Vampirism

Contracting Vampirism

Facing those who feed on the blood of the living presents several perils. In addition to their terrifying visage, zombified thralls, and skill at both melee and magical combat, vampires have a unique Drain Life ability. This can rapidly sap your health while restoring theirs each time it strikes you, and it gives you a 10 percent chance of contracting Sanguinare Vampiris, a disease that will eventually cause you to join their ranks.

After any battle with vampires, check your Active Effects list. If you see Sanguinare Vampiris, quickly drink a Cure Disease potion or make haste to a shrine for healing. As the disease runs its course, you’ll receive a message at twilight that reads, “You feel a strange thirst as the sun sets,” and you’ll receive a second notification the following dawn that says, “You feel weaker as the sun rises.” After three days of this, the disease takes over completely, and you transform into a vampire!

Remember that being infected by a “regular” vampire leads only to normal Vampirism. To become a Vampire Lord, you must be bitten by Lord Harkon or a member of his bloodline (see below).

Stages of Vampirism

As a vampire, you must feed on human blood! Vampirism has four distinct stages, based on how long it has been since you last fed. The more time has elapsed, the more severe the advantages and disadvantages of this condition become. To survive as a vampire, you should know exactly what these benefits and drawbacks are.

Advantages

• Immune to disease: You are completely immune to disease. Any diseases you had upon becoming a vampire are instantly cured.
• Immune to poison: You are completely immune to all forms of poison.
• Champion of the Night: Illusion spells that you cast are 25 percent more powerful.
• Nightstalker’s Footsteps: You are 25 percent harder to detect while Sneaking.
• Resist Frost: The stage of your vampirism adds to your Frost Resistance:
• Stage 1 vampirism: Resist Frost 20%
• Stage 2 vampirism: Resist Frost 30%
• Stage 3 vampirism: Resist Frost 40%
• Stage 4 vampirism: Resist Frost 50%

Disadvantages

Hatred: Citizens of Skyrim and guards will not recognize you as a vampire but may (25 percent of the time) remark that you’re looking distinctly “pale” or “hungry.” However, even when vampirism has fully consumed you, they will not attack you on sight.Weakness to Sunlight: When outdoors between the hours of 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m., your Health, Magicka, and Stamina will not regenerate. Their maximum values are also reduced:

• Stage 1 vampirism: Health, Magicka, and Stamina are reduced by 15 points.
• Stage 2 vampirism: Health, Magicka, and Stamina are reduced by 30 points.
• Stage 3 vampirism: Health, Magicka, and Stamina are reduced by 45 points.
• Stage 4 vampirism: Health, Magicka, and Stamina are reduced by 60 points.

Weakness to Fire: The stage of your vampirism also gives you a Weakness to Fire:

• Stage 1 vampirism: Weakness to Fire 20%
• Stage 2 vampirism: Weakness to Fire 30%
• Stage 3 vampirism: Weakness to Fire 40%
• Stage 4 vampirism: Weakness to Fire 50%

Powers

As your vampirism progresses, you gain an increasingly powerful set of additional abilities.

Stage 1 Vampirism

• Vampire’s Sight: For one minute, you can see better in dark environments. Use this power as often as you like. It has no cost.
• Vampiric Drain: A special Destruction spell, Vampiric Drain absorbs 2 Health per second from your target.
• Vampire’s Servant: Once per day, you can reanimate a dead creature to fight for you for 60 seconds. Only works on creatures of Level 6 or less.

Stage 2 Vampirism

All powers from Stage 1, plus:

• Vampire’s Seduction: Creatures and people up to Level 10 won’t fight or flee for 30 seconds.
• Vampiric Drain: Increases to 3 Health drained per second.
• Vampire’s Servant: Now affects creatures of Level 13 or lower.

Stage 3 Vampirism

All powers from Stages 1 and 2, plus:

• Vampiric Drain: Increases to 4 Health drained per second.
• Vampire’s Servant: Now affects creatures of Level 21 or lower.

