Vampire survival RPG V Rising gets a big update next month, bringing a new biome, multiplayer duels and the ‘biggest combat overhaul yet’

The best game about vampires and survival that isn’t Vampire Survivors, V Rising originally rose from its grave back in 2022. Following one of the more comprehensive early access launches of recent years, V Rising emerged fully formed in May last year to glowing reviews. Yet it turns out developer Stunlock Studios was far from done with the game, and has spent the last year beavering away on a big new update.

That update has now been formally unveiled. It’s called Invaders of Oakveil and it’s coming in April. According to Stunlock, the update will see players take on the serpent queen Megara, whose forces have assumed control of the “untouched wilderness” that is the oakveil woodlands.

This wilderness forms the headline feature of the update. The oakveil woodlands is “a new forest biome of uncharted lands filled with deadly enemies, new bosses, and dark magic techniques waiting to be seized”. Those enemies will include the venom blades, followers of Megara.

Stunlock doesn’t provide many specifics about this new area, but it does detail many of the other features coming to Invaders of Oakveil. Players can now add a “battle arena” to their vampire castle, and set customised rules to partake in fights with friends or “challenge foes almost anywhere in the world with risk-free one-on-one duels.”

The update also adds three new weapons to the game, which Stunlock explained in a previous Steam blog. The expanded arsenal will add Wolverine-style claws that apply a stacking “puncture” mechanic. “When the effect ‘pops’ it causes a chaotic explosion of damage dependent on how many stacks have built up on your foe.” There’s also a twinblade you can use to throw enemies around and toss at enemies to pull them toward you, as well as throwing daggers that you can unleash in increasingly larger flurries.

These new weapons will apparently land alongside V Rising’s “biggest combat overhaul yet.” To this end, Stunlock is working on “a deep stat rework, rebalanced gear, completely overhauled blood types, and powerful new customization tools.” Stunlock doesn’t explain why they’re overhauling the combat in this update, and combat doesn’t seem to be a major gripe in the game’s ‘Very Positive’ Steam reviews. In an update from late last year, however, Stunlock details these more specific changes extensively.

Regarding the stat rework, Stunlock says that currently “A lot of V Rising can make you feel stuck in using a certain legendary weapon, spell, or gear set because you have to adapt to the tools you have. The stats are set this way, so you have to match your play style to fit them.” The rework basically aims to “flip that around”. All the other changes Stunlock mentions, the overhauled blood types, the gear rebalancing, and the new customisation tools, feed into this, with the end goal of making you feel more powerful and in control of your character’s progression.

V Rising’s Invaders of Oakveil update arrives on April 28.