tear | Might, Projectile Speed, Duration, Area, and Cooldown change every minute. |
Using stat fluctuation as a metaphor for the ever-changing state of a werewolf, Minnah is mechanically and creatively interesting. You’ll need to adjust to her changing stats, but that’s easy enough to do with the help of the excellent Bloody Tear as a starting weapon.
Gains Boros
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Heaven Sword | Gains +2% Growth every level. |
Boasting untapped Growth potential, Gains Boros has the ability to climb to staggering heights as things ramp up exponentially over a run. The Heaven Sword isn’t a great starting weapon, but you can add a lot of bite to his scaling through the use of Arcana and Limit Breaks.
She-Moon Eeta
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Glass Fandango | Freezes all enemies for 10 seconds when health reaches a critically low level. |
She-Moon brings a whole new playstyle to Vampire Survivors, based on Movement Speed and freezing your enemies. While it’s not incredibly well-supported, it has enough pieces to be a viable build and a refreshing change of pace for experienced players. Her passive ability can save your life in tight spots, too, making her a nice well-rounded character.
A Tier
Gennaro Belpaese
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Knife | Permanent +1 Amount. |
A great character you can access right from the start, Gennaro Belpaese outdoes the other projectile-based characters in the game by virtue of his Amount bonus being frontloaded, even if he doesn’t scale as well into the late game. The Knife is also a great starting weapon, particularly once it evolves into the devastating Thousand Edge.
Lama Ladonna
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Axe | Gains +5% Might, MoveSpeed, and Curse every 10 levels (max +20%). |
Lama gets some solid multi-stat scaling, as well as immediate access to the Axe, one of the better weapons once evolved. Might and MoveSpeed are always useful, and a small Curse boost is handy for upping your Experience gain.
Poe Ratcho
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Garlic | Permanent +25% Magnet and -30 Max Health. |
While not as good later on, the Garlic is one of the best early-game weapons in all of Vampire Survivors, ideal for clearing out large crowds of weak enemies. Poe gets a lot of points for starting off with it, and more for his extra Magnet, which pairs nicely with Attractorb and Blood Astronomia.
Dommario
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| King Bible | Permanent +40% Duration and Projectile Speed, as well as -40% MoveSpeed. |
Another great early weapon, and one of the best weapons overall, the King Bible is as good as it gets when it comes to starting weapons, particularly when paired with Dommario’s extra Duration and Projectile Speed. Once you pick up a few more weapons, his low MoveSpeed won’t matter.
Mortaccio
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Bone | Gains +1 Amount every 20 levels (max +3). Can evolve at level 80 if you have the Chaos Malachite Relic. |
While the Bone is mediocre, and his Amount-scaling ability would ordinarily land him in C tier, Mortaccio stands above his peers by virtue of his evolution ability, added in the 1.3.0 Chaos Update. With the Chaos Malachite Relic, he can morph into an incredibly powerful new form at level 80, granting him a lot of late-game viability.
Divano Thelma
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Laurel | Starts with 1 extra level. Gains +1 Armor every 5 levels (max +5). |
One of the tankiest characters in the game, Divano Thelma starts with the protective Laurel weapon and also gains extra Armor every few levels. These combine to ensure that any damage they take will be minimal, if it isn’t blocked by the Laurel first, setting the scene for a sturdy retaliatory damage build.
Menya Moonspell
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Four Seasons | Becomes stronger and invincible for a fixed interval after defeating a large amount of enemies. |
The Four Seasons is the best weapon from Legacy of the Moonspell by far, and Menya makes great use of it, particularly when she shifts into her invincible Megalo form after a lot of kills. She does shift back, but her sheer speed and power in this form can allow you to rack up enough kills to immediately trigger it again.
Megalo Syuuto Moonspell
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Night Sword | Gains +1% Might every level. |
Skipping right to the good part, Megalo Syuuto starts where the original Syuuto ends up: in a faster and stronger form. He also gets a full-on Night Sword, and an uncapped Might scaling passive, making him a strong choice for any kind of build.
Luminaire Foscari
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Prismatic Missile | Triggers a Rosary when leveling up. Gets a temporary Might, Cooldown, and MoveSpeed bonus after reviving. |
Clearing the screen of enemies after every level-up is a powerful effect, and one that can lead to a chain reaction of growth and destruction, particularly when combined with the Experience-boosting Luminaire, the evolved form of the Prismatic Missile. The Revival bonuses are the icing on the cake.