Stage 4 Vampirism

All powers from Stages 1, 2, and 3, plus:

• Embrace of Shadows: Once per day, you can invoke this power to gain Vampire’s Sight and Invisibility for 3 minutes.
• Vampiric Drain: Increases to 5 Health drained per second.
• Vampire’s Servant: Now affects creatures of Level 30 or lower.

Un-Living as a Vampire

Maintaining Vampirism: Resting

All vampires may use coffins to sleep in. There are benefits for sealing yourself away in a wooden tomb:

• Sleeping in a coffin grants you all your usual resting bonuses.
• You receive the Vampiric Blood bonus: This grants you 10 percent Magic Resistance for 12 hours.

Vampires can also sleep in a bed as most humans do, and they receive the usual resting bonuses. However, the Vampiric Blood bonus will not be given. If you aren’t a vampire but want to see what the inside of a coffin looks like, you can sleep in one but you only receive the usual resting bonuses.

Maintaining Vampirism: Feeding

As a vampire, you can stave off the disadvantages of your new form by feeding. Feasting on the blood of the living can be tricky. There are four basic approaches:

• Sleeping Victims: Find a sleeping human (citizens and guards tend to be the easiest, though a sleeping soldier, bandit, or warlock will work as well); then activate them to feed on their blood. Doing so reverts your disease back to Stage 1.
• Vampire’s Seduction: If you succeed in using this power on a person, you can feed on them even if they’re awake. This tactic works well on civilians, as all but the weakest foes are too high a level for Vampire’s Seduction to affect them.
• Blood Potion: As an alternative to feeding, you can also drink a Blood Potion, which has the same effect. Alas, these are rare; only a handful can be found in Castle Volkihar, although you may receive a few more as rewards for the Vampire Radiant Quests. They can’t be Crafted.
• Vampire Cattle: If you join with the vampires of Castle Volkihar, one of the benefits is a supply of “cattle,” thralls kept in squalid conditions and brought out during feasting sessions. You can sate your hunger on them whenever you wish, without fear or shunning.

Feeding Is Frowned Upon: Criminality

It is important to know how the guards of each Hold are likely to treat you if you’re caught feeding. In general, the following applies:

• If you feed on a citizen or guard and the victim detects you, this is seen as a Crime (Bounty +40).
• If you feed on a citizen or guard and someone else (who isn’t a friend or ally) detects you, the same Bounty accrues.

There are some exceptions, however:

• If your Sneak skill is high enough, you may not be detected.
• If your victim is under the influence of Vampire’s Seduction, they won’t consider your teeth and slobbering a crime. However, if someone else (not a friend or ally) sees you, the Bounty increase occurs.
• If you’re feeding on the Vampire Cattle in Castle Volkihar, they won’t object to your bloodthirsty appetite.

Life as a Vampire

Aside from the panic and hostility you may create during bouts of bloodletting hunger, the main problems you encounter are your weaknesses to sunlight and fire. Minimize these risks by exploring subterranean catacombs and dungeons during the daytime, and prowl the countryside at night. You may also want to draw on the power of the Lady Stone (see Standing Stones), which helps to offset the lack of normal Health or Stamina regeneration during daylight.

However, once you’ve completed the Dawnguard Main Quest and are able to notch a Bloodcursed Arrow to Auriel’s Bow and fire it into the sun, you can create a perpetual darkness across Skyrim, effectively negating the ill effects of daylight entirely!

As a vampire, you receive several bonuses that improve your stealth abilities, making vampirism a blessing for Thieves, Archers, and Assassins. You will also find it significantly easier to explore Falmer Hives (since you’re immune to the poisons that they, their Chaurus, and their spiders use), Nordic Ruins (since the Draugr use Frost Magic almost exclusively), and Vampire Lairs (since you no longer need fear contracting the disease). You also have a dramatic advantage when fighting frost-breathing dragons, though you have a corresponding weakness to fire-breathing dragons. Keep some potions of Fire Resistance on hand, just in case!

Princes Among the Undead: Volkihar Vampires

Lord Harkon is the progenitor of the Volkihar Vampire bloodline. If, during the course of the Dawnguard Main Quest, you agree to accept his “gift,” his bite imbues you with an incredible and terrifying new aspect: In addition to all the standard effects of vampirism, Volkihar Vampires can assume the powerful Vampire Lord Form.

