Skyrim:Preemptive Strike

Destroy the vampire before it turns its allies. Quest Giver: Gunmar Location(s): Random Bandit Camp or Warlock Lair Reward: Leveled enchanted item ID: DLC1RH03

Preemptive Strike

Quick Walkthrough

1. Speak with Gunmar.
2. Travel to radiant location: a bandit camp or warlock lair.
3. Destroy the vampire before it turns its allies into vampires.
4. Report back to Gunmar.

Detailed Walkthrough

Gunmar will inform you that he has located another vampire, hiding among outlaws, and will task you with eliminating it before it turns its companions into vampires. He will then mark a random location on your map: either a bandit camp or a warlock lair (including locations added by official add-ons).

Travel to the location and dispose of the vampire hiding there. You won't need to kill all other enemies to complete the quest, although in practice you often won't have much choice. Once the vampire is slain, return to Gunmar for your reward: a leveled enchanted item.

Notes

• Despite Gunmar stating that the vampire is hiding among "necromancers", as you will be sent to a generic warlock lair, you will end up fighting any number of spellcasters.
• If Dragonborn is installed, some radiant locations may be on Solstheim. If you are in Skyrim, you will not receive a quest marker pointing you to the quest location, but must travel to Solstheim first (at which point any quest markers you have to quests in Skyrim will disappear).

Bugs

• The vampire you are sent to destroy, and its "allies" you are supposed to save, do not appear in the radiant destination location. This has been widely reported, and in a number of locations. It likely affects all locations. The objective "Kill the (Vampire) at (dungeon)" will remain active.
  • Waiting 24 hours can fix this.
• If Silver Hands occupy the target dungeon, they will kill the vampire before you can reach it and the quest will instantly complete upon entering the dungeon.
  • The Unofficial Dawnguard Patch, version 2.0.3, fixes this bug.

Quest Stages

Preemptive Strike (DLC1RH03)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
10		Gunmar has sent me to <Alias=Dungeon> where I am to destroy the <Alias=Vampire> before it turns its allies into vampires. Objective 10: Kill the <Alias=Vampire> at <Alias=Dungeon>
100		Objective 100: Return to Gunmar
255	Finishes quest	Gunmar sent me to <Alias=Dungeon> where I destroyed the <Alias=Vampire> before it could turn its allies into vampires.

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage DLC1RH03 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest DLC1RH03.