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Many people have experienced the terrible effects of being hit by a vampire or were-beast. This page will hopefully explain these effects and what can be done about them. Any additions/suggestions etc... may be directed to the WebMaster.

Hircine Ring - 3 April 2002

When I play Daggerfall I -always- make my character a Werewolf mostly due to the Hircine Ring. As the ring's description says, it gives you all the advantages of being a Werewolf with few of the disadvantages (or none of the -real- disadvantages in my eyes.). Plus its not extremely hard to get. Only problem is it will take a bit of money to get it. In order to get it you must refuse the cure the Were-hunter offers you and then go to find the Glenmoril coven. Instead of taking the quest to get the potion, have them summon a Daedra lord. This is were the money comes in, summoning can be quite expensive. If your a Lycanthrope, they should offer to summon Hircine. Hircine gives you a quest to go kill another Lycanthrope. All you got to do is kill him and then go get the Hircine ring from Hircines servant. The Hircine ring will stop you from getting the "Need to hunt innocents" and you wont have to transform during nights of a full moon. However you will still have all the other advantages being a Lycanthope gives you. Plus you can "use" the Hircine ring to change into a Werewolf(boar) as many times as you like instead of just once a day. However doing this wears out the ring so I dont do it often. The one disadvantage you will still have is you will still be attacked by Were-hunters now and again. Course with the boost in your stats and all, thats nothing more than a minor annoyance to me. There is one other way to summon Hircine also. In the knightly order quest in which you have to ask a witch to tell you where an artifact it, if your a Werewolf(boar) and ask -her- to summon a Daedra, she to will summon Hircine.

Werewolf Information - 7 February 1999

Many people have asked, and complained, about becoming a werewolf. Is it possible, and if so how. Several have experimented but it appears each time lycanthropy stricks, its the wereboar variety, even if the character was attacked only by werewolves. Information, apparently from Bethesda itself, seems to indicate that you can become a werewolf only in a certain location. They say that it is rare and can only happen in one spot, although they didn't mention which spot. Any information concerning this will be gratefully received.

Update: As of patch v2.13 you now become a werewolf if bit by one. The original mystery of becoming one in previous versions still exists however (even if it is possible?). One possible spot is via the Cyndassa's Werewolf quest in which you kill her brother who is a werewolf, although this has yet to be confirmed.

Lycanthropy Spoilers - October 1996

Ok, with a bit of research and experimentations I have found out How the various cures for lycanthropy work. ;) Below are details about the two methods of getting cured I have found. I note first make sure you have killed an innocent person before using either cure.

Ok, at some point anywhere from 1 month to 1 year after you become infected with lycanthropy, you will be sent a letter offering you a chance to be cured. If you follow the instructions in the letter you will be sent to a person who will give further details.

At this point there are two paths to being cured. If you take the cure he first presents you, then you will be sent to get a sample of your blood to infect the last member of a hereditary family of lycanthropes with. The shock of your infecting them will cure you. Unfortunatly when you get to the town were this person lives, you find that they are dead, but have left behind them a young daughter. You have to infect the child with your lycanthropy to be cured.

Thats the first path to being cured, and it is nasty. If you tell the person how offers you this cure no, then they mention a rumor that the coven of glenmoril might have a different cure. You have to quest through two dungeons to get the location of the coven. When you get there they give no indication that they have a cure. I worked at it until I was blue in the face and couldn't get the cure out of them. It should be noted that they daedra they summone offers a quest for an item that gives its user lycanthropy. No cure there either.

What they do offer, and it took awhile to figure this out is a quest to deliver a potion to some mage. Now I have taken this quest 3 times before I figured it out. ;) And not once have I ever found the mage I'm supposed to deliver it to. What I do find is that for 7 days I'm the target of werewolves, wereboars, and vampires. I finally in frustration used the potion my self. Interesting it cured me of lycanthropy. :) Thats the second way to be cured. I hope this is of some use to my fellow scribes.

NOTE: if you are infected with vampirism and lycanthropy on same night then only the second infection happens.

More Lycanthropy Spoilers - 10 December 1997

Lycanthropy, the Advantages
Attributes: You get +40 on Strength, Speed, Agility and Endurance, but no score will go above 100.

Skills: You get +30 on various skills: hand-to-hand, climbing, running, stealth, swimming and critical strike; with the increase in hand-to-hand skill you'll also do more damage when fighting with fists. These advantages are for human form as well as wereform. The 30% boost does not count toward level gains, you can increase it to over 100% (even if you weren't at 71 or above when you were infected) and get levels that way (the 30% seems to be added internally as a race bonus, and doesn't count towards levels).

