I’m playing top predator V rise, when the sun came up, I was just a few steps away from my sturdy dwelling. Just before I managed to open the door, a carnivorous plant shot me a mouthful of goo, draining my last bit of health. [Record scratch. Freeze frame.] You might be wondering how I got into this situation.
exist V rise, you start as a fragile new vampire in a world where everything from deadly plants to the act of the sun moving across the sky and wiping out the shade you’re standing on kills you. You’re weak, you don’t have the resources, and you may be confused about the world that’s in front of you right now. V rise is a very systematic game that lets you play with how you choose to increase your power and influence. However, it has one major caveat: the game very simply teaches you how the game works, preferring to teach you through repeated failures. If dying a dozen times in the first hour doesn’t sound appealing to you, then read on for some of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned as a fledgling vampire.
Choose the right place to build your fort
This is the most important decision you make early in the game. While you can always demolish your castle and try again, you only get a fraction of your resources back, so moving can be prohibitively expensive as in real life. With no automatic way to transport resources across the map, most of your time will be spent running back and forth between enemy strongholds and your own castle.
Don’t settle down too quickly. Your map will indicate what types of resources can be harvested at each location, and you should identify a location that allows you to access as many different types of resources as possible. Enemies respawn in this game, so also check to see if the piece of real estate you see is near any particularly deadly creatures.
Get the right resources with the right tools
Your sword is ideal for harvesting plants, your ax is best for chopping wood, and your mace is best for mining stone. But if your weapon level isn’t right, you can’t collect higher-level materials. If you want to mine copper, then you have to upgrade to enhanced bone weapons. If you want to mine jewelry then your weapon must be copper or better. By keeping all of these weapons up to date, you can avoid having to double back to base when you discover a rare material node.
Build a Mist Brazier ASAP
exist V rise, sun exposure can kill you in seconds. Once you’ve built a fort, you can craft a mist brazier that provides artificial shade from the sun. On top of that, they use bone as fuel, which is one of the most readily available materials in the game. The shadows they create take a few seconds to expand, so you still want something to hide when the brazier activates its effect. Don’t forget to pause them when the sun goes down or you’ll waste a lot of bones.
Used for crafting during the day and hunting at night
There’s nothing worse than having to wait for the sun to set while you’re trying to hunt down the big boss. Try to time your adventures when the night is just beginning. During the day, you can use your time more efficiently to open up the brazier and turn all your hard-earned resources into gear, structures, and better crafting reagents.
Avoid trees and puppets at all costs
Don’t be like me. I built my first base next to these two creatures, and now every time I try to sneak back into my own castle, I have to dodge a certain death. Golems are easy to overlook, but Treants look a lot like real trees. Here’s a hint. If you see a short, light-colored tree in a clearing, it’s probably a tree man. Try to avoid it as it always kills me with one shot when I get in its range.
These little bosses usually stand motionless, but they may be provoked by passing wildlife or bandits. So be extra careful if they’re not where you expect them to be.
You won’t be able to travel fast if you bring resources
Don’t spend as much time collecting distant loot as I did, only to find that you can’t get the loot back to base right away. The only way to fix this is to throw away everything you’ve collected or store it in a treasure chest.
Use wolf form to run around the map faster
Alpha Wolf is your first V blood carrier to challenge in the game. It can be a pain to track down, but the rewards are worth it. If you defeat it and extract its blood, then you can turn into a wolf by entering the ability wheel. Wolf form has the added advantage of ensuring wild wolves don’t attack you as you traverse the wilderness, although you’re still fair game to roaming bandits.
Consider ambushing bosses instead of going to their lair
Some bosses like to hide in their lair, but there are also bosses who like to wander around at midnight. In fact, it might be better to try and fight the Alpha Wolf while exploring the wilderness, since it won’t stay anywhere long enough to have a “lair”. Despite the lack of levels, I was able to kill Lydia the Chaos Archer because she accidentally got into a melee with Gorswain the Breaker. Make the most of the chaos, but don’t be overconfident. Otherwise, you may end up fighting two bosses at the same time.
I actually recommend sniping Goreswine when he’s out for a walk, rather than trying to fight him in the cemetery. The graveyard is full of necromancers who can summon countless hostile skeletons. Get it from an expert: Killing a blood hog is much harder when 20 undead warriors are chasing you at the same time.
you can throw away vegetable fibers
I’m one of those people who stick with everything just in case it works later. Come on, throw away your plant fibers. You’ll end up accumulating a lot while harvesting other materials, and you won’t be using them very often, except for the occasional repair of some gear.
blood quality matters
Each enemy has a percentage that represents the potency of their blood. The number of elite enemies is usually higher. If you absorb better blood, you’ll get better combat rewards, and drinking water from new victims will overwrite your previous blood quality. Different blood doesn’t stack, so if you realize your prey is of too low quality, you’ll need to cancel your lifestyle (left-click while drawing blood to instantly kill your victim). This also means that if you carry good quality blood, you should be careful not to use it to restore health. You want these bonuses to last as long as possible.
Plan ahead if you want to turn someone into your minion
Later in the game, you can turn hostile enemies into your loyal servants. There are just a few problems: you have to build them a coffin for them to sleep in, and you can’t turn into a wolf while controlling their minds. This means that both of you can be easily ambushed by the enemy. If they die, you’ll have to try again with someone new. Try to figure out the easiest way to get home in advance.