History YMMV / VampireSurvivors

*** Sammy the Caterpillar Cake from the ''Tides of the Foscari'' DLC is an utterly unparalleled LethalJokeCharacter thanks to the simple fact it gets Exp from money, aided along by starting with Vicious Hunger. It ''does'' get a hefty Might penalty at the beginning, and Vicious Hunger is not an especially good weapon to begin with, so the very start of the game can be troublesome... right until you get a Gold Rush, at which point so much Exp rolls in that you can go from zero to built pretty much ''instantly''. Whether you're good enough to get to level 30 (and set off the automatic Gold Rush), lucky enough for a Gilded Clover or pragmatic enough to use Disco of Gold and just get to steamrolling the game from the start, you can pretty much build at leisure and just watch the money roll in afterwards. With Endless mode and Limit Break, you can get actual ''millions'' - if your computer can survive the sheer onslaught, because the damn caterpillar gets so many levels it's been known to ''crash the game'' in a deluge of constant level-ups and cataclysmic particle effects.

*** Sammy the Caterpillar Cake from the ''Tides of the Foscari'' DLC is an utterly unparalleled LethalJokeCharacter thanks to the simple fact it gets Exp from money, aided along by starting with Vicious Hunger. It ''does'' get a hefty Might penalty at the beginning, and Vicious Hunger is not an especially good weapon to begin with, so the very start of the game can be troublesome... right until you get a Gold Rush, at which point so much Exp rolls in that you can go from zero to built pretty much ''instantly''. Whether you're good enough to get to level 30 (and set off the automatic Gold Rush), lucky enough for a Gilded Clover or pragmatic enough to use Disco of Gold and just get to steamrolling the game from the start, you can pretty much build at leisure and just watch the money roll in afterwards. With Endless mode and Limit Break, you can get actual ''billions'' - if your computer can survive the sheer onslaught, because the damn caterpillar gets so many levels it's been known to ''crash the game'' in a deluge of constant level-ups and cataclysmic particle effects.

*** Arcana VIII, the Mad Groove, is perfect for saving you endless amounts of running around the vast maps. Every 2 minutes (as well as immediately when you acquire it), it summons ''every'' item on the map into a neat circle around you- every single pickup (from basic EXP gems to chests and Nduja Fritta Tantos), every unbroken light source, and crucially, every stage item, ''including'' the Gold and Silver Rings and Metaglios. This makes getting all the upgrades on the map within 30 minutes a complete breeze and streamlining farming by constantly bringing all the gems that drop from enemies within easy reach. You probably wouldn't want to start with it, but as a second or third pick, it's handy.

*** The Game Killer arcana stops any leveling and turns experience gems into explosive projectiles. A possible third pick once your build is done? Sure... or, if you're playing as Porta or Clerici, you can pick it '''right off the bat at level 1'''. [[ViolationOfCommonSense Now why the hell would you do that?]] Because these characters get a massive bonus to a certain stat at level 1 that peters out at higher levels... but if you can't level up, you get to keep it the entire game. In Porta's case, she can spam her Lightning Ring with basically no cooldown (and in the maps that have a Duplicator lying around, you can still evolve it). Bonus points if you can then grab Silent Old Sanctuary. Clerici's area bonus sounds less useful, until you realize that '''it applies to the explosions created by Game Killer itself''', allowing every single XP gem to hit half the damn screen. This trick is particularly useful in the Boss Rash, where you're starved for XP, and Mt. Moonspell, where exploration is the name of the game and the hordes are not particularly thick, making it hard to properly level up in the first place.

** Gatti Amari's evolved form, Vicious Hunger, loses a huge chunk of what makes Gatti strong in favor of becoming a money-generating/farming tool, losing the massively damaging catfights in favor of turning things into coins. While it does do damage, it's not nearly as strong as Gatti, and it also turns XP gems into coins as well at a surprising rate. If you don't save picking up the stone mask or maxing out Gatti as the last possible thing in your build, you can potentially completely hamstring your run strength because you've drastically reduced your speed of level-ups. Especially with Limit Breaks encouraging leveling after reaching max build, unless you go into a run with the specific intent of money farming it's never worth evolving Gatti. To really rub salt in the wound, '''even gold-farming runs''' will often forgo it, because it's a graphically intensive weapon that can really tank the framerate. The only character who actually wants to use it is Sammy, who starts with the weapon, as his innate passive still lets him gain EXP from coins anyway.

* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwx2DtyqSLc "Reincarnated Echoes,"]] the theme of the Inlaid Library, truly feels like it could fit right in an early ''Castlevania'' game.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7qpWDSN7lM "Copper Green Intent"]] meanwhile feels like something from a later ''Castlevania'' OST, whose guitars capture the struggle that is the [[ThatOneLevel Dairy Plant.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8UajtMkN-I "When the Clouds Drown"]] is a serene but ominous theme quite fitting for Moongolow.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X6-_RBYK_o "Unholy Invocation,"]] a tense and foreboding track for the [[DroughtLevelOfDoom Bone Zone.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRlvBEDpW7o "Needs More Fighting,"]] the theme of the [[BossRush Boss Rash]], is a high-energy piece that wouldn't feel out of place in a ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros'' boss fight.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23BGdHyipqI "Cosmic Delight,"]] the TrueFinalBoss music, is frankly too epic for a $5 game.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aGsFArksLA "Extinguished Flame"]] is a somber piano piece with serious ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' vibes.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox9uRw-ddJM "Red and Blue,"]] the upbeat and jazzy theme of Pugnala Provola, instead sounds like something out of ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' (much like Pugnala herself).
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws0Khnzvc4I "Moms Are Tough,"]] the theme of Zi'Assunta Belpaese, is as the name suggests an homage to ''Franchise/FinalFantasy''.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyNFX9GFKZA "Sole Solution"]] is a majestic and powerful theme worthy of [[PurposefullyOverpowered Queen Sigma]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxbpQtUFWDU "Haze of Night,"]] Syuuto Moonspell's powerful but restrained theme, fits his nature... and transitions into the darker [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLPTSp1jD2g "Hell Night"]] when his curse activates and he goes OneWingedAngel.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxTf_8tVE8E "An Introduction to Sorcery,"]] Eleanor Uziron's theme, certainly feels like the start of a magical adventure. A shame where that adventure takes her...
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBPzDPIM0nM "The Heart of the World"]] is quite befitting Luminaire Foscari, BigGood of the ''Tides of the Foscari'' DLC.

*** The ''Emergency Meeting'' DLC adds the evolution of Report!, the aptly named [[TitleDrop Emergency Meeting]]. At a first glance, it merely seems like a version of Report! that can fire in every direction, but this belies its true strength, as every once in a while (and this can be made shorter by reducing your Cooldown stat), it will bring up a voting poll containing all current enemy types. It will then select one of those enemy types at random ''and [[OneHitKill instantly kill every enemy of the selected type.]]'' Of course, [[ContractualBossImmunity the instant kill doesn't work on bosses]], but it's still a wonderful mass-clearing weapon. Even better is the fact that, unlike the similarly mass-destroying Pentagram, it ''doesn't'' run the risk of erasing the rewards for killing enemies.

** Cappella Magna is normally not an overly hard level, but it has a special variant that you must go through to get the Yellow Sign, which sics each variant of the Grim Reaper at you long before you're in any way, shape or form prepared to deal with them. This includes the Drowner, who makes half the map inaccessible, massively restrains your freedom to maneuver around enemy waves, and camps at the corner of your screen where it's nearly impossible to hit him unless you shatter a window near him [[spoiler:or use one of the Rosaries pre-placed on the map to get rid of him on the spot]]. If this Drowner is left alive for too long it will move towards the center of the screen, forcibly drowning your character in the damage zone unless you're constantly moving upwards. [[spoiler:Thankfully once you defeat Ender, the other reapers except for Red Death won't show up ever again in this particular stage]].

** To make matters worse, this version of the stage makes a reappearance in Imelda's adventure, where it's exactly the same, but your character selection is much more limited and you will not have access to a lot of your strongest weapons and powerups unless you're prepared to spend a long, '''long''' time farming for gold. Thankfully, Pugnala is available and her twin guns are one of the few things that '''can''' actually hit the Drowner.

