Vampire Survivors’ evolve weapons are your only sure-fire way to deal with the ever-growing hordes of horrific creatures that try to swarm you in each run. But it isn’t like the game guides you towards them. Instead, you’ll have to know what to upgrade and how to upgrade it in order to get one of these powerful weapons.
If you’ve not heard of Poncle’s horror roguelite, here’s how it works: each time you level—by beating enemies and taking their XP gems—you get a choice of weapons and upgrade items. Choosing a new weapon will let you swap, but if you choose the same again, you can replace your current weapon with something even more powerful. Once you upgrade it enough, you’ll be well on your way to getting an evolved weapon.
In this Vampire Survivors evolve weapons guide, I’ll break down the gear you can evolve, and the items you need to combine to make it happen. I’ll also explain what each powerful weapon can do.
Vampire Survivors evolve weapons: How to get a top-tier arsenal
To get an evolved weapon, you need to upgrade a base weapon to level 8, in most cases. Once you’ve chosen to upgrade it a sufficient number of times, you’ll need to combine it with a certain item. More on those below.
Next, you need to survive a run for at least 10 minutes. Then you’ll need to defeat a special enemy that, once destroyed, will drop a chest that contains the evolved weapon. The exception is the Vandalier: For that you’ll need to unlock the Peachone and Ebony Wings (survive for ten minutes and upgrade Peachone to level 7, respectively), upgrade them both to level 8, and defeat a boss after ten minutes. Phew.
For the other item and weapon combinations, check out the table below.
Vampire Survivors weapon evolutions list
| Evolved weapon | Base weapon | Item | Ability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bloody Tear | Whip | Hollow Heart | Deals critical damage and absorbs XP |
| Soul Eater | Garlic | Pummarola | Steals hearts, restores HP |
| Holy Wand | Magic Wand | Empty Tome | No delay on firing |
| Hellfire | Fire Wand | Spinach | Passes through enemies |
| Thousand Edge | Knife | Bracer | No delay on firing |
| Unholy Vespers | King Bible | Spellbinder | Continuous projectiles |
| Death Spiral | Axe | Candelabrador | Passes through enemies |
| Heaven Sword | Cross | Clover | Deals critical damage |
| La Borra | Santa Water | Attractorb | Growing damage zones appear when you move |
| NO FUTURE | Runetracer | Armor | Explodes on bounce and when retaliating |
| Thunder Loop | Lightning Ring | Duplicator | Projectiles hit twice |
| Gorgeous Moon | Pentagram | Crown | Generates extra gems and gathers them |
| Mannajja | Song of Mana | Skull O’Maniac | Can slow down enemies |