Jonathan Morris' starting weapon. Throws a piercing javelin in a parabolic curve, evolves into Long Inus with Spellbinder, and was buffed twice in v1.13 patches into a real meta pick.
Javelin flies in a fixed parabolic curve in the direction Jonathan Morris is facing, which means horizontal aim and gravity-driven arc rather than the auto-targeting that defines most projectile weapons. Per the wiki, that quirk pairs with a limited 1.0-second Duration despite low base Pierce, and the result is a weapon whose effective DPS depends almost entirely on how you position the character relative to the wave. From our experience, players who treat Javelin like Knife (point and shoot, no positioning) get noticeably worse results than players who learn to face into the wave.
The other thing the wiki documents that catches new players off guard is how recently Javelin was buffed. Per the wiki update history, the weapon was buffed twice in 12 months. The 15 November 2024 patch increased Duration from 0.75 to 1.0 seconds and replaced Duration bonuses at levels 4 and 7 with +10 Base Damage each, which means max-level Javelin got +20 Base Damage and +3 Pierce at the cost of 0.25 seconds of Duration. The 28 October 2025 Ante Chamber patch then dropped Cooldown from 2.5 to 1.5 seconds and Knockback from 2 to 5. Javelin in v1.13 is a meaningfully different weapon than the one Castlevania DLC players first met in October 2024.
Javelin by reaching weapon level 3 in any run that has it equipped
Long Inus at max level (level 8) plus max-level 
Spellbinder
Jonathan Morris, who starts with it and unlocks Long Inus naturallyAccording to the Vampire Survivors wiki, Javelin fires a piercing projectile in a fixed direction, specifically the horizontal direction the character is facing. The projectile flies in a parabolic curve (rises, then falls under gravity) and pierces enemies up to the Pierce stat. From our experience, that gives Javelin a different positioning logic than most projectile weapons in v1.13. You aim by turning Jonathan Morris toward the wave, not by hoping a homing tracker finds the right target.
Per the wiki, Javelin also has a limited Duration of 1.0 seconds, which is unusual. Most projectile weapons with low base Pierce travel until they hit the pierce cap or leave the screen. Javelin additionally times out, which means projectiles that miss high-density waves at long range simply vanish. The 15 November 2024 patch raised base Duration from 0.75 to 1.0 seconds specifically because the prior Duration was so short that level 1 Javelin struggled to clear early waves before timing out.
Per the wiki update history, two patches significantly improved Javelin in the last 12 months:
From our experience, the Cooldown buff is the more impactful of the two. Javelin now throws every 1.5 seconds at base, which combined with Bracer's Cooldown reduction can drop the throw interval below 1 second. The Knockback bump means Javelin now actually pushes enemies back rather than nudging them, which matters on Jonathan Morris because his low base Speed makes melee enemies a real threat.
Per the wiki, Javelin's stat block in v1.13 looks like this:
| Stat | Base (Level 1) | Max (Level 8) |
|---|---|---|
| Damage | 10 | 30 (+20 from levels) |
| Area | 100% | 100% |
| Speed | 100% | 100% |
| Amount | 1 projectile | 4 (+3 from levels) |
| Pierce | 2 | 10 (+8 from levels) |
| Duration | 1.0 second | 1.0 second |
| Cooldown | 1.5 seconds (post Oct 2025) | 1.5 seconds |
| Knockback | 5 (post Oct 2025) | 5 |
| Pool limit | 100 | 100 |
| Blocked by walls | No | No |
| Rarity | 70 | 70 |
Per the wiki levels table:
From our experience, the early levels (2 and 3) are where Javelin feels weakest because Pierce 4 and Amount 2 are still inadequate against any wave that has more than a handful of enemies stacked. The weapon does not become genuinely useful until level 4 (when the +10 Damage triggers) and does not feel strong until level 6 (when Amount hits 3 and Pierce reaches 6). Plan to evolve at level 8 plus max Spellbinder by minute 10 to skip the awkward middle phase entirely.
Per the wiki, Javelin evolves into Long Inus at max level (level 8) when paired with max-level Spellbinder. The evolution requires a chest pickup at minute 10 or 20, the same way every other Castlevania DLC weapon evolves.
