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Vampyr

Vampyr

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Step into the blood-soaked streets of 1918 London as Dr. Jonathan Reid, a physician recently turned vampire. You'll navigate the chaos of the Spanish Flu epidemic, grapple with your newfound thirst, and make difficult choices that will shape the fate of the city and its inhabitants. This atmospheric RPG from DONTNOD Entertainment blends intense third-person combat with rich narrative elements, forcing you to balance your medical oath with your predatory instincts.

This guide is your essential companion for surviving and thriving in Vampyr. We'll help you master combat, optimize your XP gain, uncover all the hidden collectibles scattered throughout London's districts, and understand the intricate dialogue and investigation systems. Whether you're aiming to save the city or succumb to your vampiric nature, we've got you covered.

Prologue - Newborn

Complete the Newborn prologue in Vampyr. Learn how to sprint, find the Used Machete, and acquire your first ranged weapon.

Walkthrough
  1. 1
    Awaken in a mass grave and climb out.
  2. 2
    Stumble forward towards a distant female figure.
  3. 3
    Talk to her, then bite her neck to kill her.
  4. 4
    Run from the armed man who finds you; hold the circle button to sprint. You will heal quickly from any bullets.
  5. 5
    Run up the stairs and follow the path, avoiding attempts to climb roofs or go through gates.
  6. 6
    When you see a truck, turn right and jump down.
  7. 7
    Run forward until you find a dead man with a Used Machete (1/20) embedded in his chest. Pick it up.
  8. 8
    Swing the machete to destroy the barrels blocking your path.
  9. 9
    Encounter your first enemy and take him down with three swings from your machete. Follow the prompt to lock onto your target (R3).
  10. 10
    Continue up the stairs to find an assailant with a cosh blocking a doorway. Let him swing, dodge, then defeat him with your machete.
  11. 11
    Go through the door into the foundry and defeat the gunman first, then the melee opponent.
  12. 12
    Go through the next door for a cinematic where you are burnt by the sun while grappling with an assailant. The sun does aggravated damage which does not heal on its own.
  13. 13
    Follow the path to a long alleyway with an assailant firing flaming projectiles. Sprint to him and take him out.
  14. 14
    Examine a sparkling poster on the alleyway wall (this is not a collectible).
  15. 15
    Approach the red door marked "Keep Out" and go through to find a Hideout.
  16. 16
    Examine the photograph on the table.
  17. 17
    Go into the side room on your left and search the drawers for 5/- (shillings, the in-game currency).
  18. 18
    Examine the note on the bookshelf for your first lore piece, Fire and Sun (1/30).
  19. 19
    Head back through the hallway towards the stairs. Search the sideboard on the right for a Bottle of Alcohol.
  20. 20
    Search the corpse for a scene and obtain a Watch (a junk item that can be sold or broken down).
  21. 21
    Head up the stairs and go through the doorway on the left. Interact with the mirror for a scene.
  22. 22
    Search the drawers to the right for 5/-.
  23. 23
    Go into the bedroom for a scene and acquire a Used Revolver (1/11).
  24. 24
    Examine the bedside table for the Bloody Diary, a quest item.
  25. 25
    Interact with the bed for a scene.
  26. 26
    Spend your acquired XP: take the first level in Autophagy and an ability from the "Aggressive" skills (Bloodspear was chosen in the example). Note your hotkey assignments (default: Autophagy to L1, chosen skill to L2).
Tips
  • There is a trophy for finding all 20 melee weapons in the game.
  • There is a trophy for finding all 30 pieces of lore.
  • There is a trophy for finding all 11 ranged weapons in the game.
  • The Watch and Bottle of Alcohol are junk items that can be sold or broken down into crafting components.
  • The Used Revolver can be upgraded for respectable health damage and high stun damage.

Character Building

Learn how to gain XP, level up, and build your character in Vampyr. Discover the best skills and abilities to focus on for your playthrough.

Alright, let's talk about making your Doctor Jonathan Reid into the ultimate vampire. It all boils down to how you earn experience points (XP) and how you spend them to build your character's abilities. Think of it like this: earning XP is how you get stronger, and spending it is how you choose *how* you get stronger.

