The notion of vampires has been around since the 18th century, when vampires were exclusively depicted as monsters and villains, causing death and all sorts of trouble wherever they go. From the 19th century and moving forward, vampires have begun to be portrayed as having more human-like characteristics with the latter ones even being regarded as protagonists.
These days, stories in movies, books, and even video games that center around or include vampires will not readily give people the impression that vampires are evil like in the olden times. In addition to books and films, there have been plenty of video games that let you take on the role of a vampire as the lead protagonist. Great examples of these are Alucard, from the Castlevania series, Kain from Legacy of Kain, Demitri Maximoff from the Darkstalkers series, and Rayne from BloodRayne, among others.
Vampire’s Fall: Origins is a 2D open-world RPG from Early Morning Studio released on iOS, Android, and Steam. Reminiscent of classic RPGs that are sure to appeal to both old-school gamers and modern players alike, Vampire’s Fall: Origins lets you dive into a dark and dreary open world as a creature of the night, with gear and level-up systems comparable to conventional RPGs but have vampire-centric abilities and skills you can customize for a more unique build from one player to the next.
Movement in the open world can be done easily with a virtual d-pad and an indicator will always be present when you can interact with a person or object. Only the open world is set in an isometric perspective as combat is presented in a 2D perspective much like 2D fighting games. The menus in the turn-based combat and the combat system itself are fairly easy to grasp, even for complete beginners.
Along with the game’s story, Vampire’s Fall: Origins makes it a requirement for adventurers to revel in a bit of reading. There are puzzles to solve and the preparation for combat, as well as the combat scenarios themselves, can require some tactical proficiencies. While complete RPG beginners can progress in this unique adventure, having good ideas of the basic features and mechanics, as well as how to strategize around them can go a long way. In this respect, our Vampire’s Fall: Origins Beginner’s Guide can help you grow stronger fast and efficiently and conquer every corner of its world!
1. Master The Basics
Despite there being a tutorial that walks you through the initial minutes of your dive into the world of Vampire’s Fall: Origins, the itch of moving forward with the adventure, in tandem with the amount of info you have to process may lead you to forget some of them. In any case, securing a firm grasp of the basic features and mechanics leads to a good start as you would want to be sure that you won’t miss out on anything as you move forward with your journey.
For starters, it is best to know all the icons and menus on your screen. By default, your virtual d-pad only appears when you touch or hold any area on the screen, which means you can navigate your character using either your left or right hand. The gear icon takes you to the settings where you can opt for a fixed joystick, make it brighter, and adjust music and sound volume. There are buttons here that take you to a gamepedia, unstuck your character, enter a redeem code, change the language, and even exit the game.
The speech bubble can take you to an online chat but you will have to sign in first with your Facebook account or your Google Play account. In addition to the global chat, this is where you can also engage in PvP, get updates with news from Devs, and even create or join a clan.
The trophy icon takes you to The Hunt, World Brutals, and Daily Brutals. These are game modes you can revel in alongside the main campaign and are worth partaking in especially considering the rewards.
The wing icon takes you to a shop of sorts where you can purchase wings, helms, cosmetics, and limited items, and see premium offers as well. Gold coins are no good here as items you can purchase without using real cash need to be bought using dark shards.
Finally, the anvil icon lets you upgrade your gears and weapons. You need blood stones to perform an upgrade and using additional ones can increase the chances of success.
There are 4 sets of numbers at the top center area of your screen. Your Hit Points or HP is on the upper left while your Experience or EXP is on the upper right. HP determines how many hits it would take for you to die while the EXP bar indicates how far or close you are to reach the next level. Underneath the Quests and Vampire buttons are your currencies. Dark shards on the left stand as a premium currency while gold coins on the right are your basic currency. When you reach a new level, a “Level Up” button appears at the top of your screen and this will instantly take you to the skills page.
The Quests button takes you to a page where all quests you have activated can be seen. This is divided into currently active quests and completed ones. You can tap to highlight any active quest on the list to see details of your next objective relative to that quest. The Vampire button is a sort of all-in-one portal to your character. This is where you can view your inventory and equip items, see stats and other pertinent details, check skill levels and distribute skill points, change cosmetics if you have any, and also view quests.
You have a very helpful mini-map at the upper right side of your screen. Although the general direction of your objective as well as other important icons are marked on it, you can tap on the mini-map to expand it and show you the entire continent. The adventure map also lets you mark a target location by tapping on them. Doing so will place a blue arrow on the map, which is also visible on the mini-map.