** Cappella Magna sics each variant of the Grim Reaper at you. This includes Drowner, who camps at the corner of your screen where it's nearly impossible to hit unless you shatter a window near him [[spoiler:or use one of the Rosaries pre-placed on the map to get rid of him on the spot]]. If this Drowner is left alive for too long it will move towards the center of the screen, forcibly drowning your character in the damage zone unless you're constantly moving upwards. [[spoiler:Thankfully once you defeat Ender, the other reapers except for Red Death won't show up ever again in this particular stage]].

** The title of the worst character goes to Poe. While Garlic is a pretty solid weapon early on, Garlic onto itself is a weapon where players are meant to go up close and personal for the area-of-effect damage and EXP farming and trying to deal as much damage as you can up close while minimizing damage you forces yourself into. Poe has 30 less HP (tied with Exdash) armed with a weapon where you want to be as close as possible, which not only severely lowers his survivability, but it contradicts what people uses garlic for, and his bonus effect isn't even worth the tradeoff anyway. It says a lot when other characters can wield the garlic a lot better than Poe does.

*** Pugnala is the only character with ''two'' starting weapons, Phiera Der Tuphello and Eight The Sparrow, both excellent weapons on their own and components of the extremely powerful Phieraggi. She has a passive 20% movement speed increase, just behind Krochi's, and an uncapped +1% Might bonus per level. This means that by level 100 she hits for twice the damage of any other character, and in a high-Curse run she can potentially even get up to ''triple'' damage, all without suffering from any EarlyGameHell the way that most characters with strong lategame performance do. As of version 0.6.1, her high movement speed even makes it easier for her to reach the new BonusBoss enemies, and her high damage makes it easy to defeat them to gather the Golden Eggs they drop, which will further amplify her already impressive stats.

* OlderThanTheyThink: While ''Vampire Survivors'' may be the TropeCodifier for horde-survival roguelikes, ''VideoGame/{{Crimsonland}}'' predates it by over a decade and a half (2003) via its Survival Mode, with its perks being the roguelike elements.

** Gatti Amari's evolved form, Vicious Hunger, loses a huge chunk of what makes Gatti strong in favor of becoming a money-generating/farming tool, losing the massively damaging catfights in favor of turning things into coins. While it does do damage, it's not nearly as strong as Gatti, and it also turns XP gems into coins as well at a surprising rate. If you don't save picking up the stone mask or maxing out Gatti as the last possible thing in your build, you can potentially completely hamstring your run strength because you've drastically reduced your speed of level-ups. Especially with Limit Breaks encouraging leveling after reaching max build, unless you go into a run with the specific intent of money farming it's never worth evolving Gatti. To really rub salt in the wound, '''even gold-farming runs''' will often forgo it, because it's a graphically intensive weapon that can really tank the framerate.

** Other:

** Gyorunton fell at the short end of the stick when it comes to the (usually) PurposelyOverpowered secret characters. While the ability to immediately upgrade your weapon without having to wait for 10 minutes is a pretty nice bonus, the Bracelet is not a very good weapon and usually not very good until you fully upgrade it to Tri-Bracelet. The 1% curse per level is also a double edged sword, since it's going to cripple them early on on hard maps like Dairy Plant or the Bone Zone if they didn't get a proper waveclearing weapon firsthand and maximize it.

*** Cosmo Pavone gains ridiculous amounts of regeneration and luck each level with no cap, but is balanced around the fact that its health is low, so heavy damage may kill it before it has a chance to regenerate. Or rather, is '''supposed''' to be balanced around said fact, but it can simply pick Divine Bloodline at first level (weapons that deal retaliatory damage also help) and start '''pecking enemies to death''', permanently increasing its max health. It's not out of the question to end up with over a thousand health by the lategame, at which point no enemies except Death can really do anything to you.
*** Maruto Cuts is another character who breaks the Divine Bloodline, by becoming a GlassCannon instead of a StoneWall, as his whole kit is built around getting hit, gaining armor and inflicting retaliatory damage, and the doppelgangers from his evolved weapon are also considered retaliatory damage. With Divine Bloodline, Maruto can easily gain '''dozens of thousands''' of max health over the course of a game, but due to his lack of regeneration to match Cosmo's, he will be permanently stuck at (relatively) "low" health, getting an absurdly high boost from the Arcana's CriticalStatusBuff. In case that's not enough to deal with the enemies, every hit he takes increases his damage output, since retaliatory damage scales with armor. If that wasn't enough, his starting weapon can also damage walls, allowing him to trivialize a few exploration-based levels.

