I have to say, there aren’t very many games that I’ve played where I actually get Servants. The only games I can think of are things like Evil Genius 2 and technically My Time at Portia, though the latter is more focused on marrying someone so they can help you with labour.
When I was initially pitched V Rising as a game I should play on Twitch one of our community members was telling me how appealing the game is, especially because you can get Servants to do your work. While typically having Servants isn’t an idea that first pops into my mind when buying a video game, who could say no to having an NPC doing all of your dirty work, especially when there are multiple aspects in a game you must complete in order to successfully survive.
Though at the time of posting this article we are not at the point of having Servants in our public YouTube playthrough, we are getting very close… though I have to admit I’m much further in my personal save file.
I have to admit that I’m extremely excited about having Servants in our joint account as Servants really help speed up the process of farming and help raise the defences. Luckily for players, obtaining Servants is part of the main storyline, so players will not be able to avoid learning how to Convert them, though it can still be confusing.
The following guide will take you through everything you need to know about Servants in V Rising including which ones to convert and what they do.
WHAT ARE SERVANTS IN V RISING?
Servants are a group of NPCs that you can command in order to protect your castle or go hunting/farming for you.
Unlike the player, these are humans who can do all of the player’s dirty work in both daylight and at night, though just like the player they have health and can be killed.
Servants must be converted from mobs in the wild, though there are a few limitations that players must abide by, these include:
Players cannot convert Alpha Mobs, Creatures or Skeletons, but players can have all the other Blood Types and each blood type will come with its own set of bonuses.
The way that a player utilizes Servants is going to depend on what game type they are playing. For example, players who are simply playing PVE will only be using Servants for gathering resources, though players in PVP are going to want to make sure that they have a good amount of Servants that just hang around their Castle to protect them from other players destroying it.
At the end of the day, whether you’re playing PVP or PVE you’re going to want as many Servants as your Castle will allow. For PVP you’re going to want to leave at least half of your Servants at the base to ensure that your Castle doesn’t get taken over by other players, but in PVE you’ll want the most Servants possible to ensure that you can constantly send Servants on Hunts for extra loot.
Unfortunately, there is no way to command your Servants to come with you on adventures, so if you’re a solo player, you’re still going to have to fight all the V Bloods on your own.
HOW DO YOU UNLOCK SERVANTS IN V RISING
Players will only unlock Servants in the mid-game once they have progressed the construction of their Castle far enough.
Players will need to bind to a Stone Coffin in order to gain access to the Servant Coffin.
Servant Coffins are going to be where Servants live or can be beckoned to whenever the player needs.
Servant Coffins require the following:
16 Planks
8 Copper Ingots
1 Greater Blood
Greater Blood can either be gotten from Unsullied Hearts, which tend to come from V Bloods or players can use Blood Essence in the Blood Press to create.
HOW TO CONVERT SERVANTS IN V RISING
After gaining access to the recipe for Servant Coffin, players will have to craft at least one to obtain the Vampire Power Dominating Presence, which will allow players to convert their own Servant.
In order to Convert Servants players are going to have to have to use Dominating Presence in order to convert them.
Depending on what Level the mob is, players may either need to reduce the Health of the mob before using Dominating Presence.
Dominating Presence will help reduce the health of a mob, but just because a player using Dominating Presence, doesn’t mean that it will lead to a successful conversion.
Upon successfully using Dominating Presence players will need to lead their newly converted victim back to their base where they can bind them to a specific Servant Coffin.
If players choose to move their Servant Coffins, the Servant will still be bound to the same Coffin, so feel free to do this any time you’d like.
HOW TO CONTROL SERVANTS & HOW HUNTS WORK IN V RISING
Although players can leave their Servants roaming around their Castle without the need of a Castle Throne, players will need a Castle Throne if they are hoping to send their Servants on a Hunt.
Luckily for players, this is the next mission that is in place after players get the Vampire Power Dominating Presence.
Players can build the Castle Throne with the following items:
Stone Bricks
4 Greater Blood Essence
16 Iron Ingots
When players have built the Castle Throne they will be able to open up a menu that shows a map of the World. Here players will be able to select what area they would like to Hunt.
Not only does every area have different resources, but each area requires a specific type of Servant to lower the difficulty.
Luckily for players, the Hunt map is very visual and straightforward, but these are some of the most important things to keep in mind.
Always take a look at the Top Right side of the menu of the selected location. This states what the required properties are in order to reduce the difficulty of the Hunt.
Below are the spaces that different Servants can take in. It’s going to be important that players utilize all of these spaces as it will greatly reduce the difficulty of the Hunt, even if the Servant doesn’t have the same properties as the required.
When players have selected which Servants they would like to send on their Hunt they will be told how much the success rate of the Hunt.
Below is the Hunt Duration. The longer the Hunt Duration, the higher the success rate of the Hunt and the more resources you’ll yield, though it is still more optimal to do Hunts as fast as possible. Unfortunately, this isn’t usually a possibility until the very late game, though players can essentially choose to Sacrifice their units in a Hunt. Be warned, your units have a higher chance of being injured the more reckless the Hunt is.
Players should also note that the Hunt Duration is actual real-life hours and not in-game hours, meaning that it will take 2 real-life hours for the most reckless Hunt and 23 Hours for the safest hunt.
