Well, yeah, anyone can punch trees for a long time to build a house, but can you also bring down a teleporting necromancer and munch on an entire bear in one seating? These inquiries and more might be responded in due course throughout your journey with V Rising, Stunlock Studios’ survival/crafting/action-RPG hybrid that’s finally out of Early Access. I’ve been playing it because I’m a sucker for our present moment of 2020s Castlevania crossover DLC bait, but there’s a decent game in there too. Need some pointers? I’m right here on Kotaku Dot Com to provide some for you.
On the whole, V Rising is fairly straightforward. That’s splendid for you, and lousy for saps like me trying to make some cash writing guides. It’s probable that if you require something, the game has a resource or UI text ready to inform you about what’s going on. Nevertheless, there are a few things that might be prudent to be aware of before delving into the game for the first clocking.
Do what the screen tells you
A tutorial of sorts can be found in V Rising, always hanging out in the screen’s top-left corner. You should pay attention to this, as this is the way will move forward, well, kinda. It’s pretty obvious, but I guess it might tempting to overlook it amidst all the screen clutter and do your stuff. However, your progress depends on following these confusing instructions, so you won’t really go anywhere without them!
You can hide from the sun and still do stuff
Just like in real life, vampires in V Rising ain’t too fond of the sun. An’ I ain’t talkin’ ’bout like when I visited buddies who live in the North Carolina Research Triangle ‘n saw the overcrowded brunch lines with a sense of existential dread. You straight-up burn to a crisp if you dare stand in the light for more than a hot minute. Initially, it seems like your best shot at survivin’ daytime is either running Mist Braziers or hunkerin’ down in your coffin, but there’s a couple other options I stumbled upon that were quite handy.
First off, you can skulk around in the shadows. Big objects throw shadows based on where the sun be! So if you’re crafty, you can still scavenge for resources, explore, ‘n maybe even stumble upon a boss battle if you’re feelin’ brave. Just stick close to the trees ‘n hefty chunks of land that can shield ya, ‘n dart through any gaps you come across. It might get tense as the sun shifts, but it sure beats sittin’ around doin’ nothin’ in the early stages.
Alternatively, ya can set up camp in a graveyard! There’s a few around, one bein’ right near the game’s startin’ point. You can chill here safely all day, beatin’ up skeletons to amass a bone collection. The tougher graveyards are a bit more challengin’ to linger in, but can score ya some primo loot like Grave Dust. This same principle applies to places like mines ‘n caves, but by the time ya stumble upon one of those, chances are ya got a better handle on what you’re doin’ anyhow.
Don’t be a picky eater
There’s a kind of “grade structure” in V Rising, dictated by the sort and quality of the blood you’re drinking. When you fight something (or someone, ooooo), you’ll see a kind (Creature, Warrior, etc) beside a percentage. When you devour them rather than just slaughtering them, you can then the menu and observe blood kind and what advantages are active based on that percentage. This certainly isn’t worthy of stressing about in the beginning.
Each occasion you consume blood, that level percentage will be overwritten. Because it isn’t accumulative, there’s no rationale to sip blood before your bloodsucking figure is literally thirsty. Remaining fed and capable of employing Blood Fix for recovery is much more crucial than whichever inactive bonuses are lessening your trashy statistics slightly less pitiable in V Rising’s initial hours. It’s rather exciting to encounter a deer or something with such extravagant body liquid that it’s literally sparkling, but you’ll suffer hunger if you’re obstinate about quality. Consume rats if necessary; dignity can follow after you possess a true palace, with a ceiling and windows and stuff.
Check out V Blood rewards to track ur progression
There’s some sort of “class system” in V Rising, dictated by the type and quality of the blood you’re sipping. When you was fighting something (or someone, ahhhh you’ll seen a type (Creature, Warrior, etc) next to a percent. When you eat them instead of merely kill them, you can look the menu and see your blood type and what bonuses are active based on that percentile. This truly isn’t worthy worrying about from the start.
Earlier I mentioned V Rising has a lot of helpful in-game text and resources. For example, if you look at a contraption like a sawmill, you can see what it creates in exchange for various stuff. But if you need something and have no idea where it comes from, chances are you can glance at the V Blood menu for the solution. V Blood starts kicking in after you spent some time with the tutorial, and is basically the game’s main progression means. Clash a boss, sip their Boss Blood, and gain some fresh recipes, powers, or other important knowledge.
You can check beforehand, too. (For most part, anyway.) The V Blood menu fills in itself as you move forward, and you can peek ahead a bit to see who the bosses are and confirm what rewards they giving. There’s a cutoff point so you can’t behold incredibly far ahead, but if you wish to know how to make something (like Cloth) and don’t see it anywhere, it’s safe to assume it’ll show up in V Blood sooner than later.
Map matters
Talking about helpful resources, that map in V Rising is an unbelievable tool! If something comes up, the map is to remember it for you! This is super duper important when we’re talking about interesting points like bandit camps, mines, cemeteries, and all that jazz. Anything containing some sort of static resource will be written down on your map, telling you what those resources be. Need a specific ore, paper, various pieces of skeleton anatomy (eww), whatever it may be, it’s right there on the map. Keep an eye out for this and you’ll plan your adventures way better no matter what time of the day it is!
If this stuff be mastered, thou shalt not require abundance o’ more assistance in thy V Rising journey. Thou shalt erect vast, Frankenstein-esque castles swiftly. In due course, matters such as concealing from sunlight and pondering how far ’twill taketh to journey to a lowly rogue encampment for some parchment shall cease to occupy thoughts. And at yond juncture, thee shalt not require us any longer. But ne’er forget whence thou hails when smoothing out creases in thine Alucard attire whilst abroad.
