Vampire Killer/Items

Primary Weapon Items

There are a few items Simon can pick up to temporarily replace his stock Leather Whip - unlike the original Castlevania, most of these items are not whip upgrades.

Weapon	Name	Description	Damage Dealt (to regular enemies)
	Leather Whip	Simon's stock weapon, which deals minimal damage and has a short range. Dying or completing a Block will reset Simon back to using this item.	1 per hit.
	Morningstar Whip	An upgraded whip, which deals twice as much damage as the Leather Whip and has greater range.	2 per hit.
	Boomerang Axe	Upon being thrown, flies approximately one-third of the way across the screen horizontally, before travelling back to Simon. If Simon fails to catch the Axe as it returns to him, he will lose the weapon and return to using the Leather Whip once again.	4 per hit - can also hit twice per throw (on the way out and back).
	Battle Cross	Functions similarly to the Boomerang Axe. However, the Battle Cross' range covers around two-thirds of the horizontal width of the screen, travelling faster at the expense of damage power. Will be lost if Simon is unable to catch it on its return.	2 per hit - can also hit twice per throw.
	Throwing Knives	Similar to the Knife sub-weapon in other Castlevania games, this weapon flies horizontally across the entire screen upon being thrown, stopping only upon hitting an enemy. Two knives can be onscreen at a time, which makes it easy to spam against tough enemies or bosses.	1 per hit, though two can be onscreen at a time.

Sub-Weapons and Active Items

There are a few active items in Vampire Killer, which require the use of different button inputs to use. Unlike in Vampire Killer, you are not restricted to carrying only one of these items at a time.

Weapon	Name	Description	Button Inputs
	Holy Water	Arcs through the air and smashes on contact with the ground or walls, creating holy fire that deals massive damage to enemies. Will also deal damage while in midair. Unlike Castlevania’s Holy Water, Vampire Killer’s Holy Water does not stunlock enemies. Costs five Hearts per use. Holy Water deals damage to enemies on every frame of contact. Given none of VK’s enemies, bosses included, have invulnerability frames, Holy Water is extremely powerful.	↑ , then ← or → in the air, to throw in either direction (or , / if you're using a controller).
	Hourglass	Freezes time for approximately four seconds upon use. Differs from the Stopwatch in Castlevania, in that it also works on every boss in the game. Consumes five Hearts per use. If the Hourglass is used on the same frame as going through a Stage door, or in the last few frames of the block end fanfare (when not grabbing the Boss Orb), you can freeze every enemy in the rest of the game indefinitely. This can only be undone by dying, grabbing a Boss Orb, or using the Hourglass again. This strategy is critical to speedrunning Vampire Killer.	↑ , then  ↓  while in the air (or , if you're using a controller).
	Stage Map	Upon pickup, will allow the player to see a basic map of the current Stage by pressing F2 on your keyboard. The map will show you your current position, as well as the location of the exit door. Disappears from the inventory only after being used three times (neither dying nor finishing a Block will remove the map).	F2

Passive Items

In addition to the active items and sub-weapons, there are also several passive items that Simon can pick up that provide him with temporary advantages.

Item	Name	Description
	Shield A (Defense Shield)	Doubles Simon’s normal defense stat, causing him to take half damage to physical attacks - does not decrease damage taken from fireballs or skeleton bones. Is lost upon dying, completing a Block, or picking up a Shield B.
	Shield B (Reflect Shield)	Blocks small projectiles – bones, fireballs, and mummy bandages – but does not nullify Axe Knight axes. Is lost upon dying, completing a Block, or picking up a Shield A.
	Magic Candle	Upon collection, puts a white outline around all breakable blocks in the current Block.
	Speed Boots	Increases Simon’s horizontal movement speed, both on the ground and in the air. Lost upon finishing the current Stage.
	Wings	Significantly increases Simon’s jump height. Lost upon finishing the current Stage.
	Invisibility Orb	Upon picking up this orb, Simon is able to walk through enemies without taking damage for a short period of time.
	Invulnerability Ring	Upon picking up the Ring, Simon gains invulnerability from all attacks for a short period of time, and is able to one-shot enemies by making physical contact with them.
	Black Bible	Upon pickup, greatly increases shop prices for the current Stage (2x or greater the normal price).
	White Bible	Upon pickup, greatly decreases shop prices for the current Stage (0.25x – 0.33x the normal price).

Stage Items

Items that can be found in most of Vampire Killer's stages, that either have an instantaneous effect or do not provide Simon with an advantageous upgrade.

Item	Name	Description
	Small Heart	The most common item in the game, the Small Heart gives Simon 1 Heart on pickup. Used for sub-weapons and purchasing items from merchants.
	Big Heart	Uncommonly found in candles, the Big Heart gives Simon 5 Hearts on pickup. Used for subweapons and purchasing items from merchants. Unlike in Castlevania, Simon does not lose all his Hearts upon clearing a Block, which is vital to beating Vampire Killer.
	Gold Key	Used to open the Item Chests littered around Vampire Killer’s Stages. Gold Keys are very common - many screens have at least one for you to grab.
	Magic Staff	Takes the place of a Gold Key in Simon’s inventory. Can be used to open multiple chests before breaking.
	Item Chest	Usually contains a valuable item, one not often found in candles (weapons, passive and active items, etc.). Requires a Gold Key or Magic Staff to open.
	Blue Money Bag	Grants Simon some additional points for his score. Blue Money Bags can infrequently be found in candles- White Money Bags are found in Item Chests, and are sometimes dropped by enemies on death. Points Values: Blue Bag: 1000 pts. White Bag: 5000 pts.
	White Money Bag
	Silver Key	Used to open the door at the end of a Stage. Aside from the first and second sections of Block 6, there is only one Silver Key in each Stage. They are usually hidden in breakable blocks, or on high ledges that require some thinking and planning to reach.
	Health Orb	Grants Simon a static amount of health on pickup, roughly one-quarter of his HP bar. Can be found infrequently in candles.
	Max Health Potion	This potion grants Simon a complete health refill upon pickup. Can only be obtained through certain merchants.
	Silver Cross	Upon pickup, stops enemies from respawning for a set duration of time (Bats, Mermen, and Medusa Heads). Not limited to the current active screen.
	Gold Cross	Vaporizes all enemies currently onscreen upon collection, including any merchant NPCs. Enemies including Bats and Medusa Heads will continue to spawn, however.
	Boss Orb	Dropped by a boss upon its defeat. Will immediately end the Block when collected, in addition to providing Simon with a full HP refill for the next Stage. Regardless of whether the Orb is grabbed, the Block will end several seconds after killing the Boss – if the Orb is not obtained, then Simon will continue to the next Stage without an HP refill.