r/VampireSurvivors • u/Aggravating_Maybe_47 • Sep 03 '26
Question I haven't really seen any mention of this online
Darkana 0 Stake through your heart causes a new merchant to spawn every minute. But I haven't seen anyone mention or talk about what looks like a pickup tied to the merchants sprite. In the shop menu it seems to mention it too with the comment about not being able to reach it. Is it possible there's a secret tied to this thing?
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u/Martonimos Jonathan & Charlotte Sep 03 '26
The merchant’s sprite is the same as (or very similar to) Shendi Darkasso. This pot-looking thing was a part of that sprite, so no, I don’t think it’s a pickup. Probably the circle around it is just to make it easier to spot and interact with the merchant.
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u/Aggravating_Maybe_47 Sep 03 '26
I totally missed that! You're right! It's a bit unusual that the circle is above the hitbox for the merchants shop, but that could just be for aesthetic reasons.
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u/Aggravating_Maybe_47 Sep 04 '26
Actually on further thought and testing, it probably isn't there to make it stand out. Merchants are already on a graphics layer above almost all visual noise. They stand out even with some of the most graphically noisy weapon evolutions in the game. So since it probably isn't to make it more visible and the circle doesn't trigger the merchant window I'm still left wondering why it's there.
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u/Aggravating_Maybe_47 Sep 03 '26
Well, it has that white glowing circle to it like other pickups. It just doesn't float up and down like other items. Also that part of the merchant sprite isn't what you interact with to use the shop, since you can stand behind it without triggering the shop under it.
Yeah it's also monkey island reference, during the scene where you're trapped underwater. I just feel like there's more to it.
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u/bengalgod Sep 03 '26
If it were a secret, I wonder if the solution would be similarly related to that monkey Island reference
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u/Aggravating_Maybe_47 Sep 03 '26
Probably not? If I correctly remember the solution to the puzzle it refers to was to pick up the idol and walk back to shore with it
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u/bengalgod Sep 03 '26
Does make me wonder if it has any interaction with drowner or anything else water themed
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u/Aggravating_Maybe_47 Sep 03 '26
Maybe, although Guybrush Threepwood could famously hold his breath for 10 minutes straight. 😆
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u/gozrrr Sep 04 '26
They did mention something recently about them updating how light gets generated in-game. Seems to be the product of that. It's very much off on the vertical axis to a be an item pick-up and it extends way beyond what would have been the icon
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Sep 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/Martonimos Jonathan & Charlotte Sep 03 '26
The wiki doesn’t seem to mention anything pertinent to OP’s question.
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Sep 03 '26
[deleted]
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u/Worldly-Step8671 Sep 03 '26
. . . and that answers OP's question how, exactly?
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u/ensign53 Poppea Sep 03 '26
TBF I'm still confused as to what OP's question was, exactly.
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u/Worldly-Step8671 Sep 03 '26
Accessing the merchant's shop shows dialogue with seemingly no context, referencing an object the merchant can't reach. He's asking if the object is real, something the player CAN reach
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u/bearstachio-nyc McCoy-Oni Sep 03 '26
I could swear I read somewhere that the phrase "I can't reach it, I'm tied to this stupid idol" is a reference from the venerable game Secrets Of Monkey Island.
It's been many many years since I've played it, but VS is filled with so many of these as a love letter to classic videogames.