Can You Become a Regular Vampire in Skyrim?
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Yes, you absolutely can become a regular vampire in Skyrim, separate from the powerful Vampire Lord form introduced in the Dawnguard DLC. This form of vampirism is a more basic, yet still impactful, experience that alters your character’s abilities and gameplay. Unlike the complex transformation into a Vampire Lord, becoming a regular vampire in Skyrim is primarily a result of contracting the disease Sanguinare Vampiris. Let’s dive into the details of how this works and what you can expect.
How to Contract Sanguinare Vampiris
The key to becoming a regular vampire in Skyrim lies in the disease Sanguinare Vampiris. This viral infection is typically contracted through combat with vampires. Here’s how it works:
- Vampiric Drain: When a vampire uses the spell Vampiric Drain on you, there is a chance you will contract Sanguinare Vampiris. This isn’t a guaranteed occurrence, so you may need to face several vampires before becoming infected.
- Incubation Period: After contracting Sanguinare Vampiris, there is an incubation period. Over three in-game days, without being cured, the disease will fully transform your character into a vampire. This transformation happens gradually, with visual cues and changes to your character’s abilities along the way.
- Curing the Disease: If you are not interested in becoming a vampire, you have time to take action. You can cure the disease during its three-day incubation period with potions of cure disease or by visiting a shrine, but once the transformation completes, you’re a vampire.
Stages of Vampirism
Regular vampirism in Skyrim is not a static state. It progresses through four distinct stages, each with its own set of effects and consequences.
- Stage 1: This is the initial stage of vampirism after feeding. At this stage, the negative effects are minimal, and you gain some beneficial abilities.
- Stage 2: The negative effects start to become more prominent at this stage, making it more challenging to maintain your vampirism.
- Stage 3: The penalties increase further, and the social aspects begin to take a toll as people become more wary of you.
- Stage 4: This is the final and most challenging stage. At this point, your weaknesses are amplified, NPCs become more hostile, and your overall play experience becomes significantly harder if you don’t feed.
Benefits of Being a Regular Vampire
While regular vampirism in Skyrim comes with its downsides, it does offer a few advantages:
- Nightstalker’s Footsteps: This passive ability makes the Dragonborn 25 percent harder to detect while sneaking. This is invaluable for players pursuing a stealth archer or other stealth-based builds.
- Increased Stealth: The natural affinity for darkness that comes with being a vampire enhances stealth capabilities, allowing you to move more easily through shadows.
- Increased Resistance to Disease: As a vampire, your character becomes highly resistant to normal diseases.
- Unique dialogue options: Some NPCs react to vampires, often with unique and amusing lines of dialogue.
Drawbacks of Being a Regular Vampire
The major downsides of being a regular vampire center around weaknesses and social consequences.
- Sunlight Weakness: This is perhaps the most significant drawback. Sunlight will stunt the regeneration of health, stamina, and magicka, severely impacting your character’s ability to fight, explore, or even move efficiently in daylight. The sunlight also reduces the overall amount of health, stamina and magicka making them more vulnerable to enemies.
- Fire Weakness: Vampires are highly vulnerable to fire damage, so any combat situation involving fire will be extremely difficult.
- Social Hostility: As you progress through the stages of vampirism, NPCs will become increasingly hostile towards you, especially at Stage 4. This makes it difficult to trade, take quests, or even navigate towns.
- Need to Feed: To avoid reaching stage 4 and reduce your debuffs, you must feed on sleeping NPCs. This might be hard for some players, especially those who want to avoid being seen or those who play a character with a good moral compass.
Feeding and Managing Vampirism
To mitigate the negative effects of being a vampire, it’s crucial to understand how feeding works:
- Feeding on Sleeping NPCs: The act of feeding on a sleeping NPC will reset your vampirism to Stage 1.
- Strategic Feeding: Players must develop a habit of strategically feeding to avoid reaching Stage 4, which brings the most severe penalties.
- Risk of Detection: Be aware that feeding might be noticed by other NPCs, increasing the chance of getting in trouble with the law.
FAQs: Regular Vampires in Skyrim
Here are some frequently asked questions to provide a deeper understanding of regular vampirism in Skyrim:
1. Can I become a regular vampire anytime?
Yes, you can become a regular vampire anytime by contracting Sanguinare Vampiris from a vampire. Just let the disease progress without curing it, and you will become a vampire in three days.
2. Is it better to be a regular vampire or Vampire Lord?
It depends on your playstyle. Regular vampires get stealth benefits and some passive skills while the Vampire Lord form is more combat-focused with a unique skill tree and powerful abilities, however the Dawnguard quest line is required to unlock this form. For many the normal vampire form has a good balance between benefits and disadvantages.
3. Can I be a regular vampire without Dawnguard DLC?
Yes, the regular form of vampirism is available in the base game, independent of the Dawnguard DLC. The Vampire Lord form is only accessible with the DLC.
4. How can I cure regular vampirism in Skyrim?
You can cure vampirism by speaking to Falion in Morthal. He will perform a ritual to remove the curse, requiring a filled black soul gem.
5. What happens if I don’t feed as a vampire?
If you do not feed, your vampirism progresses to higher stages, which amplifies the negative effects. At Stage 4, you suffer the most severe drawbacks.
6. Does being a regular vampire make me weaker in sunlight?
Yes, sunlight prevents regeneration of health, stamina, and magicka. Additionally, it reduces these stats, making you weaker in the day.
7. Are there quests exclusive to being a regular vampire?
No, there aren't any major quest lines exclusive to being a regular vampire. Most of the exclusive vampire-related quests are tied to the **Dawnguard DLC** and the **Vampire Lord** form.
8. Can regular vampires use spells?
Yes, regular vampires can use all of the same spells as a normal player, but you must consider that you cannot regenerate magicka in sunlight and fire is more dangerous.
9. Can Serana turn me into a regular vampire?
No, Serana can’t give you regular vampirism. She can turn you into a Vampire Lord only. You get regular vampirism from contracting Sanguinare Vampiris in combat, as described above.
10. Is it worth it to become a regular vampire in Skyrim?
It depends on your playstyle. If you’re comfortable playing as a sneaky character who avoids direct combat and prefers operating during the night, regular vampirism could be very beneficial.
11. Can I cure vampirism multiple times?
Yes, you can cure vampirism and then contract it again later on. Falion can cure the player and they can then re-contract it via combat with vampires.
12. Do regular vampires have access to unique armor and weapons?
No, regular vampires do not have access to any unique gear specific to their form. However, they can use any weapons and armor in the game.
13. Will the Dawnguard react to my regular vampirism?
Yes, if you attempt to progress the Dawnguard questline as a vampire, you will be turned away and forced to cure your vampirism if you wish to continue working with them.
14. How do I know what stage of vampirism I’m at?
You can usually tell based on the way NPCs react to you. Also, you will see the specific stats in the magic section under active effects, or you will notice visual cues such as your skin turning pale and your eyes going red.
15. Is Harkon the strongest vampire I’ll face?
Yes, in terms of bosses, Harkon is considered the hardest vampire in the game, but some normal enemies can be more difficult due to level scaling.
In conclusion, while it’s not as flashy as a Vampire Lord, becoming a regular vampire in Skyrim offers a unique experience with its own set of benefits and challenges. Understanding the stages of vampirism, managing its downsides, and feeding appropriately can allow you to experience a different way to play Skyrim. Whether it’s for the stealth advantages, the intrigue of a more “hidden” existence, or simply a change in how you play the game, regular vampirism in Skyrim provides a truly interesting take on the life of the Dragonborn.