At the right side of your screen is where you can generate potions. Although you have just a maximum of 5 potions you can carry, this is where you can concoct some more for consumption or storage later. Different types of potions have different completion times. Finally, you may occasionally notice an exclamation mark at the bottom of your screen. Tapping on it will pull something up and you may have an opportunity to earn some extra coins and dark shards with an ad boost offer. This will also show an ad icon just below your HP.
2. Prioritize Quests By Area
In most cases, our strategy in many RPGs we played would be to prioritize main quests or campaigns over side quests and other game modes the adventure may offer. Main quests typically unlock more features and game modes and also offer the most basic gears and items as rewards ensuring that you get the most boost, especially in the early part of your journey. In Vampire’s Fall: Origins, however, we consider taking on side quests in conjunction with main quests, especially when progression through the main quest will take you into a rather distant area or location.
If you check the Quests Menu that we described earlier, the list of the active quest is the main quest line, “Origins” at the top of the list, followed by a series of side quests. There can be an abundance of side quests available to you simultaneously especially if you converse with NPCs outside of those you need to interact with in relation to the main quest.
The main quest line is essentially broken down into parts, with subparts potentially being a series of quests within a relatively small area. Side quests, on the other hand, can be as quick and simple as having just one objective, or it can be a lengthy mission that requires a series of tasks to complete. On the map as well as the mini-map, you can easily distinguish main quest locations from side quest locations. Although you may opt to remove tick marks on the option to show either one, having them all appear at the same time on the map is not inconvenient at all.
Main quest targets will always be marked by red arrows on the mini-map and each one will appear as a huge red circle on the map. Side quests cannot be readily seen on the mini-map but will appear as a circled exclamation mark on the map. Keep in mind that you perform a pinch gesture on the map to zoom in and out of it for convenience.
For the strategy, make it a habit to check the location of the next main quest relative to the location of the side quests you have activated. If the next main quest objective is farther, especially if it leads you to another town or area, then chances are that quest will have more difficult challenges for you. You will readily see some enemies that form part of quests but there are random battles that can take place within the entire map.
You will not see random battle enemies before the actual battle so long travels ensure an encounter or even several battles along the way. Another common scenario to expect is that new areas will have tougher enemies. In this sense, if you are struggling or perhaps just aptly able to defeat monsters in your current area, then your present stats and skills may not be sufficient to take on the next level of challenges. In this sense, it becomes advisable to take on nearby side quests first as accomplishing those will also grant you some EXP and materials you can use to further strengthen your character.
Especially in the early part of your journey, it can still happen that even after you accomplish all side quests in the immediate vicinity, you can still find yourself struggling with the next level location. Beyond grinding for EXP and leveling up a bit, there will also be a constant need to gather as much gold as you can and secure better gears. There is also the matter of how you choose to distribute points across skills and how that synergizes with your current gear attributes.
Experiencing a death in Vampire’s Fall: Origins is not as awful compared to most RPGs. You do not lose EXP or even risk losing items in your inventory. When your HP reaches 0, you will lose a certain amount of gold coins and be revived in the closest town. The amount of gold coins you lose depends on your level, approximately 30%. This means that it is okay to die earlier than later in the game. Likewise, voluntary dying for the instant teleport is also a viable tactic when you want to be in town faster than having to travel a certain distance if you have no teleportation potions.
3. Choose Your Build Wisely
Vampire’s Fall: Origins offers a wide array of skills and abilities that ensure your character’s uniqueness compared with everyone else’s character. To begin with, the Lineage you choose before you start your adventure already provides your character with a unique permanent buff. The 4 lineages to choose from are Nosferatu, Magistrav, Ranjeni, and Equides. The Nosferatu family receives an 8% increase in gold drop. The Magistrav family has an increased 2% in item drops. The Ranjeni family has an extra 2% Dodge. The Equides lineage gains 5% more EXP than other lineages.
You will not be able to switch lineages once you start your adventure but Vampire’s Fall: Origins provides a total of 4 character slots for you to create extra characters if you want to. In any case, each of the 4 lineages’ respective bonuses is very helpful and should be considered to have equal importance. The best one is naturally the one that most suitably fits your preferences.
Under the skills menu, you will have Bloodline, Abilities, and Might to peek into. For Bloodlines and Abilities, you will need to visit these features with each new level you reach and distribute points according to your desired build. Although there are ways to reset the points you have distributed later on at the cost of currency, it is best to strategically plan your skill tree before investing points in any of them.
The Bloodlines skill tree tremendously has an impact on how your character performs in combat. It is naturally designed in that you cannot max out all nodes and earlier ones are required to reach a certain level before you can allocate points on succeeding nodes. Bloodline skills are divided into Anger, Vitality, and Deceit abilities. Each one has its specialization of sorts, suggesting how you may want to build your character around moving forward.
