[BigDug13]

Woah, what? Your stamina doesn't regenerate as a vampire? That sounds truly awful, and kills any hype I had for downloading Dawnguard and becoming a badass vampire lord

Well not exactly, you lose 100% regen of magicka, health, and stamina but gear regen can overcome it. And it only happens in the daytime.

[Angry Grimace]

Woah, what? Your stamina doesn't regenerate as a vampire? That sounds truly awful, and kills any hype I had for downloading Dawnguard and becoming a badass vampire lord

During the daytime you have no stam or magicka regen at all. It's enough of a buzzkill that I don't like playing as a Vampire. You can of course get around it by not doing anything outdoors in the daytime, but it's kind of inconvinent given that like Werewolf form, VL form is a total gimmick and its almost always a better choice to stay in regular form since you have access to all your spells and shouts. The only thing really better about VL over Werewolf is that you can freely change back.

[MetalGuardian]

Interesting. I guess I'll play around with it and see how I like it, but it doesn't sound like something that would be worth the hassle for me

[Angry Grimace]

Interesting. I guess I'll play around with it and see how I like it, but it doesn't sound like something that would be worth the hassle for me

The VL does feel more useful than Werewolf form if that matters. The problem of course, is that you can't really use VL form where there's anyone around unless you want to get attacked.

Strangely, the game implies people will hate if you if you don't feed but I haven't noticed anything different at all from just not feeding.

[Volimar]

I don't like playing in 3rd person, so I'm going to pass on VL. Maybe later if I have to for the cheevo.

[daye]

When I use a 360 controller in the PC version I can use the dpad to fastswitch between favorites but I can't get it to work on the 360 version. Am I missing something or is it not possible to fastswitch in the console versions?

[Woorloog]

Vampirism penalty is essentially that you are weaker during day without regenerating attributes and reduced health. And weakness to Fire.
What you gain is considerably stronger Illusion spells, better sneaking, resistance to frost, night vision power, reanimate power, absorb health "spell", calm power and invisibility power.
If you want to be a vampire, you probably should play the strenghts, ie be thief, assassin or Illusionist and mostly live in the night.
At least this time you don't actively lose health while outdoors during days...

My current character will sneak a lot but when i get into combat, i'll turn into Vampire Lord and kill everything, it felt pretty strong, properly played.

When I use a 360 controller in the PC version I can use the dpad to fastswitch between favorites but I can't get it to work on the 360 version. Am I missing something or is it not possible to fastswitch in the console versions?

Mark favorites to quick menu, open it by pressing Dpad up, then hold Dpad Right or Left over the item you want, this will mark it as 1. or 2., pressing D-pad left or right then equips those items.

[daye]

Mark favorites to quick menu, open it by pressing Dpad up, then hold Dpad Right or Left over the item you want, this will mark it as 1. or 2., pressing D-pad left or right then equips those items.

Ok thanks.

[neoemonk]

Is there an official release date for Dawnguard PC yet? I checked online but all I found was "at least 30 days".

[BigDug13]

There's some misinformation about vampirism here. You do not lose all regen. You lose BASE regen. If you have regen from other sources, that part still works. My Mage was still experiencing great magicka regen. I compensated during the day with the 100% regen priest mask and magicka-wise my regen was essentially the same.

The loss of endurance regen sucked a bit. I compensated for that with using become ethereal when sprinting and the restoration perk to add endurance heals.

The real key is when I was the first to discover that Necromage Perk affects yourself as a vampire since you become flagged as undead. All your item attributes, since they effectively are a "spell" cast on you gain a 25% bonus. Pets last 25% longer. Blessings, shouts, etc. Necromage turns vampirism from a "benefits do not outweigh the drawbacks" to "benefits FAR outweigh the drawbacks."

[Woorloog]

The real key is when I was the first to discover that Necromage Perk affects yourself as a vampire since you become flagged as undead. All your item attributes, since they effectively are a "spell" cast on you gain a 25% bonus. Pets last 25% longer. Blessings, shouts, etc. Necromage turns vampirism from a "benefits do not outweigh the drawbacks" to "benefits FAR outweigh the drawbacks."

