On Vampirism in Oblivion

By natetodamax December 18, 2009 29 Comments

*This blog will contain slight spoilers*
 

So in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, you have the option to become a vampire. This is not a choice you should take lightly, however - becoming a vampire means dramatically changing the way you've been playing, and it adds a whole new set of challenges. The reason I'm writing this is because I recently made the mistake of becoming a vampire. Here's the breakdown:

Your appearance is altered

Upon becoming a vampire, your skin gets lighter (or darker in the case of my Dark Elf for whatever reason), your cheeks appear boney, and your eyes turn a violent red. Other NPCs will notice this as well.

You need to feed regularly

And by feeding I mean biting the necks of sleeping people. This can be done by breaking into their homes, sneaking up to wherever they're sleeping, and gnawing on them. Doing so restores your appearance to a slightly less eviler look. It probably does something else, but I'm not aware of it. Feeding is something you need to do every day or every other day. If you go a while without drinking any blood, you'll look menacing and eventually people will not want to talk to you. I once had an inn owner in the Imperial City refuse to let me sleep there because I was obviously a blood thirsty vampire. All of the NPCs outside of the city also refused to converse with me.

The sun kills you

This is the biggest negative about vampirism. You need to avoid the daylight, because it can and will kill you. If you're anything like me, you hate playing at night because you can't see anything. Even worse, all of the stores shut down at 8:00 PM, which is when it is safe to go out. So basically, you can't go outside until all the stores are closed. This means that it's almost impossible for you to sell and buy gear, and very hard to talk to NPCs because they'll usually be inside sleeping. On the contrary, all the stores open at 8:00 AM, and you start feeling the effects of the sun before that time.

The quest for curing vampirism is probably the hardest thing to do in the game

I'm not even joking. Basically, this is how it goes: You first need to talk to a priest/priestess at a church, who directs you to the mage Raminus Polus, who directs you to the Count of Skingrad, who directs you to a woman living out in the middle of the woods. If all that fast-traveling doesn't frustrate you, this stupid woman that obviously hates you to death will. First, she needs Grand Soul Gems. But no, not just any Grand Soul Gems. She needs empty ones. So now you need to wander around the towns visiting Mage Guilds so you can grab five of them. Once you get that, she sends you on a massive ingredient fetch quest. You need to find 6 things of garlic, 5 nightshade leaves, and 2 pieces of Bloodgrass. All three of these can be found in The Main Ingredient, which is a shop in the Imperial City. But like I said, the stores open at 8 AM and close at 8 PM, and being outside between those hours means a constant loss of health. But if you manage to get into the shop when it's open, it may or may not have everything you need; you might have to wander our into the wilderness to

find the rest. Once you get these, you then need the blood of an Argonian and the ashes of a powerful vampire named Hindaril. To get the blood, you need to slash an innocent Argonian with the blade, which will probably get the guards very angry. The vampire is easy to kill, thankfully. After you get all of these and finish throwing the controller against the wall, you then need to wait 24 hours for the potion to finish. However, you can't wait inside her home because you're trespassing at all times, and you can't wait outside because you'll die. So now you must fast travel back to a city, wait there, and then travel back. That's as far as I've gotten so far.
 
So if you plan on playing Oblivion (or you currently are), do yourself a favor by saying NO to vampirism!

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