How to unlock Rat Form in V Rising

Any good vampire worth its silver knows how to transform into other animals, and there are six different forms to unlock in V Rising. The first, the Wolf, is straightforward and will be found almost by accident. Learning how to shapeshift into Rat form, on the other hand, requires a few more steps and could be easily overlooked by new players.

Unlocking Rat Form in V Rising

• Create a Vermin Nest
• Summon Nibbles the Putrid Rat
• Slaughter him and drink his blood

Building a Vermin Nest

The first step towards being a cute little red-eyed rat in V Rising entails building a Vermin Nest in your castle. This is one of the first crafting recipes you’ll learn, but it will require 360 Stone and 80 Bone to build. If you’re like me, by the time you learn how to make the Nest, you’ll have more than enough mats from breaking and killing everything you see. Less destructive players will have to farm for a bit.

Summoning Nibbles the Putrid Rat

Once the Vermin Nest is built, you’ll notice that there are three types of rat that can be summoned into your castle, with the last alarmingly named “Nibbles the Putrid Rat.” This critter won’t be a loving pet to brighten the castle’s dark halls; his in-game blurb notes that he is deadly, and his blood could be useful.

To summon Nibbles, you’ll need 4 Grave Dust and 1 Unsullied Heart. I already had these on hand, but if you don’t, Unsullied Hearts drop from random mobs — rarely from normal rabble like bears and wolves, more often from elite enemies and V Bloods. Grave Dust can be randomly found by looting in graveyards or killing the various undead denizens of V Rising. Or if you’ve defeated Goreswine the Ravager, you’ll know how to make a Grinder. Tossing 64 bones into the Grinder will result in a single Grave Dust.

Taking out Nibbles

Vermin Nest built and mats gathered, it’s time to call forth Nibbles, the only V Blood that needs to be summoned. Be careful not to put in more resources than required, because the Vermin Nest will spit out multiple Nibbles if allowed. He’s level 30, so you’ll want to be at least gear level 25 with appropriate weaponry. A spell that can slow or do AoE damage will be helpful as well, as Nibbles periodically calls smaller rats to assist him. Just stay out of range of his attacks, and he’ll go down fairly easily.

Upon extracting Nibbles’ blood, you’ll learn how to transform into a small rat, which is supposed to allow you to “blend into the environment, making it harder for enemies to detect you.” Mobs will still react when you’re a rat, though their aggro radius may be a bit smaller. It’s still a nice change from being bipedal all the time.