Skyrim:Vampire

thumb|Vampires 
Vampires are NPCs in Skyrim afflicted with Sanguinare Vampiris. The disease causes them to physically change, giving them supernatural powers and making them immune to poison, but vulnerable to sunlight and fire. Vampires are undead and therefore susceptible to magical effects aimed at the undead but unaffected by Illusion spells unless the perk 'Master of the Mind' has been unlocked. Since they are NPCs rather than creatures, all vampires have black souls.

Vampires usually make their lairs in caves and other dark places, and may also be found gathered around ritual sites in the wilderness. They are often accompanied by mortals called Vampire's Thralls. Vampires usually attack on sight, even if you are also a vampire. If struck by a vampire's Vampiric Drain spell, you can be infected with Sanguinare Vampiris, which, if not cured within three days, will transform you into a vampire.

While most vampires encountered will have the tell-tale signs of vampirism, such as black and red eyes, some have no outward displays of vampirism and can only be discovered with use of Detect Dead - or through lack of aura from Detect Life (like Sybille Stentor and Alva, for example). All generic vampires are female; only boss-level vampires are male. The only exception to this is the vampire that appears in the "Vampire Trick" world interaction: this vampire uses the same data as the generic vampires below, but is always male instead of female.

When the Dawnguard add-on is installed, in addition to several new vampires being added, changes to the physical appearance of vampires from the base game will be seen. Most vampires will have glowing yellow eyes and distorted faces, with bat-like noses, a red line from nose to chin, and ridges above their eyes (similar to Dark Elves). During the events of the Dawnguard quests, vampires will attack some towns or cities. Dawnguard also introduces the powerful Vampire Lords and the Volkihar vampire clan as a fully fleshed out faction.
 

Vampire Types
All vampires have a Drain Life spell which can drain health, stamina, and magicka at a rate of a few points per second. Low-level vampires can drain only health, mid-level vampires can drain both health and stamina, and the highest-level vampires can drain health, stamina, and magicka.

Vampires also have an ability called "Chill Touch," which creates an ice hazard that deals 10 points of frost damage on forward power attacks. All vampires of level 12 or higher have a leveled ability called "Vampire Touch", which grants a constant Fortify Unarmed Damage bonus. The "Vampiric Invisibility" spell allows vampires to become invisible for 20 seconds.
 
Vampires
Although they rely primarily on magic in battle, all vampires carry one of the following one-handed weapons as backup:
Sword: iron sword, steel sword, orcish sword, dwarven sword, or elven sword
War Axe: iron war axe, steel war axe, orcish war axe, dwarven war axe, or elven war axe

Vampires wear a pair of boots and one of the following outfits, depending on the vampire's level:
Black mage robes
Leather armor and boots
Enchanted robes (Fortify Destruction, Fortify Conjuration, or Fortify Magicka Rate)
Elven armor and boots
Orcish armor and boots
Glass armor and boots

If Dawnguard is installed, vampires wear either vampire armor or vampire robes along with a pair of vampire boots.

Vampires may carry miscellaneous items, including lockpicks, potions, gems, jewelry, and books, and have a 50% chance to carry a small amount of gold. On death, vampires drop vampire dust and have a 15% chance to drop a leveled potion or poison.

The male vampire that appears during the "Vampire Trick" world interaction carries a leveled dagger (steel, orcish, dwarven. or elven) and may also carry some gold and a random scroll.


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Vampire Bosses

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Named Vampires


Companions
Monsters
Vampires are sometimes accompanied by a few monsters, which will vary depending upon your level. The monsters will be the same level as the minimum PC level listed in the table below (so at levels 6-11, the Frostbite Spider companion will be level 6, and so on).
thumb|Vampire's Thrall

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Vampire's Thrall
Vampire's Thralls are often encountered along with vampires, though they are not actually vampires themselves. All of the thralls are based off the data used for bandits (one-handed melee fighters, two-handed melee fighters, archers, and mages), so they use many different combat styles and can vary greatly in terms of strength, level, equipment, and known spells. They have their own faction and are considered friends to vampires. Note that with one exception, thralls can never be "freed". Killing all of the vampires in the area will not make their thralls become non-hostile. However, if you are a werewolf and you encounter a vampire and its thrall while you are in beast form, you can kill the vampire, change back to human form, then draw and sheathe your weapon as if you were surrendering. This will cause the surviving thrall to cease hostility. 
 

