You’re Building Berserk or Die Wrong in Vampire Survivors – Try These 5 Runs Instead

Why Berserk or Die Builds Feel So Brutal (And How I Finally Cracked Them)

After spending about ten hours face-planting in the Berserk or Die DLC, I realized my usual “just pick my favorite weapons and wing it” approach was not going to cut it. Enemy health ramps faster, waves get dense earlier, and any mistake in your evolution order gets punished around the 15-20 minute mark.

The breakthrough came when I stopped thinking in terms of “good weapons” and started building around three things:

• Early XP snowball – Crown, pickup radius, and smart Pentagram timing
• Reliable, evolved damage by minute 12-18
• Built-in sustain and safety nets (healing, armor, revives)

Below are the five builds that consistently got me to 30:00+ and, with Pugnala, over level 260. I’ll walk through each build first, then break down a full Pugnala run minute-by-minute so you can see how it all fits together.

Core Priorities for Berserk or Die Runs

Before diving into specific characters, it helps to understand why these builds work in Berserk or Die:

• Damage density: You need evolved weapons that hit hard and constantly: Thousand Edge, Death Spiral, Unholy Vespers, Soul Eater, etc.
• XP efficiency: Crown (often combined with a Greed-focused meta build) and pickup radius are mandatory if you’re aiming for level 200+ runs.
• Control & sustain: Healing (Pummarola, Bloody Tear, Soul Eater), armor (Divine Bloodline), and revives (Krochi, Tiragisu) let you survive mistakes.
• Weapon evolutions timed correctly: If you’re not evolving your first main weapon between minutes 10–15, Berserk or Die will start to overwhelm you.

Keep these in mind as you read each build; the characters are different, but the logic stays the same.

Top 5 Berserk or Die Builds That Actually Worked

1. Pugnala – Might-Scaling Berserker (Level 260+ Monster)

This is the build that finally broke Berserk or Die for me. Pugnala’s passive gives her extra Might every level, so the higher your level, the more ridiculous your damage gets. Your entire plan is to snowball XP and turn that scaling into a blender.

Core weapons (final evolutions):

• Knife → Thousand Edge (needs Bracer)
• Axe → Death Spiral (needs Candelabrador)
• Pentagram → Gorgeous Moon (needs Crown)
• Her starting guns (Phiera Der Tuphello + Eight The Sparrow) → Phieraggi (needs Tiragisu)

Recommended passives: Crown, Bracer, Candelabrador, Duplicator, Tiragisu, Attractorb (or Empty Tome if you’re comfortable with pickup radius).

Why it works: Knife and Axe give you directional and radial coverage early. Once they evolve, they shred everything in front and around you. Pentagram → Gorgeous Moon, timed around 25–30 minutes, vacuums XP and lets Pugnala’s Might scaling push you into the 200+ level range.

Common mistakes I made:

• Grabbing Pentagram early and over-leveling it, which nuked all my XP gems.
• Picking too many “fun” side weapons instead of finishing Knife/Axe evolutions first.
• Ignoring pickup radius, which left tons of XP on the floor and killed my scaling.

2. Sonia Belmont – Inverse Mode Crowd Controller

I started using Sonia when I was tired of dying to random chip damage in Inverse runs. Her whip-focused kit shines when you lean into lifesteal and crowd control.

Core weapons:

• Whip → Bloody Tear (needs Hollow Heart)
• Vento Sacro → Fuwalafuwaloo (requires both Whip and Vento Sacro maxed)
• Clock Lancet → Infinite Corridor (with both Metaglio Left & Right)
• King Bible → Unholy Vespers (needs Spellbinder)

Passives: Hollow Heart, Pummarola, Spellbinder, Crown, Metaglio Left, Metaglio Right.

Why it works: In Inverse Mode, Sonia’s Whip and Vento Sacro create a brutal frontal kill zone that also heals you through Bloody Tear. King Bible/Unholy Vespers forms a rotating barrier, and Clock Lancet locking enemies in place makes late-game waves much safer.

What to watch out for: the temptation to evolve Whip too late. I kept dying around 12–15 minutes when I delayed Bloody Tear. Prioritize Whip + Hollow Heart early so your lifesteal comes online before the damage spikes.

3. Lama – Speed and Damage Hybrid for Hyper Stages

Lama was my answer when I wanted to play aggressively and not feel like I was constantly running away. His bonus move speed and Might work perfectly with area-control weapons.

