Bat Robbert's starting weapon. Spawns bats that fly in straight lines across the screen, retaliates when the player loses health, and evolves into Mazo Familiar with Hollow Heart, which scales its damage with Max Health.
Pako Battiliar requires you to kill 161,616 bats before it unlocks.
The number isn't a typo. The wiki specifies the exact threshold: 161,616 bat kills cumulative across all your Vampire Survivors runs. There's no shortcut. Players typically grind this on Bat Country (the bat-themed stage) over the course of dozens of runs, since the kill counter persists across saves.
The payoff is twofold. The weapon itself is a quirky bat-spawning tool that retaliates when you take damage, and evolving it unlocks Bat Robbert as a playable character. Bat Robbert's HP-Critical mechanic activates when his health drops below 20%, granting up to +665 Max Health permanently for the run plus a 25% HP heal. Combined with Divine Bloodline (IX), Bat Robbert builds into one of the more interesting low-HP scaling builds in the base game.
The whole package is a pun. "Bat Robbert" is the game's wink at Robert Pattinson, who has played both Batman and a Twilight vampire. The character's cheat code is "bimbumbam," referencing the 1990s Italian children's show that featured Bat-Roberto, a Batman parody. The weapon's name continues the joke through Italian wordplay that's worth knowing about.
Pako Battiliar by defeating 161,616 bats total across all runs. Bat Country is the most efficient farming stage
Mazo Familiar at max level paired with max-level 
Hollow Heart. Single-passive evolution gate
Bat Robbert, whose HP-Critical skill grants up to +665 Max Health below 20% HP, scaling Mazo Familiar's Max-Health-based damagePako Battiliar is classified as a Normal weapon (EXTRA tier) with internal ID `BATTILIA`. The wiki effects block describes the firing pattern: the weapon spawns a group of bats with red afterimages that fly in a straight line across the screen, starting at a random location off-screen and passing through the center of the screen relative to where they spawned. Each bat deals damage to enemies it encounters up to its Pierce, then disappears.
The "may retaliate when losing health" caption is the second mechanical layer. When the player takes damage, Pako Battiliar can spawn an additional group of bats. The wiki notes the retaliation cooldown is roughly 1.8 seconds, so taking rapid hits doesn't produce continuous retaliation, but consistent damage exchange does feed extra bat spawns. After a few runs, the practical pattern becomes clear: Pako Battiliar rewards engaging waves at close range rather than kiting from far away.
The weapon ignores Duration, which is unusual. Most projectile weapons benefit from Duration scaling, but Pako Battiliar's bats fly at fixed speeds across the screen without timing-out mid-flight. According to the wiki, the only stats that meaningfully affect Pako Battiliar are Damage, Speed, Amount, Pierce, and Cooldown. Picking Duration passives or stage Duration pickups effectively wastes the stat allocation.
In our testing, walk into waves rather than backpedaling from them with Pako Battiliar active. The retaliation procs more reliably when the player is taking incidental hits, and Bat Robbert's natural tankiness from his +1 Armor character bonus makes the close-range engagement viable. The strategy looks counter-intuitive (most projectile builds want to kite), but it directly multiplies the bat-spawn rate.
Pako Battiliar has 8 levels. The level-up structure layers Damage, Speed, Amount, Pierce, and Cooldown across the scaling:
| Stat | Level 1 | Max level | Total gain |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Damage | 20 | 40 | +20 |
| Speed | 0.4 | 1.0 | +60% |
| Amount | 10 | 15 | +5 |
| Pierce | 1 | 7 | +6 |
| Cooldown | 8.0 sec | 7.0 sec | -1.0 sec |
| Pool Limit | 200 | 200 | (unchanged) |
The +6 Pierce gain is the standout scaling element. Most weapons gain 2-3 Pierce across 8 levels. Pako Battiliar's bats can pass through 7 enemies at max level, which combined with the 15-bat Amount produces effective hit counts in the dozens per cast cycle.