Anger points center around augmenting damage from specific weapon types. Attributes invested into the Anger group can also improve your main attack, critical strikes, and even counterattack damage. You want to focus on a specific weapon type and max that out. The rest apply to almost any build but will be more beneficial to some than others.
Vitality points are almost self-explanatory since it largely deals with bolstering your character’s HP. This is where you can also increase your armor and focus, and even help replenish focus via your combo turns. The last node here is certainly something we appreciate as Vampiric Touch lets you gain a certain amount of damage as HP.
Deceit points primarily focus on boosting dodge rate and block rate but this is also where you can gain more gold and EXP from battles as well as increase your equip load and even unlock an extra potion crafting slot. The nodes on this group are certainly beneficial to you regardless of your build, with some aspects benefiting some builds more than others.
Once your character reaches level 60, you will have access to the Legendary Bloodline, giving you access to 25 skills in which you can invest Legendary Bloodline Points. A lot of these buffs are well in support of the ones in the previous Bloodline groups so at this point in your adventure you should already have an end build in mind.
Abilities are active skills you can use in combat at the cost of focus. There are 8 abilities available to you, some of which can be unlocked only after reaching a certain level. You need 80 Ability Points to max everything out but with a max character level of 100 and an Ability Point earned with each level up, you can max abilities out at level 81. For starters, however, it is largely a matter of prioritizing one over another based on your fighting style and preference.
Might is a unique set of buffs that can benefit your character if you activate them. Unlike the rest of your skills and abilities, Might not be earned via leveling up. Instead, you will need to find Sacred Bush Circles scattered across the map. You will know you are at the right place as it is literally a circle of bushes. Standing inside of one will summon a monument guarded by a Pillar Guard and defeating the Pillar Guard will unlock a Might. There are 6 Might abilities in Vampire’s Fall: Origins and finding 2 will form part of your quests.
4. Manage Your Gear And Inventory Well
Part of the planning and constant preparation associated with your adventure within the world of Vampire’s Fall: Origins is related to managing your inventory. Your character has 10 equipment slots for weapons and gears. Beyond that, you have a stash that can hold 20 items as well as 5 slots for different potions. Beyond the limitations in terms of quantity, there is also the issue of the weight limit. Naturally, you can never pick up any items over either so it is best to make a habit of tending to your inventory regularly.
As can be expected of any RPG, your level and skills, which are indicators of your strength, comprise just about half of your true potential. Without the right set of gears, being above the recommended or supposed level in any area or quest will not guarantee ease of progression within it. Weapons and gears will tremendously impact your offensive strength and defensive capabilities in combat, so be sure to take as much time as you need not just to ensure you have the best ones equipped but also to have an idea of what to have later on.
Weapons in Vampire’s Fall: Origins can be categorized into 3 types: Blunt, Slashing, and Piercing. We mentioned earlier that Anger points in the Bloodlines Skill Tree give you the option to invest in nodes that augment specific weapon types. Of course, the basic strategy is to focus on one weapon type, which ought to be the type of weapon you will have equipped for most of your adventure, especially the end game. Shields, although primarily used for defensive purposes qualify as a blunt weapon and can be used for offense as well.
Gears including weapons can have a wide variety of perks that come with them. An equipment’s rarity determines the numbers as well as the potency of the perks and bonuses that come with each piece of gear. As a beginner, it can sometimes be difficult to weigh in on the comparative attributes of similar types of equipment. Although a gear’s selling price determines its value, even gears with lesser perks and bonuses can prove to be the better choice if those perks align better with your abilities.
It can be hard to let go of some gears and the itch to hoard can be hard to ignore. However, given the limited open space in your inventory as well as your limited carrying weight capacity, it is best to be very selective of the gear you choose to keep. On any merchant, you will have the option to sell unwanted gear for some gold coins. This is, of course, the best decision to make. However, if you are in a dungeon or anywhere far from any town, you can just tap on any item in your inventory, tap the trash can icon at the upper left side of the item’s window, and hit “Yes” to discard it.
The Anvil icon at the top left side of your screen lets you upgrade just about any gear you have. Forging requires using Bloodstones and consuming just one may not yield a very favorable success rate. Consuming additional Bloodstones will increase the success rate of upgrading but in no case will it yield a 100% chance. Likewise, you can only spend a maximum of 10 Bloodstones per upgrade and every piece of equipment, regardless of rarity, can only be upgraded to +10.
