Vampire Survivors Character Spotlight: Cavallo

a overview of Cavallo with some observations and tips to help play him

The Stats

Cavallo, like Mortaccio, gains bonus Amount. once every 20 levels, Cavallo gains a +1 to Amount till level 60. that bonus comes in very handy on a run. cranking out more firepower is always handy on runs for build making, gold farming, leveling. and Cavallo's not a bad looking panda to boot

The Weapon

Cherry Bomb. when I was a kid, getting your hands on cherry bombs was almost a point of honor around the 4th of July. if you were smart, you held onto some to catch your friends off guard later.
but Cavallo takes that to a whole new level as Cherry Bomb is the weapon of choice.
for all intensive purposes, Cherry Bomb works a lot like Bone. but instead of heaps of damage, at level 8 it has a +10 Base Damage and +1 to Amount, it gets loads of Area and Speed (+100% Area and 60% Speed) and it is quite the fan of Duration so it can bounce a lot.
the biggest difference is that Cherry Bomb explodes sometimes. it is a bomb, after all. the chance to explode starts at 40% and hits 60% at level 8. this, of course, makes Cherry Bomb a decent A.O.E., especially with the large Area it has when fully leveled
if you've gone and retrieved the Chaos Rosalia relic, Cavallo can evolve into Yatta Daikarin. like Mortaccio, he gets a nice make-over as Cavallo turns into, basically, a cosmic version of himself with stars for eyes and his body looking like the night sky. Cherry Bomb gains extra Duration, .6, and also the rate of explosion as well as Pool Limit is increased as well, to 100% and 80. which is nice. but not as nice as the stars he starts throwing around. when a Cherry Bombs blows, a star will show up and start to draw lines to form a constellation. when the star has made seven points, it explodes, spraying star fragments as well as being able to crit. on top of that, the lines the stars draw also do damage to anything crossing them and the lines can crit as well. which allows Cavallo to stand in the constellation and crank out extra damage as enemies and Elites/bosses cross the lines, making Cavallo's A.O.E. much more potent

Why and why not (pros and cons)

Why Cavallo?
Cavallo runs a lot like Mortaccio. the Amount they get as they level to 60 makes them good choices for kill runs. where they differ is how they do so. as where Mortaccio relies on sheer firepower backed by Duration, Cavallo utilizes his Amount with Area and Luck. making Cherry Bombs bigger and more likely to go off leads to better kill and completed runs. making the Cherry Bombs more potent, with Spinach, goes a long way as well. and it's pretty fun to watch tons of enemies go POOF in a explosion of flower petals. and to speed the fun up, never hurts to nab Endless Tome

Why not Cavallo?
also like Mortaccio, Cavallo starts out a little weak. Cavallo starts picking up with levels and Amount gained. but Cherry Bomb really lacks in the damage department. the Area is nice, but the most it gets with fully leveled is 20 damage. this isn't much better then Garlic. the Area and bounces help out. but as the run goes on the enemies can start tanking the explosions due to level scaling, leaving that 60 to 80 window iffy as you wait to get Yatta Daikarin evolved for the much needed damage boost from being able to crit and use the constellation lines

How to get

to get Cavallo, kill 3000 Lionhead enemies. they mostly pop up in the Inlaid Library. after that, Cavallo can be unlocked for 500 gold before scaling

Tips and builds

Tips
given Cavallo is a A.O.E. specialist, you would think Candlelabrador is the best pick to get. it's a good pick. but Bracer, Endless Tome, and Spinach do a lot more for builds with Cavallo, helping Cherry Bomb get some much needed omph that makes the A.O.E. clear better overall. and given you don't need a passive item for evolving Cherry Bomb, you have a extra slot to toss a passive item into, like Duplicator or Spellbinder. more Amount and more bounces are always nice on a run

Power Overwhelming build
Weapons: Axe, Firewand, Lighting Ring, Santa Water, Whip
Passives: Attractorb, Candlelabrador, Duplicator, Hollow Heart, Spinach, Torrona's Box (banish level 9)
those familiar with Starcraft will know what Power Overwhelming is. and this build is that for Cavallo. when fully evolved, the build will have tons of Area and damage, as all the weapons will be cranking out over 65 damage each with Spinach and Torrona's Box bringing Cherry Bomb up to keep pace with the rest. and three of the weapons will crit while Bloody Tear gives some self healing

three weapon bounce build
Weapons: Cross, Laurel
Passives: Attractorb, Candlelabrador, Crown, Endless Tome, Spinach, Torrona's Box (banish level 9) pick up both Metagilos and Silver Ring
Arcanas: Silent Old Sanctuary, Slash, Waltz Of Pearls
the Arcana Bounce builds tend to be a lot of fun most the time. this one focuses more on Cross over Cherry Bomb. it's still doing it's job nicely cause of the passives going. but Cross is what shines here as every Cross thrown will get three bounces compared to Cherry Bomb having a chance to explode on any given bounce early on. once the build has passed level 80, it becomes a moot point as there will be so many bouncing and exploding projectiles as well as stars shooting off while Yatta Daikarin has added a Crimson Shroud for some great protection as well as a cool cape blowing in the wind

In conclusion

Cavallo threw me off at first when I got him, as he's a panda and more cute then anything. but I figured out soon enough he's one of the best A.O.E. characters in the game with how Cherry Bomb works. even with its' lower overall damage, which is easily fixed with the right picks, his combined Amount and Cherry Bombs' Area bring some great crowd control alone. and when coupled with other weapons, is a really good pick for kill and gold runs. don't hurt he's easy to pick up as well.
try to get Cavallo added as soon as you can. cause he's a "blast" to run :P

[Cuthla]

hey Big J. glad you liked it.
I have Slash in there cause it affects Cavallo's Evolution on the Crit front.and given how much Area it covers with the star fragments, the extra Crit is very handy

[Big J]

Hi there! Thanks for the guide!

Also, I'm curious on why you're using "Slash" Arcana for the three weapon build? Since from what I read in the wiki, it seems that Slash doesn't affect Cross but rather it's evolution.