Bonnie Blair starter. Throws curved fists above and below the character, then tech-evolves twice in a row.
Punch is the only weapon in Vampire Survivors that evolves twice in a row. The wiki specifies that Punch evolves into Pressure Point with the Raksha tech, then Pressure Point further evolves into Gilded Hand with the Shenlong Firefist tech. Neither stage requires a passive item; both stages are gated on glimmered techs only.
The second buried mechanic is the attack pattern. According to the wiki, Punch attacks in a curved pattern starting from behind the character and going above and below them. Forward-facing enemies are the worst targets; flanking enemies eat the full curve. The aim model inverts the usual front-cone assumption.
Build context. Punch is an Emerald Diorama DLC weapon and the default starter for Bonnie Blair. Her core passive gains Might every time she fires a glimmered tech, which feeds the same techs that gate both evolution stages. The Kugutsu "Sukune" skin also starts with Punch as its base weapon.
This guide covers the curved sideways attack pattern, the two-stage tech-evolution chain, the Raksha and Shenlong Firefist tech-glimmer sequencing, the best Bonnie Blair build, and the Kick alt-starter unlock that fires when Punch fully evolves into Gilded Hand.
Punch, an Emerald Diorama melee weapon that throws curved fists above and below the character. Tech-evolves twice.
Pressure Point with Raksha tech, then 
Gilded Hand with Shenlong Firefist tech.
Bonnie Blair, 
Spinach, and 
Crown for Growth toward the tech-glimmer level gates.Punch fires a curved swing that starts behind the character and arcs above and below them on each side. Per the wiki, the attack pattern is sideways rather than forward-facing, which means lining the character up parallel to an enemy line clears the screen faster than charging straight in. The pattern is not symmetric front-to-back; rear and lateral are the live hit zones.
The wiki effects block flags the Raksha tech as the killer activation. When Raksha glimmers, the weapon additionally fires 10 flaming punches in a forward cone that does not track movement from the activation point. The Raksha cone is the highest-burst window in the build and the gate for Pressure Point.
Punch is not blocked by walls. In actual play, that lets the sideways swings catch enemies on the other side of pillars on the Emerald Diorama stage, which the cone-shaped Raksha tech cannot match. Pressure Point and Gilded Hand inherit the same wall-pierce after evolution.
Treat the Raksha glimmer as a positional burst. The wiki notes that Raksha stays anchored at the activation point, so timing the glimmer at the bottom of a 5-minute Reaper wave kills the wave inside the cone before the Reaper exits. Glimmer timing matters more here than any single passive pick.
| Stat | Value |
|---|---|
| Type | Normal (Emerald Diorama DLC) |
| Area | 100% |
| Speed | 100% |
| Amount | 1 |
| Knockback | 1 |
| Blocked by walls | No |
| Attack pattern | Curved, behind-and-above-below character |
| Glimmers tech | Raksha (10 flaming punches in cone) |
| Starting weapon for | Bonnie Blair, Kugutsu "Sukune" skin |
| Unlock | Level Punch to 6 in any run |
| Selector | Intuition (Emerald Diorama selector) |
| Evolves with | Raksha tech (glimmered) |
| Further evolves | Pressure Point + Shenlong Firefist tech into Gilded Hand |
| Evolution unlocks | Kick alt-starter for Bonnie Blair + solo skins |
Pressure Point has 6 levels (not 8), per the wiki. At max it adds +10 Base Damage, +20% Area, -0.4 seconds Cooldown, and +1 projectile. Gilded Hand has 1 level and glimmers the Guanyin tech. Limit Break on either evolved form scales Amount, which remains the strongest per-rarity pick in the line.
Punch is the only Emerald Diorama weapon with a two-stage evolution. The wiki specifies that Punch evolves into Pressure Point at max level with the Raksha tech glimmered, then Pressure Point further evolves into Gilded Hand with the Shenlong Firefist tech glimmered. No passive items are required at either stage; both gates are tech-only.