Spells: You get the spell lycanthropy, which can be cast once/day, for no cost, turning you into a wereboar. If you turn into a wereboar, you cannot acces inventory, but the things you have on still keep on working; so armor still counts, as do magical items. You can also still use magical items. You can't hold a weapon while in wereform, so you have to fight with your hands.

If you turn into wereboar, you become immune to humanoid attacks, even if they have silver or daedric weapons (they don't seem to use them). BTW: this cause a lot fun with the gaurds, since they are totally unable to affect you in wereform. Arrows and spells still work though. Animals, undead and daedra can still hit you though.

Lycanthropy, the Disadvantages
First, you need to hunt the innocent from time to time (about twice a month). This means you have to kill a peasant, or a gaurd. If you do not do this, your hit points will drop very rapidly, and in a matter of minutes, you'll have 4 hit points left (and 4 max hit points, so you can't heal it). The only way to get your hit points back to normal when this happens is to go and kill someone. This is a major problem if you go on a quest to a dungeon, and this need to hunt kicks in. Means you'll either have to go to the nearest town to kills someone, or try to do the dungeon with 4 hit points. Obviously, this is also hell on your rep :)

Also, whenever there's a full moon (about once a month), you'll change into wereform, and stay that way for a full 24 hours.

Being in wereform means no one will talk to you (you can still rent a room, or purchase services though), and you can't acces the inventory (so you can't buy anything). If someone gives you something in wereform (i.e. the reward for a quest), the game will crash.

Last, once every year you get a letter from a werewolf hunter that he has selected you as his next target. he'll give you a quest to get rid of the lycantrophy curse, or try to kill you. Trying to kill you means sending a total of two to five of his henchmen after you (usually warriors, rogues, assassins, nightblades or archers). If you kill these they'll leave you alone for another year.

Lycanthropy Cheat - 8 December 1996

The one main drawback to being a were-beast is that you can't get into the enemy's inventory to loot in beast form, and re-casting lycanthropy will turn you human for the rest of the day...SO...wait untill you are turned against your will, then find a dungeon. when you kill someone, cast lycanthropy and become human. now hurry! get the enemy's treasure and when you exit out, you'll get a message about dreaming of the full moon, and the game will transform you back into a werebeast. you can cast lycanthropy as many times as you want in this occasion free of charge. this is my favorite little trick.

Alternate Vampire/Lycanthropy Cure - 7 March 1997

I've found out, that it's much easier to be cured of the above mentionend, than everybody says. Simply, as soon as you're infected, go to any Witch of the Glenmoril Coven. For example in Oxway, there's one just west of the mages guild. It is the orange coloured small house. Save your game and ask the witch for quests. After some tries the witch will offer you a quest to deliver a potion to a mage in BLABLABLA. The info shows you that its just pure water. Drink it, you're healed...tataaaaa. It's just to easy.

It's the same quest which everybody talks about, that you get in the Ilessan Hills at the Glenmoril Coven. EVERY witch of this coven in any place can give you this quest and the potion. So you can be cured within shortest time.

Vampire Playing Tips - 26 July 1999

When you take damage in "daylight" there is a counter of some sort. (Whack...tick...tick...Whack...tick...tick...etc) If you get the guards after you between "sun whacks", the next time you are about to be "whacked" you get the message "Do you want to surrender to the City guards" - ALWAYS. No guards have to be anywhere near you for you to get the message. Of course, surrender is instant death - you will always be released into broad daylight and die immediately. And non-surrender means your rep goes down. If you want to get in the DB wait until you get "hit" by the sun, QUICKLY kill 4 or 5 people - then immediately Teleport outta town. If you aren't fast enough you'll be asked to surrender - you can be totally invisible and no where near a guard - it won't matter.

You CANNOT join the Dark Brotherhood or Thieves more than once in the game. Period. I made a point of NOT killing anyone before I became a Vampire - then afterward I had a spree. The Dark Brothers contacted me within 3 days just as they were supposed to do. I've not started picking pockets yet - but my guess is since I've not been a Thief yet, they will contact me as well once I start stealing stuff (like they always do).

