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ESO Vampire Excitement!
YES! It’s true! There are amazing Vampires in the highly anticipated Elder Scrolls Online! Those of you, who remember Vampires in other games of the Elder Scrolls Series all the way from Daggerfall to Skyrim, will be happy to know that the Elder Scrolls Vampires will not be left out of Elder Scrolls Online (ESO). In fact Vampires will figure prominently in ESO, even having their own awesome skill line! Vampires are one more aspect of the mystery and excitement of ESO. If you want, YOU can be one of these Vampire ESO Players! –But How? What is some of what you can expect from being a vampire in ESO? Many of you may embrace this transformation into becoming a vampire – but if you change your mind – is there a way out? Well those are some of the questions this Vampire Guide will help answer for you. The choices of what you can be and do in ESO, and the combinations of these many choices are exciting!
The ESO Vampires and You
How, Where, When to Become a Vampire -- or Not
If you want one of your player characters to become a Vampire, a simple way to become one is to get an ESO Friend who has Vampirism to ‘Turn You’ by biting you at a ritual shrine. There is a passive skill that a Vampire gets within the Vampire skill line called Blood Ritual. Blood Ritual allows a Vampire player (that has already been infected with vampirism) to spread it to other willing players once a week. So there is a week cool-down period between when the same Vampire Player can infect other players.
Turning you into a Vampire can be done at the Vampire Altar shrine that the Vampire who is going to infect you, first visited during his or her own first Blood Matron quest. In this case one bite could give you the option to become a Vampire.
If you do not have a friend in ESO who is a Vampire who can do you this favor, then you can look for a player created Vampire Guild to accept you, which has someone willing to meet you at a Vampire Alter Shrine and do the deed. This is a fun option, because then you will have a Vampire Clan (Vampire Guild) to play in, and other Vampire Allies to belong with from the start. If you cannot find a Vampire Guild, you can always start one of your own and invite other Vampires and those who want to become Vampires to join your Guild. In this case you will still need someone to be the first Vampire to start to try to sire other Vampires for your Vampire Guild.
Getting Vampirism on Your Own
So if whether you want to be a lone Vampire, (or cannot find a Vampire Guild to join that will turn you), or you want to create your Vampire Guild from scratch; in such cases you may need to first become a Vampire by being attacked by ingame NPC Vampires called ‘Blood Fiends’. There is some chance this could happen to you randomly in your adventures and travels, but if you want to increase your chances of being attacked by a group of Blood-Fiend Vampires you can seek them out by looking for them.
You could try going to get bitten this way when you feel you are strong enough to endure a few attacks by some higher level wild blood fiend (game-generated) Vampire enemies. However to do it this way on your own (or with a few buddies), still requires going to higher level areas where blood-fiend Vampires spawn, which can occur in any of the three Alliances main provinces.
Blood-Fiend Vampires are known to spawn only at night (usually around midnight ingame time) at several locations in level 37-44 zones of each faction, but it has been done by some players at only Level 15. So these non-player character (NPC) Blood-fiend Vampires (game-generated enemies), definitely spawn in the Rift, Bangkorai and Reaper’s March.
For example, in Bangkorai, the Blood Fiend Vampires spawns east of Pelin Graveyard POI (just south on map from Evermore city). By the way, please feel free to add any verified locations where you were infected with Vampirism, or to tell your brief stories of becoming a Vampire in the comments section. You can do this anonymously or give your name for vampiric bragging rights on what level you were when you became a Vampire, or even to offer to help turn others to Vampires; and we will all enjoy hearing about it. It’s totally up to you, but Vampires are welcome to share such friendly tips and experiences
Improving Vampirism Infection Chances
ESO Friends, if you usually use amulets or rings or other protections from disease; remove them during your midnight tryst to get turned into a Vampire, to further increase your chances of contracting Vampirism. After blood-fiend Vampires are killed they have a cool-down period, so they will not re-spawn for you until another night, so let them strike you three times. Usually, two vampires, ashen pale and odious, appear (spawn) in the corner at a once. When your character has been hit three times by Blood Fiend Vampires, it should become apparent that you are infected with Vampirism.
