Peter Bosz's side lost three and drew one of their opening four league matches and appeared to have turned the corner with a 3-1 win over Excelsior on September 14.
However, Vitesse dropped points again on Saturday as their unimpressive form rumbles on.
Mark Uth opened the scoring in the 23rd minute with an emphatic finish from an uninviting angle, but the lead did not last long.
In fact, Vitesse levelled just before the half-hour mark as Davy Propper smashed a powerful left-footed effort beyond Kristoffer Nordfeldt.
There proved to be no other goals and the two sides ended the match all square, leaving Vitesse second from bottom and Heerenveen - unbeaten in five games - in fourth spot.
Eredivisie newcomers Dordrecht are now five matches without a league win as they drew 1-1 at Excelsior.
Things looked set to be considerably worse, though, as Adil Auassar gave the hosts the lead six minutes after the break with a delightful finish.
The midfielder cut in from the right and curled an unstoppable effort into the far side of the goal and Excelsior thought that was going to be enough.
Robin Gosens levelled five minutes from the end, though, heading in a corner and Excelsior's chances of snatching a late victory took a big blow a few moments later, as Luigi Bruins received a red card upon his return to the club.
There was also late drama in ADO Den Haag's 1-1 stalemate with visitors Go Ahead Eagles.
The away side went ahead after an hour as Timothy Derijck put past his own goalkeeper, but Michiel Kramer restored parity six minutes from the end.
Keeper Erik Cummins failed to deal with a long-range effort, letting the ball strike the crossbar and Kramer was on hand to knock the rebound in, earning Den Haag a point.
