The expanse of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is magical and filled with fantastical creatures, and you can also become a mythical, blood-thirsty villain yourself. In this guide, we’ll tell you how to become a vampire in Skyrim, the different stages of Vampirism and its advantages.
How to become a vampire in Skyrim
Vampirism was a feature included in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and the Skyrim disease works in the same manner.
The first step in becoming a vampire is to come into contact with the creatures of the night and let them attack you.
Advantages
As a vampire, you will have some disadvantages, but there are plenty of pros to being a night stalker:
- Immunity to diseases, diseases will be automatically cured
- Immunity to poison
- Increased frost resistance
- Illusion spells get a 25% boost
- 25% harder to detect when sneaking
Where to find Vampires
Vampires can be found in the Falkreath Hold cave Haemar’s Shame, located South-West of the Ivarstead community.
You can find the cave by venturing East of Falkreath or West of Riften, and it sits on the main road connecting Helgen and Ivarstead.
The cave is divided in two and occupied by many vampires, and it is also home to the Daedric Prince Clavicus Vile shrine.
Once inside the cave and encountering vampires, let them attack you, and you will be plagued with ‘Sanguinare Vampiris.’
Vampire salts
An alternative way to contract Vampirism is by purchasing or obtaining vampire salts.
Vampires frequently drop these salts in caves and dark liars, or you can purchase samples of Vampire Dust from the Nightcaller Temple or The Mortar and Pestle shop outside of Dawnstar.
Vampirism stages
There are four stages of Vampirism which develop every 24 hours. In Oblivion, it took three in-game days to turn into a full vampire without treatment.
If you feed on a sleeping NPC, your symptoms will return to stage one and each stage has its pros and cons.
Stage 1
- Increased Resist Frost by 25%
- Attributes reduced by 15 points in the sunlight.
- Weakness to Fire 25%
- Gain abilities Vampire’s Sight, Vampiric Drain, Vampire’s Servant
Stage 2
- Increased Resist Frost by 50%
- Attributes reduced by 30 points in the sunlight.
- Weakness to Fire 50%
- Gain ability Vampire’s Seduction
Stage 3
- Increased Resist Frost by 75%
- Attributes reduced by 45 points in the sunlight.
- Weakness to Fire 75%
- Enhanced existing abilities
- NPCs will not interact with you
Stage 4
- Increased Resist Frost by 100%
- Attributes reduced by 60 points in the sunlight.
- Weakness to Fire 100%
- Gain abilities: Embrace of Shadows
- Upgraded Vampiric Drain and Vampire’s Servant.
- Citizens of Skyrim will attack you.
If you’ve had your fill of blood and want to feel human again, then follow this guide on how to cure Vampirism in Skyrim.