Some people have trouble distinguishing between night and overcast days in ESO, so try to look for Vampires around Midnight ingame time. Hopefully an ingame clock will be added to our ESO screen soon, if we are lucky. Yet for now, remember; look to get attacked by the Vampires at night whilst there are stars out, or a dark moon or new moon (and right after a new moon). There are only a few players rumored to have seen Vampires whilst not under a new moon, but this is not validated to be Blood Fiend Vampires though, and further no one so far has ever reported actually being bitten and infected by blood-fiend vampires at times not close to new moons, and never during fuller moons, when werewolves are about instead. During the optimum time to be attacked by blood-fiend Vampires, the Moon may be hard to see or may just be a sliver of light.
Just like in the BETA trials, most Vampires playing the early release (and also since full release so far), who have reported being bitten by Blood Fiend Vampires were first bitten around Midnight when the Moon is just a Sliver of Light in the sky. So this is still your best chance of when to get bitten by Blood Fiend Vampires.
This makes sense, because if you look for Vampires during a Full Moon instead, then you will be more likely to find Werewolves spawned in the same locations under full moons, as where Blood Fiends spawn on New Moons, and you cannot contract Vampirism from anybody, if you are already infected by Werewolves. In fact one of the ways to avoid becoming a Vampire is to be infected by a Werewolf first. You cannot be both a Vampire and Werewolf on the same character, but you could have two different characters at the same time, with one of them becoming a Vampire and the other one becoming a Werewolf. After all, Vampires and Werewolves have very different Skill-lines. Other than that, you can become a Vampire no matter your race, class or alliance you start out with.
Solidifying Your Choice (Some potentially minor Spoilers)
Whether you had another player character infect you with Vampirism, or you went and got attacked by spawned Blood Fiend Vampires -- if you have been successfully bitten by a Vampire -- a message will say “Vampirism” at the top, and “You have been bitten by a Vampire” underneath of that.
Becoming Vampire - Quest
When infected there is a column called “Vampirism” which will also appear in the character’s attributes and Vampirism will appear under your Active Effects. So once you have been infected by a Vampire, the disease will become active and you should go to the nearest wayshrine where you will meet an NPC Vampire and will be given a level 38 Quest, called Scion of the Blood Matron. This is the quest that once completed can give you the Vampire skill line. However, The Vampirism has no actual effect until you accept the vampire quests. With the Vampirism activated for Vampire Quests, you can then go to accept the quests. Scion of the Blood Matron quest starts first, and you will then encounter this special NPC who is a red-eye vampire who is waiting for you.
Vorundil
Talk to him (usually named ‘Vorundil’ by all accounts thus far), and then go to the position where this Vampire sends you, which is usually where the vampire’s capital is (and the location zone is named in the quest as Blood Matron’s Crypt). Go there and meet and talk with the interesting female NPC character named Rahaja who reveals the fascinating vampire’s history and lore to you.
Rahaja will send you on an amazing quest, and after you return to her, if you are worthy you will be get to be baptized in a Vampire Pool, but I will tell you no more – except that you will at some point during all this wonder -- get to meet the first Vampire Woman, who in the past was an innocent lovely young priestess of Arkay dressed in a white gown with red-laces; whom was ravaged and savaged and became the first turned to a Vampire by Molag Bal’s spiteful twisted irony towards Arkay! Hint: You need not serve Molag Bal, to become a Vampire. This first sweet white-dressed Blood Matron named Mother Lamae can be your blood Mother.
First Vampire Quest Tips
Alright, I will go ahead and tell you that the Scion of the Blood Matron quest requires you to slay ten monsters all by yourself. Thankfully, in order to successfully complete this quest, you will be loaned the 3 main vampire skills.
Once you have finished killing ten monsters and then turn in your finished quest, you will become a new member of the Vampire Race! Congratulations! – You will also get some permanent vampire skills as a reward – which you can continue to strengthen and build upon.
What If You Choose to Be Cured?
