Defang is a powerful new passive power-up (the ones you choose from the main menu that are always on) introduced in the free Whiteout update for Vampire Survivors. Here’s how you unlock it, and what it actually does.
Where to find the Defang power-up via the Antidote relic
After booting up the Whiteout level, you’ll find the Antitode relic (which unlocks Defang) in a cave south of the starting area. It looks like a potion, and confusingly, it is slightly different than the “Santa Water” weapon that draws inspiration from Castlevania‘s Holy Water.
Just head there immediately before things get out of hand (hyper mode helps you traverse the map quicker), walk into the cave, and pick it up. Congrats! You now have it forever. We have a full guide on how to unlock the Whiteout level here if you haven’t already.
Remember, you’ll need to end the level, then go back to the main menu, then enter the power-up menu to purchase it and actually have it impact future runs.
What does the Defang power-up do?
True to its name, the Defang power-up makes enemies weaker through a passive effect. Let’s take a look at the official description: “Enemies spawn unable to deal damage 3% of the times per rank (max 15%). Yep, it’s just as good as it sounds.
At a mere 800~ coins per rank, you can jack this up to 15% pretty quickly, which ensures that 15% of the total enemy spawns cannot hurt you. Enemies impacted by this debuff are denoted by a green tint, which you can see in the gallery above. It’s a pretty massive advantage given that you’re fighting thousands of enemies per run!
Make sure you grab Defang as quickly as possible if you’re looking for an edge.
