One of the most sought after things in Elder Scrolls Online is becoming a vampire or werewolf. It is not easy, despite what others say. There are several things you have to look out for and a quest line to complete to get the skill line for either.
The vampire skill line uses magicka and you use it with your normal abilities. Unlike werewolf, you don’t use an ultimate to transform, you use your abilities at anytime. The first ability you get does not work on most bosses, so be aware of that.
Leveling a vampire, especially at lower levels, takes a very long time because it is based on the amount of experience points you get. The amount needed for each level is high, so the higher level you are, the faster it is to level vampire. The upside is that you don’t even need to have any vampire abilities on your skill bar to level it, so you aren’t forced to use them until you level up enough to make them worthwhile.
For full details on vampire skills, as well as others, check out the Guide to World Skills.
This guide will cover everything about becoming a vampire including:
- Getting the Disease – How to get the disease and where to go.
- Scion of the Blood Matron – Where to get the quest and details on completing it.
Getting the Disease
The hardest part about becoming a vampire is actually getting the disease. This is done by one of two ways.
- Get bitten by a Bloodfiend in the zone where the ritual shrine is located at night.
- Get bitten by another player at the ritual shrine.
In case you didn’t know, ESO has a day/night system.
- Days lasts around 3.5 hours and nights last about 1.5 hours.
- The moon comes out every night, but it changes.
There are Bloodfiends in multiple locations, but only those that spawn at night at random in the ritual zones count. This is Bangkorai for Daggerfall Covenant, Reaper’s Marsh for Aldmeri Domnion, and The Rift for Ebonheart Pact.
I got vampire on an Ebonheart Pact character, so the map below shows some areas bloodfiends spawned in The Rift. These are not the only areas, so it is best to look around the map at night for the enemies. I suggest getting a taunt move of some kind. The One-hand and Shield weapon skill line has a taunt ability, so everyone has access to one.
When you get bitten, look for the disease in your character screen, under active effects. It is called vampirism.
There are many people scamming vampire bites so be careful. They ask for gold and when you trade, they leave without biting you. The best way is to join a guild or have a friend do it so you won’t get scammed.
There are also many trustworthy people who will do it for free or follow through on your agreement. During this exchange, ask for the bite. Any trustworthy person will bite first, then get paid.
There is no level requirement to get the disease, but the quest is level 38 and involves killing level 42 enemies. Some players have reported to complete it as low as level 17. I suggest using ranged abilities and staying out of reach at a low-level.
Scion of the Blood Matron
If you get bitten by a player, you will already be at the ritual shrine and skip the first parts of the quest. If you get bitten by a bloodfiend, you have to head to the nearest wayshrine for an NPC named Vorundil to start the quest.
This is the shrine for the quest.
After the dialogue, head to the ritual shrine to meet another NPC named Rahaja. The shrine is on your map when you have the quest. After more dialogue, go to the shrine and enter the crypt to continue the quest.
This quest involves learning the history of the first vampire and what happened to her. I will not give much away, but you learn two things of history.
- Who the first vampire was and how che became one.
- Who forsake her after she sought help.
After the history is over you must kneel in the blood pool and receive your vampire gift. The quest is not over though. You are temporarily given 3 vampire abilities and must kill 10 enemies in the crypt. After that, turn in the quest and you permanently unlock the vampire skill line.
Stages of Vampirisim
After becoming a full vampire, you begin the stages of hunger. Each stage reduces your health generation more, but makes your vampire abilities cost less. There are 4 total stages and you take 50% more fire damage. This is the same in all stages.
To reduce your stage, crouch and sneak behind an enemy humanoid. You get prompted with use feed, which is “X” by default. When you do this, your vampire stage gets reduced.
Appearance also changes with each stage of hunger to make you more noticeable. If you get to a high level, you can offset these weakness by having higher health recovery when low on health. You can also add fire resistance to gear and/or choose Dark Elf for their fire resistance.
That’s it for the guide on becoming a vampire. If you have any other vampire related questions, or suggestions, let me know in the comments!
