How to unlock Peppino the tree in Vampire Survivors

We’re talking root down.

Image via Poncle

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Vampire Survivors’ patch 0.7.3 is live, and with it comes a brand new character. Peppino the tree is a silly addition, but it’s one you’re going to want on your roster nonetheless.

Like Exdash, Peppino is a secret character. Unlocking it requires taking a totally different approach to one of the game’s levels. Read on to learn the steps you’ll need to take and how to use Peppino after the fact.

Screenshot by Gamepur

How to unlock Peppino in Vampire Survivors

To unlock Peppino, you’ll need to visit Il Molise (note how the character is a clone of the trees in the screenshot above). The garden-themed bonus stage needs to be unlocked itself, and it becomes available once you’ve unlocked Hyper Mode for any other stage. See our Hyper Mode guide for all the details on that — Mad Forest, Inlaid Library, Dairy Plant, and Gallo Tower are all valid.

Once you’ve unlocked Il Molise, you’ll need to tend the plants in the level. This is done with Celestial Dusting: it actually heals the plant enemies instead of damaging them. Celestial Dusting is the starting weapon for O’Sole the dog, and it can spawn for any character once he’s unlocked. Use Celestial Dusting on the Il Molise plants until you’ve healed them for a total of 100,000 health. At that point, a sound will play, indicating that Peppino has been unlocked. Spend 666 coins, and it’s yours. If you need to earn more gold to afford that, use the Stone Mask.

Related: Vampire Survivors 0.7.3 patch notes — all changes

How to use Peppino in Vampire Survivors

Peppino is a tree, and as such, it’s rooted in place. Some Vampire Survivors players like to try runs without moving anyway, so this gimmick character is a perfect choice. Peppino starts with a boost to health, armor, and magnet, but a large reduction in area-of-effect for weapons. Fortunately, that area increases as the tree levels up. Peppino’s starting weapon is the Soul Eater, the final weapon evolution of Garlic. It’s a powerful one, but you have to be willing to accept the tradeoff of no movement.