Earning XP: The Different Ways

You'll be earning XP all the time, but some methods give you way more than others. Here’s a quick rundown, from least to most XP:

  • Killing regular enemies: This is your bread and butter for small gains, usually around 5XP a pop.
  • Entering a new district: Just exploring the city nets you 10XP. Keep an eye out for new areas!
  • Finding a Hideout: These are safe spots, and discovering them gives you a nice 20XP boost.
  • Finding lore entries: Digging into the world's story rewards you with 25XP. It's worth it for the lore and the points!
  • Unlocking hints about citizens: Getting to know the people of London by uncovering their secrets gives you anywhere from 10-110XP.
  • Treating ailments: Playing doctor and curing sicknesses earns you a good chunk, 25-100XP.
  • Completing sidequests (Investigations): These are your main source for solid XP, ranging from 100-400XP. Definitely worth your time.
  • Advancing the main quest: Pushing the story forward gives you a hefty ~400XP.
  • Defeating bosses: These big fights offer variable XP, so expect a decent reward for overcoming tough challenges.
  • Killing citizens: This is where the big numbers come in, 1000-5000XP. It's a morally questionable path, but it's fast XP.
  • Killing pillars of the community: The most powerful citizens offer the absolute most XP, a massive 2000-12000XP. This is the fastest way to level up, but it comes with major consequences for the city.

As you can see, going after the citizens, especially the 'pillars of the community,' gives you the most XP. You'll get even more from them if you've spent time learning about their lives and treating their illnesses first, which is a neat little mechanic.

Leveling Up and Stats

Here's the key thing: you don't just passively earn levels. You have to spend your accumulated XP when you rest at a hideout to actually gain a character level. Increasing your level gives you a small boost to your health and makes you take less damage from enemies. The game calculates enemy damage based on the level difference between you and them, so staying a higher level than your foes is clutch for survival. The maximum level you can reach in Vampyr is 50.

My Endgame Build (for reference)

When I finished the game, this is how I allocated my points. Remember, this is just one way to play, and it focuses heavily on defense, which suited my style. You might want to tweak it based on how you like to fight!

  • Autophagy: 2 points
  • Coagulation: 3 points (with increased duration)
  • Blood Barrier: 5 points (with increased defence)
  • Bloodspear: 1 point (this is a mandatory purchase early on)
  • Abyss: 1 point
  • Body Condition: 10 points
  • Physical Prowess: 6 points
  • Medical Bag: 4 points
  • Cartridge Bag: 10 points

This build made me pretty tanky and able to withstand a lot of punishment. Feel free to experiment and find what works best for you!

Skills

Learn about Vampyr's Autophagy, Coagulation, and Blood Barrier skills, including their evolutions, costs, and effects. Maximize your build.

Autophagy

This skill tree allows you to heal wounds. The evolution allows you to trade blood cost for greater amounts of instantaneous healing. If you choose health regeneration over time, be aware that the regeneration does not heal aggravated damage. This is an ability that is recommended to take to tier II and no further. The first evolution confers no real benefit while the second evolution turns it from a low-cost ability to a high-cost one.

  • Tier I, Level 1: 600 XP for 200 Healing with 10.0 Cost and 3.0 Recovery.
  • Tier II, Level 6: 1300 XP for 250 Healing with 10.0 Cost and 3.0 Recovery.
  • Tier IIIa, Level 12: 2000 XP for 200 (+100) Healing with 15.0 Cost and 3.0 Recovery.
  • Tier IVa, Level 18: 2700 XP for 200 (+200) Healing with 15.0 Cost and 3.0 Recovery.
  • Tier Va, Level 24: 3400 XP for 200 (+300) Healing with 15.0 Cost and 3.0 Recovery. (You trade more blood to heal yourself instantly)
  • Tier IIIb, Level 12: 2000 XP for 300 Healing with 25.0 Cost and 2.0 Recovery.
  • Tier IVb, Level 18: 2700 XP for 400 Healing with 25.0 Cost and 1.5 Recovery.
  • Tier Vb, Level 24: 3400 XP for 500 Healing with 25.0 Cost and 1.5 Recovery. (You trade the instant health gain for a greater Regeneration)

Defensive

Coagulation

This skill tree allows you to paralyze an opponent for a couple of seconds. The evolution allows you trade increased duration vs. blood gain. There is no cost for using the ability but the cooldown is quite long. This is an ability that is not recommended to take past tier III in either evolution. You're either paying heavily for a small amount of blood drain or holding an enemy for a longer time than is useful.

