Recently there have been some significant improvements to the ways in which we can interact with vector tile maps and vector basemaps in particular. The most important change is that now the Vector Tile Style Editor can be the focus of all of your work.
Two big improvements are the ability to edit the map JSON and duplicate and manage layers, changing drawing order.
For details, see New ways of customizing Esri vector basemaps and a collection of recently updated StoryMaps (all by @AndrewSkinner).
Part 1: Looking at the basics of interacting with Vector Basemaps.
Part 2: Working with color.
Part 3: Adding and reorganizing layers, and working with Lines.
Part 4: Working with Labels.
Part 5: Working with Sprites to create icons and patterns.
