Summary
Vampire Survivorsis a 2D reverse bullet hell shoot ‘em up with run-and-gun androguelike elements. Although this addictive game was released (for early access) with little notice on August 07, 2025, for the PC, it has since grown in popularity in the gaming community. In this game, players have 30 minutes to survive a stage, of which there are currently only two:Mad Forest and Inlaid Library.
There are many weapons to choose from while playing through a stage inVampire Survivors. These weapons are balanced well, but some are noticeably better than others. The two stages are different in layout; a certain weapon might be more useful in Mad Forest than in the Inlaid Library. Some weapons also evolve into stronger weapons if the required accessory is in the inventory. The evolved weapons will be included in the base weapon’s entry and will influence the ranking of the base weapon. With that out of the way, here arethe best weapons players can get inVampire Survivors, ranked.
Updated on May 14, 2025, by Jeff Drake:The list of weapons to choose from in Vampire Survivors keeps getting larger and larger. The most recent DLC, Operation Guns, added 11 new weapons, and that number doesn’t include the evolved form of these new weapons. Picking the right weapons while progressing through a stage is important - if the player wishes to survive, that is. This update has added a few more weapons to the mix, including some from the Operation Guns DLC. The entries also add a few tips for getting the most out of the weapon in question.
41Garlic
Surrounds The Character With A Circular Protective Barrier
The Garlic weapon creates a circular barrier around the character that damages enemies when they cross the barrier. This weapon continues to damage enemies if they stay within the radius of the barrier. This weapon isgreat for the first ten minutes of a stage; after ten minutes the low damage of Garlic begins to fall behind the growing enemy strength.
The Soul Eater is the evolved form of the Garlic weapon. This has a larger radius and life-stealing properties - the character is healed when the Soul Eater hurts the enemy. There are a couple of Arcanas that elevate Garlic to a higher tier of weapon inVampire Survivors, and if combined with the Crimson Shroud (evolved Laurel) the character caneasily survive for 31 minutes.
40Knife
Rapid Fire Weapon In One Direction
WhenVampire Survivorswas young, it had a few stages that all offered players a wide, seemingly endless, stretch of land (or library) with only a few obstacles here and there. If this is how anyone remembersVampire Survivors, the good news is things have changed quite a bit, and for the better.
There are now several stages with narrow corridors the player must traverse. Situations likethis are where the Knife shinesabove all weapons. Few enemies can withstand more than a couple of seconds of this weapon fully leveled and evolved.
39Clock Lancet
Freezes Enemies Around The Character
The Clock Lancet doesn’t damage the enemy; all this weapon does isfreeze enemies in place temporarily. This weapon sends out a medium-length ray of light every few seconds. This ray moves in a clockwise fashion between uses and freezes all nearby enemies.
There really isn’t much more to say about the Clock Lancet - it freezes enemies for a short while. However,it also freezes Deathin its tracks. In fact,to beat Death the player absolutely needs the Clock Lancet. The Clock Lancet combined with weapons like the Runetracer, Bone, and La Borra, used in a confined area, can kill Death. It just takes time and a little luck.
The Clock Lancet can now be evolved into the Infinite Corridor. This operates as the Clock Lancet but periodically reduces the enemies’ health by half.
38Fire Wand
Shoots Fireballs In A Random Direction
The Fire Wand has one thing going for it; itdoes more damage than any standard weapon except the Axe(they both deal 20 damage). The drawback is the Fire Wand fires its projectiles in a random direction. The projectiles are also painfully slow. It is not uncommon for the targeted enemy to maneuver around the fireballs.
Hellfire is the evolved form of the Fire Wand and gains the ability to fire piercing projectiles. In essence, the Hellfire’s projectiles act as a lawnmower as they fly across the screen; all enemies caught in the path will be cut down. Combine this weapon with the Candelabrador and Duplicator to increase its efficiency.
37Axe
Sends Multiple Axes In A High Arc
The Axesends axes flying in a high arcfrom the player character. When the Axe increases in level, it will do more damage, increase the number of axes that are thrown per use and can pass through more enemies before disappearing. It is a slow, clumsy weapon at the early levels, and doesn’t travel very far horizontally even at level eight.
This weapon would not rank among the best weapons forVampire Survivorswere it not for its evolved form, the Death Spiral.The Death Spiral is an incredibly powerful weapon that sends out a wave of spinning scythes in all directions;these pass through enemies while damaging them. The Axe requirestheCandelabrador accessoryto evolve.
36Glass Fandango
Stabs In One Direction While Moving, Or All Around When Still
Glass Fandango is the starting weapon of She-Moon. This isa directional weapon, much like the Dagger; The weapon’s projectiles travel in whatever direction the character is facing. If the character is standing still when Glass Fandango activates the projectiles circle the character.
Celestial Voulge is the evolved form of Glass Fandango and functions like the lesser form. Pair Glass Fandango with passive items that increase area and reduce cooldown times, along with weapons that strike at the edge of the screen - like the Bracelet and Four Seasons.
35Magic Wand
Rapid Fire Weapon That Targets The Nearest Enemy
This weaponsends out magic missiles when used,which target the nearest enemy and do a moderate amount of damage. When leveled up, the Magic Wand gets additional magic missiles, some piercing capabilities, and a shortened cooldown time. This weapon is good at the start of a stage, becomes obsolete around 18 minutes into a stage, and then evolves intoone of the best weapons inVampire Survivors.
If a character has theEmpty Tome accessory,the Magic Wand can be evolved into theHoly Wand. This weapon has no cooldown time, meaning it fires non-stop.If the character also has the Duplicator accessory, the Holy Wand becomes a rapid-fire shotgun.
34Cross
The Cross Has A Boomerang-like Effect To Its Trajectory
Gamers will immediately recognize the Cross weapon inVampire Survivors— it is an almost direct copy of the Cross weapon inthe early Castlevania games. When thrown, this weaponsends out spinning crosses that boomerang across the battlefield once.These crosses do significant damage and pass through enemies while dealing damage. It is a great weapon for clearing a path.
The Cross evolves into the Heaven Sword if the character possesses theClover accessory.TheHeaven Sword sends out a large sword that boomerangsand can cause critical hits. It is probably the weakest of the evolved weapons, but still highly effective.
33Carrello
A Spinning Wheel That Bounces
This interesting weapon is the starting weapon of Ramba and can be exploited in an interesting way. The Carrello uses mine carts as projectiles. These carts travel left and right; bouncing off the edge of the screen and objects. As the Carrello is leveled up the carts grow larger and move faster. The number of bounces per cart is affected by the character’s Amount.
If the player can get the character’s movement speed to match the speed of the carts they cancreate a wall of carts to walk behind. This allows the player to travel indefinitely in one direction until around minute 24 - at which point the enemies will probably be too stout for the carts to clear a path.
32Shadow Pinion
Leaves A Trail Of Traps As You Travel
The Shadow Pinion was introduced into the game as the starting weapon of Concetta. Shadow Pinion leaves spinning drill heads behind the player, like a trail of breadcrumbs. When the player stops moving the drills are projected in the direction the character was last moving.
This weapon isexcellent for crowd control and zoning, as it does a lot of damage in a (potentially) wide area - in the direction of the player’s choosing. The evolved version of Shadow Pinion, Valkyrie Turner, leaves a trail of fire instead of drill heads but operates in the same manner.
