Best Cards & Gems In Vampire Crawlers

6 days ago 3

Published Apr 21, 2026, 12:00 PM EDT

Scott Baird is a contributor with over a decade's experience writing about video games, along with board games and tabletop RPGs. Scott has previously worked for Dexerto, Cracked, Dorkly, and Gamepur.

Vampire Crawlers requires a lot more planning than Vampire Survivors, as smart deck design is vital for being able to survive lengthy dungeon runs and for taking down bosses before the Reapers arrive. This means the player needs to pick the best cards and Gems available to them in order to make an unstoppable deck.

However, as Vampire Crawlers is a deck-building roguelike, the player only has limited control of the cards they can bring to the dungeon with them. The player only acquires cards when they level up or when looting the dungeon, meaning they have to choose from a limited selection of weapons and items.

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Once the player unlocks the Gem Hammer, they'll be able to add Gems to individual cards, granting them new traits. These can turn even weak cards into broken combo machines, and are the key to dealing incredible amounts of damage using only a single hand of cards.

There are tons of weapons in Vampire Crawlers at launch, many of which will be familiar to fans of Vampire Survivors, but some are definitely more powerful than others, and augmenting them with the correct Gems is vital for victory.

Vampire Crawlers Cards Needed For All Decks

In Vampire Crawlers, the player needs a mixture of cards in their decks. While only using weapons is an option, it's a bad one. Not only will you quickly run out of Mana, meaning you won't be able to play cards after a certain point, but you'll be left defenseless if the enemy reaches the front row.

Before we get to the weapons, I have to say that the Mana book cards are vitally important for any deck. These range in cost from 0-3, and they provide additional Mana that can be used in the same turn as when they're used. Ideally, you'll want the 0-cost books for the early game, as they let you use the 2/3-cost attacks, and the stronger ones will be saved for when you have a larger hand and access to Wild Cards, as they can be combo'd for massive Mana gains.

Armor cards also come in several types, each providing temporary hit points that absorb damage. These are far more important during the first half of the game, especially on the Bridge levels, as you won't have access to the stronger cards yet. Over time, Armor becomes less useful, as you'll gain access to weapons with status effects that shut enemies down.

Ideally, you'll want a mixture of all the Mana cards in your deck (roughly two of each cost) and one of each Armor card, possibly two of the 0-cost ones.

Best Weapon Cards In Vampire Crawlers

The weapons in Vampire Crawlers vary depending on their Mana cost, damage, additional effects, and which part of the battlefield the enemy will hit.

For 0-cost cards, the Bone is the best weapon in the game. Not only do they potentially hit every enemy on the field, but they can be boosted with Amount-building cards/Crawlers to deal ridiculous amounts of damage. These are especially useful on the three Bridge stages. The key to getting them is unlocking Mortaccio, which involves killing lots of skeletons in the initial forest stage. He is the Bone master and will make the early game a lot easier.
For 1-cost cards, the Runetracer, Gatti Amari, Garlic, and King Bible are the best options. Runetracer and Gatti Amari hit tons of enemies in the front row, and are great for comboing with the Bone. The Garlic and King Bible deal a ton of damage and have the potential to use the Disarm and Knockback status effects, preventing the enemy from attacking.
For 2-cost cards, the Lightning Ring and Cross are the best non-evolved weapons, as they have a massive AoE for hitting foes. The best 2-cost evolved weapons are the Unholy Vespers and Soul Eater, which come from the Holy Bible and Garlic. These have a greater chance of using Knockback and Disarm, making them essential for boss fights.
The best 3-cost cards are Clock Lancet and Peachone. Clock Lancet can inflict the Freeze effect, which doesn't damage enemies, but stops them from attacking, making it useful for boss fights. Peachone deals gradual damage over the turns, which can pile up over time.

There aren't that many 4 or 5-cost cards in Vampire Crawlers, but the best ones are Song of Mana and Vandalier, thanks to the incredible amounts of damage they can do, and how they're the most reliable options at the end of combos.

The three Bridge levels are the exception to the rule when it comes to deckbuilding, as they're linear, throw the player into long boss fights, and offer few chances to acquire gear. The Bones and Amount-building effects are useful here, but Armor is really important for surviving the initial waves of foes as they approach.

Best Gems In Vampire Crawlers

By far the best Gem in Vampire Crawlers is Wild. This removes the Mana cost and gives the card the grey Wild Card trait. Not only is the card now free, but it doesn't break combos, meaning you can start a fresh combo while escalating the power. Always take Wild if it comes up.

Triple Damage is an incredibly useful Gem for pretty much all builds. On something like Bone, it makes short work of weaker foes, while applying it to something like Vandalier means you'll be pulling off ridiculous amounts of damage.
Free to Play isn't quite as good as Wild, as the card still retains its Mana cost for the purposes of combos, but it allows you to play them without cost. It's also better than Refund, which requires you to have the Mana cost first, even if it's technically free.
Yin-Yang has two effects, depending on the player's current Mana. If the number is even, they get a Mana, and if it's odd, they draw a card. Either effect is useful, but the Mana gain is the better of the two and is extremely helpful during the early part of runs.
Freeze is best applied to a 0-cost weapon, which is then saved for boss fights. This means you won't have to rely on Clock Lancet for shutting down bosses as they're about to attack.