First you have to waste spend a bunch of perks to Restoration and get it to 70, no easy feat, unless you spend a lot of time grinding it. Not worth it, IMO, i find Restoration spells and perks unnecessary and replaceable with other things. I rarely have magicka for healing (or i'd rather use it to dispatch my enemies very quickly) during combat and afterwards i can simply wait 1h to regain full attributes. Of course i avoid direct combat in the first place... Dragons being an exception.
Also, Vampire benefits do outweight the drawbacks already, but only if you actually use those benefits... but that should be a no-brainer. Don't be a vampire unless you utilize what it offers.
I'll admit that Necromage does sound wonderful though.

EDIT a hint for vampires, if you don't need any particular Standing Stone, pick the Lady Stone, it gives 25% extra health and stamina regen, so you can regen those at least even during daytime.

Is there an official release date for Dawnguard PC yet? I checked online but all I found was "at least 30 days".

No, not yet. I think it really will be released 30 days after the Xbox release, anymore is potential waste in income.

[neoism]

can't belive you seem to not be able to do this.... I've been looking for a mod for skyrim that changes the loading screen to images of whatever.... anyone know if it isn't possible.. been looking on nexus for an hour google too.

[sloppyjoe_gamer]

I know this has been probably answered tons of times, but is the PS3 version fixed to the point of playability yet? I've been holding off from getting Skyrim until they had patched it up, so I'm wondering if the terrible crashing/freezing/etc. that happens as time progresses in the game has been fixed.

I held off on buying this until i knew the big issues were fixed in the PS3 version and that was in the 1.4 game update. I just finally bought this for PS3 a few days ago and was prompted for 1.5 when i first launched it so they're already ahead on patches.

This game is incredible...im glad i waited to be able to play a solid version. It's been running smooth as silk for me, and im just loving it to pieces. The graphics are amazing, the soundtrack is phenominal, and just the overall ambience of the game just hits it all home....you really feel like you're in the world. If you've been on the fence, id say go for it now.

[Monosukoi]

Arrived today, already put 3 hours into it. Haven't had any problems yet on PS3 so touch wood it carrys on like this for most of the game.

It's weird, but I'm finding myself playing in 3rd person almost entirely. In combat it's pretty horrendous (especially as I have the HUD opacity down quite a bit) but when you don't have your weapons out, I like the camera angles it affords and just the way you can enjoy your own character in this amazing world.

After leaving the first/tutorial area, I haven't gone to Whiterun yet or done any of the main stuff. Just been wondering around, OHK'ed by a bear, sampling the delights of the world, running into old ruins and stumbling across little towns and such. I'm in a big city now, and it feels weird, but delightfully grounded and a good foil for the open wilderness that is much of Skyrim. Climbed a mountain, that was cool.

In 3 hours already I've seen this is something pretty special. Just the combat that feels a little weak.

[Blue Ninja]

You'd kinda think a hidden vampire lair wouldn't be a landmark visible all the way across the map.

Ah well, at least I didn't have to waste any time searching.

[Lakitu]

So apparently there's a Vampire traveler that goes around Skyrim, killing NPCs. Without you knowing.Yeah.

[StalkerUKCG]

Just ported my Xbox save to the PC version. Really shows the improvement in graphics running my xbox character around on PC is mind blowing.

Now i just need Dawnguard for PC since I dont want to ruin my Xbox Main character by getting rid of the ability to become a werewolf.

[Woorloog]

Well, this is a surpirse. A big, positive one.
Mehrunes' Razor can instantly kill any non-essential thing in the game. NPC, beast, Dragons... Combined with Slow Time Shout, things should become pretty easy, Random Number God willing.
EDIT i knew it had instant kill chance, i just didn't think it would work on Dragons...

[HammerOfThor]

Whoa I just realized the DLC is out! Am I LTTP? Whats the consensus on it? Worth it?

[BigDug13]

Whoa I just realized the DLC is out! Am I LTTP? Whats the consensus on it? Worth it?

Kinda. I think it's a little overpriced to add 10 hours of content to a 100+ hour game for $20 when the original 100 hours was $60.

Plenty of meat there, but not at the same "hour per dollar" value as the original purchase.

[Volimar]

Counting the side missions, I'm well past 10 hours in. Looks good so far. Only one bug so far, but leaving and re-entering the room fixed it. Not a fan of most of the new armors/dragonbone weapons. Kind of down about it since I loved the Amber/madness ore stuff from Shivering Isles. Had a few good scares too. So far I give it a solid B.

[Nameless]

Downloading now. If VL is anything like Werewolf, transforming will effectively nerf my character and I'll rarely do it. I never opted to become a vampire in OG Skyrim, but the daytime weaknesses don't sound too bad; characters with high enchanting should be able to negate them to an extent. And certainly, between the two, the Vampire storyline seems way more interesting than the Dawnguard's.

