Vault of the Vindicator: Strategy Guide
Posted: Wed May 08, 2024 2:31 pm
Vault of the Vindicator : A Strategy Guide
So, you're having difficulty beating Vault of the Vindicator, haven't you? Well, luckily you're here.
In this post I'll give a rundown of all the major systems of the game and give some advice, omitting the details of the secret endings so at least some discovery remains. I will assume you have already tried the game, and are familiar with its basic premise. After reading this, you should be well equipped to reach the normal ending. This guide is structured so more hidden, advanced techniques are introduced further down. If you care about discovering these yourself, not reading to the end might be a good idea. So with that, let's get going.
1. Health
Some Roguelikes are all about hunger. Some about stealth. Vault of the Vindicator is about health. Managing your health is the most important part of winning a Vault of the Vindicator run. If you run out of healing potions before you run out of enemies that you need to kill, you die. If you have enough health, you win. As such, it is very important to preserve health whenever possible. Wait until you're on death's door before drinking a potion, if you can save a few hp every potion it adds up. Furthermore, don't step in front of an enemy, let it come to you if possible. Otherwise you take an avoidable hit of damage. This also means if you don't expect to find much more in an area, it's best to leave early. Furthermore, you should always have at least one potion on you if possible.
2. Exploration
Vault of the Vindicator has three areas, with three levels each. Each area contain two or three potions, some miscellaneous items, and a set of sword and armor. Finding each areas sword and armor is important, otherwise the following area will be quite a bit more difficult. You can skip one or the other, and live to tell the tale if you find the next area's one early enough. But it's better not to risk it. So it is advisable to explore every level as much as possible, unless you already have the sword and armor of that area. Furthermore, it is useful to keep track of the entry and exit of each area, in case a quick retreat or some backtracking is necessary. Due to the limited inventory space, you might have to leave some items on the floor to be backtracked to later.
It is important to remember that there is no reason to rush. You can always backtrack, you can always retreat. There is no time limit on your run, as long as you don't loose any health.
3. Combat
The enemies in Vault of the Vindicator act in a fairly predictable way. If they come within one tile further than render distance, they start chasing you. If they leave render distance, they stop. While chasing, the monster will move towards you in a straight line with a 75% chance every game step. So you can outrun them, either by losing them on a corner or just moving away. If the monster is right in front of you, it will attack you. At this point, it is probably a good idea to attack back. The damage recipients armor is subtracted from the attackers strength, the result of which is subtracted from the recipients health. If the armor is greater or equal to the strength, there's a 50% chance the recipient takes one point of damage, otherwise all damage is blocked. The exception is magic damage (which only the player can deal), which ignores armor.
If one party reaches 0 hp, they die. I probably didn't need to include that.
4. Scrolls
Scrolls are useful but rare items. They can either be found in the world, or produced by means detailed below. There are four different scrolls, which are colored blue, purple, green and gray. The effects assigned to each scroll are randomized each run, but the total list goes as follows:
[*] Teleport: Teleports you to a random point in the level
[*] Stat Increase: Randomly increases one of your stats
[*] Poison: Poisons all monsters within 5 tiles. They will take 5 damage over the next 5 game steps
[*] Charm: Charms all monsters within 5 tiles. For 5 game steps, these monsters won't attack you unless attacked first.
Generally, scrolls are useful to escape situations where multiple monsters chase you. If you can get your hands on multiple stat increase scrolls that will also greatly benefit your run.
5. Arcane Workstation
In your travels, you might have come across a mysterious device named the arcane workstation. This device is able to craft a variety of useful items from ingredients you can find strewn all across the dungeon. You can find workstations on levels 4, 5 and 7. To use one, interact with it holding one ingredient, then the other. The full list of recipes looks as such:
[*] 2x Crystal -> Purple Scroll
[*] 2x Lilly -> Blue Scroll
[*] 2x Bone -> Gray Scroll
[*] Lilly + Bone -> Green Scroll
[*] Crystal + Bone -> Magic Wand (Damage = Magic + 2)
[*] Crystal + Lilly -> Healing Potion
Especially that last recipe is very helpful, but the scrolls and wand can also come in useful depending on situation. There are five crystals, four lillies and three bones to be found in the dungeon.
6. Conclusion
So, I hope that clears up some confusion. I wish you good luck in your future dungeon delving, and have fun exploring the secrets and lore of the Vindicator!
Appendix - Stat Tables
Monsters
HP STR DEF
Zombie 3 2 0
Sorcerer 4 3 1
Demon 5 4 1
Demon Boss 10 4 2
Swords
STR DEF
Starter 1 0
Area 1 2 0
Area 2 1 1
Area 3 3 1
Armor
STR DEF MAG
Starter 0 1 0
Area 1 1 1 0
Area 2 1 2 0
Area 3 2 1 2
So, you're having difficulty beating Vault of the Vindicator, haven't you? Well, luckily you're here.
