The addition of a co-op mode toVampire Survivorsnot only opens the game up to a new audience, one that would rather face the pixelated hordes with a friend at their side than alone, but it also opens up a range of new strategic options as well, with some Survivors working together far better than others.
Due to the way experience is distributed in this new mode, taking on a run with two characters doesn’t necessarily make things easier, meaning you’ll really need to tap into some useful synergies if you want to succeed. To that end, these are ten perfect pairs that can carry you through the game’s toughest Stages. Provided you play to their strengths, of course.
10Poe Ratcho And Gennaro Belpaese
In the majority of single-player Vampire Survivors runs, you face a choice between dealing minor damage over a wide area, or major damage in one direction. Co-op mode lets you enjoy the best of both worlds by giving you two characters to spread your arsenal across, so you can cover both bases with ease.
Poe Ratcho, an area-of-effect expert with a high Magnet stat and a starting Garlic weapon, and Gennaro Belpaese, a projectile build classic with a very strong early game, are ideal candidates for a dual-focused strategy like this. They’re also both unlocked very early on, making them one of the most accessible duos on this list.
9Krochi Freetto And Guardian Pina
The Comeback Tour Is On
As the first major expansion for the game since co-op mode was added, Emergency Meeting introduces several characters and weapons specifically tailored for cooperative play, Guardian Pina being the most notable example. Not only does he provide strong survivability buffs to those around him, but he can also gain extra Revivals when his fellow Survivors revive themselves.
This pairs nicely with Krochi, a character who can stack up two additional Revivals just by leveling up, and even more through items and Power ups. With all of this combined, your team will be incredibly bulky and difficult to wear down, leaving plenty of time to assemble any strategy you wish.
8Queen Sigma And Toastie
Play The Longest Game Possible
A unique aspect of co-op mode is the way in which it allows lesser-seen characters to shine by letting you shore up their weaknesses via a partner. Toastie is a very difficult character to play, since he dies in literally one hit until he reaches level 100, but after that he’s nigh-unkillable. Queen Sigma, with her immense Might and Growth scaling, can help carry him through the rough early game to the power beyond.
While this does leave one player essentially filling the role of bodyguard for most of the run, the end results are more than worth it, as Toastie will be able totake on Red Deathmore effectively than most once in his final form.
7Big Trouser And Sammy
Get The Golden Gang Together
Big Trouser and Sammy are both well-known characters for their applications in Gold-farming runs, but in co-op, they come together to form an economy-crashing cacophony of coins and carnage. With the Greed boosts and extended Gold Fevers from Trouser, and the ‘Gold to Experience’ ability from Sammy, you can easily slingshot the pair’s levels into the stratosphere.
Naturally, this strategy works best when you throw in theDisco of Gold Arcana card, but it’s so powerful in isolation that the card isn’t even a requirement. All you need is some light sources, a decent Luck stat, and a few weapons willing to be Limit Broken within an inch of their life.
6Eleanor Uziron And Crewmate Dino
Free Items = Free Stats
Crewmate Dino is one of the most exciting additions Emergency Meeting brings to the table. His ability grants a random run-long stat boost to himeach time any item, on any player, reaches its maximum level. This complements Eleanor Uziron, whose abilities grant her two extra weapons and one extra item via leveling, perfectly.
Eleanor’s extra items mean more maximum levels to reach, and more stat boosts for Dino, easily creating an overpowered late-game monstrosity when combined with careful leveling and use of in-Stage items. Eleanor herself may remain a mere mortal stats-wise, but her innate magical weapons are powerful enough to keep her more than relevant later on.
5Miang Moonspell And Ghost Lino
The Healing Is Real
While her abilities are underwhelming in isolation, Miang Moonspell got a new lease of life with the addition of Ghost Lino in Emergency Meeting. With a constant additional healing source available right from the start of the run, Miang is much harder to take down, and can begin stacking up huge reservoirs of health from the word go.
From this solid foundation, you can build the duo out in a number of ways, from straightforward Sarabande of Healing strategies to those centered around retaliatory damage. Either way, it’s nice to see an under-the-radar character make a comeback in a new game mode.
4Gains Boros And Rose De Infernas
The Line Must Go Up, At All Costs
Gains Boros and Rose De Infernas areboth secret characters, and they’re both more than good enough on their own to finish any given run with little trouble. Put them together, though, and you create something truly monstrous.
Gains’ ever-growing experience boost combined with Rose’s enemy quantity (but not difficulty) boost leads to the kind of exponential growth that would make a CEO weep tears of joy. With Limit Breaks active, all of those extra levels can go towards buffs for your weapons, making the duo unstoppable even early on in a run.
3She-Moon Eeta And Babi-Onna
Just Keep Swimming, Just Keep Swimming
The idea of a ‘character movement’ build has been slowly brewing in Vampire Survivors for a while, but it hasn’t quite taken off yet. With the recent additions of She-Moon and her accompanying Glass Fandango weapon, as well as the fact that both players share the same screen during co-op, the stage is set for this niche strategy to finally seize the spotlight.
Because of this quirk of the mode, you’re incentivized to pair up characters with similar mobility, making She-Moon and Babi-Onna, two of the best ‘movement speed matters’ characters, excellent choices. In terms of weapons, make sure to prioritize those that allow you to ‘path’ through enemies, such as the Knife.
2Luminaire Foscari And Genevieve Gruyère
The Sisters Of Light And Darkness
Leveling up is something you’ll do near-constantly in Vampire Survivors, and therefore characters who offer you rewards for doing so tend to be very powerful. In co-op mode you’re able to take two of these characters, Luminaire and Genevieve ofTides of the Foscari fame, and mash their abilities together for devastating results.
Since characters in co-op alternate when it comes to leveling up, you’ll alternate between clearing every enemy on the screen and drawing in all the experience on the screen with these two. When enemy density ramps up later on this can quickly spiral into an endless level loop, and an effortless win.
1Poppea Pecorina And Bianca Ramba
Cover Both The X And Y Axes
Characters who start with weapons that only cover one direction often struggle in the early game, particularly when the Curse and Charm Power-ups come into play. Co-op mode lets you circumvent this issue by choosing a pair of characters that cover each other’s blind spots, such as Poppea Pecorina and Bianca Ramba.
Poppea’s Song of Mana covers the vertical area around your characters, and Bianca’s Carréllo hits the horizontal, meaning few enemies will be able to slip through your grasp. Throw in a Four Seasons to fill in the corners and you’ll have little trouble enduring for 30 minutes.
