Relics are the backbone of Vampire Crawlers. They permanently change how the game works, from revealing enemy positions on the map to letting you squeeze extra gold out of every boss fight. Miss one and you might not even realize what you're playing without. The good news: every relic ties to a specific stage, so none of them are missable if you're progressing normally.
What are relics in Vampire Crawlers?
Relics work as toggleable gameplay modifiers that reshape entire systems. Some unlock new facilities entirely, like the Blacksmith's Workshop or the Arcana Tent. Others adjust existing mechanics — speeding up the game, marking weapon effects on enemies, or showing breakable objects on your map. You can enable or disable most of them at the Relics house in the Village, letting you tune the challenge level to your preference.
Three relics arrive automatically: Combo Stack, Milky Way Map, and Rilevatore all unlock during the tutorial without requiring any specific action. Everything else requires reaching a particular dungeon stage.
All relics and where to unlock them
Here's every relic confirmed in Vampire Crawlers at launch:
| Relic | Unlock Location | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Combo Stack | Tutorial | Play cards in ascending mana cost order to build a combo multiplier |
| Milky Way Map | Tutorial | Shows enemy positions on the minimap |
| Rilevatore | Tutorial | Displays how weapons will affect enemies |
| Stardust Anvil | Teeny Bridge (midpoint) | Unlocks the Blacksmith's Workshop |
| Overkill | Teeny Bridge (end) | Attack defeated bosses with remaining hand cards to earn gold |
| Bomba Infernale | Dairy Plant, Floor 3 | Vaporizes all enemies on the first floor of any previously cleared dungeon |
| Gem Hammer | Mad Forest, Floor 2 | Lets you add gems to cards with empty slots |
| Grim Grimoire | Library West Wing, Floor 1 | Adds a weapon evolutions and unions tab to the pause menu |
| Guiding Light | Inlaid Library, Floor 2 | Marks breakable light sources on the map |
| Polentir | Furious Forest, Floor 1 | Unlocks the Arcana Tent in the Village |
| Randomazzo | Library Sanctum, Floor 1 | Adds Arcana Chests (dark purple, space-patterned) to dungeons |
| Rilevatore | Tutorial | Shows weapon effects on enemies |
| Lapidary Loupe | Gallo Tower, Floor 4 | Opens the Jeweler in the Blacksmith, adjusting gem spawn rates |
| Sorceress' Tears | Gallo Tower, Floor 5 | Adds a Hurry button to the world map, pressing Y (Xbox) speeds up gameplay |
| Ovenkilt | Cappella Ultima (after final boss) | Extends Overkill to all encounters, not just bosses; chests no longer grant gold |
| Ultimate Ultra Overkill | Curd Factory, Floor 4 | Raises the Overkill damage cap to 5,000 |
Overkill gold farming in action
Which relics should you prioritize?
Not all relics are created equal. Here's the honest breakdown based on what each one actually does for your runs.
Overkill and Ovenkilt: the gold engines
Overkill and Ovenkilt are the most valuable relics in the game. Overkill lets you burn through your remaining hand cards on a defeated boss to earn coins. Ovenkilt extends that to every encounter, not just bosses. Stack both and you're generating serious gold across an entire dungeon run.
That gold matters because the most expensive upgrades in the game sit inside the Jeweler, which the Lapidary Loupe unlocks. Bumping the spawn rate of Wild Card Gems and similar high-value items is extremely costly, so having the Overkill chain running all game is what funds those purchases.
Stardust Anvil and Gem Hammer: card investment
Stardust Anvil unlocks the Blacksmith's Workshop, and Gem Hammer gives you the ability to slot gems into cards. These two work together. Neither does much on its own, but once you have both, you can start building cards that punch well above their base stats. Get these early and the Blacksmith becomes a regular stop between dungeon floors.
Bomba Infernale: the speed-run shortcut
Bomba Infernale only activates on dungeons you've already cleared, wiping the first floor instantly and handing you all the experience from those enemies. It's useless on a first visit, but on repeat runs through familiar dungeons it saves a meaningful amount of time. Think of it as a reward for thorough exploration rather than a power spike.
Blacksmith gem slot upgrades
How does the toggle system work?
Once you've unlocked a relic, head to the Relics house in the Village to manage which ones are active. Some relics, like Grim Grimoire, Stardust Anvil, Polentir, Randomazzo, and Lapidary Loupe, are always on once unlocked and cannot be switched off. The rest can be toggled freely.
This matters for challenge runs. Vampire Crawlers already has a Power-Up shop that lets you add detrimental effects to your game. Turning off relics on top of that stacks the difficulty further for players who want a genuinely punishing experience.
A note on the Ovenkilt unlock location discrepancy
Available information lists different unlock stages for Ovenkilt. Some documentation marks it as a secret relic with an unlisted location, while other sources place it at Cappella Ultima after defeating the final boss. Multiple confirmations point to the post-final-boss unlock at Cappella Ultima as the correct location.
Vampire Crawlers launched on April 21, 2026 on PS5, Xbox Series X, Nintendo Switch, and PC, developed and published by Poncle. Additional relics may be added in future updates, so this list reflects the launch version.
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