Vampire Crawlers Guide: How to Get More Mana

Staring at a hand full of heavy hitting cards with only three mana in your pool is the fastest way to get yourself killed.

When you first step into the Mad Forest, the game is incredibly stingy with your resources. You start your encounters with a pitiful three mana per round. That is barely enough to cast a standard defensive spell, let alone build the massive ascending combo chains required to clear the board.

You cannot just rely on your base stats. You have to hunt down specific environmental unlocks, draft the right utility cards, and spend your gold wisely in the village. Here is my exact blueprint for fixing your mana economy so you can actually start casting those expensive screen clearing nukes.

Hunting Mana Orbs in the Wild

Before you can draft better mana cards, you have to physically unlock them in the dungeon environment.

As a fresh recruit, your first priority is tracking down hidden Mana Orbs. As you navigate the grid, keep your eyes peeled for large grey shiny stone slabs mixed into the environment. Smashing these slabs occasionally drops a blue Mana Orb.

Finding your first two Mana Orbs triggers a permanent account unlock. Tome cards are officially added to your draft pool. Once you secure this unlock, you can start aggressively looking for Tomes when you level up during your subsequent runs.

Mastering the Tome Economy

Tomes are the absolute backbone of your deck. They are utility cards that cost mana to cast but refund a larger amount of mana back to your pool.

Looking at those base numbers, you might think a net gain of one mana per card is completely underwhelming. But you are looking at them in a vacuum. Tomes are heavily affected by the ascending combo multiplier.

If you want to make sure you actually pull these cards when you need them, you definitely need to read my guide on how to rig the RNG in your favor to optimize your draft pool.

If you play an Ancient Tome dry as your first action, you net a single point of mana. But if you play a zero cost Empty Tome, chain it into a one cost Light Tome, use a Wild Card to bridge the gap, and then drop an Ancient Tome at a massive combo multiplier, the mana recovery completely skyrockets. You can instantly fill your pool to the brim.

Permanent Upgrades and Passive Gains

Relying entirely on drawing Tomes leaves you vulnerable to bad luck. You need to supplement your deck with permanent village upgrades and smart character selections. Here are the absolute best tools to keep your mana pool overflowing.

Check out more of my tips and strategies right here: Novus Vektra Guides