Smith IV
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Vandalier (Hidden) | The quirky white bear. (Gains +0.01 Recovery, +0.7% Might, Area, Speed, and Duration, -0.25% Cooldown, and +1% Luck every level) |
The most successful of the three ghost brothers by a wide margin, Smith IV starts with a hidden union weapon, meaning he’s great out the gate, and can add six full weapons on top of that. He also scales up nearly all of his stats as he levels up, making him a good all-rounder.
Leda
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Holy Wand | None. Starts with a notable +100% Might, however. |
Simple yet highly effective, Leda combines the stellar Holy Wand with a 100% Might bonus to decimate the early hordes with ease. While she has no other effects, that’s all she really needs to be an A-tier Survivor.
Cosmo Pavone
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Peachone and Ebony Wings (Both Hidden) | Gains +1 Recovery and +1% Luck at every level. Gains +1 Revival every 100 levels. |
With uncapped Recovery growth, Cosmo Pavone has the potential to be unkillable when paired with the Laurel, Armor, and Max Health boosters like the Hollow Heart. He also starts out with two bird friends, neither of which count toward his six weapons total, making him powerful in combat too.
S Tier
Pugnala Provola
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Phiera Der Tuphello and Eight The Sparrow. | Gains +1% Might every level. |
One of the earliest characters you can unlock, and also one of the best, Pugnala Provola is undoubtedly a favorite for many beginner players. Starting out with two weapons with great coverage, and uncapped Might scaling, you can’t go wrong with her.
Queen Sigma
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Victory Sword | She owns everything. (Gains +1% Might and Growth at every level. Can choose additional Arcana cards at levels 2, 3, 77, and 108. Starts with a notably high 108 Skip, Reroll, and Banish) |
Still the best and most flexible character in the game, even after two DLC packs, Queen Sigma can be anything you want her to be. This is due to her extra Arcana capacity, an obscene number of Skips, Rerolls, and Banishes, and her uncapped Might and Growth scaling. She also starts with the Victory Sword, one of the best weapons in the game later on.
Megalo Menya Moonspell
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| 108 Bocce (Hidden) | Cannot be damaged, but disappears after reaching the time limit. |
As a completely invincible character, there’s a very good argument that Megalo Menya is the best Survivor in the game. With no threat of death comes no limit on her capabilities, though you can’t use her to defeat Red Death, which is a minor downside.
Je-Ne-Viv
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Shadow Servant. Insatiable (Hidden) | It will literally eat the world. (Gains +1% Might and +0.5% Curse every level. Triggers a Vacuum when leveling up. Once per life, triggers World Eater after receiving fatal damage. Also triggers World Eater every 6 levels. Receives SpellString at level 10, SpellStream at level 20, and SpellStrike at level 30) |
Boasting one of the longest ability lists in the game, Je-Ne-Viv feels like three characters mashed together (and may literally be, based on the lore). She does so much that it’s likely harder to fail a run with her than succeed.
Avatar Infernas
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Flames of Misspell | Starts with extra Arcana XIX – Heart of Fire. Grows stronger with every level, but also loses control (+0.5% Curse, +0.5% Might, +2% MoveSpeed, and -0.25% Cooldown every level) |
Getting a free bonus Arcana is a unique passive ability, and Infernas also comes with the unique Flames of Misspell weapon as well. These combine with uncapped stat scaling in four areas to make him a fun and powerful choice for any run, once you’ve completed his convoluted unlock process.
Mask of the Red Death
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Death Spiral | None. Starts with a notable +100% MoveSpeed, however. |
The simplest and weakest of the S-tier characters, Mask of the Red Death is nevertheless highly effective. A huge starting MoveSpeed allows him to quickly navigate Stages, while his Death Spiral weapon is one of the best in the game, skipping the awkward early Axe stage to get right to the good stuff.
Scorej-Oni
| Starting Weapon | Passive Abilities |
| Lightning Ring (Hidden) | Gains a hidden Lightning Ring every 8 levels (max 6) that also fires when losing health. |
Unlike Eleanor, Scorej-Oni is an example of free stuff alone making a character viable in the big leagues. He starts with a hidden Lightning Ring, then gains five more as he levels up, resulting in an obscene screen-filling storm. The additional rings also fire when Scorej-Oni takes damage, making him great in a retaliatory damage-based build.
And with that, our Vampire Survivors character tier list is at an end! We’ve covered every character in the game, separated the Survivors from the suckers, and given you all the information you need to plan out your next run. Whether you want a challenging experience or an easy win, the wisdom from this list will serve you well.
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Published: Nov 8, 2023 01:56 pm