5. Prepare Well Before Entering Dungeons
The campaign in Vampire’s Fall: Origins, which includes all side quests as well, provides a huge challenge for adventurers in that pursuing one quest after another becomes very difficult and may even be bordering impossible if done without some grinding in-between. As we mentioned earlier, you should always expect the next area to venture into, as required by the quest you are pursuing, to contain stronger monsters or adversaries compared to the ones you have defeated. In this sense, the idea of preparing well before moving to the next zone is already a huge given.
No adventure RPG is complete without its dungeons and its share of other adventure elements to conquer and Vampire’s Fall: Origins certainly does not fall short in providing adventurers with their unique take on dungeons and challenges. There are 12 dungeons to complete, each with its own set of difficulty and Bloodstone costs. Although half of these dungeons can be accessed on your first playthrough, some require rebirth. 2 of the 12 dungeons are only playable during the Bloodmoon Event as well.
Dungeons can easily be spotted on the map with their skull structure icon, bigger than most symbols on both the map and mini-map. The entrance to the dungeon looks almost the same as well so it becomes easy to spot one after seeing any of the others the first time. Although the thrill of adventure and exploration will be an encouraging factor to dive right in, the cost of Bloodstones should be perceived as an investment cost that you should always want something to fairly gain from.
Dungeons have depths or levels and your final reward depends on whether you complete it or how far down you can clear. Each level has numerous dungeon caves to clear before the passage toward the next one becomes available. Keep in mind that not every dungeon cave holds an enemy for you to defeat as there are various scenarios to encounter within the dungeons that can aid you or deter you from moving forward.
After clearing the set of dungeon caves on the deepest level, a boss battle awaits at the end of it. Enemy bosses defeated will drop a chest that you have an option of purchasing with dark shards. In some cases, these golden chests offer better loot than the reward chest you obtain for clearing the dungeon. You can clear any dungeon multiple times, even one after another so long as you have sufficient Bloodstones to pay for the entrance. Vampire’s Fall: Origins also holds an endless dungeon, which is basically what it sounds like, accessible even on your first playthrough.
Dungeons are very important to partake in as they are the exclusive source of set items. Set items, if you are unfamiliar with Diablo 2 and its latter incarnations, are gears that are not necessarily the best in the game considering each piece’s respective stats. However, from the term “set” itself, collecting and equipping a certain number of weapons and gears from the same set unlocks powerful set abilities.
6. Engage In Hunts For Excellent Rewards
For most of your journeys and explorations, the relative difficulty of an area stays consistent for most parts of the map. Again, this is the reason why we would opt to clear all quests first in a given area, as much as possible, before moving on to where your current quest takes you. Considering everything, exploring can be a great way to minimize or even eliminate monotony in adventuring. You can discover plenty of chests lying about and the random battles you experience will at least net you some gold, along with the possibility of obtaining gears.
Sometimes, you might be caught off-guard by powerful beasts in your explorations. Chances are, that these are one of the numerous Brutals that are scattered across the world of Vampire’s Fall: Origins. The trophy icon at the upper left side of your screen takes you to the hunt as well as the tabs for Brutals. Brutals are very strong, often folds stronger than the rest of the enemies in the areas where you meet them. The difficulty of the challenge they provide, however, is proportional to the quality of rewards they give you and, in some cases, the rewards you can get from them are impossible to obtain anywhere else.
World Brutals are one of a kind and hunting them all down will earn you the Bronze Reward. Afterward, all the Brutals you defeated will respawn, exhibiting much greater power than before but likewise offering even greater rewards. Daily Brutals send you to hunt for a different Brutal each day and when you successfully hunt for 7 consecutive days, you will be rewarded with a valuable treasure chest. Considering that this is a beginner’s guide, we recommend that you push forward with the campaign quests and other content first in preparation for the Brutals as they are named so for good reasons.
The road towards completing the campaign in Vampire’s Fall: Origins is long but rewarding especially on the first playthrough where much of what you experience is a product of explorations and experimentations. If you felt that your first completion still leaves you thirsty for more adventures, do not fret as Vampire’s Fall: Origins has a rebirth system that lets you go on a new game plus mode.
Rebirth will leave you with everything you have and will only reset the main and side quests. Each rebirth comes with a higher tier of challenge but there are new contents to look forward to as well in a fresh yet familiar adventure.
And this is where we conclude our Vampire’s Fall: Origins Beginner’s Guide. We are certain that the depth of gameplay and content that Vampire’s Fall: Origins offers is deeper than what we have covered in our guide, we are fairly confident that the tips and strategies we provided will be a sufficient stepping stone for you to conquer the challenges it lays for you. If you happen to have some juicy tips and tricks you want to share on top of what we have discussed, feel free to leave us a message!