Unlimited Spellpoints
If you are a Vampire of the Haarvenu Clan, you can benefit from the following bug/loophole: As a Haarvenu, you will get the Ice Storm spell which will cost you less than the normal version to cast. But, if you cast this spell and then absorb it (by spell/item/innate ability) you will get back the amount of SP you would have to spend for casting the normal version of the spell. E. g., if the normal version would cost you 20 SP and the vampire version only 5 SP, your magica pool would be increased by 15 SP if you cast and absorb the "vampiric" ice storm. Thus, you can refill your magica pool up to maximum any time you like. But beware: if your magica pool is (nearly) full, you will not be able to absorb the spell and will take damage from it. (tested for patch 213)

Sunlight and Temples
As a Vampire, you will take damage from sunlight and holy places. This can be avoided by using a simple shield spell. The program obviously interprets the damage you take as a "hit", and first deducts the hitpoints from your shield spell. As long as your shield is up, you won't take any damage from the sun or from holy places. If it is powerful enough, you can even rest outside (but that shield must be extremly powerful). (tested for patch 213)

Navigating During Daylight
Even though, with a heal spell, going outside in the daytime as a vampire is possible, I have found it difficult to go to stores in the daytime because you arrive at night hungry, can't eat without summoning the guards, and therefore can't sleep at an inn. This method works if you are high enough in the mages guild to teleport. Set a recall anchor outside an inn. Go to the Mages Guild, use the teleporter to travel to a nearby dungeon, feed, then recall back. You can then sleep at the inn and go shopping in the morning. If you can't teleport this next method works, but is more time-consuming. Go at night and set a recall anchor in front of the store you want to shop in. Fast travel to a nearby dungeon, eat, sleep until the store is open, then recall back. After you shop, you can then go to an inn and sleep.

More Tips on Feeding
All this is not necessary. All you have to do is sneak up behind a guard near the edge of a town and backstab him (backstab ensures you are not hit and asked to surrender) and then run just outside the town (until the automap will no longer come up). Then head back for the town. When you re-enter its as you never even killed the guard and you can now rest, shop, etc. If a guard is not nearby just run inside the city and bust down a few doors to attract a few.

Retaining Dark Brotherhood Membership?
I found an interesting thing out about the vamprism bit. You're not supposed to be able to join the Dark Brotherhood again after being infected with vamprism, right? Well, after I cured myself, I rejoined the Mages Guild and I got the quest to retrieve and deliver some mage research, blah blah blah. The important thing is, that when the Dark Brotherhood sent their threat, the message was the one you'd get if you were still a member. And when I checked my affiliations for an explanation, it said I was a member of the brotherhood!

Anyway, this seems like a good way to circumvent the problem, although I haven't found similar means to do this with the Thieve's Guild.

Vampire Playing Tips - 15 March 1997

Daggerfall Vampirism Facts 11/7/1996 (Those I have not confirmed are marked)

1. Contracting Vampirism
   1. Vampirism can be contracted from:
      1. Vampires. If you soul trap a vampire you can release it in any clan territory to to belong to that clan.
      2. Items (comfirmed)
   2. There is a .6% chance per hit from a vampire of contracting vampirism
      1. Warning: There is a 2% chance per hit of contracting other diseases
      2. Such diseases can kill the PC before vampirism reaches final stage
   3. A prophetic dream will come to the PC the first rest after successful infection with vampirism. The dream consists of a beautiful young woman shedding tears of blood.
      1. I have seen a potion of cure disease halt the progression of vampirism at this stage.
   4. On the third night, 72 hours, after dream/infection, Player Character becomes a vampire.
      1. PC wakes 2 weeks later in a crypt with all items intact.
      2. Be aware of your main quest time limits
   5. In versions of Daggerfall prior to 179, I have only once successfully crossed a vampire
      1. Previous versions, in my experience, crashed at the point of turning, 72 hours after infection/dream
2. Once a Vampire . . .
   1. PC's face and background will change in portrait.
   2. Character loses all affiliations and rank.
      1. Character is considered dead by past acquaintances.
      2. Reputation, however, does not change other than the natural drift to zero over time.
      3. Affiliations can be re-initiated in most guilds. Have joined Mages' Guild, Temples, Knightly Orders, etc...
      4. Invitational guilds, such as the Thieves' Guild/Dark Brotherhood have not invited BACK - can be joined if not previously a member. (Bug?)
   3. Vampires gain a +20 bonus to all prime statistic except for INT.
      1. the Anthotis "clan" gains the +20 bonus to INT as well.
   4. Vampires gain a +30 bonus to the following skills:
      1. Jumping
      2. Running
      3. Stealth
      4. Critical Striking
      5. Climbing
      6. Hand-to-hand
   5. Vampires (all) gain the following spells:
      1. Levitate
      2. Charm humanoid
      3. Calm humanoid
   6. Vampires of differing clans gain these spells: (unconfirmed other than Thrafey)
      1. Vraseth gain Nibleness
      2. Khulari gain Paralysis
      3. Montalion gain Free Action (not sure what bonus is here if immune to paralysis)
      4. Thrafey gain Heal (handy for daylight excursions)
      5. Garlythi gain Shield
      6. Selenu gain Resist Fire, Resist Cold, Resist Shock
      7. Lysrezi gain Silence, Invisibility
      8. Haarvenu gain Ice storm and or Wildfire
         1. These spells should cost less than they would as a normal mortal
         2. These spells will not replace identical spells in the grimoire, but will be added to it.
   7. Vampires are immune to paralysis.
      1. Monster (computer controlled) vampires are not
   8. Vampires are supposedly immune to disease.
      1. My vampire has been known to contract Witches' Pox
   9. Vampires are immune to iron and steel weapons.
      1. Vampires take damage from arrows even if the aggressor has no bow
   10. Vampires take damage from being outside in daylight from the hours of 6am to 6pm.
       1. A vampire who commits a crime (unsuccessfully) in daylight outside will be asked to surrender to cityguards regardless of whether or not any are in sight.
   11. Vampires must kill once a day to rest or loiter.
       1. Loitering in daylight outside is death
       2. Killing any creature will satisfy the hunger and allow rest
          1. Townies not included (apparently)
          2. Killing and eating is done simply by killing, no special requirements
          3. Ghosts and wraiths in Daggerfall make for convenient food for the metropolitan vampire.
   12. Vampires cannot fast travel from the hours of 6am to 6pm.
       1. Vampires can fast travel without killing, useful for regaining hit points, spell points
   13. Vampiric clans, called "blood families" are supposed to contact the vampire.
       1. The clans are currently not contacting, Bethesda says that they are aware of the problem and working on it at this time.
       2. The Vampire clans still don't contact you (played with the last patch, 1.95) Problem: The Daedra Azura is giving her quest to places that doesn't exist (a lot of people reported this)
       3. It may be at least semi-possible to contact the clans. I was called to kill a vampire I had created who was now a threat...I did so, and the quest giver told me I was one step in the right direction of becoming one of the Selenu (Sentinel). Perhaps it simply takes time to build ones rep with the clans.
   14. Vampires are still able to continue with main quests.
   15. A cure is available for vampires, offered about once per game-year.
       1. Vampire hunters will contact the vampire by letter with elegant script
       2. Vampire hunters will enter your home or ship to kill you.
       3. The hunter will start you on a course to find your "blood father"
       4. Killing the blood father should revert you to normal (confirmed). You'll be given two dungeons with a vampire ancient each, one of these is your blood father, you'll have the time to do both dungeons and they are easy the vampire ancient is the only vampire in these dungeon -- I've tried in Daggerfall, Mournoth, Wayrest and Glennpoint -- so when you're near you can hear him.
   16. When you are a vampire, you do not get extra spell points out of an item that grants extra points around undead just by being yourself.

