How to unlock Sonia Belmont in Vampire Survivors Ode to Castlevania

Vampire Survivor: Ode to Castlevania takes players back to Dracula's Castle and adds over 20 new characters, more than 40 new weapons, and 30 music tracks. While some characters can be unlocked by defeating bosses and exploring, others like Sonia Belmont require more effort.

How to get Sonia Belmont in Vampire Survivors Ode to Castlevania

To unlock Sonia Belmont in the Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania DLC, you must find seven Heart Refresh items after opening the Stallion Gate, which can be done after defeating the Giant Bat boss. If you're unsure how to approach this, fret not as I am sharing a detailed step-by-step process below.

How to get the Castlevania Map

Before anything, I recommend you acquire the Castlevania Map right after spawning in. This will help you locate the bosses, study the stages, and find Heart Refresh much more easily. Go in the west direction to where the green arrow is pointed on your screen (see image above).

You'll then come across a forest to which the arrow will point, but you will not be able to enter it from there. You have to cross the trees (first image) and go down until you find a path leading into the forest. Follow the road and the secret passage to the forest will appear. Proceed inside and grab the map of Castlevania as shown in the second picture. Press "Esc" to open the menu and see the map.

Where to find the Giant Bat boss

To find the Giant Bat, you need to go to the east and enter the castle. You can also open the map and look for the red skull mark I've indicated in the first image to get the exact location of the boss. Cross the bridge to enter Dracula's Castle, follow the red carpet, and push through the horde of enemies to reach the red sigil at the end of the level (third image).

How to get the Stallion Gate relic

Stand on the sigil to summon the Giant Bat boss into the arena and defeat it using whatever weapons you have. Just try to keep a distance and hit it with your ranged weapons to bring the creature down. Once defeated, the Giant Bat will drop the Stallion Gate relic (second image above). It allows Heart Refresh to materialize and grants access to a new part of Dracula's Castle.

How to find Heart Refresh

After you've unlocked the Stallion Gate, you can access the further stages of Castlevania. You'll now come across Heart Refresh which appears like an angel holding a heart (first image above). You can open the map to see the marked Heart Refresh on the stage and go there to pick them up. These are seldom dropped by high-level enemies, so make sure to check the remains once you've defeated the bosses. I've also found Heart Refresh by destroying chandeliers (third image).

Collect seven of these items in multiple runs to get access to Sonia Belmont in Vampire Survivors: Ode to Castlevania. You can then unlock the character permanently by spending 500 coins in the character selection menu. She is a fun character to use and comes equipped with the Sonic Whip by default, which is a good starter weapon for close range.

How to unlock and evolve Sonic Whip

As you level it up, you can get multiple whips and extend its range. Furthermore, if you survive for more than eight minutes as Sonia Belmont, the Sonic Whip will unlock permanently and appear randomly in the loot pool. Combining Sonic Whip with the Skull O'Maniac passive item evolves the weapon into Crissaegrim Tip.

Skull O'Maniac is only made available after surviving 30 minutes as Lama. And to unlock Lama, you must survive 20 minutes with at least 10% Curse as any character. This can easily be done before starting a match by purchasing the Curse powerup for 1,688 coins. But beware as this grants the enemy bonus speed, health, and reinforcements.

For more on Vampire Survivors, check out How to evolve Alucart’s Sworb into Alucard’s Shield in Vampire Survivors (and how to unlock Christopher Belmont) on Pro Game Guides.