An unexpected update was recently released Vampire survivorswith a surprising amount of content. It contains the first few cards from the fresh “Dark Arcana”, providing the basis for several incredibly powerful abilities.
There’s more: a fresh stage, a few fresh secrets, and a fresh character are also waiting for you. We’re here to make sure you know how to find and unlock everything in Vampire survivorsDarkasso Update.
How to unlock a fresh stage
The first thing you’ll need to start on the path to unlocking everything is a fresh stage. While the clue may be obvious, we’ll still explain the details. The stage unlocks when you “cast a spell” called “forbiddenbox.” As long as you’ve collected the Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane, you’ll have a main menu option called “Secrets.” Go there and navigate to the “Cast Spell” field. Type in the spell’s name, “forbiddenbox.” But be prepared, you’ll immediately be taken to a fresh level with a random character!
This is a surprisingly scary fresh level, Room 1665. You’ll need to move south, killing enemies until the door opens. I wouldn’t worry about building anything beyond helping the character you’re assigned. Just get the most powerful weapons and survive. When you hear a strange laugh, another door will open.
When you see the little treasure goblin walk across the stage, aim for it as it will drop a treasure chest. There are candles in the hallways between rooms that can be used as supplies, like the floor turkey. The stage is shorter, lasting only 20 minutes. However, if you make it to the bottom room, you’ll have everything you need for now.
Unfortunately, characters who can walk through walls can’t bypass the door mechanic. You have to wait in each room, and there are 16 of them in total.
Reaching the end of the stage unlocks Darkasso: Rhe Dark Arcana, which is used to mix up runs. By default, you’ll have Number VI – Moonlight Bolero. It spawns an additional treasure boss every minute. The treasures it carries can allow you to have more Arcana cards or passive weapons than you can normally carry. It’s incredibly powerful at buffing the second half of the run while also helping you level up all of your weapons faster.
How to Unlock Every New Dark Arcana in Vampire Survivors
There are five fresh Dark Arcana cards in total, all incredibly powerful. They are still subject to change based on player feedback.
| Name of the Arcana | Arcana Effect | How to Unblock |
| VI – Bolero in the Moonlight | Makes a treasure boss spawn every minute, allowing you to potentially collect more Arcanes and passive weapons than you are normally allowed to. | Unlocks after finding the Dark Arcana in room 1665 |
| Me – Sapphire Mist | All weapons have a chance to fire twice instead of once upon activation. Some weapons may fire more than twice. | Get a -85% Renewal Bonus with Space Dude |
| X – Greetings from the future | Defeating frozen enemies grants bonus MaxHealth, Recovery, and Growth. Triggers Orologion when health reaches critically low levels. | Start the Strange Soul Cleaner with Santa Ladonna |
| XII – Crystal Cries | Defeating frozen enemies grants bonus MaxHealth, Recovery, and Growth. Triggers Orologion when health reaches critically low levels. | Summon a starry sky with She-Moon Eeta |
| XXI – A Journey Through the Pitch-Black | Losing health generates exploding projectiles. Explosion damage is increased by total health recovered and the Magnet bonus. Explosion area is increased by Magnet. | Reach 665 max health with Bat Robert |
You’ll start with Moonlight Bolero once you unlock the Dark Arcana, so that one is out of reach. The next one you’ll want is Sapphire Mist, which requires you to reach the -85% cooldown bonus with Space Dude. If you don’t have it, you’ll have to survive 20 minutes in Space 54.
Once you have it, I recommend playing The Library, as it has an Empty Tome you can pick up. You’ll need it as part of the challenge. Before you start, I also recommend using as many Seals as possible to lock it down as an unevolved weapon. When you begin gameplay, select Arcana XX – Silent Old Sanctuary. Provides additional Rerolls, Skips, and Banishes. But the more crucial aspect is that it gives 20% Might and -8% Cooldown for each empty slot of the busy weapon.
As you play, you will need to always ban weapons and only pick up passive weapons. As long as you have five empty weapon slots, you should have -85% cooldown. The trick to unlocking this is that you need to complete a stage with this cooldown reduction. Once you do, you will receive a powerful fresh Dark Arcana.
In Hail the Future you have to play as Santa Ladonna. If you haven’t unlocked it, you need to survive 20 minutes in the Laboratory stage. Santa Ladonna has a passive skill that triggers the Rosary when her health gets critically low. As far as I could tell, you simply need to trigger this skill to unlock the Arcana.
Forcing it to trigger by taking damage was the only unusual thing I did the moment I played it. Same goes for the next card, Crystal Cries. Except for She-Moon Eeta. She is unlocked by surviving 20 minutes in Whiteout. She-Moon has a similar low-health ability that triggers, although hers freezes enemies for 10 seconds. Keep taking damage until it triggers and you should be good to go.
For the last card you will need Reach +665 max health with Bat Robbert. You can unlock him by unlocking his weapon, which itself is unlocked by defeating over 160,000 bats. If you need support, play Bat Country a few times. Bat Robbert gains +32 Max Health when his health gets critically low. With that and the Hollow Heart item, it shouldn’t be too challenging to max him out.
I recommend taking Revive and Arcana passive items with you to protect yourself if your health drops too low. You’ll need to trigger it multiple times, so keep an eye on the pause menu to see what your health buff is. If it goes above 665, nothing will happen.
How to unlock fresh character Bats Bats Bats
To unlock Bats Bats Bats, you need to follow one of the most cryptic clues in the game. “It’s as easy as ABC, find the Ring of Rings.” The “ABC” in this clue is a reference to the Bat Country level, which contains a secret set of lettered tiles that let you play around with the visual background. You need to find the “Ring of Rings,” which is more literal than it sounds. In Bat Country, on the right side of the map, there is a circle made of the Golden Ring item.
Be careful when you get them – not only are they cursed items, but each of the six rings has an Atlantean Ring Wraith protecting it. When you collect the items, you’ll hear an unlock sound effect and Bats Bats Bats will be available on the character select screen.
Bats Bats Bats starts out as a special version of the evolved form of Pako Battiliar, Mazo Familiar. Its damage and amount is based on your max health. The original item requires a Hollow Heart to evolve into Mazo Familiar, but it’s still a good idea to pick it up for extra damage. Bats Bats The Bats version of Bats gets stronger as you level up. Also, if you revive during a match, it increases your weapon count and gives you a bat companion. It’s incredibly powerful when paired with the IV – Awake Arcana and Tirajisu.
How to unlock fresh ancient characters
Two classic characters, Poe Ratcho and Imelda Belpaese, have fresh versions that can be unlocked. To do this, you’ll need to complete their Adventure Mode campaigns. If you’ve already done that but don’t see the unlocks for these characters, try opening their Adventure Mode menu and see if that will trigger the achievements.
Once unlocked, you can choose fresh versions of the character from the character selection screen. You have to choose the originals, then choose their alternate appearances. Select the character, then press Left on the D-Pad from the Start button. You will be able to choose between the normal version, the original sprite, and the fresh versions. The fresh versions also have passive level 5 versions of the weapon, which evolve into their default item.