Players can reduce the amount of time it takes for Hunts to take place by placing Crypt Floor under the Servant Coffins.
HOW MANY SERVANTS CAN YOU HAVE?
Depending on what settings players are playing on they will have access to different amounts of Servants based on how upgraded their Castle Heart is.
Players can change these options in the Advanced Settings of the game, before they begin playing, though the defaults are as follows:
Castle Heart Level 1: 3 Servants
Castle Heart Level 2: 5 Servants
Castle Heart Level 3: 7 Servants
Castle Heart Level 4: 9 Servants
It should be noted if you have multiple teammates you can each have up to 9 Servants, so getting together in a Clan is a great idea!
HOW TO LEVEL UP YOUR SERVANT
Levelling up your Servant is going to be quite simple to do as it follows the same rules as the player themselves. Servants cannot build levels on their own and instead simply take on the stats of the Gear that they are Wearing. Much like the player, Servants will need the following items:
A Chest Piece
Pants
Boots
Arms
A Weapon
A Ring
Servants are obviously missing a couple of pieces of Gear that a player can wear, though the ones they lack are typically just used for Sun Resistance or another form of Resistance that a Servant will not need.
It’s going to be a good idea to craft your Servants the higher tier of Gear that you have as this will raise the chances of them successfully completing a Hunt or properly defending your Castle, though players will want to take this at their own pace based on how many resources they have. My typical recommendation is to swap Gear with low durability on your Servants as durability doesn’t actually affect the Servant.
DO YOU NEED SPECIFIC WEAPONS FOR YOUR SERVANTS?
No, it doesn’t matter what type of Servant you have, you can place any Weapon or piece of Gear on your Servant, the only important thing is the level of your Servant.
Players may want a particular Weapon on their Servant if the Servant is protecting their base, but realistically this doesn’t change a whole lot anyways.
I strongly recommend that players just focus on crafting any Weapon that is the highest tier that the player has access to.
WHAT DO YOU DO IF A SERVANT DIES?
When a Servant dies players will have the option to Terminate or revive that Servant. I would strongly advise against reviving a Servant unless it had good blood, otherwise, it’s super easy to keep converting Servants so you save some Blood Essence.
HOW TO MAKE SURE YOUR SERVANT DOESN’T DIE
There are a few ways you can ensure that your Servant doesn’t die, the first being making sure that your Servant has good enough Armour. The other thing to keep in mind is to try to lock your Servants into your Castle by using the doors that are specific to Servants.
The reason you’d want to do this is to ensure that your Servant doesn’t leave the Castle and get into battles with random mobs. Trust me, I didn’t realize this was a thing at first and ended up with 3 dead Servants.
Players can use these doors to their advantage, especially if they are on a PVP server as they can trap multiple Servants in one room so they all fight the same person and raise the chances of the player being killed rather than being too weak to protect the Castle.
HOW TO TERMINATE/DISMISS A SERVANT
To Terminate a Servent they will need to be at the player’s base and not on a Hunt. If a Servant is on a Hunt, players can head to the Castle Throne to recall the Servant.
Players must go to the Coffin associated with the Servant they would like to Terminate and then click Terminate which will kill that Servant and allow players to put another Servant in there.
When it comes to Terminating Servants I would only recommend it if you’re trying to train a Servant with better blood. Otherwise, just keep the same Servant for as long as you can because there’s no point in changing them.
WHAT SERVANTS ARE THE BEST TO CONVERT?
At the beginning of having Servants, it’s not going to matter what Servants you convert and I strongly recommend you convert any Servant, especially to get used to the Servant Mechanics in the game.
As players fill up their Coffins, players should aim for Servants that have better blood as this will increase the amount of damage that the Servant can yield and will be especially useful for better Hunts.
Essentially, the Blood Quality of a Servant will amplify the equipment bonuses the Servant receives from both the Weapon and Armour.
This is particularly important when players discover the harder parts of the map as it will greatly increase the chances of Survival.
If players do not have great Weapons or Armour I would strongly recommend avoiding sending them on Hunts if they have great Quality Blood unless you see that the survival rate is 100%. It’s difficult to find 100% quality Blood so save these as much as possible for when you’re ready, otherwise don’t stress too much about killing other Servants by sending them on low success missions as long as they are short.
I would never send a Servant on a long, low success mission as there is very little payoff in this.
CAN YOU DO ANYTHING ELSE WITH SERVANTS?
Why yes you can! You can trap Servants in a Prison Cell in order to drink their blood every so often. I would try trapping a 100% Servant of every type so you can gain a boost from their stats.
Players can do so by using a glass vial to train their blood. If players drink the Glass vial it will boost your stats. You can indefinitely do this as long as you feed the Servant to reduce their misery.
CONCLUSION
So while Servants aren’t necessarily a required element of V Rising, they’re extremely helpful to have. I especially like being able to drink blood from Servants, though the Expeditions really help, especially when you have amazing Gear on your Servants.
I strongly recommend that you take things slow with your Servants as they can be a hassle to keep up, but depending on what your preferences are as a player you may not have as much difficulty as me.
So, I’m curious, what is your favourite thing about Servants? What do you use them for? Do you have any qualms or questions about the Servants? Let me know in the comments below!
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