[Balya]

Apart from a couple things in the beginning and your home base the two questlines are almost identical so far. Same objectives, locations, etc. The vampire base is definitely "cooler" though.

[CyReN]

The nav points are terrible in Dawnguard.

I'm on Touching The Sky trying to fill the ewers and it has me going in a loop, had to resort to youtube to get the missing one.

[squidyj]

so I'm getting back into Skyrim in advance of Dawnguard for PC and I was screwing around with testing out some character builds.... Long story short I wound up managing to equip two rings. Does this happen to anybody else?

[Woorloog]

so I'm getting back into Skyrim in advance of Dawnguard for PC and I was screwing around with testing out some character builds.... Long story short I wound up managing to equip two rings. Does this happen to anybody else?

You sure you don't have mods?
Because on consoles you cannot do that even with Dawnguard and latest patch.
Of course it could be some odd PC-specific glitch... what did you do? Just equipped a ring and then another? What rings they were (i wouldn't be surprised if there are rings in the game that do not actually occupy the "finger slot" but still act as wearable items)?

[Blue Ninja]

The nav points are terrible in Dawnguard. I'm on Touching The Sky trying to fill the ewers and it has me going in a loop, had to resort to youtube to get the missing one.

Fuck nav points, bro. I always turn 'em off. :lol

[squidyj]

You sure you don't have mods? Because on consoles you cannot do that even with Dawnguard and latest patch. Of course it could be some odd PC-specific glitch... what did you do? Just equipped a ring and then another? What rings they were (i wouldn't be surprised if there are rings in the game that do not actually occupy the "finger slot" but still act as wearable items)?

enchanted gold diamond ring i'd renamed to Deadeye Ring and a Gold ring enchanted with alch/smith. It somehow wasn't the rings because later on I wasn't able to equip them just by right clicking both of them. Instead when I went through equipping all my Alchemy gear I was able to equip both rings at the same time.

[Draconian]

Got to the part where you have to feed on the moth priest and make him your thrall. Good thing I listened to Harkon and remember how to do this! Oh wait, it doesn't work? Surely I must be doing something wrong. Nope, no matter what I do, nothing happens. Let me look on the Bethesda forums. Hey, it's a bug where several people are stuck in the same spot! Thanks Bethesda, so glad you bug tested this! smh

EDIT: Got around it by waiting 24 hours and trying again. Still though, it's pretty freaking stupid and should've been found in the beta.

[Woorloog]

Skyrim's Main Quest finished, finally, with level 27 vampire orc (don't know how many characters i've made), armed with Mehrunes' Razor. It did the job for me, triggered the instant kill on Alduin... (Adept difficulty, wouldn't have been difficult even without the dagger).
Pretty good. It could have been done so much better but the premise etc. are good.
Next up, Dawnguard and all the guilds...

[hao chi]

Have there been any reports of the latest patch causing the 360 version to freeze while exploring the world? I went through a dungeon as part of a story quest with no freezing, but after a few minutes in Skyrim my game freezes every time now.

I've tried deleting and re-downloading the patches and re-installing the game to my hard drive, but the freezes keep happening. I also tried creating a new save file and loading my game off that, which I read could help, but it doesn't.

And the best part is I can't even load my game without having the patches.

[KorrZ]

Maybe I'm just an idiot...but all these VL perks mention a power bite attack, and I can't seem to figure out how to do it at all. Anyone know how?

[Draconian]

Maybe I'm just an idiot...but all these VL perks mention a power bite attack, and I can't seem to figure out how to do it at all. Anyone know how?

The only bite I've done is after you cast seduction on someone, go up to them to talk, and then you have the option to bite them. Not sure if this is what you're referring to though.

[Blue Ninja]

You know, I thought I wasn't gonna like this DLC, but I just spent more than an hour running around the Soul Cairn, just being amazed at how awesome it looked and sounded. I thought only ten minutes had passed by the time I stopped.

Shows what I know.

[DanielJr82]

For the Xbox players, I somehow managed to cut down on loading times by disabling those auto saves. I have about 190 hours logged into the game, so saving the game takes forever and a day. Turns out that every time I loaded a new area (every single time), the game does an auto save. It used to take 30 to 45 seconds to load a SHOP before, but after disabling auto-saves for "Traveling" the loading times are now back to their normal 5 to 6 seconds. I'm still psyched, lol. I also disabled the "Wait" and "Rest" auto saves. The only auto save I kept was the one for the menus, at 15 minute intervals.