Related Quests
 
 
 
 
 
 

Dawnguard Quests
Dawnguard's entire main quest is focused on vampires. In addition, vampires are involved in the following Dawnguard side quests:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

World Interactions
Bitten by a vampire
Dawnguard Vampire Hunting 
Desperate Vampire Seeking Shelter From the Sun 
Vampire and Gargoyle 
Vampire, Gargoyle and Death Hound (Oh, my) 
Vampire and Death Hounds 
Vampire and thralls 
Vampire Assassin 
Vampire Attack
Vampire Feeding on the Corpse of a Vigilant 
Vampire Masquerade 
Vampire Trick
Vampires fighting Bandits 
Vampires vs Player Dawnguard 
Vigilants fighting Vampire
Werewolves VS Vampires 

Dialogue
Idling
''"...still always hungry... there's no prey down in this hole... need to hunt more... all this hiding and skulking around, pah..."
"...first kill is always the best... the blood has never tasted as sweet since..."
"...I won't hide down here forever... gather a few of the brethren, we'll strike out on our own..."
"...maybe the clans have it right... hunting's so chancy... why not keep a few thralls... blood whenever you want it..."
"...blood... so hungry all the time now... need to hunt again soon..."
"...she said I'd forget, and usually I do, but sometimes... still remember their faces, their pleading..."
"...Dawnguard getting to be more than a nuisance... gather some of the hunters... teach them a lesson..."
"...the clans think they're better than us... putting on airs... pah, they'll be the first to burn when the mortals get organized..."
"...just fed but still hungry... blood... all I can think about these days... last kill was so good... just the right amount of struggle..."
"...too much hiding... the mortals are weak... he's a coward to fear them, we should feed when we like... can't stand this hunger gnawing at me..."

Greetings
"I don't converse with my prey."
"Don't speak to me, meat."

The non-hostile captive vampires encountered in Fellglow Keep have a unique greeting:
"Out of the way, meat."

Combat
"Ohh... but I will have your blood..."
"My thirst will be sated..."
"Oh, I can smell your blood..."
"Bleed for me, mortal!"
"Just a taste!"
"Hssssss!"

Combat
"Bleed and die!"
"Just a taste..."
"You're mine, mortal!"
"Pah, your blood is foul."
"Soon... soon your blood will be mine..."
"Your blood calls me..."
"Why fight me? Your blood is already mine."
"Stop struggling. I'll give you a swift and beautiful death."
"I'll drink you dry, mortal!"
"Your kind are finished."
"Mortal fool, you can't stop us."
"We own the night, fool."
"The night belongs to us."
"The Tyranny of the Sun has been broken!"
"The sun cannot protect you any more!"
"Behold the power of Night!"
"You've seen your last dawn. I bring the night."
"The night eternal awaits."
"You blood will not protect you from me."
"You're no match for me, fledgling."
"Let me show you how mortal you still are, vampire."
"This is my hunting ground."
"You should not have come here, vampire."
"There's no blood here for you."

A vampire who is being hit may say:
"Is that your best, mortal?"
"You dare defy me?"
"Now it's my turn."

A vampire who has been severely wounded may say:
"No... my blood is strong..."
"Death is nothing to me..."
"I do not fear death."
"Never... not yet..."

A vampire who has won a battle may say:
"And so you learn the power of the night."
"Is that all of them?"
"That ends it."
"And now for the feast."

Detection
Vampires will sniff the air and speak one of the following lines when they are detecting you:
"... what's that?"
"Something's not right."
"There's something out there."
"Hmm?"
"We may feed again today."
"I could feed again."
"... Hmm? ..."
"Running is your only chance to live."
"...I'll find you..."
"I'll find you, don't worry."
"There's no use hiding from me."
"Where are you?"

A vampire who has already detected you may say:
"I love it when dinner walks right into my arms."
"You're mine!"
"Die!"
"The prey is here!"
"Aha... and now you die."
"Ha ha ha! Here you are."
"There you are."
"I knew I smelled mortal blood!"
"Now your blood is mine!"
"It's the Dawnguard! Let none escape!"
"When will you fools learn? The night is ours!"
"Your blood will not protect you."
"You dare to interfere with me?"

Miscellaneous
A vampire who has discovered a corpse may say:
"Whoever did this is mine."
"Someone will bleed for this."
"I will avenge you, brother."
"I will avenge you, sister."

A vampire who has lost sight of you may say:
"Running will warm your blood nicely."
"You don't think you can escape me, do you?"
"I will find you."
"All quiet now."
"Must have run off."
"Hmm. Cowards."
"Hmm. Nothing."'
''"It's gone now."
"The scent has gone cold."
"I was hoping to feed."

A vampire who has lost sight of you and found you again may say:
"Ha ha ha! I knew I'd find you."
"You should have kept running."
"Fool. You should have run."
"Now let's finish this."
"You had your chance to escape, vampire."''

Notes
Regular vampires have a morality of "Any Crime", which means they're willing to commit any crime, but boss-level vampires have a morality of "No Crime," which means they are unwilling to commit crimes of any sort. Because of their aggression, however, they will still attack you on sight.
Not only vampires' forward power attacks inflict the chill touch effect, but they also do 3x the damage of a normal attack, instead of 2x.

Bugs
 
Use console commands to remove the effect. 
 

See Also
For historical information about vampires, see the lore article.
Feral Vampire  — a hostile vampire found in Castle Volkihar
Vampire Assassin  — a hostile vampire that attacks as part of a world interaction
Vampire Naturalist  — a hostile vampire found in Cronvangr Cave 
Vampire Scout   — hostile vampires found on the outskirts of Fort Dawnguard
Traveler   — a hostile vampire found in cities that attacks as part of a world interaction

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