Becoming a Volkihar Vampire

During Dawnguard Main Quest: Bloodline, you’ll enter Castle Volkihar for the first time and gain an audience with Lord Harkon. A conversation with the vampire king ends with Harkon offering you the power of vampirism. Accept, and you ally yourself with the vampires and become a Volkihar Vampire. This is the usual way to achieve this transformation for the first time.

If you were already a werewolf, Harkon’s gift purges you of Lycanthropy. If you desire to become a werewolf again, speak with Aela the Huntress of the Companions, and consult the Werewolf section later in this chapter.

Lord Harkon’s daughter, Serana, can also turn you into a Volkihar Vampire under certain conditions. This is helpful if you side with the Dawnguard but later want to rule the night as a Volkihar nightstalker!

During Dawnguard Main Quest: Chasing Echoes, if you aren’t a vampire, Serana offers to turn you into a Volkihar Vampire so you’re able to enter the Soul Cairn without suffering any ill effects. This is one more way to transform.

After you complete Dawnguard Main Quest: Kindred Judgment, Serana will turn you into a Volkihar Vampire if you request it, provided you haven’t ordered Serana to cure herself of vampirism.

You can be cured of this strain of vampirism, too. If you crave it again, speak to Harkon or Serana to restore your Volkihar Vampire powers.

Vampire Lord Form

Overview

Becoming a floating, eight-foot demonic vampire with incredible powers is certainly helpful when dealing with enemies, but it has its drawbacks—for example, you won’t be bartering at shops. But there are some important elements to this form you must be aware of:

• Remember that “base” vampires don’t have the correct bloodline to call upon the power of the Vampire Lord Form, so don’t expect to become a Lord if you’ve been infected by them. You must become a Volkihar Vampire in order to use this ability.
• The Vampire Lord Form is a transformation state, much like the Beast Form for Werewolves. You access it in the Magic menu by selecting Magic > Powers > Vampire Lord. It’s a good idea to make this a Favorite so you can quickly call upon it in the midst of combat. You continue to exist in your Vampire Lord form for as long as you wish (unlike Beast Form). To transform back, access your Favorites menu, select “Revert Form,” and invoke it.

You are fortunate that, upon returning to your regular form, all the weapons, armor, spells, and powers you’ve equipped are automatically reinstated.

Vampire Lord: Advantages

Your imposing posture and terrifying form are the least of your advantages as a Volkihar Vampire. When in Vampire Lord Form:

• You retain all of the advantages associated with being a vampire (including the immunity to poison and disease and a resistance to frost).
• You gain a Water Walking ability, enabling you to walk (or float) across the surface of any body of water. You’re unable to swim while in this form.
• Finally, you receive an impressive number of enhancements to your statistics, based on your level:

Vampire Lord: Disadvantages

Your gangly frame and penchant for striking fear into the hearts of citizens across Skyrim can also be a hindrance. Here are the key problems associated with this form:

• You retain all of the disadvantages of being a “base” vampire (including weaknesses to fire and sunlight).
• You can’t loot any corpses you slay.
• You can’t pick up or use any items you find. Since this includes keys, you may find your progress blocked in some dungeons.
• You can’t equip or use any of your normal weapons, spells, items, equipment, Shouts, or powers.
• Your towering frame may have trouble fitting through some narrow passages and doors.
• You can’t speak with anyone, even your own vampire brethren.
• Citizens of Skyrim are terrified of you; some of them flee, while the battle-hardened, brave, or foolish may stand their ground and attack you.
• If anyone sees you transform to or from a Volkihar Vampire, the transformation is considered a Major Crime. Consult the Crime and Punishment section.