According to the wiki, Long Inus throws Longinus horizontally with gravity, fans them out with each throw, and gives the projectile virtually infinite Pierce. From our experience the more important difference is the screen-wrap mechanic. Per the wiki, Longinus screen-wraps for its Duration instead of disappearing like Javelin javelins do at the screen edge. That means a single Longinus throw covers significantly more screen area before timing out, which is the change that makes Long Inus competitive with Castlevania's other evolution-tier projectile weapons.
| Step | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 1. Equip Javelin | Play Jonathan Morris (auto-equipped) or pick from level-up offers if Javelin is already unlocked |
| 2. Level Javelin to 8 | Standard level-up path. Avoid skipping Javelin offers if you intend to evolve |
| 3. Pick Spellbinder | From the level-up screen or via Coat of Arms (vampire-killing tool slot) |
| 4. Max Spellbinder | Spellbinder maxes at +100% Duration, which Long Inus uses for screen-wrap distance |
| 5. Open chest at min 10 or 20 | Standard evolution gate. Long Inus replaces Javelin in the slot |
From our experience, Spellbinder is also picked from Coat of Arms on Jonathan Morris runs because Coat of Arms can grant any vampire-killing tool, and Spellbinder is one of its valid pulls. That makes the Javelin evolution one of the easier Castlevania evolutions to pull off, since you can open a single Coat of Arms and potentially get both the Hand Grenade tool and Spellbinder for the Javelin chain.
From our experience, the strongest Javelin build runs Jonathan Morris on Ode to Castlevania stage. The plan is to evolve Javelin into Long Inus by minute 10, then layer two more Castlevania weapon evolutions through Coat of Arms pickups before endless. Here is the loadout:
Jonathan Morris+Javelin (starting weapon)Javelin+Spellbinder→Long InusSpellbinder (Duration scaling, evolution gate)
Empty Tome (Cooldown reduction, stacks with Bracer)
Bracer (projectile Speed, helps wave coverage)
Spinach (Might scaling, raw damage multiplier)
Candelabrador (Area, expands the parabolic hitbox)
Duplicator (extra projectiles, multiplies wave coverage)Per the wiki combos table, all six of these passives have green-checkmark synergy with Javelin. Spellbinder is mandatory (evolution gate), Empty Tome and Bracer attack the Cooldown problem from two angles, Spinach handles raw damage scaling, and Candelabrador plus Duplicator handle wave coverage. From our experience, this loadout reaches Long Inus by minute 10 and clears Ode to Castlevania safely into endless.
Pick Spinach BEFORE Candelabrador if you have to choose. Per the wiki, Spinach scales every weapon's Might (flat damage multiplier), while Candelabrador only adds Area. On Jonathan Morris's frantic-aim playstyle, raw damage matters more than slightly larger projectiles since you may already be missing waves you can't position into.
According to the wiki, Javelin has two arcana synergies that fundamentally change how the weapon plays.
Iron Blue Will (VII): the bouncing infinite-pierce modePer the wiki, Iron Blue Will (VII) lets Javelin's projectiles bounce off enemies up to three times, occasionally have infinite Pierce, and pass through walls. From our experience, this transforms Javelin from a low-pierce skillshot into a screen-clearing weapon. Combined with Empty Tome cooldown reduction and the bouncing behavior, the projectiles effectively saturate horizontal lanes. The wall-passing also helps on stages with tight corridors where the parabolic arc would otherwise hit terrain.
Pale Diamond Incursion (V): auto-aim modePer the wiki, Pale Diamond Incursion (V) makes Javelin aim at the nearest enemy instead of the faced direction, and gains a Cooldown bonus based on Speed. This converts Javelin from a horizontal skillshot into an auto-target homing weapon. From our experience, this is the better arcana for chase stages or for runs where you need to focus on dodging rather than aiming, since auto-target removes the positioning skill ceiling entirely. The Speed-to-Cooldown conversion also means stacking Wings or other Speed bonuses now reduces the time between throws.
Per the wiki, Javelin pairs naturally with 
Coat of Arms, which can spawn Spellbinder or other Castlevania-tier passives. From our experience, running Coat of Arms on a Jonathan Morris build is the highest-EV way to find Spellbinder for the Long Inus evolution, since the alternative (waiting for Spellbinder to roll naturally on the level-up screen) is unreliable in shorter Castlevania runs.
Per the Vampire Survivors wiki, Javelin is the starting weapon of Jonathan Morris from the Ode to Castlevania DLC. In the original Castlevania franchise, Jonathan Morris is the protagonist of Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (2006), the descendant of John Morris, and the wielder of the Vampire Killer whip. The Javelin weapon represents one of his sub-weapon throwables in the original game. Vampire Survivors lists him alongside Charlotte Aulin (his Portrait of Ruin co-protagonist) as one of the playable Castlevania characters.