The 0.4 to 1.0 Speed scaling is also significant. According to the wiki, Pako Battiliar's bats start at 0.4 Speed (slow), which means low-level Pako bats spend more time crossing the screen but deliver more sustained damage. Max-level Speed at 1.0 produces faster crossings, which trades sustained damage for higher cycle rate.
According to the wiki, Pako Battiliar can be further leveled with Limit Break for incremental Damage, Speed, Pierce, and Amount gains. The bigger transition happens with the Mazo Familiar evolution. Mazo Familiar inherits Pako Battiliar's mechanics but adds Max-Health-scaled damage and amount, plus loses half its Pool Limit (down to 100 from 200), with a small per-bat interval (0.03 seconds) so all bats no longer spawn at once.
The exact unlock condition for Pako Battiliar is defeating 161,616 bats cumulative across all your Vampire Survivors runs. The kill counter persists in the save file, so progress doesn't reset between runs. The wiki specifies this as a stage-progression-tracked counter rather than a single-run threshold.
| Method | Time investment | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bat Country grinding | 10-20 standard runs | Stage spawns bats specifically. Most efficient farming method |
| Standard stages | 40-80 standard runs | Bats appear sporadically, much slower accumulation |
| Endless mode | 5-10 long runs | Single endless run can produce thousands of bat kills if Bat Country |
| Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane | Instant | Cast "bimbumbam" to unlock Bat Robbert directly. Pako Battiliar still requires the kill counter |
The wiki notes that the cheat code "bimbumbam" references the Italian children's show "Bim Bum Bam" from the 1990s, which featured Bat-Roberto, a Batman parody character. The 161,616 number is part of the same joke pattern. After a few runs, players notice that the unlock requirements for novelty characters often use absurdly precise numbers (Bat Robbert at 161,616 bats, Queen Sigma's stat block including +108 Reroll/Skip/Banish). It's a stylistic choice from poncle that signals these characters as joke-tier or fan-service rather than core roster.
Run Bat Country specifically rather than grinding standard stages. The stage's enemy density is bat-heavy by design, which compresses the 161,616-bat requirement into significantly fewer total runs. Pair Bat Country with weapons that have wave-clearing AoE, since per-cast kill volume on Bat Country is what determines progress speed.
Pako Battiliar evolves into Mazo Familiar at max level (level 8) when paired with max-level Hollow Heart. This is a single-passive evolution gate, which is unusual for novelty/EXTRA-tier weapons. The wiki specifies the recipe directly.
The hidden bonus is character-tied. Evolving Pako Battiliar for the first time unlocks Bat Robbert as a playable character. According to the wiki, this is the only path to unlock Bat Robbert outside of the "bimbumbam" cheat code. So a single successful Pako Battiliar evolution run serves two unlock purposes simultaneously.
| Step | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 1. Have Pako Battiliar unlocked | Defeat 161,616 bats cumulative across runs |
| 2. Equip Pako Battiliar | Pick from level-up offers, or use Super Candybox II Turbo if available |
| 3. Level Pako Battiliar to 8 | Standard level-up path |
| 4. Pick Hollow Heart | Standard base-game passive, +20% Max Health per level |
| 5. Max Hollow Heart | Reach the passive's max level (level 5) |
| 6. Open chest at min 10 or 20 | Standard evolution gate. Mazo Familiar replaces Pako Battiliar |
| 7. Bat Robbert unlock | Triggers automatically when the evolution completes for the first time |
Hollow Heart adds Max Health, and Mazo Familiar's damage and amount are both scaled by Max Health (per the wiki: "Mazo Familiar gains +0.05 damage per +1 Max Health and +1 Amount per +? Max Health"). So the evolution-gating passive directly feeds the evolved weapon's damage formula. This is unusual design: most evolution-gating passives are just unlock keys that don't directly scale the post-evolution weapon. Hollow Heart on Mazo Familiar does both jobs at once.
Don't try to use the Super Candybox II Turbo to skip the kill-counter requirement. The Candybox lets you select an evolved weapon directly, but Mazo Familiar only appears in the Candybox if Pako Battiliar is already unlocked (which still requires the 161,616 bats). The shortcut works for getting the EXTRA: Bat Robbert achievement after the unlock is done, not before.
