With the 10th anniversary edition of the Bethesda RPG on the horizon, now is as good a time as any to try something new — or for the very first time — like playing as a vampire! But how do you become a vampire in Skyrim or cure your vampirism?
How to Become a Vampire
Vampires are not a race themselves; any race in Skyrim can become a vampire. The only prerequisite to becoming a bloodsucker is that you must not be a werewolf. Skyrim does not allow you to have both vampire and werewolf blood simultaneously.
To contract vampirism, you’ll need to actually contract the Sanguinare Vampiris disease.
To do so, you’ll need to be hit with a Vampiric Drain spell or struck by a vampire’s weapon. A great place to find vampires is in Morvath’s Lair, where numerous low-level creatures of the night tend to roam. You have a 10% chance of contracting the disease with each attack, so wear armor that allows you to take more hits with less damage per hit.
Wood Elves and Argonians have natural resistances to disease, so it may take more attacks to contract vampirism than with other races.
Either way, you’ll eventually see a notice appear in the top left of the screen that says “You have contract Sanguinare Vampiris”. Now, you need to wait.
It takes 72 in-game hours for the disease to take effect and for the vampirism to set in, though you will need to step into the sunlight at least once beforehand for the transformation into a vampire to take place. Trivially, don’t drink any Cure Disease potions during this period.
Pros and Cons of Being a Vampire
There are four stages to vampirism, and unless you feed, you will advance one stage for every 24 in-game hours spent as a vampire. If you feed, then you will reset to the first stage.
With each stage, your Frost resistance will increase, while your Fire resistance will decrease. This includes your resistance to sunlight.
As a vampire, NPCs will become increasingly hostile as you advance through the stages of vampirism. At the fourth stage, they will attack immediately. However, the higher level you are, the more vampiric strength and vampiric spells you have to defend yourself against annoying NPCs.
Additional effects include a 100% resistance to poison and disease, plus the Champion of the Night and Nightstalker’s Footsteps abilities, which grant you increased power for Illusion spells and stealth respectively.
Vampirism also makes you undead. If you have the Necromage perk, you will also get boosts to all enchantments, buffs, and debuffs.
How to Cure Vampirism
Sick of not being able to travel safely through the daylight hours? No problem, there is a cure to vampirism. Find a bartender of your choice and ask them about rumors, and they’ll tell you about Falion, a Morthal wizard who studies vampires.
Falion can be found in the marsh in Morthal between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m., or in his house otherwise. He will tell that vampirism can be cured by using a filled Black Soul Gem. You can purchase a Black Soul Gem from Falion, and must then cast Soul Trap on a humanoid target to fill it.
Return to Falion with your filled gem, and he will carry out the ritual to cure you of your vampirism and agree to provide you endless cures.
And that’s all you need to know about becoming a vampire and curing vampirism in Skyrim. Though it has its downsides, playing as a vampire opens the door to so many more fun opportunities and experiences. Consider giving it a go, and if you find it’s not your thing, just head to Falion and get cured! For more on Skyrim, consider perusing our guides hub!