I also dumped all those keys I had in a cabinet in one of my houses, keeping only the house keys (Breezehome, Honeyside, etc.) I'm traveling lighter in general, carrying only my armor, core weapons, and a few trinkets I use a lot. Sell off everything that isn't very rare or frequently used. The game feels like it's running better now. I still get pop-in and poor draw distance, but there's nothing we can do for that, console limitations and all. Just thought I'd share these tips if everybody don't already do them.

[Deadly Cyclone]

So I got the (item spoiler) Dragonbone bow where do I get ammo for it? I know I can use regular stuff, but where are the Dragonbone arrows?

Also, where do you get crossbow ammo? I haven't used it since starting because I have no bolts.


Also, can you got outside in daytime if you be a vampire? Do people hate you? Thought it was odd for a DLC to make you want to be a vampire with the drawbacks of not being able to quest afterwards since no one will talk to you.

[KorrZ]

So I got the (item spoiler) Dragonbone bow where do I get ammo for it? I know I can use regular stuff, but where are the Dragonbone arrows? Also, where do you get crossbow ammo? I haven't used it since starting because I have no bolts. Also, can you got outside in daytime if you be a vampire? Do people hate you? Thought it was odd for a DLC to make you want to be a vampire with the drawbacks of not being able to quest afterwards since no one will talk to you.

Yeah you can go out in the day time, but it cuts your Stamina, Magicka and HP regen down by 100% while in the sun. Also, being a vampire doesn't effect NPcs talking to you at all.

[exYle]

So I got the (item spoiler) Dragonbone bow where do I get ammo for it? I know I can use regular stuff, but where are the Dragonbone arrows? Also, where do you get crossbow ammo? I haven't used it since starting because I have no bolts. Also, can you got outside in daytime if you be a vampire? Do people hate you? Thought it was odd for a DLC to make you want to be a vampire with the drawbacks of not being able to quest afterwards since no one will talk to you.

You can craft Dragonbone arrows, and steel bolts are bought from the Dawnguard crossbow merchant. Alternatively, if you don't have access to the Dawnguard, raid a Dwarven dungeon and pick up Dwarven bolts from the sphere guardians.

[hlhbk]

So I am playing through the quest where you need to go to the temple of the divine in Solitude and go to the catacombs. Every time I go into the catacombs the game loads and then I end up in an area with no textures, a sky, what looks to be a light tower, and I get a falling sensation. If I quit the game and go back in the auto save loads me up at riverwood! I have ran a repair on my isntall and it found nothing that needs repaired. Any ideas how to fix this?

[BigDug13]

Yeah you can go out in the day time, but it cuts your Stamina, Magicka and HP regen down by 100% while in the sun. Also, being a vampire doesn't effect NPcs talking to you at all.

Plus with 25% bonus to illusion. It's implied that a vampire would be well served by being a master illusionist. You can harmony an entire town and proceed unharmed, even at max vampire.

[Blue Ninja]

For the Xbox players, I somehow managed to cut down on loading times by disabling those auto saves. I have about 190 hours logged into the game, so saving the game takes forever and a day. Turns out that every time I loaded a new area (every single time), the game does an auto save. It used to take 30 to 45 seconds to load a SHOP before, but after disabling auto-saves for "Traveling" the loading times are now back to their normal 5 to 6 seconds. I'm still psyched, lol. I also disabled the "Wait" and "Rest" auto saves. The only auto save I kept was the one for the menus, at 15 minute intervals. I also dumped all those keys I had in a cabinet in one of my houses, keeping only the house keys (Breezehome, Honeyside, etc.) I'm traveling lighter in general, carrying only my armor, core weapons, and a few trinkets I use a lot. Sell off everything that isn't very rare or frequently used. The game feels like it's running better now. I still get pop-in and poor draw distance, but there's nothing we can do for that, console limitations and all. Just thought I'd share these tips if everybody don't already do them.

Turning off autosaves is a sure-fire way to getting burned, though. Especially when shit gets tense and I just forget to manually save.

And well shit, one of Jiub's opus pages in the Soul Cairn is glitched. I can't find it.

EDIT: Hah, right as I typed that I jumped down and found it on another floor, guess it must've clipped through.