  • Tier I, Level 4: 600 XP for 2 seconds Control with 20.0 Recovery.
  • Tier II, Level 6: 1300 XP for 3 seconds Control with 20.0 Recovery.
  • Tier IIIa, Level 12: 2000 XP for 5 seconds Control with 20.0 Recovery.
  • Tier IVa, Level 18: 2700 XP for 8 seconds Control with 20.0 Recovery.
  • Tier Va, Level 24: 3400 XP for 10 seconds Control with 20.0 Recovery. (The target's blood will now burst out of their body)
  • Tier IIIb, Level 12: 2000 XP for 3 seconds Control and 10 Blood Gain with 20.0 Recovery.
  • Tier IVb, Level 18: 2700 XP for 3 seconds Control and 15 Blood Gain with 20.0 Recovery.
  • Tier Vb, Level 24: 3400 XP for 3 seconds Control and 20 Blood Gain with 20.0 Recovery.

Blood Barrier

This skill tree provides a short duration shield that absorbs one or more direct hits. The evolution allows you trade increased duration vs. enemy damage when the barrier collapses. This is an ability that you can take to tier V. The evolution that makes the barrier better is preferred, since the damage evolution makes it a costly ability to use.

  • Tier I, Level 4: 600 XP for 1 Hit absorbed and Duration 5 seconds with - Cost and 30.0 Recovery.
  • Tier II, Level 6: 1300 XP for 2 Hits absorbed and Duration 5 seconds with - Cost and 30.0 Recovery. (When your barrier disappears, it explodes)
  • Tier IIIa, Level 12: 2000 XP for 1 Hit absorbed, Duration 5 seconds, and 150 Blood Damage with 25.0 Cost and 15.0 Recovery.
  • Tier IVa, Level 18: 2700 XP for 2 Hits absorbed, Duration 5 seconds, and 200 Blood Damage with 25.0 Cost and 15.0 Recovery.
  • Tier Va, Level 18: 3400 XP for 2 Hits absorbed, Duration 5 seconds, and 250 Blood Damage with 20.0 Cost and 15.0 Recovery. (Your barrier becomes more powerful)
  • Tier IIIb, Level 12: 2000 XP for 3 Hits absorbed and Duration 5 seconds with - Cost and 30.0 Recovery.
  • Tier IVb, Level 18: 2700 XP for 3 Hits absorbed and Duration 8 seconds with - Cost and 25.0 Recovery.
  • Tier Vb, Level 24: 3400 XP for 3 Hits absorbed and Duration 10 seconds with - Cost and 20.0 Recovery.

Aggressive

The game forces you take a point in one of the three Aggressive abilities. If you don't invest further, this ability becomes pretty much useless by the mid-game since your basic attacks do more damage without costing large amounts of blood to use. If you prefer Defensive / Passive abilities, you can reset your abilities (the first time is free) and spend the 1000XP on something else.

Claws

This skill gives you a close-ranged attack beyond your equipped melee weapon. The evolution allows you to trade blood gain against a jaw-dropping effect. This works at close range only. The first evolution can work quite well with the Hacksaw specced for blood drain.

