Julius Belmont is the last descendant of the Belmont clan and canonically the strongest vampire hunter in Castlevania lore. In Vampire Survivors, he is a low-HP Might scaling powerhouse from the Ode to Castlevania DLC. This guide covers the exact Second Coffin unlock path, his missing-HP damage formula, the Vanitas Whip evolution into Aurablaster Tip, and the broken Armor retaliation build that makes him the most busted character in the DLC.
Julius Belmont is exclusive to the Ode to Castlevania DLC. Without the DLC, neither the coffin method nor the spell code will work.
The Second Coffin is hidden in a secret room inside the Grand Library. You need progress through Dracula's Castle to reach it. Here is the exact path:
If you have the Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane (Secrets menu), open it and cast the spell omniavanitas. This unlocks Julius instantly. You still need to own the Ode to Castlevania DLC. The spell name is a reference to Julius's evasion technique in Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow.
Defeating the Gergoth boss as Julius unlocks Soma Cruz as a playable character. Gergoth is located downstairs of the middle building below the Library, just above the Capra Gate. Plan your first Julius run to target Gergoth and you get two characters for one unlock effort.
Julius's signature mechanic is an inverse health passive: the lower his current HP is relative to his Max Health, the higher his Might climbs. This turns what would be a survival problem into a damage opportunity.
This passive rewards staying low on HP, which is the opposite of how most characters play. Julius thrives with intentional HP management: stacking Max Health to widen his damage window, reducing Recovery, and using retaliation effects to kill enemies that approach him.
Julius has a unique ability to find special Ode to Castlevania pickups from light sources (candles, torches). These pickups are only accessible to specific Castlevania DLC characters. They include various items that boost his survivability and Max Health scaling.
The Vanitas Whip is a magic whip with a unique animation pattern. It lingers on the ground briefly before executing a mighty slash, which generates pillars of fire perpendicular to the slash direction.
Via skin selection, Julius can start with the Morning Star instead of the Vanitas Whip. This is purely cosmetic in terms of mechanics (the weapon behaves identically) but lets you visually match Julius's appearance in later Castlevania titles.
Surviving 20 minutes as Julius unlocks the Vanitas Whip as a selectable weapon in the weapon pool, making it available for other characters through level-up drops.
The Aurablaster Tip is the evolved form of the Vanitas Whip. Its most important feature is a hidden Grand Cross explosion that triggers every 7th activation.
| Stage | Rating | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Ode to Castlevania | S-tier | Julius's home stage. He finds special Castlevania pickups from light sources here that other characters cannot access. Best for unlocking characters through boss fights (Gergoth for Soma Cruz). |
| Il Molise | A-tier | Open layout is ideal for retaliation builds. You can funnel enemies into your Armor + NO FUTURE damage zone while staying mobile. |
| Dairy Plant | A-tier | Every chest can evolve a weapon, making early Aurablaster Tip unlocks trivial. Good farming stage for Julius setup. |
| Library | B-tier | Fixed enemy HP (no scaling) makes this a safe tank-test stage. Good for learning the low-HP scaling mechanic without instant death risk. |
| The Bone Zone | Avoid | Enemies scale +30% HP per minute. Julius's low-HP playstyle becomes suicidal when enemies outscale your Max Health buffer. |
| Arcana | Priority | Why It Works |
|---|---|---|
 Heart of Fire (XIX) | Must have | Already equipped by default on Julius. Adds +50% explosive damage to Vanitas Whip fire zones. Free value. |
 NO FUTURE (XX) | Must have | Retaliation damage when you take hits. Core of the broken Armor retaliation build. Julius at low HP takes constant hits, triggering NO FUTURE constantly. |
 Slash (XVI) | High | Vanitas Whip gains 10% crit chance dealing 2x damage. With Luck stacking, effective crit rate climbs to 30%+. |
 Hidden Anathema (III) | Medium | Strong if you are running Darkasso and stacking HP food pickups. Amplifies Max Health which amplifies Vanitas Whip fire damage. |
| Item | Priority | What It Does |
|---|---|---|
 Hollow Heart | Must have | Required for Aurablaster Tip evolution AND doubles your Max Health. Double benefit: higher fire damage cap + wider low-HP Might scaling window. |
 Armor | Must have | Reduces incoming damage by 1 per hit. Combined with NO FUTURE retaliation, enemies that hit you do minimal damage while dying from the retaliation proc. |
 Spinach | High | Flat Might bonus amplified by Julius's scaling. Stacks multiplicatively with his low-HP passive. |
 Clover (Luck) | High | Required for Slash crit scaling. Also boosts special pickup drop rates on Ode to Castlevania. |
 Candelabrador | Medium | Increases Area, which widens the Vanitas Whip fire pillars for more coverage. |
The strongest Julius build is the Armor Retaliation Tank, which turns his HP vulnerability into an infinite damage loop. Many players consider this the most broken build in Ode to Castlevania.
