Vampire Survivors – Dommario Character Spotlight

An overview of Dommario with some observations and tips to help play him.

Dommario Overview

Please note: all credit goes to Cuthla!

The Stats

Dommario. if there ever was a ‘bad old man’ of the VS characters, it’s him. starting with a HUGE +40% bonus to both Projectile Speed and Duration, he gives Lama a run for her money in the stats department. but he just can’t overtake her cause of the starting -40% to Movement Speed he has. Let’s face it. Dommario is a old man. And unlike Poe, age finally caught up with him. But he isn’t going to let that stop him. Like Father McGruder said in Braindead/Dead Alive, “I kick ass for The Lord!” which Dommario does in spades with….

The Weapon

“Get over here so I can hit you with my Bib-el!”

Gwar Gura during a VS stream

Being the man of faith that he is, Dommario brings the King Bible with him as his weapon. It has 8 levels, rotating around Dommario clockwise. It ramps up pretty quick as it gets leveled. By level 4, King Bible is cranking out two bibles with .5 seconds more duration with Area and Projectile Speed, 25% and 30% respectively, and +10 extra damage. At level 8, King Bible is kicking out +20 to base damage, +50% Area and +60% Projectile Speed, +3 to Amount, and a second of extra Duration. This makes a powerful defense for Dommario, which he needs badly cause of his low Movement Speed. The drawback for all that power King Bible gains is that its’ Cooldown and Duration are tied together. Its’ Cooldown starting only when the Duration runs out. This can leave Dommario defenseless till the bibles start up again.

With Spellbinder, King Bible become Unholy Vespers. It gets a black and red makeover and purple pages come out of the books as they rotate around Dommario. Unholy Vespers gets a little more Area and loses some Projectile Speed and Duration. But, to be honest, it don’t matter compared to what Unholy Vespers gains. Which is nice amount of Knockback, +3, and the Cooldown is no longer tied to Duration. This makes Unholy Vespers one of the most damaging weapons to have. With no tied Cooldown, Unholy Vespers will have a set of books out at all times, both Cooldown and Duration running along side each other and making it look like a endless rotation of books going around Dommario. Getting Endless Tome, since you already have Spellbinder, will allow Unholy Vespers to start overlapping. With the 40% to Cooldown and the 50% Duration, Dommario can have two or three sets of books going at once, each book hitting for 30 damage. cause of the overlap happening, Dommario becomes a buzzsaw, knocking back whatever isn’t outright killed trying to get to him.

Why and Why Not (Pros and Cons)

Why Dommario?

Dommario excels at both offense and defense with the King Bible. Getting it leveled and evolved allows Dommario to just march all over the stage. By itself, King Bible/Unholy Vespers cranks out kills and damage like no other. combine other weapons with it that are effected by Duration and you have a recipe for disaster tailor made for Domarrio to take advantage of. Toss in Endless Tome and he becomes almost nigh untouchable due to the overlap cause of how Unholy Vespers works.

Why not Dommario?

Oh boy…. Dommario puts the “slow” into slow going. The -40% to Movement Speed really hampers him to the point you have to get a solid defense going with a build fairly quickly. Since movement tactics like hit and run, circle striking, puddle hopping ect., are more difficult for Dommario to pull off. King Bible also makes things rough for him as well early on. with only one bible going, and it seems to take forever to come off Cooldown, there will be windows of time where Dommario has no weapon protection, leaving him wide opened for being wiped out. And even with getting King Bible leveled up and evolved, tankier enemies or enemies pushed by fast groups can get pushed through the ring of books and Dommario will be once again open to attack as the enemies are now in his King Bible/Unholy Vespers’ ring. Leaving Dommario with only one option if a second weapon hasn’t been gotten yet: to run. which isn’t very favorable due to his low Movement Speed.

How to get

Getting 5000 gold on a single run will unlock Dommario. He can then be purchased for 500 gold before scaling.

Tip and Builds

Given Dommario’s low Movement Speed hampering his movement options, playing defensively becomes more important then with other characters. Yes, you can get Wings to give Dommario a speed boost, but it only helps out so much. Four of the five levels of Wings is used just to get him to normal speed. So going for weapons that utilize his bonus stats as well as allow for Dommario to move without too much issue will go a long way. Knife, Santa Water, Song Of Mana all work wonders for him as well as allowing Dommario to level steadily. Getting Silver Wind allows for doubling up on projectiles also helps to get more protection and some self healing and a nice defensive debuff to enemies when Silver Wand gets evolved.

The Best Defense build

  • Weapons: Axe, Bone, Celestial Dusting, Fire Wand, Knife
  • Passives: Attractorb, Bracer, Candelabrador (one level), Crown, Spellbinder, Spinach

In going along with the saying “The best defense is a good offense”, The Best Defense build uses some of the harder hitting weapons to fill in the gaps of the King Bible while making sure Dommario has plenty of weapon coverage as he creeps his way around the run. Axe, Celestial Dusting, and Knife let Dommario move easier as well as giving some decent self healing, especially when Axe and Knife get evolved. King Bible being a damage shield as Bone and Fire Wand lay down some potent additional firepower.

You may of noted I suggested one one level of Candelabrador. Main reason is to keep Area down on King Bible/Unholy Vespers. You can get all five if you want. The other weapons will cover for any gaps that may come up from the extra Area. But one level of Candlebrador lets Axe evolve and keeps the books in tight around Dommario.

Holy Wrath (I kick ass for The Lord!) build

  • Weapons: Cherry Bomb, Cross, Rune Chaser, Santa Water, Vento Sacro
  • Passives: Armor, Attractorb, Duplicator, Endless Tome, Spellbinder, Wings

Holy Wrath uses the most religious weapons in hopes of putting down the vampire we’ve all heard is around here, somewhere. It provides Dommario a generous area of damage to keep enemies at bay while Vento Sacro lets you focus on bosses along the way as Cross, “The holy laser light of The Lord” Runechaser shoot out to get enemies outside of Bible and Santa Waters area. Cherry Bomb helping out as there are very few personal problems that cannot be solved through a suitable application of explosives

In Conclusion

Dommario, like Poe, is a fun old guy to take on a run. As to where Poe has a great starting game, Dommario is a little rough to get going. But once he does, he’s a steam roller that keeps going forward slow and steady. watching enemies go POOF! Against King Bible/Unholy Vespers is very satisfying. With a decent build behind him, Dommario is a great pick for almost any type of run. But if his slow speed gets to you, just remember that the turtle won against the rabbit.

Egor Opleuha
About Egor Opleuha 8075 Articles
Egor Opleuha, also known as Juzzzie, is the Editor-in-Chief of Gameplay Tips. He is a writer with more than 12 years of experience in writing and editing online content. His favorite game was and still is the third part of the legendary Heroes of Might and Magic saga. He prefers to spend all his free time playing retro games and new indie games.

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