If the numerous playstyles in Skyrim do not fulfill your need for a complex character, you can always become a vampire and add a new layer to your build. Going down this path not only makes you stronger but also gives you new abilities to hunt your targets in the dark.
Becoming a vampire in Skyrim can sometimes feel complicated like a complicated process. This step-by-step guide should teach you everything you need to know about how to become a vampire in Skyrim and the pros and cons that come with it.
The addition of Dawnguard to The Elder Scrolls: V Skyrim expands the boundaries of Vampirism with the new vampire lord form that you can switch to after going through the DLC questline.
How to become a Vampire in Skyrim
To start becoming a vampire in Skyrim, you will need to contract vampirism through the disease called ‘Sanguinare Vampiris’. It is spread through Vampire attacks, which will require you to fight a Vampire. You could wait to get lucky enough to come across a vampire in the wild one night or travel to a place with vampires and engage in combat with them.
Step #1: Find a Vampire infested area
The cave called ‘Haemar’s Shame‘ located to the east of Falkreath and the west of Riften is an excellent spot to find low-level Vampires from whom you can contract the disease. Morvarth’s lair found in the North Western region of Skyrim is another great location with low-level vampires.
Alternatively, you can look for them in Bloodlet Throne, The Fang Cave, and Fellglow Keep.
Step #2: Contract Sanguinare vampiris
Make sure to take as many attacks as you can from their weapons and spells without dying to maximize your chances of contracting the disease. Keeping a few restoration spells ready should be helpful during this process. A commonly used tactic is to leave one Vampire alive in a room so its damage can easily be mitigated by a healing spell.
You can wait for a notification on the top left corner or check your ‘Active effects’ tab to confirm if you caught it. Ensure that you do not have any sort of immunity to it and are not performing any actions to cure diseases. Certain shrines, potions, and spells have healing effects that get rid of Sanguinare Vampiris.
Step #3: Wait for three days
Approximately 72 hours after living with this effect active, you should be able to become a vampire at stage 1. This change is denoted by a red flash on your screen along with a textbox on the top left of your screen. You should also be able to see the resistance to frost and diseases in your active effects.
The Stages of Vampirism in Skyrim
Vampirism is classified into four stages depending on how strong its effects are, with stage 4 being the strongest. Not feeding on citizens for a day lets you progress from one stage to the next while feeding resets this development back to stage 1.
Each of these stages has its own set of pros and cons. The positive effects caused by Vampirism will increase but so will the negative ones, which makes choosing the right quests for each stage a weighty decision.
Note: The resistances and weaknesses are reduced with the Dawnguard DLC.
Stage 1 Vampirism
With the first stage of Vampirism, you resist frost by 25% and are weak to fire by the same. These values are reduced to 20% with the Dawnguard DLC.
Becoming a vampire will give you new abilities like ‘Champion of the night’ and ‘Nightstalkers footsteps’, which strengthen your illusion spells and make it harder for enemies to detect you when you are sneaking around. You will also have +5 vampiric strength and -15 points of weakness in sunlight.
At stage 1 of being a Vampire, you will gain access to new spells like Vampiric drain, Vampire’s Servant, and Vampire’s sight. Vampiric drain draws the opponent’s health and regenerates yours, while Vampire’s Servant gives you a reanimated corpse. and Vampire’s sight grants the player the night vision ability.
Stage 2 Vampirism
Stage 2 of Vampirism does not give players new vampire spells but increases the potency of the previously gained effects. Frost resistance and weakness to fire are increased to 50% without Dawnguard, while it goes to 30% with it.
Vampiric strength is increased to 10 points while your weakness to sunless increases in magnitude at -30 points.
Stage 3 Vampirism
In addition to the regular increase in frost resistance and fire weakness, Skyrim Vampires at stage 3 gain a new spell called Vampire’s Seduction. For 30 seconds, this spell reduces the likelihood of an enemy attacking you. It only has a few limitations with aspects like enemy levels and types.
Additionally, your vampire strength will move up to 15 points, while your weakness to sunlight falls to -45
Stage 4 Vampirism
At stage 4, your vampiric abilities will be maximized, but so will your weaknesses. This stage gives you new strengths, while also giving you weaknesses that make sustaining this form incredibly impractical.
When you become a vampire at stage 4, your frost resistance and weakness to fire will shoot up to 100% (50% with Dawnguard). Your Vampiric Strength will be at 20 points while your weakness to sunlight will be incredibly potent at -60 points, making day travel very annoying.
At this stage, your vampiric traits will be very visible to others. Since the citizens of Skyrim dislike vampires, going into cities will be incredibly troublesome. You will not be able to communicate with people that are involved in quests as they will soon become hostile towards you.