Vampire Lord: Powers

While in Vampire Lord Form, you have a variety of powers at your disposal. Most give you an advantage in combat and are divided into the following categories:

Abilities

These are general or basic movement options and strikes:

• Revert Form: This allows you to change back to your human form.
• Ascend and Descend: Press Sneak to switch between ground and hovering states. While on the ground, you can attack with powerful claws and bite attacks. When hovering, you can invoke Blood Magic spells (such as Drain Life). You can use Night Powers in either form.
• Melee Attacks: When standing on the ground, you can rend the flesh of your foes with powerful claw attacks. Inflict a killing blow on your enemy with a power attack, and you perform a bite that devours them, snuffing out their life and draining their lifeblood.
• Blood Magic: Your left and right hands, when hovering, allow you to cast Blood Magic spells.
• You have innate knowledge of two Blood Magic spells: Drain Life and Raise Dead.
• Additional Blood Magic spells can be unlocked by selecting Vampire Lord Perks (see below).
• Drain Life is always equipped in your right hand and doesn’t change. You can, however, choose any Blood Magic Spell to equip in your left hand (via the Favorites menu).
• Night Powers: These special states are available no matter your combat state:
• You have innate knowledge of two Night Powers: Bats and Vampire’s Sight.
• Additional Night Powers can be unlocked by selecting Vampire Lord Perks (see below).
• You can change the Night Power you are using through the Favorites menu.

Blood Magic: Drain Life

Volkihar Vampires are particularly adept at draining the life essence from their foes; their Drain Life is significantly more powerful than the spell a “base” vampire uses. It has additional benefits too:

• It automatically increases in strength based on your level.
• Instead of a close-range concentration spell, it is now a long-range projectile spell that affects all targets near the point of impact.
• It now affects undead. Only Daedra and Dwarven Automatons are immune to it.
• You can empower it even further by drinking from the Bloodstone Chalice, an artifact you fill during the Dawnguard Main Quest of the same name. This effect, Blood of the Ancients, wears off after a few days. The following table details how powerful Drain Life can become:

Blood Magic: Raise Dead

Reanimating the corpses of the recently slain to act as your guard is a powerful spell, one you should employ to turn the tide of combat in your favor. Unlike a base vampire, the power of your Raise Dead spell depends on your level, not how recently you have fed or how powerful the spell is in your regular form. The following table details how powerful Raise Dead can become:

Blood Magic: Other Spells

If giving the dead life to do your bidding isn’t your main method of foe disposal, you can also learn the following Blood Magic spells by obtaining perks (see below). These take the place of the Raise Dead spell in your left hand, although you can switch between them at any time. The following table lists all of the Blood Magic spells you can learn:

Night Powers

As if your astonishing array of abilities wasn’t enough, you also have a number of Night Powers you can use in a more defensive posture during combat and switch between at any time. You begin with the Bats and Vampire’s Sight Powers and can learn the rest as perks. The following table reveals all of the Night Powers you can acquire.

Vampire Lord Perks: The Path of Undeath

• Constellation: Path of the Volkihar
• Available Perks: 11

When Lord Harkon instructs you in the use of your new Vampire Lord Form, he mentions that as you drain the lifeblood from your foes, your power as a Vampire Lord will grow. He is correct in this assessment: While in Vampire Lord Form, press your Character Menu button to access the Vampire Lord Perk Constellation (shown above).

Acquiring Vampire Lord Perks

Unlike the Skill Perks you normally gain through leveling up, Vampire Lord Perks are awarded based on draining the life from your foes: Every time you slay an enemy with your Drain Life spell or Bite power attack, you progress one step toward your next perk point. There are 11 Vampire Lord Perks you can obtain, and each requires progressively more kills:

So, in order to acquire all of the Vampire Lord Perks, you must defeat 165 foes in the manner previously described. Most Vampire Lord Perks give you new Blood Magic or Night Power abilities, increasing the power and versatility of your Vampire Lord Form. The following sections detail all of the perks.

1. Power of the Grave

• 50 point bonus to Health, Magicka, and Stamina as a Vampire Lord.

You must select this perk to unlock any of the others, so it is a given that you receive this. It makes you much more hardy in combat, as you’re able to last longer and absorb more punishment before fleeing or calling upon your Night Powers.

