Crossbows are broken overpowered. I'm actually laughing my ass off that they managed to trick so many people into going vampire just for the shitty transform. Vampires are missing out.

I have a bow with 500+ base damage, fire damage and soul trap. And a ring with +40% bow damage. And an amulet with +1200% bow damage. Everything is "broken overpowered" in Skyrim :P

But, yeah, I never saw the appeal of being a vampire lord, or a werewolf for that matter. From the moment Bethesda announced the DLC I knew I wanted to become part of the Dawnguard. Fuck vampires. They can sparkle all they want, I just don't care.

I have a sword that does over 9000 damage. Not saying that for the sake of the meme, but it is over 9000.

Dawnguard seems like a pretty lame piece of DLC overall to be honest. No new land and a heavy focus on Vampires and shit I couldn't care about.

This ain't no Shivering Isles, and I won't buy Skyrim DLC till they release something at least on par. Not for £14.

Eh, it's kinda fun being a vampire. It's nice to occasionally have a ranged attack on my warrior. I still think the most stupid thing they did was lower the life drain damage when you have a companion (I don't know if it's just with the vampire chick). It's completely useless with a companion. And considering she's with you during pretty much the entire DLC, it's extra stupid.

Except for the fact that Skyrim is already so painfully easy at the level I'm at, even on the hardest difficulty, that I'd rather go with the option that's more fun instead of the one that gives me yet another way of killing things in one hit. Also, you can't full-on "Gravity Gun" enemies with a Crossbow like you can as a Vampire Lord.

Although...

@Chavtheworld said:

Dawnguard seems like a pretty lame piece of DLC overall to be honest. No new land and a heavy focus on Vampires and shit I couldn't care about.

This ain't no Shivering Isles, and I won't buy Skyrim DLC till they release something at least on par. Not for £14.

My thoughts, exactly. Wayy too much for that.

The crossbow takes a long time to reload, it's not overpowered. A ton of other weapons and abilities are just as capable as the crossbow.

There isn't any pvp, so what does it matter?

@GenocidalKitten: That's a pound sign. Also I do enjoy the base game I just think Shivering Isles added so much more in terms of change (some people have invested a lot of time already into Skyrim and it'd be nice to see somewhere with a different styling) compared to what this offers. Things like new enemies, dugneon designs, landscape designs and weapons made Shivering Isles for me. I don't really just want more of the same...

@Elazul said:

Except for the fact that Skyrim is already so painfully easy at the level I'm at, even on the hardest difficulty, that I'd rather go with the option that's more fun instead of the one that gives me yet another way of killing things in one hit.

If the game's combat was better I would agree with you. But I found that transforming yourself into a vampire or werewolf just makes each encounter drag on for much longer than it should. For me it was nice as a novelty once or twice, but after that, it all became very cumbersome. I can't imagine playing the whole DLC like that, let alone the whole game.

And, yeah, fun = subjective, not factual.

I love killing me some Vampires.

Shit, I realized I still haven't even touched the main quest in Skyrim...

That title is a pun right? It has to be, you can't seriously have just let that one through without realising it...

Skyrim..BROKEN? This can't be.

There are mods that change the balance of everything, so if you think something is not to your liking. Change it. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/9286

@Shirogane said:

That title is a pun right? It has to be, you can't seriously have just let that one through without realising it...

@Example1013 said:

I'm actually laughing my ass off that they managed to trick so many people into going vampire just for the shitty transform.

Well, you're not ACTUALLY laughing your ass off.

I'm going to stay far away from Dawnguard for a number of reasons.

I can do both. *shrugs*

@DJJoeJoe said:

There are mods that change the balance of everything, so if you think something is not to your liking. Change it. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/9286

Exactly, even in the Steam workshop there are at least two or three mods that make the Vampire Lord much better. It's lame by default, but awesome when powered up. If you are playing on a console, then yes, the Vampire Lord is astonishingly weak.