Fortunately, You will be able to use the ‘Embrace of Shadows’ power at this level which grants you invisibility and better night vision for 180 seconds. You can use this to get through difficult areas of the game, or sneak into houses without getting caught and feed on citizens to go back to stage 1, so you can continue questing.
Playing Skyrim as a Vampire
Playing Skyrim as a Vampire will require adopting a new playstyle to manage the stages of vampirism and make the best use of your new abilities.
Vampires in Skyrim thrive in the dark. Traveling during the night will let you use all the new abilities you gain as a vampire without needing to suffer the consequences of sunlight. You can spend the daytime indoors or simply rest until it is dark again.
Not feeding on citizens will progress your stages of vampirism, which can make you stronger but more disliked by those around you. Feeding will revert you to stage 1 of vampirism.
How to feed as a Skyrim Vampire
Feeding as a regular vampire in Skyrim does not require you to kill NPCs. Instead, you can sneak into their houses can slowly feed on them when they are asleep. This lets you reset your vampiric stages and lets the characters you fed on continue to live.
Is Being a Skyrim Vampire Worth It?
Becoming a vampire in Skyrim has its pros and cons, which makes this decision unique for each player. While giving you new powers and abilities, it limits your travels to the night. You can use the following listed advantages and disadvantages of being a vampire to determine if it is worth it for you.
Advantages of being a vampire
Becoming a Vampire in Skyrim makes you much more powerful in the night. You receive vampiric strength and new abilities like the Vampire’s seduction spell, Vampiric drain, and a lot more. Later stages of vampirism can enhance your stealth gameplay, letting you sneak in and out of places so you do not have to interact with citizens.
Disadvantages of being a vampire
All the perks that vampires in Skyrim receive are only worth it if you choose to not spend your time in the sun. Going out during the day can severely debuff vampires and make them fairly weak. Vampires are also more vulnerable to fire, causing it to deal more damage to you.
All of the cons of vampirism only increase at later stages. In addition to all the weaknesses, stage four vampires are disliked by citizens, which can make talking to NPCs to complete quests a difficult task for vampires.
If becoming a vampire does not work out well for you, you can always cure vampirism by visiting Falion in Morthal with a filled black soul gem. You can find him by talking to innkeepers around Skyrim.
You can even use a few Vampire Mods for Skyrim to negate the disadvantages of the playstyle while enhancing it further.
The difference between a Skyrim Vampire and Vampire Lord
Contrary to what it may seem like, the Vampire Lord form is a not regular stage of being a vampire. The concept of Vampire lords was released in the Dawnguard DLC and was offered as an alternative playstyle to those that picked it through the new questline.
While the Vampire Lord form shares a few abilities like Vampire sight from its night powers, and its blood magic called drain life that resembles vampiric drain, it has a lot more going on. It focuses on an absolute vampire build
Even as a regular Vampire, Skyrim offers players a lot of new features and abilities to explore. The new playstyle it comes with may require a more stealthy approach, but is often rewarding. The steps listed above should help you easily become a Vampire in Skyrim and let you begin your gothic journey.
Did you find this list helpful? Do you have any more Skyrim vampire tips? Let us know in the comments below.
FAQs
What is the best way to become a vampire in Skyrim? ›
You'll need to come in contact with another vampire. Each hit by a vampiric enemy has a chance of passing the Sanguinare Vampiris disease onto you. You can find vampires in Haemar's Shame, a cave to the southwest of Ivarstead. If you want to contract Vampirism, go there and let the vampires attack you.
What race is best for Vampire Lord? ›Dark Elves are as stealthy as they are magical, making them perfect hunters of the night. And it's without a doubt that they're among the best races to play as a Vampire.
How do I become a full blooded vampire in Skyrim? ›To contract vampirism, players must take damage from a vampire enemy, either physically or through the Vampiric Drain spell. Players will know when they've been infected once they receive a notification about contracting Sanguinare Vampiris.
What is the fastest way to become a Vampire Lord in Skyrim? ›To become a vampire in Skyrim, the first thing you must do is contract Sanguinare Vampiris. The best way to do this is by traveling to Movarth's Lair, which is north of Morthal. Movarth's Lair houses many low-level vampires. This is beneficial, as you'll need to take hits to contract the disease.
What is a good vampire name? ›- Bartholomew.
- Cassius.
- Emmett.
- Felix.
- Hunter.
- Jasper.
- Lazarus.
- Louis.
Skyrim doesn't actually allow you to marry any vampires through regular in-game actions. The only way to marry Serana or any other vampire is through the use of a mod.
Can vampire lords fly in Skyrim? ›Holding down the left bumper has the Vampire Lord flap its wings and fly-sprint, and the effect can be sustained for a relatively long time. The Vampire Lord can also walk across water by virtue of its hovering.
