The Vampire Crawlers: The Turbo Wildcard from Vampire Survivors‘ combo system is the most powerful feature in the game, yet it’s easily overlooked. If you play your cards in a certain order, you will stack a damage multiplier, which can make the same card merely “decent” or insanely powerful, solely depending on when it’s played.
Here’s how combos in Vampire Crawlers work, and how to make sure you get a high combo damage bonus with every hand you play.
How combos work in Vampire Crawlers
In Vampire Crawlers, you get a combo bonus if you play your cards in ascending order based on their mana cost. So, if you play a card that costs 0 mana, followed by a card that costs 1 mana, you receive a double combo bonus (shown as “x2” on the right side of the screen). If you then proceed to play a card that costs 2 mana, you will get a triple bonus, etc.
In the example below, the best order to play the cards would be: Whip, Duplicator, Axe.
In your first few Vampire Crawlers runs, most of your cards have a mana cost of either zero or one. To maximize the combo effect, try to play them 0-1, 0-1. Combo effects work on every type of card, not just attack cards. So, while it’s nice to deal twice the amount of damage, it’s sometimes wiser to obtain twice as much armor, especially if you’re low on health. Keep in mind that combos only count for your current hand. Every time you draw new cards, the combo stack resets.
In the example below, the best order would be: Armor, Spinach, Knife, Garlic. That way, Spinach’s effect and Garlic’s damage are both doubled.
Note that you don’t have to start a combo with a 0 mana card. If you began the round with a 2-mana card, followed by a 3-mana card, you still get a double combo bonus. Of course, starting at zero allows for longer combos, so it’s still the best way to begin a combo streak.
The most powerful cards in the game, wild cards, do not come with a mana cost; instead, they’re marked with a “W” as shown in the picture below. You can use them as a substitute for any mana card within your combo streak. So, if you have a 1-mana card, a wild card, and a 3-mana card in hand, you can play them in that order and get the full combo effect.
Vampire Crawlers combo tips
Here are a few more caveats to keep in mind as you rack up your combo bonus:
- Keep an eye on your mana! It’s easy to forget your mana cap, but if the cost of the cards in your hand exceeds your mana, you can’t play the full combo. In the early game, it’s often better to play only your most powerful 3-mana card instead of a 0-1-2 combo.
- When you get to pick a new card, always keep the combos in mind. If you have plenty of 0- and 1-mana cards, plus a powerful 3-mana card, it would be best to pick a 2-mana card so you can complete the full combo.
- Try to play passive effects before attacks. If the combo order allows it, it’s better to play a card like Spinach (deal 10% more damage) before playing Holy Wand (deals damage), so the latter can benefit from the passive effect.
- Try to play Attractorb cards near the end of your combo. Thanks to the combo effect, you will receive more than one new card, thus making your combo longer (or at least allowing you to start a new one). With enough “draw a card” effects in your deck, combos can continue forever!
- Bracer cards are also handy, as they extend the number of cards you can draw. With six cards in your hand instead of three, your chances of making good combos and drawing Attractorb cards increase significantly.
- Eventually, you can get the Reverse Combo card from the Jeweler, which allows you to reverse the combo order. At the end of a long combo streak, you can play your cards in descending order to keep the streak intact.
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