Sanguinare Vampiris is a disease featured in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that can be quite a pain to have. However, depending on your build, contracting vampirism can be beneficial and even a fun little experience.
It can be scary the first time you contract vampirism, especially if you’re trying to roleplay your character in a certain way. After all, it’s a bit ironic that you become a vampire right after you’ve been slaying the hell out of a bunch of vampire clans on your way to Winterhold. But fear not since there are actually a few upsides to contracting vampirism.
For one, being a vampire in Skyrim gives you immunity to all diseases and poisons, extra resistance to frost, improved sneak, and a few additional spells. But this all comes with a cost, that being that your Health, Stamina, and Magicka won’t regenerate over time as long as you’re in the sunlight, you kind of have to drink blood to keep up the disease from becoming more severe, and you gain weakness to fire. So, if that’s not what you’re going for, there are ways to get rid of the disease.
How To Get Rid Of Vampirism In Skyrim
There are two simple ways to cure vampirism in Skyrim. One of them is to speak with Falion on Morthal and give him a Black Soul Gem. The second method is by contracting Lycanthropy and thus becoming a werewolf.
If you don’t want to turn into a werewolf in order to cure it, then speak to any bartender about any rumors, and they should mention Falion and instruct you to head to Morthal.
Once you meet Falion, he will tell you that he needs a filled Black Soul Gem to perform the ritual. If you don’t have one, he’ll be able to sell you one.
Once you have the gem, you can cast the spell Soul Trap on an enemy, which states that if you kill that enemy within a certain timeframe, their soul will be contained in the gem. This can also be done if you kill the target with a weapon that has been enchanted with Soul Trap.
When the Black Soul Gem is filled, you can look for Falion once again, and he’ll be able to cure you. You can be cured an unlimited amount of times, so don’t worry if you happen to get infected again.
Going to Falion can be cumbersome considering the number of things you have to do to get the cure. And becoming a werewolf feels like choosing between the lesser of two evils.
Luckily, this can all be easily prevented. If you contract the disease and start showing symptoms, all you have to do is drink a Potion of Cure Disease, which can be bought, crafted, or found as loot. Alternatively, you can also prevent it by praying at a shrine.
You only have three in-game days to do this, however. After those three days, you will effectively have become a sexy, blood-sucking undead.
Usually, the game will tell you when you’ve contracted the disease, but if you’re not sure because maybe you missed it when you were focused on combat or the game bugged out (it’s Bethesda we’re talking about here, it’s bound to happen), you can check under Active Effects in the Magic section.
How To Become A Vampire In Skyrim
If, on the flip side, you want to become a vampire, then look no further. Becoming a vampire in Skyrim has a wide array of benefits that could turn your character into a very powerful build.
To become a vampire as early as possible, you can head to North Shriekwind Bastion, northeast of Falkreath, or Movarth’s Lair, near Morthal. While there are a plethora of vampire camps scattered throughout the world, these two places will always have a few vampires willing to attack you.
Once you find a clan, let yourself be attacked, heal and retreat as much as necessary until you contract vampirism. Once this happens, let three in-game days pass, and that’s that.
If you have the Special Edition version of Skyrim, the Dawnguard DLC questline will become available once you reach level 10. This will give you the option to join a vampire clan and allow you to eventually become a Vampire Lord.
Is It Worth Being A Vampire In Skyrim?
There are many perks to becoming a vampire in Skyrim. You gain a 100% resistance to poison and diseases; the Illusion spells you cast are 25% more powerful, also making you 25% harder to detect when sneaking around, and a sliding curve of resistance to cold depending on what stage of vampirism you’re currently on.
And the fun ride doesn’t stop there, as you gain several different spells such as Vampire Sight, which improves your night vision for a set amount of time, Vampiric Drain that allows you to absorb health from the target, and Vampire Servant, an amazingly cool spell that reanimates a dead body to fight for you.
In further stages, you’ll gain Vampire Seduction. This spell causes enemies to not flee from battle, and Embrace of Shadows, one of the best spells in the game since it turns you invisible while also improving your night vision for a good three minutes.
Be warned. Vampires will still attack you even though you’re a vampire too. However, some of the undercover ones might refer to you as a brother or sister, which is a nice little touch on Bethesda’s part.
It’s not all sunshine and rainbows for vampires, however. Take it literally since the sunlight will prevent your Stamina, Health, and Magicka to halt their regeneration. You’ll gain weakness to fire that will increase gradually the further you are of the stages of vampirism, and the NPCs will turn hostile toward you once you become a Vampire Lord.
If this is something you can live with, then go on ahead. Becoming a vampire in Skyrim is part of the game, after all, and it opens so many roleplaying possibilities in a world already full of life and things to do. Even if Skyrim is a decade old, this game doesn’t stop impressing and being enjoyed by gamers all over the globe.
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