Is vampiric bloodline good? ›Vampiric Bloodline is an excellent way to get started with Vampires, especially if you're new to the tribe. The precon has some cracking reprints and plenty of scope to take the deck in a direction that speaks to you.
What is the strongest vampire in Skyrim? ›The Volkihar Master Vampire is the strongest vampire boss-type you can encounter in Skyrim if you are playing with any DLC. Volkihar Master Vampires can be found in several locations throughout Skyrim, often with a couple of their clan members in tow.
How do you become a hybrid vampire? ›To become a werewolf-vampire hybrid, a werewolf must have either Klaus or Hope's Blood in their system before they are killed so they can awaken a short time later in transition.
What race is serana? ›
Serana is a Nord vampire found inside a sarcophagus in Dimhollow Cavern. She is the long lost daughter of Lord Harkon and Valerica, and is in possession of an Elder Scroll.
Can you be a wolf and vampire in Skyrim? ›You cannot become a Vampire and a Werewolf at the same time. Becoming a Vampire Lord removes lycanthropy automatically, but the option to return remains. Lycanthropy can be cured by other means as well. After finishing The Companions' questline, you'll get a quest that offers a cure.
Why can't I transform into a Vampire Lord? ›Sometimes when you are made a Vampire Lord by either Harkon or Serana you will not be able to use the Vampire Lord power to turn into one. This can by fixed by entering the console and typing: set dlc1vampirelorddisallow to 0. You can also check out this page for bugs and solutions.
How many kills does it take to max Vampire Lord? ›Vampire Lords must slay enemies with Vampiric Drain or a heavy melee attack in their true form to earn progress. Perks get harder to obtain as you slay enemies, but it caps off at 156 enemies.
Is a Werewolf stronger than a Vampire Lord in Skyrim? ›At lower levels, Werewolf is maybe a better choice, because it's easier to level up, and Vampire Lord won't have as many advantages. However overall, Vampire Lord is a complete power trip. At level 46+ you get an extra 250 health, 200 magicka and 100 stamina.
Who is the 1st vampire? ›Jure Grando Alilović or Giure Grando (1579–1656) was a villager from the region of Istria (in modern-day Croatia) who may have been the first real person described as a vampire in historical records. He was referred to as a strigoi, štrigon, or štrigun, a local word for something resembling a vampire and a warlock.
Who is the oldest vampire alive? ›After Akasha is finally destroyed, Khayman becomes the oldest vampire in existence. He is briefly mentioned at the end of Blood Canticle, when he takes away the fledgling vampires Quinn Blackwood and Mona Mayfair to Maharet and Mekare's sanctuary.
What are vampire babies called? ›literally meaning "vampire's son", are used. In other regions the child is named "Vampir" if a boy and "Vampirica" if a girl, or "Dhampir" if a boy and "Dhampirica" if a girl.
How to get serana as wife? ›Marrying Serana works just like marrying any other NPC in Skyrim, so after proposing, go to the Temple of Mara to set up the wedding - and that's it. You're now married to the spookiest lady in Skyrim. Kill the father, marry the daughter, what more could you want out of life?
Can you be pregnant in Skyrim? ›Tracked women proceed through the menstrual cycle and can become pregnant as well as give birth to babies and Hearthfire-compatible children.
Can you turn serana human? ›
It's possible to cure Serana of her vampirism after finishing the Dawnguard DLC. You can bring Serana to Falion, who resides in Morthal, and he can cure her of her vampirism by performing a ritual; you can also do this for your character if you wish to cure your own vampirism.
Can vampires fly in True blood? ›Flight - Some vampires have the ability to fly. It is suggested that older vampires can fly, while younger vampires can merely levitate. When Sookie Stackhouse asks Eric Northman if all vampires can fly, Eric responds "can all humans sing?", suggesting this is more a skill than an innate ability.
What happens if I accept Lord Harkon's blood? ›Speaking With Lord Harkon
If you accept the offer, Harkon will bite you, which causes you to pass out. If you refuse the offer to become a vampire, you will be banished from Castle Volkihar and won't be able to enter back inside. From here, you will need to return back to Isran and finish the quest.
Serana is an ancient pure-blood vampire and the daughter of Lord Harkon, leader of the Volkihar vampires and the main antagonist of Dawnguard.
What is a vampire's greatest enemy? ›Children of the Moon are the most dangerous enemies of vampires, because they are the only thing strong enough (aside from another vampire) to kill a vampire. Children of the Moon originally hunted humans, though over the centuries they have been hard-wired to kill vampires on sight in their wolf form.
How can I look more vampiric? ›- For women, fancy black skirts, black or red tops with bell sleeves, corset tops, and black dresses are great for a vampire style.
- For men, try a dark suit jacket or overcoat with antique buttons.