2. Detect All Creatures

• Night Power: Detect all creatures, even Dwarven Automatons
• Requires: Power of the Grave

As adventuring in enclosed spaces can sometimes be tricky, this forewarns you of foes. Note that you can quickly change into this form, detect foes, and switch back to a regular shape and deal with enemies in a more stealthy manner if you wish.

3. Mist Form ★

• Night Power: Transform into an invulnerable mist, while Health, Magicka and Stamina regenerate.
• Requires: Detect All Creatures

Mist Form gives you a way out of almost any dangerous situation. You can use this power at any time, even (and especially) if you find yourself out of Magicka. This effectively gives you double the amount of time to thwart your foes, with an invulnerable period of regeneration in the middle!

4. Supernatural Reflexes

• Night Power: Everything slows down while you move faster.
• Requires: Mist Form

This is useful if you wish to quickly move away from a battle or slow time while you bombard an enemy with Drain Life, or if you need to (for example) catch a dragon on the ground and bombard it with attacks before it takes off again. Beware the one-minute cooldown afterward, though.

5. Blood Healing

• Killing a person with a power attack bite restores all your health.
• Requires: Power of the Grave

Aside from being delicious, this perk enables you to effectively use enemies as health potions while increasing the usefulness of your bite attack. Be sure you time your bite attack to finish off a foe, so judge their heath accordingly before you drop in for a bite.

6. Unearthly Will

• Night Powers and Blood Magic cost 33 percent less
• Requires: Power of the Grave

With Magicka costing one-third less than previously, you can combine this with other bonuses (such as the Blood of the Ancients) to really elongate the time you can cast any of your spells. This is especially beneficial to spells that are used continuously, such as Vampiric Grip.

7. Poison Talons

• Melee attacks do 20 points of poison damage
• Requires: Blood Healing or Unearthly Will

Initially, you might have refrained from melee attacks, as they lack the potency of your spells. Not so anymore; now your claw attacks are more impressive (and their damage cumulative). Judge when enemies are low on health before dashing in for a claw and a bite to finish.

8. Night Cloak ★

• In combat you are surrounded by a cloud of bats that feed on enemies within melee range.
• Requires: Poison Talons

Night Cloak slowly but steadily drains health from your foes and transfers it to you. While this will rarely kill enemies outright, it does make a difference, and over time, the constant health absorption makes you significantly more resilient.

9. Vampiric Grip ★

• Blood Magic: Can pull a creature to you from a distance and do choking damage once it’s close.
• Requires: Power of the Grave

Vampiric Grip is a versatile spell with several powerful uses. The enemy you grab with it is effectively paralyzed, taking them out of the fight for the duration of combat. You can sustain the Grip to choke your foe to death or release it to send them flying; this is perfect for quickly flinging away a pesky melee enemy or for “clustering” your foes into groups that you can hit with a Drain Life spell. For even more carnage, throw your enemies off cliffs or into traps!

10. Summon Gargoyle ★

• Blood Magic: Can conjure a gargoyle to fight for you
• Requires: Vampiric Grip

Summon Gargoyle conjures a tough, powerful ally. In addition to dealing and taking damage for you, gargoyles are also important for crowd control, since you can become overwhelmed if surrounded by too many foes. The Amulet of the Gargoyle, which causes this spell to summon a second gargoyle, is well worth the effort to acquire. Consult Vampire Faction Quest: Amulets of Night Power for more details.

11. Corpse Curse

• Blood Magic: Target is paralyzed
• Requires: Power of the Grave

Handy if you have an extremely powerful foe without ranged attacks (such as a giant), but even an enemy with magic or breath attacks can be stuck while you drain the life from them. More useful against single foes than groups.

Curing Vampirism

Regardless of whether you’re a “base” or Volkihar Vampire, there are but two ways to cure yourself of this affliction:

• You can contract Lycanthropy. The blood ritual that transforms you into a werewolf will cure any diseases you have, even full-blown Vampirism. Of course, you now have other, more hairy problems to contend with....
• Or, you can visit a mage named Falion in Morthal, the Hold Capital of Hjaalmarch, and complete Side Quest: Rising at Dawn.