Vampire Survivors – How to Reach Level 99

Originally if you just unlocked Arcanas in Vampire Survivors, you’d have to learn how to reach level 99 to get more. Since the developer lowered the requirement for most unlocks to level 50, it’s a lot easier now. However, this guide still offers some tips and recommendations on builds to get the right power ups.

Since I noticed there isn’t a lot of information or tips and tricks for reaching high levels in Vampire Survivors, I threw together this guide. I’ve included some of the best power-ups to get alongside item builds for each of the Arcana characters. Make sure you get the Randomazzo from unlocking Arcanas before you try to reach level 50 on these characters.

How to Reach Level 50 or 99 in Vampire Survivors

While having more power-ups will definitely make for an easier time, there are certain ones better to focus on.

Whether you’re trying to reach level 50 or 99 for Arcanas or 100 for an achievement, this can be difficult. A major part of the struggle is that you need to do it before the 30-minute mark because this is when the Grim Reaper/Death shows up. If you haven’t done it by then, chances are it’s too late. Before reading further, I recommend doing each stage on Hyper mode for the extra MoveSpeed.

Regardless of your character, certain power-ups are better to get. Fortunately, you can refund power-up purchases at any time and however many times you want. This makes it easy to experiment with different builds and get rid of Greed levels when you’re not farming gold. Here are some of the best power-ups:

• Growth – Try to completely level up this one so you can get the max 15% in extra experience.
• Armor – Reducing all incoming damage by a maximum of 3 will help you stay alive in tough situations. This power-up combined with the Laurel item is a game-changer.
• Luck – This helps with getting better items from braziers and other breakable objects. A higher luck chance makes it more likely to get items like a Floor Chicken, Vacuum, Rosary, etc. It also reduces the chance of the Pentagram wiping gems.
• Magnet – The 50% increase in range for picking up items is significant. This will help you level up quickly without having to run into deadly situations.
• Cooldown – The 5% max increase may seem minor but it can help a lot with the recommended builds below. This increases your overall DPS since you’ll be attacking more.
• Area – The 10% max increase in weapon size is also huge with the recommended builds below. You’ll hit a lot more enemies as a result while also protecting yourself with the Santa Water evolution.
• Reroll – This power-up makes it easier to get the right items for your Vampire Survivors build.

Tips to Reach Level 50 or 99 Poppea

Depending on how your run is going, you may want to focus on different items along the way. Such as the King Bible or Laurel Shield early to stay alive.

Poppea is a good character for this since her starting weapon Song of Mana is strong. You’ll likely rely on Song of Mana in the early game as your damage dealer. Once you get it to level two, you have some protection on the sides for running toward enemies. I reached level 99 on the first stage, but I did stage 2 for the other characters.

This Poppea build has five item evolutions with the sixth slot using the Laurel and Empty Tome instead. The Laurel shield is so you have more survivability. And since it doesn’t have an evolution right now, the Empty Tome significantly improves your other items. Reaching level 99 on Poppea gives the Arcana card, XVII – Lost & Found Painting.

Tips to Reach Level 50 or 99 Lama

The Magic Wand evolution likely won’t be your highest damage but it will help keep annoying enemies away like the exploding ones.

Lama can be tough at first with the Axe, but it pays off once you evolve it to Death Spiral. While Lama’s setup increases the Curse modifier making your run more difficult, you’ll benefit from more enemies as well. If there are more enemies to take out, you’ll get more experience as well. From here on I took advantage of stage 2, the Inlaid Library.

I started using Clover because of a previously mentioned tip. First, it reduces the chance of Pentagram wiping your gems. Second, it increases the chance of good items from breakable objects. Especially the Vacuum for grabbing gems. But, the Pentagram evolution prevents you from needing it. With that said, I kept Empty Tome and only used the Magic Wand for an extra evolution. Reaching level 99 on Lama gives the Arcana card, XVI – Slash.

Tips to Reach Level 50 or 99 Arca

Not having the Candelabra for this build makes it a little easier for enemies to get close to you since the La Borra AoE isn’t as large.