Though the Dragonborn is able to become a member of secret societies like the Thieves Guild or curry favor with a city's authorities to become one of its Thanes, there is no way for players to officially ascend to the powerful Jarl position in Skyrim.
Is there an alpha vampire? ›The Alpha Vampire was the very first vampire and progenitor of all other vampires. He was one of the Alpha monsters captured and interrogated by Crowley and Castiel in their efforts to locate Purgatory. He escaped Crowley's prison and set up a new nest in North Dakota, and then Montana.
Who is the leader of all vampires? ›The Vampire Elders, also known as Grand Elders and Great Elders, are the three leaders and rulers of the entire vampire population and the most powerful of their kind. The original Elders are the three oldest known Vampires. These three Vampires are Marcus Corvinus, Viktor, and Amelia.
Can half vampires get pregnant? ›It is currently unknown whether hybrids can reproduce or not. It may be possible that they are able to, since the primary limitation for female vampires is their inability to change—not the case with hybrids.
What is a hybrid between a vampire and a werewolf called? ›
Werewolf-Vampire Hybrids, also called Were-pires or Vaewolfves, are the mixture of both a vampire and a werewolf. They possess the powers of both species, making them twice as powerful.
Does Klaus ever turn into a wolf? ›Most of the second season of The Vampire Diaries, The Originals' parent show, saw Klaus trying to unlock his werewolf side with a ritual, but while he finally managed to do so, fans of both series never actually saw Klaus transition on screen.
Can you marry Serana If you join the Dawnguard? ›Yes. Serana will seek you out once you free her regardless of which side you have chosen as she is integral to the story.
What happens if you cure Serana? ›No major drawbacks if you do choose to cure her of vampirism. She just won't be immune to frost attack or make Bloodcursed Elven arrows. Her pupils also change.
Who is stronger werewolf or vampire? ›...
Comparison chart.
| Vampire | Werewolf | |
|---|---|---|
| Strengths | Immortality, enhanced sences, agility, superhuman strength. | Near invulnerability, speed, strength |
Werewolf-vampire hybrids can be creation by birth between a werewolf and a vampire or can be turned into one by a originals vampires blood this method as been showed on (Vampire Diaries)/(The Originals).
Is it a good choice to become a vampire in Skyrim? ›There are many benefits to becoming a vampire in Skyrim. Players gain the Vampiric Strength, Champion of the Night and Nightstalker's Footsteps abilities, an increased resistance to frost, and the additional spells Vampiric Drain, Vampire's Servant, and Vampire's Sight.
What is the strongest type of vampire in Skyrim? ›If you have Dawnguard installed, you will eventually run into the Nightmaster Vampire, the strongest boss type in the game.
Is being a vampire worth it Skyrim? ›Vampires in Skyrim seem backwards. You literally become more powerful the LESS you act like a vampire. Feeding on blood resets your disease and makes your powers and resistances weaker, while not feeding will make your attacks stronger and make you more resistant to frost.
Is it worth it being a Vampire Lord in Skyrim? ›Definitely worth it. Vampire lords are extremely powerful (so long as you don't have Serana as your follower when using the form). It's also unlimited in uses and time, both a huge plus from werewolves.
Who is stronger Werewolf or vampire? ›
...
Comparison chart.
| Vampire | Werewolf | |
|---|---|---|
| Strengths | Immortality, enhanced sences, agility, superhuman strength. | Near invulnerability, speed, strength |
Speaking With Lord Harkon
If you accept the offer, Harkon will bite you, which causes you to pass out. If you refuse the offer to become a vampire, you will be banished from Castle Volkihar and won't be able to enter back inside. From here, you will need to return back to Isran and finish the quest.
Holding down the left bumper has the Vampire Lord flap its wings and fly-sprint, and the effect can be sustained for a relatively long time. The Vampire Lord can also walk across water by virtue of its hovering.
What is the best vampire weapon in Skyrim? ›Harkon's Sword is easily the best go-to weapon for anyone playing a vampire within Skyrim. First appearing with the release of Dawnguard, this blade closely resembles one of the Blades swords from the base game while boasting a unique enchantment that only works if the wielder is a vampire themselves.
Can vampires get pregnant Skyrim? ›Vampires in The Elder Scrolls series normally can't conceive children at all. The only known case of a vampire having a child comes from TES IV: Oblivion, in which you can find out that Ogronak gro-Malog, aka “The Gray Prince,” is actually the son of an imperial vampire named Lord Lovidicus.
Can you feed as a Vampire Lord? ›Another way to feed is to attack people as a Vampire Lord. Once enemies are close to death, a power attack will lead to a feeding. Finally, the Vampire's Seduction ability will enable a dialogue option that allows players to feed on non-playable characters. But, as noted, feeding is frowned upon.