Poppea Pecorina is an interesting Vampire Survivors character, due in part to her creative starting weapon, Song of Mana. Also, her weapon evolution item, Skull O’Mania, actually curses you. I decided to compose this short Poppea Build list to assist anyone who needs help in selecting weapons and passive items for her during their runs.
This character is unlocked by finding and opening the coffin in Dairy Plant.
With a +1% Duration gain each level, she has the potential to do high damage in the late game, because her weapons will remain active for longer.
For best results, remember to buy as many good Power-Ups as you can before playing with Poppea.
Last update: September 2023
CONTENTS
A. Vampire Survivors Poppea Build: Boss Destroyer
B. Vampire Survivors Poppea Build: The Reaper Killer
C. Vampire Survivors Poppea Build: No-Move Challenge
A. Vampire Survivors Poppea Build: The Boss Destroyer
As its name suggests, the object of this build is to eliminate the regular Vampire Survivors bosses as soon as possible. They are usually the biggest threat and as such should be swiftly dealt with.
I tested this Boss Destroying Poppea Build in the Dairy Plant stage, in Hyper mode, and you can see my final results in the images below.
The following evolutions are listed in the order that they were acquired. As you can see in the images, Thousand Edge was the first evolution I received and is first on the list.
1. Thousand Edge (Knife + Bracer)
The main weapon in this Boss Destroying Poppea Build! It doesn’t do much damage overall, but it focuses it where you need it!
2. Mannajja (Song of Mana + Skull O’Maniac)
Poppea’s starting weapon is pretty good, and its evolution not only deals damage, but also slows enemies down.
3. La Borra (Santa Water + Attractorb)
La Borra seems to be in all my builds, Santa Water and Attractorb are just too good to pass on.
4. Holy Wand (Magic Wand + Attractorb)
This weapon evolution did the least damage in this Poppea build, but it was very useful for pushing back and taking out mobs and bosses.
5. Unholy Vespers (King Bible + Spellbinder)
This weapon specializes in knocking back enemies, even most of the bosses.
6. Infinite Corridor (Clock Lancet + Silver Ring + Gold Ring)
An evolution with tons of damage and a free passive item slot, what more can you want?
Other Passive Items
I added Candelabrador to this boss destroying Poppea build to fill the empty item slot.
I picked up the Silver and Gold Rings after I had 6 full item slots. This allowed me to end the run with 8 passive items.
B. Vampire Survivors Poppea Build: The Reaper Killer
The object of this build is to defeat The Reaper who appears when the 30 minutes are up. For this purpose, we need to not die, and we also need to do focused damage.
On one hand, in order to not die to The Reaper, we need the Crimson Shroud evolution. On the other hand, we need Infinite Corridor to cut his health in half. Both of these evolutions are created by moving to, and then picking up special items off the ground in the stage. You can see the location of these items if you open the stage map during the game. You can also turn on the option for the game action screen to indicate the direction where the ground items are.
I played this Poppea Build in the Gallo Tower stage, in Hyper mode, and you may see my results in the images below. The goal was easily met, and I survived a bit over 31 minutes.
The following evolutions are listed in the order that they were acquired.
1. Mannajja (Song of Mana + Skull O’Maniac)
I don’t think this evolution is essential here, you could try running a better item instead of Skull O’Maniac, such as Candelabrador or Spinach.
2. Thousand Edge (Knife + Bracer)
This Reaper killing Poppea build benefits greatly from Thousand Edge’s focused damage.
3. Unholy Vespers (King Bible + Spellbinder)
This weapon’s best aspect is probably the way it knocks back most enemies.
4. La Borra (Santa Water + Attractorb)
I never get tired of this evolution, I love Attractorb!
5. Crimson Shroud (Laurel + Metaglio Left + Metaglio Right)
This evolution makes all enemy damage cap at 10, so instead of The Reaper hitting you for 65,535 damage (and killing you), he only does 10.
Running Crimson Shroud leaves you with a free passive item slot because the evolution requires items that are lying on the stage ground.
6. Infinite Corridor (Clock Lancet + Silver Ring + Gold Ring)
This evolution is essential in this Poppea build because The Reaper’s health is 655,350 times your character level. Without a doubt, we need to halve his health with Infinite Corridor’s ability!
Other Passive Items
Two passive items were added to this build to fill the free item slots: Empty Tome for faster weapon cooldowns and Armor for additional defense. However, if you want to try a better passive item such as Candelabrador or Spinach, you can switch out Armor.
Remember to pick up the Silver and Gold Rings as well as both the Metaglio items from the ground AFTER you have filled your 6 passive item slots. Doing this enabled me to end the stage with 10 passive items in total.
C. Vampire Survivors Poppea Build: No-Move Challenge
Just in case you want to try something new, I added this no-move build to the list. On one hand, this Poppea build is designed to protect you, and on the other it needs to eliminate incoming enemies (including bosses of course!), all while your character stays put in its initial position.
Be warned, though, it might take some practice to make it work. Additionally, Reroll and Amount are must-have Power-Ups for a no-move challenge build.
I played this Poppea Build in the Mad Forest stage, in Normal mode, and you may see my results in the images below.
1. Song of Mana (Poppea’s starting weapon)
This weapon proved to be not bad for a no-move build. However, due to its vertical damage area, the downside is that enemies will die and drop experience gems out of your reach.
2. Garlic
I was lucky and very happy to be offered Garlic so early in the stage. It’s perfect for this Poppea build, since we want the mobs to die near to us, in order to receive the experience that drops.
3. King Bible
This weapon is very good protection for us, due to its damage and knockback effect. It will sometimes make enemies drop experience gems out of our reach, though.
4. Magic Wand
Magic Wand is great at taking out enemies that come too close to us, especially bosses. You must be careful how high you level it though, too high and the experience will drop out of reach, too low, and you won’t be able to stop the bosses.
5. Pentagram
Pentagram is essential in a no-move Poppea build. Mainly because it deletes all the experience gems that are out of reach. Without it, we might get to the experience gem cap, and no more gems would drop.
6. Santa Water
This is a good no-move weapon since the first projectile will target our nearest enemy. It starts to shine in the mid and late game, where it “softens up” or eliminates anything walking over it.
Passive Items
Since we don’t plan on evolving weapons in a no-move build (although it can happen if a boss dies on top of us), we are free to select the best passive items offered.
In this sense, I chose Attractorb for farther pickup reach and Empty Tome for faster weapon cooldowns, along with some other great items that can be seen in the images above.
With practice, you will know when to start searching for Attractorb (if you don’t have it) with the Reroll power-up.
Final Thoughts
Although not the most powerful Vampire Survivors weapon out there, Song of Mana is stronger than I thought. It can take out whole groups of weak enemies, while pushing back the tougher ones. Additionally, you can “drag” its effect to one side when you move Poppea, affecting even more enemies.
Of these Poppea builds, the no-move one was the toughest to complete. However, it was a lot of fun to keep trying until I finally beat the challenge!
I sincerely hope this content was helpful. Thank you for reading.