Once infected, completing the objectives of this Vampire initiation quest called Scion of the Blood Matron is needed and required in order to either embrace the disease of Vampirism; or chose to cure it.
“I’ve been bitten by a vampire and have the option of embracing the disease or being cured.” If you have contracted Vampirism by any means you will have received that message, and if for any reason you decided that you do not want to become a Vampire, you can choose to totally cure your vampirism. Just tell the red-eyed Vampire NPC (that first gave you the Scion of the Blood Matron quest right after you were infected with vampirism), that you want to be cured, and he will tell you that instead of going to the Vampire Blood Matron, you can go to a Priest of Arkay in a nearby town for a cure. The Priest of Arkay will charge you a price of gold coins, but will remove Vampirism disease from you completely.
Vampiric Stages and Feeding
Please listen-up on Vampiric feeding dear ESO Vampire Friends, since if you fail to feed in a certain time-stages after prompted to feed (over the next 30, 60, and 90 minutes) you will progressively get to each the next stage of vampirism, beginning at one, and at the highest stage you will be at four. As you progress to higher stages of the Vampirism disease, each stage carries a more weakening debuff, but also motivates you (to dare attempt to feed while weak), by also having a progressively lower magicka cost of your vampire skills for each stage. Remember, the black rings around your eyes will also grow more noticeably darker against your ashen pale vampire skin; as you progress deeper into the stages of Vampirism.
- Vampirism Stage One: In the first stage you will take 50% fire damage if hit by any fire abilities, (so steer clear of Dragon Knights, Sorcerers with Fire Staves, Fighters Guild Members, or those with any fire attack abilities), but you are still healthy enough to sneak up behind on most any living-being (who is not too much of higher a level than you), to feed. Once you feed, it will reduce the Vampirism disease back down.
- Vampirism Stage Two: In the second stage of Vampirism stage, the Vampire (you) will still take 50% more damage from fire attacks, but now also your health regenerates 25% slower. On the other hand, your magical Vampire abilities cost 20% less to cast. Hurry, go sneak up on some warm-blooded being and get a blood-meal, and you can reduce back down from this stage of Vampirism.
- Vampirism Stage Three: Your eyes are very red and you are getting very hungry for blood, and although you will still take 50% damage from enemy fire, but now your own health regenerates 50% slower! However, your Vampirism abilities cost 40% less to cast, so you are not done for yet – avoid fire-yielders and hurry and go feed! Feeding reduces your vampirism stage. This is not a time to diet!
- Vampirism Stage Four: Your eyes are glowing and you are starving hungry for blood! You still take 50% more damage from fire attacks, but now on top of that -- Your health regenerates a whopping 75% slower! Although, your Vampirism abilities cost 60% less health to cast, you must hurry and find a victim to sneak up behind and feed upon to get that blood meal to reduce your vampirism or you will be in deep trouble, especially if hit by fire. By all means, stay away from any enemy Fighters Guild Members, Dragon Knights, Sorcerers with Fire Staves, or any and all fire yielders, which can turn you to toast right now! The black rings around your eyes may be noticed even sooner by others now. Be very sneaky, and go FEED ASAP!
HOW to FEED as a Vampire
When you get a prompt to feed, you need to crouch and slowly sneak up on the victim you single out from behind. It easier to sneak up on a warm-blooded living-being who has wandered of alone, than to try to feed on someone in a group, of course. Crouch down and sneak approach from the back, until you are at a spot behind them close enough that a feeding prompt that says [Use Feed] will come up, which then allows you to use a synergy and suck the blood of your victim.
Activate [Use Feed] prompt with your computer mouse to bite them, and for a few seconds blood will stream into your vampire mouth and you have your blood-meal. If you are having trouble getting somebody completely alone, to be really ultra-sneaky, you can use Nightblade ‘Shadow Cloak’ invisibility as noted in the Vampire Build Section about Nightblade Class as a Vampire Build – or otherwise you can use something like a Potion of ‘Tincture of Invisible’ which will not use magicka from your own magicka pool.