[CousinLump]

You know, I thought I wasn't gonna like this DLC, but I just spent more than an hour running around the Soul Cairn, just being amazed at how awesome it looked and sounded. I thought only ten minutes had passed by the time I stopped. Shows what I know.

I thought the Soul Cairn was going to be the worst aspect, considering how annoying Oblivion gates were. However, i'm enjoying my time there. Running around, hearing nods to Morrowind and Oblivion missions and situations is amusing for sure. Cool atmosphere and side quests (even though they are just fetch quests) make it a lot more fun than expected.

[Blue Ninja]

Is it just my imagination, or have they expanded Blackreach? Like it wasn't big enough already.

[Draconian]

Is it just my imagination, or have they expanded Blackreach? Like it wasn't big enough already.

I just played through the main quest a week ago and was shocked at how big it was. It just goes on and on forever, and it's really interesting considering you don't have to actually spend that much time there to finish the quest. A beautiful cavern for sure.

I'm really enjoying Dawnguard. I agree with you guys. It's surprising to me how much fun wandering around the Soul Cairn is. I've played for about 5 hours and am just now getting around to these side quests, so it certainly is lengthy enough for me to feel like I got my money's worth.

[MetalGuardian]

Man, I'm so disappointed to learn about the lack of health/stamina regen during the daytime as a vampire. It has sucked (hardy har) all the excitement out of me wanting to play as a badass vampire lord.

I don't think I've come across health/stamina regen items either that I could disenchant.. Anyone know where I could buy these?

[Shambles]

This seems odd. I'm trying to use SkyUI and because of that I need SKSE. Running SKSE tells me that I need to update my version of skyrim (1.6.89.0) however steam isn't updating my files and I can't seem to force it to. In the game options it is checked off to update automatically. Inside the game it reports the version to be 1.5.x. Has anyone else had this problem or know of a way to solve it? I'm validating my local files right now in the hopes that it might trigger it to update.

Edit: Validating file worked. Skyrim updated, SKSE works now. I'm getting really sick of updates destroying my .ini setings though. Time to fix my mouse settings yet again.

[BigDug13]

Man, I'm so disappointed to learn about the lack of health/stamina regen during the daytime as a vampire. It has sucked (hardy har) all the excitement out of me wanting to play as a badass vampire lord. I don't think I've come across health/stamina regen items either that I could disenchant.. Anyone know where I could buy these?

The Lady Stone (I think it is) provides health and stamina regen, so that's an option. It also doesn't take much in restoration to add endurance healing to your heal spells. That can cover you. Become Ethereal does not drain endurance, so that's an option to be able to sprint around when traveling. With Talos buff and Talos necklace, you can recast the first level of Become Ethereal only a couple seconds after it wears off.

[Woorloog]

Starting to burn out... though i'm not sure if i'm playing too much Skyrim or playing too much with one character. Need to finish Dawnguard quick, not many (vampire) main quests left.
Skyrim's difficulty is frustrating. Most encounters are mostly boring and timewasting... and then i have to fight against an enemy that insta-gibs me... until i figure out some exploit in the area i can use.
Soul Tear is pretty cool shout, too bad the one summoned creature limit makes it useless for me, need Conjuration skill.

[Eye Drop]

I've finished the main quests and am now just doing side and guild quests. However, I am very interested in the new Dawnguard DLC. Can anyone tell me if playing the DLC and becoming a vamp will affect my other quests (ie: rendering them unable to do as I villagers flee or automatically hate me, or anything)? Thanks!

[BigDug13]

I've finished the main quests and am now just doing side and guild quests. However, I am very interested in the new Dawnguard DLC. Can anyone tell me if playing the DLC and becoming a vamp will affect my other quests (ie: rendering them unable to do as I villagers flee or automatically hate me, or anything)? Thanks!

As long as you keep feeding every once in awhile, people won't hate you. You have to let yourself go for days getting more and more vampirish before people attack you on sight.

If you do let youself get too far, you can do something like keep a couple invis potions around, fast travel to the mage college or somewhere out of the way of guards, then sneak into the college barracks for some feeding.

Another good spot that has people available to feed on 24/7 is the temple in Whiterun that has those couple of sick farmers always laying around. They're considered to be "sleeping" and it's easy to pop in for a feeding every once in awhile.

If you're a master illusionist, harmony works fine to make everyone calm and to turn in quests. I know of someone who wanted to challenge himself so he basically played through the game as a maxed out vampire, eating the extreme health penalties in the daylight, and using illusion to be able to start/end quests.