Ever wanted to become a vampire in Skyrim? Are you already one of the living dead and want to cure your vampirism?
With the 10th Anniversary Edition of the Bethesda RPG on the horizon, it's the perfect time to try something new – or for the very first time – like playing as a vampire! But how to become a vampire in Skyrim or cure your vampirism?
How to Become a Vampire
Vampires are not themselves a race; any race in Skyrim can become a vampire. The only prerequisite to becoming a bloodsucker is not being a werewolf. Skyrim does not allow you to have vampire and werewolf blood at the same time.
To contract vampirism, you will actually have to contract the Sanguinare Vampiris disease.
To do this, you will need to be hit by a Vampiric Drain spell or hit by a vampire's weapon. A great place to find Vampires is in Morvath's Lair, where many 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 disease resistances, so it may take more attacks to contract vampirism than with other races.
Either way, you'll eventually see a notice pop up in the top left of the screen that says "You have a Sanguinare Vampiris contract." Now you have to wait.
It takes 72 in-game hours for the disease to take effect and vampirism to take hold, although you must expose yourself to the sun at least once for the vampire transformation to take place. Trivially, do not drink any cure disease potions during this time.
Advantages and disadvantages of being a vampire
There are four stages to vampirism, and unless you're feeding, you'll advance one stage for every 24 in-game hours you spend as a vampire. If you feed, you will return to the first stage.
At each stage, your Freeze 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 progress through the stages of vampirism. In the fourth stage, they will attack immediately. However, the higher level you are, the more vampiric strength and vampiric spells you have to defend against pesky NPCs.
Additional effects include 100% poison and disease resistance, and Nightstalker's Champion and No Nightstalker 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 gain buffs to all enchantments, buffs, and debuffs.
How to cure vampirism
Tired of not being able to travel safely during daylight hours? No problem, there is a cure for vampirism. Find a bartender of your choice and ask him about the rumors, and he'll tell you about Falion, a deadly wizard who studies vampires.
Falion can be found in Morthal Swamp between 1am and 5am, or in his house otherwise. He says vampirism can be cured by using filled Black Soul Gem. You can purchase a Black Soul Gem from Falion, and then must cast Soul Trap on a humanoid target to fill it.
Return to Falion with your gem filled, and he will perform the ritual to cure you of your vampirism and agree to supply you with endless remedies.
And that's all you need to know to become a vampire and cure vampirism in Skyrim. Although it has its drawbacks, playing as a vampire opens the door to many other fun opportunities and experiences. Consider giving it a try, and if you find that's not your thing, just head to Falion and get healed! For more on Skyrim, be sure to browse our guides hub!