  • Tier I, Level 1: 1000 XP for 220 Melee damage with 25.0 Cost and 3.0 Recovery.
  • Tier II, Level 8: 2000 XP for 265 Melee damage with 20.0 Cost and 3.0 Recovery. (You gain blood with each hit)
  • Tier IIIa, Level 12: 3000 XP for 280 Melee damage and 2 Blood Gain with 20.0 Cost and 1.5 Recovery.
  • Tier IVa, Level 18: 4500 XP for 320 Melee damage and 4 Blood Gain with 20.0 Cost and 1.0 Recovery.
  • Tier Va, Level 26: 6000 XP for 450 Melee damage and 6 Blood Gain with 20.0 Cost and 0.5 Recovery. (You strike your prey with a jaw-dropping effect)
  • Tier IIIb, Level 12: 3000 XP for 345 Melee damage and 5 Stun with 25.0 Cost and 2.0 Recovery.
  • Tier IVb, Level 18: 4500 XP for 480 Melee damage and 7 Stun with 25.0 Cost and 2.0 Recovery.
  • Tier Vb, Level 26: 6000 XP for 720 Melee damage and 10 Stun with 25.0 Cost and 2.0 Recovery.

Bloodspear

This skill gives you a long-ranged attack which can pierce multiple enemies. The evolution allows you to choose between a single, long-ranged attack or three close-to-mid range spears. The second evolution can be very effective when used at point-blank range since an enemy hit by all three spears will take massive damage.

  • Tier I, Level 1: 1000 XP for 190 Blood damage with 25.0 Cost and 3.0 Recovery.
  • Tier II, Level 8: 2000 XP for 230 Blood damage with 20.0 Cost and 3.0 Recovery. (You throw a large blood spear)
  • Tier IIIa, Level 12: 3000 XP for 300 Blood damage with 20.0 Cost and 3.0 Recovery.
  • Tier IVa, Level 18: 4500 XP for 415 Blood damage with 20.0 Cost and 2.0 Recovery.
  • Tier Va, Level 26: 6000 XP for 650 Blood damage with 20.0 Cost and 2.0 Recovery. (You concentrate to create three small blood spears)
  • Tier IIIb, Level 12: 3000 XP for 270 Blood damage with 20.0 Cost and 3.0 Recovery.
  • Tier IVb, Level 18: 4500 XP for 340 Blood damage with 20.0 Cost and 2.0 Recovery.
  • Tier Vb, Level 26: 6000 XP for 600 Blood damage with 20.0 Cost and 2.0 Recovery.

Shadow Mist

This skill gives you an AoE (2 metres) attack that explodes after a short delay. The evolution allows you to trade damage for a greater AoE effect that does continuous low damage and bleeding. The ability works at any range.

  • Tier I, Level 1: 1000 XP for 250 Shadow damage with 20.0 Cost and 5.0 Recovery.
  • Tier II, Level 8: 2000 XP for 300 Shadow damage with 20.0 Cost and 5.0 Recovery.

Character Building (2)

Learn how to gain XP in Vampyr, from killing enemies to completing quests, and see a sample endgame defense-focused build.

Experience Points Sources:

  • Killing regular enemies: 5XP per enemy
  • Entering a new district: 10XP
  • Finding a Hideout: 20XP
  • Finding lore entries: 25XP
  • Unlocking hints about citizens: 10-110XP
  • Treating ailments: 25-100XP
  • Completing sidequests (investigations): 100-400XP
  • Advancing the main quest: ~400XP
  • Defeating bosses: variable
  • Killing citizens: 1000-5000XP
  • Killing pillars of the community: 2000-12000XP

Killing citizens or pillars of the community yields the most XP, with higher amounts gained by unlocking their hints and treating their ailments first.

You gain character levels by spending XP when you rest. Increasing your character level provides a modest increase in health and reduces damage taken from enemies, as enemy damage scales with level difference. The maximum character level in Vampyr is 50.

Sample Endgame Build (Defense-Focused):

  • Autophagy: 2 points
  • Coagulation: 3 points, increased duration
  • Blood Barrier: 5 points, increased defence
  • Bloodspear: 1 point; compulsory purchase
  • Abyss: 1 point
  • Body Condition: 10 points
  • Physical Prowess: 6 points
  • Medical Bag: 4 points
  • Cartridge Bag: 10 points
Tips
  • Consider your playstyle when allocating XP; this build prioritizes defense.
  • Killing citizens and pillars of the community offers significant XP gains.
  • Resting is required to spend XP and level up your character.

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