Vanessa
Corsair Commander
Vanessa is the free hero. Her pool centres on Weapons with Ammo, Aquatic items and Poison; Patch 20.0 raised Cannon, Double Barrel, Repeater, Pearl and Sea Shell values.
- 10-win rate (19.3)
- 24.9%, 5 of 8
- Win rate (19.3)
- 56.8%, 6 of 8
- Access
- Free for every account
Season 20 builds
Slumbering Primordial
- Core pieces
- Incendiary Rounds, Dive Weights, Heated Shells (skill), Holsters with Small Ammo items such as Nesting Doll and Pop Snappers
- Why it wins
- Fast Burn and Ammo triggers Charge the Primordial, which scales its own Damage and Multicast. A Fiery or Toxic enchantment lets it Charge itself in a loop.
- Weak points
- It is a Large Gold item, so it arrives late; Aquatic or Slow-Burn boards convert into it most easily. Long fights: add a Restorative or Shielded enchantment or a Lifesteal skill. Patch 14.0 set its Charge to 2 s and Damage scaling to 15/30.
Tortuga
- Core pieces
- Friends; reached from Weapon or Aquatic boards
- Why it wins
- Fast, heavy hits that fit many boards, so it is the usual mid-run pivot.
- Weak points
- Patch 20.0 cut its Damage to 400/800 (from 450/900). Without Haste or Charge support it hits too rarely.
Anchor
- Why it wins
- Percentage Damage kills high-health boards in one or two hits once it has Crit and Cooldown reduction.
- Weak points
- Rowboat's Diamond cooldown rose to 4 (from 3) in 20.0, so startup is slower. With no Anchor offered, the same Charge pieces carry Sniper Rifle or The Boulder.
Days 1 to 5. Open with Sharkclaws and fast Small Weapons that do not use Ammo. The other early lines are Catfish with Haste and Seaweed, Pop Snappers with Lighter, or Mantis Shrimp with Slows. Buy Ambergris and upgrade it to Silver quickly. Buying Star Chart or Astrolabe unlocks the Gold and XP option at The Docks (Days 4 to 7).
Fix problems in this order. For Elemental Depth Charge Poison boards: startup time, then Ammo, then sustain, then Crit Chance, then Poison scaling. For Oni Mask Burn boards, Crit Chance comes first.
From Mobalytics' Season 20 meta list (9 November 2026); order is not a ranking. Sources and the other heroes: Season 20 builds. When to switch from an opener to a carry: day-by-day plan for 10 wins.
Mechanics
Ammo
Ammo items fire a limited number of times per fight and stop charging when empty; Ammo refills after each fight. Reload effects and Multicast decide how much an Ammo weapon contributes. Rules in detail.
Aquatic
An item type that other Vanessa items count. Since Patch 19.0 Coral and Coral Armor scale with the day of the run rather than with Aquatic items bought.
Poison
Lionfish was rebuilt in 19.0 to give your items Poison and Shield you when you Poison. Rules in detail.
Hero-only encounters and notes
- Tinker can spawn for Vanessa since Patch 12.0.
- Treasure Map (19.0) completes quests by visiting or fighting Gold-tier or higher encounters; Hotfix 19.2 doubled the required visits to 4, 8 and 12.
Changed in Season 20
12 Vanessa cards changed in Patch 20.0 and its hotfixes. The full Vanessa ledger has all 80 cards changed since Patch 14.0.
Other heroes
Win rates side by side: hero win rates.