The Best Vampire Character - 7 March 1997

OK..... After several re-rolls here's the best ever Vampire Character mix I've found.

Advantages

• Spell Absorbtion General
• Regeneration General
• Increased Magery 3x Spell Points
• 30 HP a level
• Optional - Acute Hearing (handy for tracking down people in dungeons)

Disadvantages

• Damage in sunlight
• Damage in Holy Places
• Darkness powered Magery - Lower ability in Daylight
• Critical Weakness - Paralysis
• Critical Weakness - Disease
• Forbidden Material - Steel
• Forbidden Material - Elven

This should give you a level up of about x0.3. Now get turned into a Vampire as quickly as possible. This means that any disadvantages you get for vampirism like damage in sunlight and Holy places you already have... and are getting Level bonuses for, and your critical weakness's are completely negated by Immunities you get for being a vampire. For the best snack when you get to town.... bash a few doors until you get the guards attention. As long as you don't get hit by them you'll never get arrested. Since most guards don't have a magic or silver weapon this is not a problem. But it's always safer to save the game before Popping out for a BITE to eat. An even better way is to attack the door on your boot. In early patches at least guards would come running thinking a crime has been committed. This way your repuation in any province doesn't suffer.

PS: The best looking vampire is a Dark Elf Female.

Vampiric Holy Item - 10 December 1997

There appears to be some sort of holy item that can turn one into a vampire if you are carrying it. Below is an excerpt from an e-mail I received recently.

	I did a lot of playing around with that game till I found out what had 
	caused my char. to become a vampire.  I saved the game right befor leaving
	the dungen.  I had not run into any vampires in that dungen and so I was
	confused.  I had picked up a magical holy item, it was no different
	looking that any other holy item.  I try to keep any magic items that
	I find.  Hopeing for something with heal, open, or icestorm my favorite
	spells.  I droped one item then fasted travled to some city about a week
	away, when I reached the city I was a vampire.  I kept going back to my
	saved game and repeating with different new items the I had found in that
	dungen till I reached the city as a normal dark elf.  I repeated the
	experiment again and came up with the same result,  that this holy item
	had transformed my char. into a vamp.

Pretty interesting yes? Still not sure whether this is an actual game feature or merely a random bug. Send in more information on this if you have it.

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