They should've made Armored Troll the Dawnguard transformation. Just saiyan

@JoeyRavn said:

@Elazul said:

Except for the fact that Skyrim is already so painfully easy at the level I'm at, even on the hardest difficulty, that I'd rather go with the option that's more fun instead of the one that gives me yet another way of killing things in one hit.

If the game's combat was better I would agree with you. But I found that transforming yourself into a vampire or werewolf just makes each encounter drag on for much longer than it should. For me it was nice as a novelty once or twice, but after that, it all became very cumbersome. I can't imagine playing the whole DLC like that, let alone the whole game.

And, yeah, fun = subjective, not factual.

Yeah, I know, that's why I said I'd rather play it the way I want instead of just min/max-ing because the OP said to. I didn't say that it'd be more fun for everyone or is somehow the 'right' choice in any way.

I also stick to my original statement that as you can both be a Vampire Lord and have access to all of the Crossbows and bolt-crafting stuff, this thread makes no sense anyway.

I want to dual-wield crossbows. Is there a mod for that yet?

@Twinsun said:

There isn't any pvp, so what does it matter?

I always wonder the same thing when people complain about balance in a none player vs. player game.

@Elazul said:

Except for the fact that Skyrim is already so painfully easy at the level I'm at, even on the hardest difficulty, that I'd rather go with the option that's more fun instead of the one that gives me yet another way of killing things in one hit. Also, you can't full-on "Gravity Gun" enemies with a Crossbow like you can as a Vampire Lord.

Although...

SPOILER WARNING: Click here to reveal hidden content.

as you can choose to become a Vampire Lord even if you join the Dawnguard, you can easily have both, so this thread is kinda pointless.

@DJJoeJoe said:

There are mods that change the balance of everything, so if you think something is not to your liking. Change it. http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/9286

Both of these. I can't even imagine playing Skyrim without the mods. I turned it into the challenging Dark Ages/Low Fantasy Viking survival simulator game I wanted it to be out of the box. Since there's no other players and it's strictly my gaming experience, to not do so on the PC version just seems like a waste of money. Unless you like to /godmode through every challenge. But that doesn't seem too fun, personally speaking.

As a Vampire Lord I got a crossbow and exploding bolts by slaughtering every Dawnguard guy in the fort and exploring it a bit and now I have both. Force Throwing Giants >>>>>>>>>> silly baby Crossbow.

@Chavtheworld said:

Dawnguard seems like a pretty lame piece of DLC overall to be honest. No new land and a heavy focus on Vampires and shit I couldn't care about.

This ain't no Shivering Isles, and I won't buy Skyrim DLC till they release something at least on par. Not for £14.

The Bethesda that released Shivering Isles, and the Beth that release Dawnguard are different teams. Not seriously, but Beth today couldn't give a shit about the game or the fans. Shit, I remember playing Oblivion on the 360 and PS3 without ANY problems for well over 500hrs. Their ISN'T one mission, person, place, or thing in Skyrim that DOESN'T glitch. God, I hate Skyrim.

Regardless of crossbow power, anyone who became a vampire is missing out. On one hand you have...well, being a feminine vampire on the other you can be a badass werewolf/dawnguard vampire hunter that wields a motherfucking crossbow. If you chose to side with the vampires, you chose wrong, I'm sorry.

@Law313: I've played Skyrim on and off since release and apart from a few crashes I haven't experienced anything game breaking.

@Law313: I don't think Skyrim is that bad.

There isn't any pvp, so what does it matter?

YEAH! SUCK IT VAMPIRE LORDS!

TEAM JACOB FTW

Suck what?

@NMC2008 said:

Suck what?

Oh you.

100% resistance to everything but fire IS kinda sweet though.

I went Vampire Lord and really enjoyed it, the only active power I use with any regularity is night vision. I almost never transform.

Vampire Lords are awesome.

@Example1013:

cant vampires use the Crossbows and other weapons too?

@SpartanHoplite: no, there's a "No Vampires Allowed" sign placed quite clearly on the side of all the crossbows