Getting 40k gold in just 5 hours of play without unlocking powerful cards? It’s totally doable. Here’s how I built my starting capital and sped up my progression in Vampire Crawlers.
The Basics
I pulled this off on the third map, the Library, playing as Dommario. His knockback ability means you won’t take damage, which is a lifesaver. It also helps if you’ve already bought the repeat feature.
Here’s what you need to focus on:
- Look for Stone Mask cards. It’s way better if you find a Greed gem in a chest and socket it into the card. This boosts your gold gain massively.
- Farm Greed up to 1000% – that’s the cap. Every time you use the card, the bonus increases permanently.
- Find the Mug gem. I socketed mine into King Bible. That book hits all enemies in the front row and infects them with gold-bearing status.
- Try to get a Midas stone and put it into your most expensive card (2-3 mana). While that card is in your hand, every other card you play generates gold.
- Skip attack cards. You don’t need them. Focus on zero-mana cards, mana recovery cards, and Bracer with a Draw gem socketed. Every time you play Bracer, you increase your hand size by +1 and draw a card – all for zero mana.
- Grab a couple of yellow Attractorb cards. I only needed two.
- Use the Shield Bash arcana to keep your armor going into the next battle round.
Your hand stays small and cycles fast. You’ll get maximum gold from gold-bearing monsters and from playing cards from your hand.
The Strategy
- Start every monster wave attack with the Mug gem card, even if it breaks your combo.
- Keep playing zero-cost cards and stacking armor.
- Save mana for Attractorb. There’s a high chance you’ll draw Bracer again, another zero-cost card, or another draw card for 1 mana.
- Don’t forget about combos! Play a zero-cost card first, then Attractorb – you’ll draw 2 cards instead of 1.
- Only kill enemies that are infected with gold-bearing status. Killing others is pointless.
- If you don’t draw Midas cards, try to dig for them. If nothing shows up, it’s better to discard your hand and skip the turn while gathering mana and armor.
I honestly didn’t think I’d beat Library Sanctum on difficulty 4. I barely survived the bridge on difficulty 3. This time, I made it to the final boss, started breaking draw cards, and even triggered two Death Guardians. They one-shot me for -55 HP… but I already got what I wanted.
Example Results
Each card play gave me at least 117 gold. I could easily play 5-8 cards per turn.
A few turns later, a second purple friend showed up, and it was over fast. With the gold, I bought every unlocked character, upgraded my duplicator, armor, recharge, greed, strength, and regen, and added gem slots to my base zero-cost cards – almost all of them, plus some wildcards.
If I could replay the final seed with better prep, I think I could double that amount.
Of course, there’s a ton more upgrades, gear, and mechanics to explore. But remember – this is a guide for a strong start. After a couple of runs like this, you’ll easily buy characters, add slots to key cards, and feel comfortable on dungeon level 4 and beyond.