*** Cosmo Pavone gains ridiculous amounts of regeneration and luck each level with no cap, but is balanced around the fact that its health is low, so heavy damage may kill it before it has a chance to regenerate. Or rather, is '''supposed''' to be balanced around said fact, but it can simply pick Divine Bloodline at first level (weapons that deal retaliatory damage also help) and start '''pecking enemies to death''', permanently increasing its max health. It's not out of the question to end up with over a thousand health by the lategame, at which point no enemies except Death can really do anything to you.
*** Maruto Cuts is another character who breaks the Divine Bloodline, by becoming a GlassCannon instead of a StoneWall, as his whole kit is built around getting hit, gaining armor and inflicting retaliatory damage, and the doppelgangers from his evolved weapon are also considered retaliatory damage. With Divine Bloodline, Maruto can easily gain '''dozens of thousands''' of max health over the course of a game, but due to his lack of regeneration to match Cosmo's, he will be permanently stuck at (relatively) "low" health, getting an absurdly high boost from the Arcana's CriticalStatusBuff. In case that's not enough to deal with the enemies, every hit he takes increases his damage output, since retaliatory damage scales with armor. If that wasn't enough, his starting weapon can also damage walls, allowing him to trivialize a few exploration-based levels.

** Gatti Amari's evolved form, Vicious Hunger, loses a huge chunk of what makes Gatti strong in favor of becoming a money-generating/farming tool, losing the massively damaging catfights in favor of turning things into coins. While it does do damage, it's not nearly as strong as Gatti, and it also turns XP gems into coins as well at a surprising rate. If you don't save picking up the stone mask or maxing out Gatti as the last possible thing in your build, you can potentially completely hamstring your run strength because you've drastically reduced your speed of level-ups. Especially with Limit Breaks encouraging leveling after reaching max build, unless you go into a run with the specific intent of money farming it's never worth evolving Gatti.

*** Maruto Cuts is another character who breaks the Divine Bloodline, by becoming a GlassCannon instead of a StoneWall, as his whole kit is built around getting hit, gaining armor and inflicting retaliatory damage, and the doppelgangers from his evolved weapon are also considered retaliatory damage. With Divine Bloodline, Maruto can easily gain '''dozens of thousands''' of max health over the course of a game, but due to his lack of regeneration to match Cosmo's, he will be permanently stuck at (relatively) "low" health, getting an absurdly high boost from the Arcana's CriticalStatusBuff. In case that's not enough to deal with the enemies, every hit he takes increases his damage output, since retaliatory damage scales with armor.

** The Dairy Plant is by far the hardest level in the game period, to the point that the designer knew how bullshit the stage sometimes that they allow you to evolve your weapons before the 10-minute mark. DemonicSpiders everywhere, traps laid in and out across the stage, and there's even a pseudo Grim Reaper that's unkillable without using the cart or pentagram.

** The developers are very intent on ensuring players cannot accidentally lose their game progress. Perhaps too intent. There is no method aside from going into your file folders and manually deleting your save data folder after turning off Steam's automatic cloud backups to do something as mundane as replaying the game from the beginning.

*** Maruto Cuts is another character who breaks the Divine Bloodline, by becoming a GlassCannon instead of a StoneWall, as his whole kit is built around getting hit, gaining armor and inflicting retaliatory damage, and the doppelgangers from his evolved weapon are also considered retaliatory damage. With Divine Bloodline, Maruto can easily gain '''dozens of thousands''' of max health over the course of a game, but due to his lack of regeneration to match Cosmo's, he will be permanently stuck at (relatively) "low" health, getting an absurdly high boost from the Arcana's CriticalDamageBuff. In case that's not enough to deal with the enemies, every hit he takes increases his damage output, since retaliatory damage scales with armor.