Arca can be a fun character since their setup reduces weapon cooldown as you level up. This buff combined with the Empty Tome leads to several benefits. Almost every weapon is active more frequently and it helps keep your Laurel shield up.

If you haven’t noticed already, each character build in this Vampire Survivors guide is similar but changes slightly. I tend to stick with what works and only tweak slightly depending on the character’s starting weapon. In this case, we use the Spinach because it’s required for the Fire Wand evolution. Reaching level 99 on Lama gives the Arcana card, XIX – Heart of Fire.

Tips to Reach Level 50 or 99 Krochi

Krochi’s increase in MoveSpeed alongside the Hyper mode buff helps with getting around more easily.

Krochi’s setup only really helps if you’re struggling to stay alive in Vampire Survivors. Therefore, if you don’t die, you won’t benefit from the two Revivals you get. With that said, Krochi still gets a nice +30% MoveSpeed. This can help with taking out more enemies and getting more experience as a result.

The major change in this build is not having the Magic Wand for the Holy Wand evolution. Fortunately, we don’t really need it even though it can help keep elite/boss enemies away. Especially the bomber ones in the Inlaid Library. This Krochi build swaps back in the Axe while still keeping the Empty Tome. Reaching level 99 on Lama gives the Arcana card, IV – Awake.

Tips to Reach Level 50 or 99 Giovanna

While you will want another weapon alongside the Gatti Amari, don’t forget to power through those Pentagram levels too. This will help reduce the chance of it taking gems.

Giovanna’s Gatti Amari starting weapon is annoying even though it’s extremely strong late-game. You don’t have much control over when it hits enemies, even though it can take out large groups. This is why you may want to focus on a different weapon early on like the King Bible. The Axe is a decent early pick if you have the XVI – Slash Arcana card.

Despite this Giovanna Vampire Survivors build having only four evolutions, it’s still strong. Chances are the Gatti Amari will be your highest damage dealing item by the end. Even surpassing the Gorgeous Moon evolution. Reaching level 99 on Lama gives the Arcana card, V – Chaos in the Dark Night.

Tips to Reach Level 50 or 99 Gennaro

The Knife starter weapon isn’t incredible, but the Thousand Edge evolution is useful for taking out tough enemies and bosses.

Gennaro was one of my favorite early characters due to the extra projectile and control with Knife. However, the Knife can be annoying since it only hits the direction you’re facing. This is why I grabbed Song of Mana with Skull even though I didn’t add it to the build below. I replaced it with Santa Water and Attractorb, but the main issue is that you may fall behind in leveling.

By the end of my Vampire Survivors run, I only reached level 104 so it can be a little close. By not having Attractorb, you’re less likely to reach your full build early. And this can prevent gaining the experience you need to reach level 99. With that said, reaching level 99 on Gennaro gives the Arcana card, VII – Iron Blue Will.

Tips to Reach Level 50 or 99 Imelda

Prioritize getting the Empty Tome on Stage 2 far to the left so you can speed up your DPS early on. This will lower the cooldown for the Magic Wand so you can take out more enemies.

Reaching level 99 on Imelda may be a little easier than other characters since her starting buff is 10% more experience every 5 levels. Even though it maxes out at a 30% bonus. Going a step further, you can max the Growth power-up for another 15%. And then using this with the Crown item in my build below, you’ll get another 25% on maxing it out.

By now you should be set to reach level 99 on Imelda regardless of the other items in your build. It’s just a matter of surviving until the end so you can get as much experience as possible. I swapped in Spinach for extra damage but you can get creative with this slot, otherwise. Regardless, reaching level 99 on Imelda unlocks the Arcana card, XI – Waltz of Pearls.

That’s all there is to this Vampire Survivors guide on how to reach level 50 or 99 for these characters. You can still use several of these builds for other characters and likely perform well too. Be sure to visit more of our guides filled with tips and tricks below.

• All Item Evolutions in Vampire Survivors
• How to Get Arcanas
• How to Open Every Coffin

Jeffrey Lerman

Jeff is a journalist with over 10 years of experience writing, streaming, and making content about video games. With an associate degree in journalism, he’s a sucker for RPGs, survival games, roguelikes, and more.