Julius + Armor + NO FUTURE + Hollow Heart creates a feedback loop where you gain more Max Health than you lose per second, while your Might scales exponentially from staying low-HP. A Steam discussion describes Julius as easily the most broken DLC character because of this interaction.
Julius Belmont is a playable character from the Ode to Castlevania DLC. In the Castlevania canon, he is the last known descendant of the Belmont clan and the vampire hunter who defeated Dracula in the 1999 Demon Castle War. He is canonically the strongest Belmont, and his Vampire Survivors kit reflects that. He starts with the Vanitas Whip and a free Heart of Fire (XIX) arcana.
Open the Second Coffin in the Ode to Castlevania stage, located in a hidden room inside the Grand Library. After defeating the Puppet Master boss and getting the Scorpion Gate key, enter the Library and head south. Look at the far right of the grey unmarked area, find the bloodstain on the wall between the first and second bookcase on the bottom, and push against it. Defeat the circle of enemies that spawn around the coffin, then touch it to unlock Julius. Alternatively, cast the spell omniavanitas in the Forbidden Scrolls of Morbane.
Julius's Might increases in proportion to his missing Max Health. At full HP he runs on his base +40% Might bonus. As his HP drops, his Might scales up. This turns him into a high-risk, high-reward character: tanking damage makes him stronger. Pairing this passive with Armor (damage reduction) and the NO FUTURE (XX) arcana (retaliation damage) creates an infinite survivability loop where you gain more HP than you lose.
The Vanitas Whip is Julius's starting weapon. It lingers on the ground briefly before attacking with a mighty slash, then generates pillars of fire perpendicular to the slash direction. The fire damage scales with your Max Health (capping at +120 base damage at 1,700 HP). The whip ignores Speed and Duration stats, making Might, Area, Amount, and Max Health the only relevant scaling stats.
Level the Vanitas Whip to level 8, pick up the Hollow Heart passive item (no leveling required), then open any treasure chest with both conditions met. This evolves the Vanitas Whip into the Aurablaster Tip, which adds a Grand Cross explosion on every 7th activation.
The Aurablaster Tip is the evolution of the Vanitas Whip. It keeps all the Vanitas Whip's existing damage profile and adds a hidden bonus: every 7th activation generates a massive Grand Cross explosion vertically from Julius, damaging all enemies caught in it. This cross is a direct reference to Julius's Grand Cross item crash from Aria of Sorrow and Dawn of Sorrow.
The meta Julius build is the Armor Retaliation Tank: stack Max Health (Hollow Heart), add Armor for damage reduction, and take NO FUTURE (XX) arcana for retaliation damage. This lets you intentionally sit in enemy clusters to keep your HP low (maximizing Might scaling) while Armor and NO FUTURE kill enemies who touch you. Many players consider this the single most broken character in Ode to Castlevania.
Yes. Defeating the Gergoth boss as Julius unlocks Soma Cruz as a playable character. Gergoth is located downstairs of the middle building below the Library, just above the Capra Gate. Use this run to earn double unlocks.
The Ode to Castlevania stage (Dracula's Castle) is the natural choice since Julius can find special Ode to Castlevania pickups from light sources, which other characters cannot. These pickups include unique items that boost his Max Health scaling. Il Molise is also strong for a tank build because the open layout lets you funnel enemies into your retaliation zone.
Julius and Leon Belmont are the only characters unlocked by opening coffins in Ode to Castlevania before you fight Dracula. This is a deliberate reference to the Castlevania canon: Leon Belmont (1094) is the first Belmont known to have opposed Dracula, and Julius (1999) is the last. Every other Belmont character falls chronologically between these two.
Image sprites and screenshots sourced from the Vampire Survivors Wiki (vampire.survivors.wiki) under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0.