Core weapons:

• Garlic → Soul Eater (needs Pummarola)
• Magic Wand → Holy Wand (needs Empty Tome)
• Cross → Heaven Sword (needs Clover)
• King Bible → Unholy Vespers (needs Spellbinder)

Passives: Pummarola, Hollow Heart (optional but recommended), Empty Tome, Spellbinder, Clover, Duplicator.

Gameplan: Evolve Garlic into Soul Eater as early as possible (ideally by minute 12). This gives you passive healing and lets you literally walk through weaker mobs, using Lama’s speed to sweep the map for XP. King Bible and Magic Wand handle tougher enemies and bosses, while Heaven Sword helps with screenwide coverage.

My early mistake: I tried to lean only on Garlic and ignored my other weapons. Garlic’s damage falls off hard if you don’t keep leveling it and bring in supporting DPS. Treat Soul Eater as sustain and chip damage, not your main boss killer.

4. Krochi – Revive-Fueled Safety Net Build

Krochi is who I switch to when I’m testing unsafe routes or new Arcana choices. His extra revives give you room to make mistakes while you learn Berserk or Die patterns.

Core weapons:

• Cross (starting) → Heaven Sword (needs Clover)
• Magic Wand → Holy Wand (needs Empty Tome)
• King Bible → Unholy Vespers (needs Spellbinder)
• Garlic → Soul Eater (needs Pummarola)

Passives: Clover, Empty Tome, Spellbinder, Pummarola, Duplicator, Tiragisu.

Why it works: Heaven Sword’s high damage and crits pair nicely with Krochi’s starting Cross. Unholy Vespers and Soul Eater wrap you in a constant damaging aura, and Holy Wand deletes anything that gets too close. The revives (plus Tiragisu) let you greed for XP or risky chests without instantly ruining your run.

Pro-tip from my failures: Don’t treat revives as an excuse to stand in enemies. Think of each revive as a “get out of jail” card for a specific spike wave (usually around 20 and 28 minutes). If you burn them all before then, you’ll feel it.

5. Maruto Cuts – Divine Bloodline Armor Tank

When I was learning Berserk or Die’s nastier waves, Maruto and Divine Bloodline carried me. This build is slower to start but becomes absurdly tanky later.

Core weapons:

• Eskizzibur (Maruto’s sword) → Legionnaire (needs Armor passive)
• Laurel → Crimson Shroud (needs Metaglio Left & Right)
• King Bible → Unholy Vespers (needs Spellbinder)
• Garlic → Soul Eater (needs Pummarola)

Passives: Armor, Metaglio Left, Metaglio Right, Spellbinder, Pummarola, Crown or Duplicator.

Arcana: Start with IX – Divine Bloodline. It turns your Armor into bonus damage and retaliatory hits, and Maruto’s built-in armor scaling feeds directly into it.

Playstyle: Early on, you kite more than you’d like because your damage is meh. Once Legionnaire, Unholy Vespers, and Crimson Shroud are online, you can literally stand in dense packs and let Divine Bloodline chew them up. This is the build I use when I want a “lazy” but safe 30-minute clear.

Big pitfall: If you chase armor too hard and ignore damage, you’ll get boxed in before Legionnaire is ready. Evolve King Bible or Garlic first if you’re struggling in the first 12–15 minutes.

Step-by-Step Pugnala Run – From Scuffed Start to Level 260+

This is the exact flow I use with Pugnala in Berserk or Die. Once I locked this in, my runs went from “randomly dying at 18 minutes” to reliably hitting 30:00 and beyond.

Minutes 0–3: Stabilize and Set Up XP Engine

Goals in the first three minutes:

• Grab Knife or Axe whenever they appear.
• Snag Crown as your first or second passive if offered.
• Pick up Attractorb early if you see it – this is your real “XP magnet.”

Don’t tunnel on Pentagram yet. My worst early runs came from picking Pentagram at level 2, watching it erase all my XP gems, and then limping into minute 5 under-leveled.

Minutes 3–8: Lock In Your Core Weapons

By around minute 8, you want this rough setup:

• Weapons: Knife, Axe, Pugnala’s guns, optionally a level 1 Pentagram
• Passives: Crown, Attractorb, Bracer, Candelabrador (one of these can wait if RNG is bad)

Focus your level-ups like this:

• Keep Knife and Axe roughly even, pushing them toward level 6–7.
• Do not upgrade Pentagram past level 1 yet if you took it.
• Take Duplicator and Tiragisu when they appear; extra projectiles and revives are huge for this build.

