If you’re diving deep into Vampire Survivors, you’ll soon realize that gold isn’t just for flexing—it’s your ticket to unlocking powerups, characters, and meta-progression. While high-risk, high-reward runs might net you 20k gold or more, most players want something more consistent. In this guide, you’ll learn a reliable and repeatable gold farming strategy that prioritizes survivability, steady income, and smart scaling.

Let’s break it down.

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Step 1: Understanding PowerUp Economics

PowerUps get more expensive with every purchase—not just the one you’re buying, but all others too. This means your buy order matters.

• Always purchase the most expensive high-value PowerUps first.
• For example: buy Amount before Might, because Amount is rarer and scales better.
• You can reset PowerUps anytime, so don’t stress—just buy smart.

For gold-focused runs, start by investing in:

• Greed (to increase gold per pickup)
• Growth (to level faster)
• Might, Amount, Cooldown, and Magnet (if you can afford them after the essentials)

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Step 2: Choose Reliable Characters

High-risk builds can implode early. For consistency, you need characters who make the early game manageable. Two top picks are:

• Imelda – Her passive gives +30% experience gain, helping you level quickly (and gold per level-up scales with XP). She’s the best consistent gold farmer.
• Gennaro – Starts with an extra projectile, which boosts early-game damage and helps with crowd control.

Remember: the hardest part is surviving the early/mid-game. Late-game usually stabilizes with a good build.

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Step 3: Build for Knockback and Survivability

You’re not building to max damage—you’re building to stay alive for 30 minutes. Every level-up post-max grants 75 goldin Hyper Mode with 100% Greed. That means longevity equals profit.

Core Evolved Weapons:

• Holy Wand (Magic Wand + Empty Tome)
• Death Spiral (Axe + Candelabrador)
• Heaven Sword (Cross + Clover, or Hellfire + Spinach if you don’t have Clover)
• Unholy Vespers (King Bible + Spellbinder)

These all offer great knockback and control, helping keep enemies at bay.

Optional Evolved Weapons:

• Garlic → Soul Eater (great early-game tool)
• Whip → Bloody Tear (adds healing and knockback)

These two are not gold-efficient late-game but help you survive early and mid-game reliably.

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Step 4: Essential Passive Items

• Empty Tome – Core for cooldown and Holy Wand evolution.
• Candelabrador – Pairs with Axe, expands AoE.
• Spellbinder – Pairs with King Bible.
• Clover – Needed for Heaven Sword (if unlocked).
• Spinach – If Clover isn’t available, this works with Hellfire.
• Stone Mask – Must-have for gold farming.

Tip: Get Stone Mask from the Inlaid Library. Walk right, stay near the top of the floor tiles. It spawns randomly but consistently within about 1 minute.

Optional: Once you have 6 passives, you can pick up Stone Mask and Empty Tome from the map, pushing you to 8 passives. This adds power but delays gold returns, so weigh the trade-off carefully.

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Step 5: Play in Inlaid Library

• Flat terrain makes dodging easy.
• Known spawns and fixed item locations.
• Accessible Stone Mask and Empty Tome on the stage.

It’s hands-down the most controlled and profitable map for gold runs.

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Step 6: XP and Gold Mechanics

Once all weapons and passives are maxed:

• Every level-up = 75 gold (with 100% Greed in Hyper Mode).
• Avoid evolving Vandalier unless you don’t need gold. It requires 16 upgrades = 1,200 gold loss.
• Focus on breaking candles and collecting floor pickups.
• Save vacuum orbs (blue balls) for the end—use them to grab uncollected XP and trigger multiple level-ups in one go.

Pro Tip: Maximize XP just before the run ends to squeeze out more gold from level-ups.

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Additional Notes

• Boss chests toward the end have better reward chances—stay alive to get more of them.
• Two 15-minute runs will always earn you less than one 30-minute run.
• If you’re lacking damage or safety, opt for Garlic and Whip early, but plan to replace or let them fade in usefulness as you scale.

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Summary: Optimal Build Checklist

Character: Imelda or Gennaro
Map: Inlaid Library
Mode: Hyper Mode (for gold bonus)
Weapons:

• Holy Wand
• Death Spiral
• Heaven Sword / Hellfire
• Unholy Vespers
• Garlic
• Whip

Passives:

• Empty Tome
• Spellbinder
• Candelabrador
• Clover / Spinach
• Duplicator
• Stone Mask

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Final Thought

You don’t need perfect RNG or every PowerUp to start gold farming efficiently. With this method, you’ll earn a steady stream of gold while also improving your skill, unlocks, and flexibility for future runs.

Survive smart, scale fast, and let every level-up fill your coffers. Happy farming!