Vampire Skills
Remember when you collected your first Sky Shard in Cold Harbor, you may have noticed that in your Skill Menu you acquired under the WORLD section tab, a skill called SOUL MAGIC, and now right beneath this (only when you are a Vampire), the word VAMPIRE will appear right below Soul Magic under this WORLD section, and here you can revel on your Vampire Skill Line!
Being a well-fed Vampire is a balancing act, but it is also a fun blast. Advantages of the Vampire Skill Line include two active spells and a super AWESOME Ultimate. Bats Swarm summons a swarm of bats dealing damage to all enemies around you. Vampires do not have to sacrifice the Ultimate Ability slot in order to retain powers, as they do not need to transform. You will be a Vampire all the time, but sometimes you will be well-fed and sometimes you will be hungry – which is what affects your appearance changes as previously described.
As a Vampire, one of your active spells can stun your target and leeches their health and stamina while replenishing your health and stamina! This is very useful to Vampires all the time, but also particularly when needed to help offset health debuffs when they are hungry and need to feed. Another Vampire active ability makes you totally immune to control magic, whilst it also gives you75% avoidance, at the cost only of reduced incoming healing. You will also have some Morph Opportunities for some powerful Vampire Active Abilities.
Passive ability choices, including Savage Feeding, Supernatural Recovery (which increases magicka and stamina recovery by 5), Undeath,( which increases damage mitigation by up to 50% when you are below 30% health), Unnatural Resistance, (which improves Health recovery in Vampirism stages 2 through 4), Dark Stalker, (which increases your movement speed while sneaking and allows you to enter stealth more quickly at night), and saving the best for last remember the wonderful passive skill of Blood Ritual!
Blood Ritual Reminder!
A really cool passive skill is the one we also mentioned on the section for becoming a vampire, which you get as an initiated Vampire, is called Blood Ritual. Remember, Blood Ritual (which allows a Vampire player to spread the vampirism disease to other willing players once a week), can make it fun for you to ‘Turn’ a few friends to play with, or even to start your own Vampire Guild to sire other Vampires by ‘Turning’ willing Vampire Guild recruits into loyal Vampire Allies with you. Those trying to become Vampires will be undoubtedly grateful for being ‘Turned’ into Vampires; and to have a place to belong with you and other Vampires of your Vampire Group or Vampire Guild.
Vampire Looks and Character Creation Tips
When players become vampires in ESO, they do not become as unattractive as they do in some games. In fact, if you become a vampire in ESO your character will look similar to how he or she normally looks, but the eyes will turn red and the skin will turn paler.
The skin will not be a living pretty milky white of the fair, but an ashen white of the dead. As you advance in vampiric stages; the higher up in the vampire stages you go, the darker will become the black rings around your eyes. This will also help you recognize other Vampires up close. This allows for more individualized role-play of your Vampire.
If you want your Vampire to be scary ugly -- then create a character that looks scary from the start and when it becomes a Vampire it will look a bit scarier with those red eyes – and can be one of those terrifying type Vampires that is monstrous to look at.
However, some may want to role-play a Vampire that is more secretive, subtle or even attractively seductive, and then decide for themselves whom to feed on in a less immediately obvious way. To do this, you can make a normal-looking or highly attractive character that others would need to see more closely in the light before recognizing they are a Vampire looking for a blood meal; and since Vampires tend to be nocturnal this works better. In other words, you may also be even better fed if you are able to be less noticed until you strike in the dark of night, and by having a usually good-looking sneaky character and/or even one who can become temporarily invisible.
Vampirism means you MUST periodically feed, so you do not weaken. The game will let you know when you are hungry and need to feed by giving you a prompt to use your ‘feeding’ ability. Ignoring this or being unable to feed will progress you through stages one through four of Vampirism, and the higher the stage, the hungrier and weaker you become by debuffs, but the stronger your magicka power motivates you to obtain a victim to feed upon. The longer you wait to feed the more you will look like a hungry vampire. You want the best chances of being able to sneak behind a warm blooded victim for that blood-meal. See an ESO Breton Sorceress Vampire Build Below.
