Did you just start to play this game and/or are having trouble with the waves of regular enemies? There are plenty of good weapons in Vampire Survivors, but not many can deal AOE (area of effect) damage and take out a group of mobs quickly. On this page, I have listed the 5 best AOE Vampire Survivors beginner weapons.
As a beginner, we will often find ourselves surrounded by mobs and nowhere to go. This is where AOE damage comes in. We need a weapon or two that can either protect us from incoming enemies and/or cut a path for us to escape through.
Some weapons do less damage than others before evolution, but scale up and become viable after they have evolved. All these Vampire Survivors beginner weapons are common and not rare. Hence, during a stage, you are not pressured to select one unless you really need it. The game will probably offer you the same weapon again later on.
Last update: September 2023
1. Best AOE Vampire Survivors Beginner Weapons: Santa Water (La Borra)
Santa Water is the best of the AOE Vampire Survivors beginner weapons for damaging and eliminating large groups of enemies, due mainly to its area of effect, high damage and duration. This beginner weapon is also one of the best for eliminating bosses, which is why I usually try to include it in my builds.
If you are getting overwhelmed by the waves, you can stand inside Santa Water’s ground circles for protection. The passive item Candelabrador is great here, because it makes the damage circles even bigger. On the other hand, Spellbinder will make them last longer.
Evolution: Santa Water + Attractorb = La Borra.
Many passive items buff this weapon, but the best are Empty Tome(-cooldown), Candelabrador(+area) and Spellbinder(+duration).
Some other good passive items for Santa Water are: Spinach(+damage) and Duplicator(+projectiles)
2. Best AOE Vampire Survivors Beginner Weapons: King Bible (Unholy Vespers)
King Bible/Unholy Vespers did very well in my beginner weapons testing (ongoing), second only to Pentagram and Santa Water. It works by having multiple Bibles spin around your character in a circle and damage incoming mobs on contact. Think of it like several bodyguards surrounding you and stopping anything that comes towards you.
King Bible benefits from many of your other weapons’ evolution passive items. The Bracer passive item will make the Bibles spin faster, hence doing much more damage. Candelabrador will make the Bible circle area bigger, and Spellbinder will make them last longer before disappearing.
Evolution: King Bible + Spellbinder = Unholy Vespers.
The best passive items (buffs) for King Bible are: Bracer(+speed), Spellbinder(+duration) and Candelabrador(+area).
Some other good passive items for this weapon are: Spinach(+damage), Empty Tome(-cooldown) and Duplicator(+projectiles).
3. Pentagram (Gorgeous Moon)
On activation, Pentagram deletes pretty much everything on your screen, even the drops/rewards. A very low level Pentagram can eliminate a boss and also the chest that drops from it. For this reason, it is not higher up on this list.
We should leave it as our last weapon pick but try to level it up as soon as possible once we have it. At higher levels, Pentagram has a much lower chance of deleting drops. When evolved into Gorgeous Moon, it actually acts like a magnet, pulling all the drops on screen to you after each activation.
Evolution: Pentagram + Crown = Gorgeous Moon. The Crown passive item gives you more experience and can be very good in combination with Attractorb and/or Wings (gives you more movement speed). This is because your character will be able to run around collecting all the Experience Gems from the ground, which translates to very fast levelling.
The best passive items (buffs) for Pentagram are: Empty Tome(-cooldown) and Clover(+luck).
The Luck stat lowers the chance of Pentagram deleting the items that drop from the enemies (even bosses) each time it activates. Luck also gives you several other benefits, so you might not want to dismiss this stat like many players do in other games, myself included.
4. Best AOE Vampire Survivors Beginner Weapons: Axe (Death Spiral)
Axe and its evolution Death Spiral also had good damage results during my testing. Since when not evolved it launches above you and then drops below your character, it seems like a good weapon for vertical stages such as Gallo Tower. This weapon pierces enemies, thus doing area of effect damage.
Its passive item, Candelabrador, is very good and buffs several other weapons. Candelabrador will make the Axes larger and therefore hit more enemies at once.
Evolution: Axe + Candelabrador = Death Spiral.
The best passive items (buffs) for this weapon are : Empty Tome(-cooldown) and Candelabrador(+area).
Other good passive items for Axe are Spinach(+damage) and Duplicator(+projectiles).
5. Lightning Ring (Thunder Loop)
Lightning Ring attacks random areas with lightning bolts. These bolts create hitboxes on the ground that do area of effect damage to the enemies on them. It is effective both before and after evolution.
While this weapon is pretty decent at eliminating regular enemies, its random nature translates to it mostly hitting enemies that are not a threat to you. For example, Lightning Ring will rarely help you when you are surrounded by mobs and being pressured by a boss or two. In this sense, think of it as more of a support weapon.
Evolution: Lightning Ring + Duplicator = Thunder Loop.
Its best passive items (buffs) are Spinach(+damage), Empty Tome(-cooldown), Candelabrador(+area) and Duplicator(+projectiles).
AOE Damage Comparison:
In the following image, you may see my results for the 5 best AOE Vampire Survivors beginner weapons on this list (Mad Forest stage). I received Santa Water from Candybox, a chest reward that lets you choose an additional weapon (after you have six weapons already). So I was not able to evolve it into La Borra, but you can see that it did high damage even when not evolved.
Heaven Sword did more average damage per second (DPS) than Death Spiral in this run, but according to my testing spreadsheet data, Death Spiral will usually average more damage.