The Raksha tech glimmers from Punch itself once it reaches a high level. The Shenlong Firefist tech glimmers from Pressure Point during normal firing. According to the wiki, the chain is sequential, which means the first evolution must happen before the second tech becomes obtainable. Fully evolving Punch into Gilded Hand unlocks Kick as an alt-starter for Bonnie Blair plus both solo skins.
| Stage | Required | Becomes |
|---|---|---|
| Punch (max level) | Raksha tech (glimmered) | Pressure Point |
| Pressure Point (max level) | Shenlong Firefist tech (glimmered) | Gilded Hand |
Hold the chest after the first evolution. If a chest appears after Pressure Point hits max but Shenlong Firefist has not glimmered yet, opening it gives the standard reward rather than the Gilded Hand evolution. Wait for the tech glimmer indicator before opening, then crack the chest for the second evolution.
Bonnie Blair gains +0.1% Might every time a glimmered tech fires. Punch, Pressure Point, and Gilded Hand all glimmer techs in sequence, which feeds her core passive continuously. The wiki also notes Bonnie's Showstopper triggers at under 20% health: +100% Might, -100% Cooldown, +100% Luck, and every glimmer fires on every activation.
Bonnie Blair (Punch starter, tech-glimmer Might scaling, Showstopper at low HP)Spinach (raw Might scaling stacks with Bonnie's glimmer-triggered Might)
Kick (Bonnie's alt starter via Punch evolution; pair both for full Showstopper coverage)
Intuition (pulls more Emerald Diorama weapons; keeps Bonnie's glimmer pool deep)In our testing, this build hits Pressure Point around minute 8 and Gilded Hand around minute 14 if Crown drops early. Past minute 18, Showstopper procs feel like free Game Killer windows because every glimmer fires on every activation, which collapses elite waves inside the Raksha cone.
Tech-glimmer Might scaling is the unique mechanic. The wiki notes that Bonnie Blair gains Might per glimmered tech fire, and Punch chains three of them (Raksha, Shenlong Firefist, Guanyin) across the full evolution arc. Spinach and Crown stack cleanly on top because both are Might-or-Growth multipliers.
Among arcanas, Game Killer (XX) is the standout. Per the wiki, Game Killer disables enemy projectiles temporarily, which lines up perfectly with the Raksha cone's stationary-burst pattern. Iron Blue Will (VII) is the alternative when the run wants to camp Bonnie below 20% HP for permanent Showstopper uptime via Iron Blue's damage mitigation.
For weapon pairing, Kick fits naturally because evolving Punch unlocks it as Bonnie's alt starter. Across multiple runs, running Punch and Kick together gives Bonnie a full Emerald Diorama melee kit and frees the other four slots for ranged coverage. Splashers is the canonical pairing partner; fully evolving Splashers is what unlocks Bonnie Blair in the first place.
Punch and Kick are the two Bonnie Blair starters, and fully evolving Punch into Gilded Hand is what unlocks Kick as her alt-starter slot. Mechanically they cover opposite vertical ranges: Punch swings above and below in a curve, Kick (per the wiki) attacks low at ground level. Both glimmer Emerald Diorama techs but their tech pools do not overlap.
Pick Punch when the run wants the two-stage evolution chain into Gilded Hand and access to the Guanyin tech. Pick Kick when the run wants a different evolution path and the ground-line attack pattern. In practice, the strongest Bonnie Blair builds run both starters together so Showstopper procs fire glimmers from every Emerald Diorama weapon in the slot pool.
Punch, Pressure Point, and Gilded Hand reference the SaGa Emerald Beyond martial-arts kit, the Square Enix title the Emerald Diorama DLC collaborates with. The wiki notes that the Emerald Diorama DLC released on 10 April 2025 as a free DLC for all platforms, with weapons and characters built around the SaGa Emerald Beyond cast. Bonnie Blair and Formina Franklyn are direct references to SaGa characters.
The Raksha, Shenlong Firefist, and Guanyin tech names reference Buddhist and East Asian mythological figures used in the SaGa Emerald Beyond storyline. Per the wiki, the tech-glimmer mechanic itself is a Vampire Survivors adaptation of the SaGa series' signature Glimmer system, where new abilities trigger mid-combat under specific conditions. The Intuition selector's icon also references SaGa Glimmer lightbulbs.
Explore the Emerald Diorama melee kit, the passives that scale Bonnie's glimmer-Might stack, and the broader DLC roster.
Game data and screenshots adapted from vampire.survivors.wiki, used under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. Original content remains the property of the wiki contributors and Poncle.
