how to become a vampire lord in skyrim

Every mainElder Scrolls title is jam-packed with content for players to uncover and experience. Main stories, side missions, dungeons, and deep lore are some of the reasons why this series is so beloved by many.

DLC adds on to this list as well, with theDawnguard DLC adding skill trees for Werewolves while introducing Vampire Lords. Seen as a caster's alternative to a Werewolf, Vampire Lords can siphon the life of enemies while levitating from a safe distance. Like any Bethesda game, there are plenty of unique things you can do as a Vampire Lord that most don't know about. Here are 10 things you never knew about the Vampire Lord inSkyrim.

10 Harkon's Bite Kills

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To join the elite group of Vampire Lords, you will need one of them to bite you. Luckily, Lord Harkon is up to the task if you bring his daughter back to him.

In typical Bethesda fashion, this part of the game can bug out. Normally, Harkon bites your neck and you gain your new powers. Sometimes, the game bugs out and thinks Harkon is hostile, resulting in the bite instantly killing you. It's fixed in the Unofficial Patches mod, but it's nevertheless a funny bug that's a result of how expansiveSkyrim is.

9 Necromage Synergy

Anyone who wants to play as a vampire should be using Restoration's Necromage perk. This perk enhances the effects of spells against undead.

It seems this was balanced around using spells against undead, but becoming a vampire tags your character as undead. As a result, all buffs you receive are enhanced by 25%. Vampire Lord's increase to your base attributes is affected by this along with any spells you use in this form.

8 Too Big For Doors

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You might be fear incarnate while in your true form, but it seems that a Vampire Lord's true weakness is doors. While you're a Vampire Lord, your interactions with items are rather limited and most doors are too small.

You can somewhat circumvent this by walking sideways into passages, but this only works some of the time. Worse, very few NPCs will talk to you in this state. Those who aren't immediately hostile can't be spoken to at all and most interactables can't be assessed excluding levers. You can also morph back to human form to circumvent this, but it is annoying nonetheless.

7 Unique Dialogue

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For the few NPCs that can stand your terrifying visage, they have unique dialogue they deliver to the player. Most of these NPCs are in Castle Volkihar.

Named NPCs at the keep will tell you to switch forms before they resume dialogue with you, seemingly unimpressed with your display of power. Characters like Garan Marethi and Ronthil all react with apathy while others ask for you to change back. As for generic NPCs, most will yell that you're a vampire and run away or fight you.

6 Need 156 Kills For Every Perk

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Dawnguard introduced plenty of new perks for Werewolves and Vampire Lords to unlock. These trees have unique ways of unlocking perks.

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. Once you kill that many enemies in that fashion, you can unlock every perk, making your character much more powerful.

5 Only One Vampire Lord Fight

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While it's fun to morph into a Vampire Lord, they seem rare to come across inSkyrim. You would be right, as you only fight one in the entire game.

In the Kindred Judgement quest, players must confront Harkon about the Elder Scroll and Auriel's Bow. No matter which side you chose, you must slay Harkon in a boss fight that involves defeating Gargoyles and preventing Harkon from dodging you with Bats. After this epic fight, you will never fight another Vampire Lord again.

4 Can Be A Vampire And Werewolf Simultaneously

Werewolves are fun to play as inSkyrim, but the game makes it clear that you can only be a Vampire Lord or Werewolf. This is not true, and it is possible to be both at once.

Through some clever timing, you can preserve your Vampire Lord blood while accepting The Companion's blessing during their story. When you drink the blood, turn into a Vampire Lord immediately. If done correctly, you'll morph from a Werewolf to a Vampire Lord. Tell Serana to give you your vampiric status back and now you'll have both powers! You keep the negatives of being a vampire, but now it's possible to swap to either form at will.

3 Originally Limited Time Span

Game Jams are responsible for much ofSkyrim's bizarre and engaging content. Vampire Lords came out of one Game Jam and seemed to originally be a limited time transformation.

Digging throughSkyrim's audio files reveals a few quips from Harkon about having a period of time where you are a Vampire Lord before it wears out. It seems that this was cut shortly before the expansion shipped, and it's honestly for the best.

2 Can Heal When Transforming

Attribute scaling is one of the largest boons of becoming a Vampire Lord. Morphing into your true form will grant a massive increase to your key stats, but it doesn't heal you.

At least, it's not supposed to. Thanks to the way buff stacking works inSkyrim, you can heal health points thanks to Vampire Lord having attribute scaling tied to your level. If you are low on health, you can morph into your true form and recover some of your health in an instant.

1 Vampire Lord Jewellery

Unlike Werewolves, certain items are not taken off of your character when you transform into a Vampire Lord. This applies to certain jewelry found throughout theDawnguard DLC.

Four items count for this: Amulet of Bats, Amulet of The Gargoyle, Ring of The Best, and the Ring of the Erudite. Amulet of The Gargoyle is one of the best, allowing you to summon 2 Gargoyles instead of 1 while you are in Vampire Lord form. You can find these items throughout Castle Volkihar and certain quests.

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