This is where I used to mess up: I’d pick up random side weapons (like Fire Wand or Santa Water) just because they looked strong, which diluted my level-ups and delayed Knife/Axe evolutions. In Berserk or Die, delayed evolutions equal death.

Minutes 8–15: First Evolutions Online

By minute 10–12, your priority is:

• Get Knife to level 8 with Bracer owned → open your next chest for Thousand Edge.
• Then push Axe to level 8 with Candelabrador owned → next chest should give Death Spiral.

Once you have Thousand Edge and Death Spiral, your survivability spikes. Thousand Edge melts anything in front of you; Death Spiral gives you a constant, huge-ring AOE.

If you’re struggling to stay alive getting to this point, consider grabbing a defensive option like Garlic early and evolving it into Soul Eater later. I personally prefer to stay disciplined with the main weapons first, but on rough seeds, that backup Garlic has saved my run.

Minutes 15–25: Pentagram Management and XP Explosion

Now you can afford to lean into Pentagram.

• Level Pentagram slowly from 1 up to 7.
• Max Crown along the way.
• Keep pushing passives (Duplicator, Attractorb, Tiragisu) so you’re ready for late-game density.

The trick is to upgrade Pentagram only when you can safely vaporize the screen without losing crucial XP. With Death Spiral and Thousand Edge running, you’ll often have large patches of XP lying around; let yourself collect them before the next Pentagram proc.

Minutes 25–30+: Gorgeous Moon and the Level 260 Push

Around minute 25–27, you want:

• Pentagram at level 7
• Crown maxed
• At least two or three chests on the ground or incoming

Time it so that the next chest you open after Pentagram hits level 8 gives you Gorgeous Moon. From that point, every activation vacuums XP orbs across the entire screen, which is where Pugnala’s per-level Might scaling goes insane. In my best runs, I was hitting level 260+ by the time 30:00 rolled around.

Once Gorgeous Moon is online, your job is mostly staying alive:

• Keep moving in loose circles to avoid getting fully surrounded.
• Face into the thickest part of the horde so Thousand Edge gets maximum value.
• Save revives from Tiragisu as insurance for final-minute spike waves or the Grim Reaper if you’re pushing beyond 30:00.

Advanced Tips, Platform Notes, and Fixing Common Failures

Arcana choices that helped my runs:

• XIII – Wicked Season: Rotating Growth/Luck/Greed/Curse; amazing for XP snowball on Pugnala once you’re comfortable with extra curse.
• IX – Divine Bloodline: Mandatory for Maruto armor builds; makes every point of armor hit back.
• XV – Disco of Gold: Great with sustain-heavy builds (Garlic, Soul Eater) to convert gold pickups into healing and damage bursts.

Platform-specific notes:

• PC (mouse/keyboard): You can micro-position more precisely. For directional weapons like Knife and Whip, practice short strafe movements so you’re always facing into the heaviest cluster when the weapon fires.
• Controller (console/Steam Deck): Use the analog stick for smooth circles and the d-pad for quick directional snaps. In options (Start → Options → Controller), tweak deadzones if your aim feels floaty.

Common failure points I hit, and how to fix them:

• Slow early XP: You skipped Crown and pickup radius. Solution: force Crown early and prioritize Attractorb or an Arcana like Wicked Season to accelerate Growth phases.
• Late evolutions: You spread levels across too many weapons. Solution: lock in 2–3 core weapons and hard-focus them to level 8 before taking “fun” side options.
• Pentagram nuking all XP: You leveled it too early. Solution: keep it at level 1 until you have strong AOE and can clear waves quickly between activations, then evolve to Gorgeous Moon closer to 25–30 minutes.
• Burning revives in the first 10 minutes: You’re overextending for chests or XP. Solution: play more conservatively early; remember you win Berserk or Die with scaling, not by speed-running the first five minutes.

If you stick with these principles and copy one of the builds above closely for a few runs, your results will improve fast. Once you’re reliably hitting 30:00 with Pugnala or Maruto, start experimenting-swap in different side weapons, try riskier Arcanas, or push curse higher. If I could go from repeatedly dying at 18 minutes to casually hitting level 260+, you absolutely can too.