Pako Battiliar isn't competing with top-tier evolutions like Crimson Shroud or Sole Solution for raw damage output. The weapon's value sits in three specific use cases: completing the Bat Robbert unlock, running Bat Robbert builds where the Max Health scaling matters, and adding retaliation coverage to defensive builds.
Run Pako Battiliar plus Hollow Heart on any character with Bat Country selected. Level both to max by minute 9-10, evolve at the minute 10 chest, and the run delivers Mazo Familiar plus the Bat Robbert character unlock simultaneously. After this point, the weapon's primary unlock-completion job is done.
Bat Robbert's HP-Critical skill activates when his HP drops below 20%, granting up to +32 Max Health per trigger (caps at +665 cumulative for the run) plus a 25% HP heal. Each trigger requires returning to full HP before re-activating. Pairing this with Mazo Familiar (which scales damage with Max Health) plus Divine Bloodline (IX) arcana (which adds +0.1 flat damage per missing HP to all weapons) produces a low-HP-stacking build where staying near 20% HP is mathematically optimal.
Pako Battiliar's "may retaliate when losing health" mechanic adds passive damage output that procs on incoming hits. On characters with high Armor or Max Health (Probotector, Queen Sigma), Pako Battiliar serves as a "free" retaliation layer that doesn't require active aiming. After a few attempts the niche becomes clear: this isn't the build's primary damage source, but it adds non-trivial passive damage in slot four or five of an existing build.
Bat Robbert is the natural carrier for Pako Battiliar and Mazo Familiar. According to the wiki, his character passive bonuses are +0.5 Recovery, +1 Armor, and +20% Movement Speed. Those are modest, but his HP-Critical skill is the build-defining mechanic.
| Bat Robbert HP-Critical trigger | Effect |
|---|---|
| Activates when | HP drops below 20% of Max Health |
| Bonus per trigger | +32 Max Health (cumulative cap +665) |
| Healing | Restores 25% of HP on activation |
| Re-activation requirement | Must recover all HP first |
| Fatal damage exception | Does NOT trigger on game-over damage |
Divine Bloodline (IX) adds +0.1 flat damage per missing HP to all weapons. On Bat Robbert specifically, the synergy is layered: HP-Critical wants you near 20% HP for repeated triggers, Divine Bloodline rewards being at low HP with damage scaling, and Mazo Familiar's damage scales with Max Health (which HP-Critical permanently increases). All three mechanics reinforce each other across the run. After a few attempts, the practical playstyle becomes clear: stay near 20% HP, let HP-Critical proc as health drops, then heal to 25% and let it drop again.
Run Pako Battiliar plus Hollow Heart (evolution gate, plus Max Health). Add 
Spinach for Might multiplier on the Max-Health-scaled damage. Add 
Empty Tome for Cooldown reduction. Add 
Wings for the +20% Move Speed pairing with Bat Robbert's +20% base. Skip Pummarola entirely (the heal interferes with HP-Critical's low-HP trigger windows). Run 
Divine Bloodline (IX) as the priority arcana, with Twilight Requiem (II) as the secondary pick if available.
Bat Robbert is a character reference layered three deep. The wiki notes the most surface-level reference: actor Robert Pattinson, who has played both Batman (in The Batman, 2022) and a Twilight vampire (in the Twilight saga, 2008-2012). "Bat Robbert" mashes the Batman and vampire roles into a single name, plus the Italian-style spelling of "Robert" with the doubled R.
The deeper reference is Bat-Roberto, an Italian Batman parody character from the 1990s children's show "Bim Bum Bam." Bim Bum Bam aired on Italian TV throughout the 1980s and 1990s and featured a recurring Bat-Roberto sketch as part of its variety programming. Bat Robbert's Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane unlock spell, "bimbumbam," is a direct callback to the show name. According to the wiki, the sprite used by Bat Robbert in beta version 1.9.100 was nearly identical to the Nesufritto enemy sprite, with a dedicated character sprite added later in version 1.9.0.