Breton Sorceress: ESO Vampire Build
More on Vampire Builds
Although any non-werewolf character from any race, alliance or class may become a Vampire – If you know you are going to want to become a Vampire -- some races and classes may be well-suited to this from the start. For example, you will not need a race with a disease resistance bonus – because you want to catch the disease of Vampirism as soon as you are ready. For example, a vampire may not need the disease resistance of an Argonian, but if you really want to be an Argonian Vampire you could, but not as easily.
However, you may not want to be the class of Dragon Knight (which uses fire magic) either, if you plan to be a Vampire, since you will be sensitive to fire as a Vampire. A hungry Vampire has 50% weakness to fire in all stages of needing to feed, and you to not want to play with fire – you want to avoid it. By the way, the Fighters Guild is a danger to Vampires too, although not part of initial character creation.
However, considering character creation; if you plan to embrace becoming a Vampire, you are really going to need Magicka and to build your magicka-pool as best as you can, and as soon as you can, for your non-living life as a Vampire. You will need Magicka for using your Vampire abilities. Unless you are just really stuck on a certain race or class, it is to your advantage as a future vampire, to start out with a Race and Class that has Magicka and/or Sneaky abilities to support your future intended Vampiric Lifestyle.
Sorcerers with their Magicka and Night Blades with their shadowy ways are Classes that can make for particularly good Vampires. No other class but Nightblade gives you a vanish skill that lets you disappear to escape tuff spots, or to get ready to sneak attack to do the most surprising damage to the unwary, via the Shadow Skill Line. For example, Shadow Cloak will give you, 2.5 second invisibility. Assassin's Blade from the Assassination skill tree and Duel Wielding can give you some good weapon damage for a Vampire Nightblade. Or will you be that oh so magical Sorcerer, with your big magicka pool and those magical tricks and traps and staves; who becomes the gifted Vampire enchanting items for your Vampire Guild?
If you also choose a Race that has good magical and/or sneaking advantages and abilities you will have further advantage to go along with the Class you chose, whilst creating a build for your character that you want to make into your ultimate triple-threat Vampire build. You can come up with various combinations, but here are a few examples.
For example, a Breton Sorcerer, even with long ranged magic attacks and the ability to summon Daedric Minions up close and personal all over them could distract a small group of enemies with your summoned helper, whilst you are personally singling out a target for a sneaky to-go meal. If somebody does not like it, just shock- zap them with some Storm Magic as a finisher.
For another example, if you are using a sneaky duel-wielding Khajiit as a shadowy assassinating Nightblade, and then try making it a Vampire – this will likely give you quite a well-fed Shadow-Cat – that can take on allot of mischief as a Vampire and still thrive.
By building a character with stealth and magicka intended to become a Vampire, you will be able to have plenty of fun with the Vampire Skill Line and keep well-fed. Remember, Vampirism means you MUST periodically feed. Vampires should use the Feeding ability once prompted to ingame. This is why it will really help you as a Vampire to play a race and/or class that is built to be able to be more successfully able to stay invisible by either using a potion and/or by using class ability for better sneaking up on victims when prompted to feed.
YES! -- ‘I Vant to Bite Your Neck!’ -- Vampires and Friends
You see in ESO, whether you are a seasoned Elder Scrolls Fan or new to the Elder Scrolls World, you can be a Vampire in ESO! The choices are yours! Based on the Elder Scrolls Lore and Game Series, the Elder Scrolls Online is a Massive Multiplayer RPG Game with a fascinating world that only the Elder Scrolls Series could deliver! Except now, thanks to Bethesda and Zenimax we can be in this Elder Scrolls World together with whomever we want, who will join us there!
These choices include becoming Vampires, or even starting an ingame Vampire Guild! Becoming a Vampire is such fun, that we would recommend that you at least try it on one of your character builds created set aside by you to become active for this vampiric purpose, or just because the chance came along with any of your characters and you took it! WE hope to see you Vampires in ESO, but then again, maybe we won’t see you when you want to bite our necks.