The evolution name "Long Inus" is a phonetic split of "Longinus," the legendary Holy Lance also called the Spear of Destiny in Christian tradition. Per the spear's broader cultural mythology, Longinus is the Roman soldier who pierced the side of Christ during the crucifixion, and the lance itself recurs throughout the Castlevania series as a holy weapon used against vampires. From our experience, the Javelin to Long Inus evolution path is consistent with the broader Castlevania-in-Vampire-Survivors design pattern (Hand Grenade evolves to The RPG referencing Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin's military weapons, Coat of Arms references the Castlevania heraldic shield) where every Castlevania weapon name carries a layered reference to either the original game's mechanics or to Christian iconography. The lance-evolution naming also explicitly mirrors how "Vampire Killer" itself (the original Castlevania whip) appears as the Whip's evolution at the top of the Castlevania DLC weapon list.
Per the wiki, Javelin unlocks when you reach weapon level 3 in any run that has it equipped. The fastest path is to play as Jonathan Morris (who starts with Javelin) and survive long enough for the weapon to hit level 3, which is typically less than 90 seconds of play. Javelin is then permanently unlocked for use on other characters in future runs.
Per the wiki, Javelin evolves into Long Inus when both Javelin and Spellbinder are at max level simultaneously when a chest opens. Long Inus throws Longinus projectiles horizontally with gravity, fans them out, gains virtually infinite Pierce, and screen-wraps for its Duration instead of disappearing at the screen edge.
Yes, much better than at launch. Per the wiki update history, two patches (15 November 2024 and 28 October 2025) added 20 Base Damage at max level, 3 Pierce, 0.25 seconds of base Duration, 1 second of Cooldown reduction (from 2.5 to 1.5), and tripled Knockback (from 2 to 5). Javelin in v1.13 is genuinely competitive among Castlevania DLC weapons.
Jonathan Morris from the Ode to Castlevania DLC. Per the wiki, Javelin is his starting weapon, and the cleanest evolution path runs through Spellbinder for Long Inus.
Per the wiki, two arcanas affect Javelin directly. Iron Blue Will (VII) lets projectiles bounce off enemies up to three times, occasionally gives infinite Pierce, and lets them pass through walls. Pale Diamond Incursion (V) makes Javelin aim at the nearest enemy instead of the faced direction, and gains a Cooldown bonus from Speed.
Yes. Per the wiki, Javelin is classified as a vampire-killing tool and can be picked from Coat of Arms in Ode to Castlevania runs. That makes Coat of Arms a backup acquisition path if Javelin does not roll on the level-up screen, and it stacks well with running Jonathan Morris (who starts with Javelin and can use Coat of Arms to find Spellbinder for the evolution).
Per the wiki, Javelin has a 1.0-second Duration despite low base Pierce, which is unusual since most low-pierce projectile weapons travel until their Pierce cap or until they leave the screen. From our experience, the Duration limit balances the parabolic-curve trajectory: without it, a max-level Javelin with high Pierce would clear entire screens in one throw.
Per the wiki, Javelin throws horizontally in the direction the character is facing, then gravity pulls the projectile downward in a fixed arc. From our experience, that means projectiles hit enemies on the way out (rising) and on the way down (falling), and players who position Jonathan Morris on slight elevation changes (the wave below them) get more pierces per throw than players standing flat.
For other Castlevania DLC weapons, see our Hand Grenade guide covering John Morris's starter weapon (Jonathan Morris's ancestor in the Castlevania timeline), our Raging Fire guide, Gale Force guide, Alchemy Whip guide, and Rock Riot guide. For base game weapon comparisons, see our Pentagram guide and Glass Fandango guide, plus our Gaze of Gaea guide. The weapon tier list ranks every weapon in v1.13 and the weapon evolution chart covers every recipe including Long Inus. The passive items guide walks through Spellbinder, Spinach, Empty Tome, Bracer, Candelabrador, and Duplicator, and the arcanas guide covers Iron Blue Will (VII) and Pale Diamond Incursion (V). For other Castlevania character spokes, see our Leon Belmont guide, Richter Belmont guide, Soma Cruz guide, and Alucard guide. The main Vampire Survivors guide is the hub for everything else.
Image sprites and screenshots sourced from the Vampire Survivors Wiki (vampire.survivors.wiki) under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.