In this post I'll give a rundown of all the major systems of the game and give some advice, omitting the details of the secret endings so at least some discovery remains. I will assume you have already tried the game, and are familiar with its basic premise. After reading this, you should be well equipped to reach the normal ending. This guide is structured so more hidden, advanced techniques are introduced further down. If you care about discovering these yourself, not reading to the end might be a good idea. So with that, let's get going.
1. Health
Some Roguelikes are all about hunger. Some about stealth. Vault of the Vindicator is about health. Managing your health is the most important part of winning a Vault of the Vindicator run. If you run out of healing potions before you run out of enemies that you need to kill, you die. If you have enough health, you win. As such, it is very important to preserve health whenever possible. Wait until you're on death's door before drinking a potion, if you can save a few hp every potion it adds up. Furthermore, don't step in front of an enemy, let it come to you if possible. Otherwise you take an avoidable hit of damage. This also means if you don't expect to find much more in an area, it's best to leave early. Furthermore, you should always have at least one potion on you if possible.
2. Exploration
Vault of the Vindicator has three areas, with three levels each. Each area contain two or three potions, some miscellaneous items, and a set of sword and armor. Finding each areas sword and armor is important, otherwise the following area will be quite a bit more difficult. You can skip one or the other, and live to tell the tale if you find the next area's one early enough. But it's better not to risk it. So it is advisable to explore every level as much as possible, unless you already have the sword and armor of that area. Furthermore, it is useful to keep track of the entry and exit of each area, in case a quick retreat or some backtracking is necessary. Due to the limited inventory space, you might have to leave some items on the floor to be backtracked to later.
It is important to remember that there is no reason to rush. You can always backtrack, you can always retreat. There is no time limit on your run, as long as you don't loose any health.
3. Combat
The enemies in Vault of the Vindicator act in a fairly predictable way. If they come within one tile further than render distance, they start chasing you. If they leave render distance, they stop. While chasing, the monster will move towards you in a straight line with a 75% chance every game step. So you can outrun them, either by losing them on a corner or just moving away. If the monster is right in front of you, it will attack you. At this point, it is probably a good idea to attack back. The damage recipients armor is subtracted from the attackers strength, the result of which is subtracted from the recipients health. If the armor is greater or equal to the strength, there's a 50% chance the recipient takes one point of damage, otherwise all damage is blocked. The exception is magic damage (which only the player can deal), which ignores armor.
If one party reaches 0 hp, they die. I probably didn't need to include that.
4. Scrolls
Scrolls are useful but rare items. They can either be found in the world, or produced by means detailed below. There are four different scrolls, which are colored blue, purple, green and gray. The effects assigned to each scroll are randomized each run, but the total list goes as follows:
[*] Teleport: Teleports you to a random point in the level
[*] Stat Increase: Randomly increases one of your stats
[*] Poison: Poisons all monsters within 5 tiles. They will take 5 damage over the next 5 game steps
[*] Charm: Charms all monsters within 5 tiles. For 5 game steps, these monsters won't attack you unless attacked first.
Generally, scrolls are useful to escape situations where multiple monsters chase you. If you can get your hands on multiple stat increase scrolls that will also greatly benefit your run.
5. Arcane Workstation
In your travels, you might have come across a mysterious device named the arcane workstation. This device is able to craft a variety of useful items from ingredients you can find strewn all across the dungeon. You can find workstations on levels 4, 5 and 7. To use one, interact with it holding one ingredient, then the other. The full list of recipes looks as such:
[*] 2x Crystal -> Purple Scroll
[*] 2x Lilly -> Blue Scroll
[*] 2x Bone -> Gray Scroll
[*] Lilly + Bone -> Green Scroll
[*] Crystal + Bone -> Magic Wand (Damage = Magic + 2)
[*] Crystal + Lilly -> Healing Potion
Especially that last recipe is very helpful, but the scrolls and wand can also come in useful depending on situation. There are five crystals, four lillies and three bones to be found in the dungeon.
6. Conclusion
So, I hope that clears up some confusion. I wish you good luck in your future dungeon delving, and have fun exploring the secrets and lore of the Vindicator!
Appendix - Stat Tables
Monsters
HP STR DEF
Zombie 3 2 0
Sorcerer 4 3 1
Demon 5 4 1
Demon Boss 10 4 2
Swords
STR DEF
Starter 1 0
Area 1 2 0
Area 2 1 1
Area 3 3 1
Armor
STR DEF MAG
Starter 0 1 0
Area 1 1 1 0
Area 2 1 2 0
Area 3 2 1 2