The weapon name itself completes the joke through Italian wordplay. "Pako Battiliar" and its evolution "Mazo Familiar" are puns on the phrase "Spacco bottiglia, ammazzo famiglia" (literally "I break bottle, I kill family") in mock-broken Italian. The wiki notes this etymology directly. The phrase's history is uncomfortable, since it has been historically used by some Italians to mock the accent of Eastern European immigrants. Vampire Survivors' use of it has drawn varied reactions; the developers have leaned into the joke without comment, and the weapon names have remained in the game across all patch updates.
The wiki specifies the unlock requirement as defeating 161,616 bats cumulative across all your Vampire Survivors runs. The kill counter persists between runs in your save file, so progress accumulates over time. Bat Country is the most efficient stage for grinding because its enemy pool is bat-heavy by design.
Pako Battiliar evolves into Mazo Familiar when paired with max-level Hollow Heart. The wiki specifies this is a single-passive evolution gate. Evolving the weapon for the first time also unlocks Bat Robbert as a playable character (purchasable for 100 gold afterward).
The number is a stylistic choice from poncle for joke-tier characters. Bat Robbert is one of several roster entries with deliberately absurd unlock requirements (Queen Sigma uses +108 in stat blocks, other novelty characters have similarly precise numbers). The 1990s Italian children's show 'Bim Bum Bam' (referenced in Bat Robbert's cheat code) likely inspired the 1616 number portion.
The Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane spell 'bimbumbam' unlocks Bat Robbert directly without the kill counter. Pako Battiliar itself still requires the 161,616 bats. After Pako Battiliar is unlocked, the Super Candybox II Turbo can be used to select Mazo Familiar directly for the evolution achievement, but it cannot bypass the original Pako Battiliar unlock.
The wiki notes Mazo Familiar gains +0.05 damage per +1 Max Health and +1 Amount per +? Max Health (the exact scaling threshold isn't documented). This makes Hollow Heart unique among evolution-gating passives: it both enables the evolution AND directly feeds the evolved weapon's damage formula via its Max Health bonus.
Bat Robbert is the natural pick because Pako Battiliar is his starting weapon. His HP-Critical skill grants up to +665 Max Health permanently when his HP drops below 20%, which scales Mazo Familiar's Max-Health-based damage. Pairing Bat Robbert with Divine Bloodline (IX) arcana adds +0.1 flat damage per missing HP, layering with the HP-Critical mechanic.
Robert Pattinson has played both Batman (The Batman, 2022) and a vampire in the Twilight saga (2008-2012). 'Bat Robbert' combines those two roles into a single character name. The deeper reference is Bat-Roberto from the 1990s Italian children's show 'Bim Bum Bam,' which is a Batman parody. The cheat code 'bimbumbam' references the show name directly.
Generally no. Pako Battiliar's effective damage ceiling is moderate compared to top-tier evolutions like Crimson Shroud, Sole Solution, or the Castlevania DLC unions. After completing the Bat Robbert unlock and Mazo Familiar achievement, run higher-tier weapons for endless mode. The exception is dedicated Bat Robbert builds where the HP-Critical and Max Health scaling work together, which can sustain into endless mode if Divine Bloodline (IX) is active.
For other base game evolution comparisons, see our Glass Fandango guide, our Pentagram guide, our Bracelet guide, our Crimson Shroud guide, our Victory Sword guide, and our Gaze of Gaea guide. For Castlevania DLC weapons, see our Raging Fire guide, our Ice Fang guide, our Gale Force guide, our Rock Riot guide, our Alchemy Whip guide, our Shuriken guide, our Tyrfing guide, our Vampire Killer guide, and our Coat of Arms guide. For Operation Guns DLC weapons, see our Long Gun guide, our Short Gun guide, our Spread Shot guide, our Metal Claw guide, and our Prism Lass guide. For thrown-projectile and grenade comparisons, see our Javelin guide, our Hand Grenade guide, and our Arma Dio guide. The weapon tier list ranks every weapon in v1.13 and the weapon evolution chart covers every recipe including Mazo Familiar. The passive items guide walks through Hollow Heart, Spinach, Empty Tome, and Wings. 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.