Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Werewolf Guide v1.5 by theonyxphoenix _ d$b EEEE ESEE .'T$;\ ._., EG ES / TP.; " "8OT. XE EG /" :b| "OU EE SE _/ / ;j; -\ EG EE . .. d$$ ._ E E ." /P' d$$$ .: G / " d$$p .|\ |' .' 'T$P |./ ._. ._. ""'" : .) '." -._ ; "| /-_____ ._ ._: /" '-($$$$$$$$B.^- :/: O." ""^^T$PPP^) :/: OP' _/ -" /.' / : T.: ._.'_''_" ; _ %-/ '-.-"..--"" .\/ "-o -..O:' .-" ..--"" -/_ : "'" ..--""--.-" :'- ..--"" ; _. - v1.0 June 4 2012 Completed Faq - v1.1 June 19 2012 Minor grammatical fixes. Added Ebonyflesh or Dragonhide section Updated Werewolves and Vampirism Section - v1.2 June 26 2012 Updated DLC Section - v1.3 July 1 2012 Updated skills section Updated Vampire Lord Section Updated Dawnguard Section - v1.4 July 11 2012 Updated information on werewolf damage resistance Updated information regarding Dragonhide and Ebonyflesh throughout - v1.5 June 25 2013 Updated with Dragonborn DLC content Addressed any bugfixes as a result of patches Updated Vampire Lord/Werewolf Hybrid section Most recent patch: 1.9 - v1.6 November 1 2013 Updated Right Hand glitch section - patched in 1.9 Updated Race information Added Frostmoon Hunt/Health Regeneration Section Minor updates throughout Table of Contents: 0.1 Overview 1.0 Becoming a Werewolf 1.1 Take up Arms 1.2 Trouble in Skyrim 1.3 Proving Honor 1.4 The Silver Hand 2.0 The Beast Form 2.1 Advantages 2.2 Disadvantages 3.0 Ring of Hircine 3.1 Ill Met by Moonlight 4.0 Totems of Hircine 4.1 Totem of the Hunt 4.2 Totem of Brotherhood 4.3 Totem of Fear 5.0 Curing Lycanthropy 5.1 Glory of the Dead 5.2 Purity 6.0 Building a Better Beast 6.1 Magicka, Stamina, and Health 6.1.1 Ebonyflesh or Dragonhide 6.2 Race 6.3 Skills and Perks 6.4 Standing Stones 6.5 Equipment 6.5.1 Armor 6.5.2 Weapons 6.6 Shouts 6.7 Other Powers 6.7.1 Quest Rewards 6.7.2 Meditating of the Words of Power 6.7.3 Guild Abilities 6.7.4 Other 6.8 Blessings 6.9 Followers 7.0 Glitches 7.1 Follower equip glitch 7.2 Right hand equip glitch 7.3 Bow equip glitch 7.4 Man-beast glitch 8.0 Techniques and Strategies 8.1 Wild Animals 8.2 Monsters 8.3 Dragons 8.4 Dwarven Automatons 8.5 Draugr 8.6 Humans 8.7 Glitched Weapons and Equipment 9.0 Werewolves and Vampirism 9.1 Timing at the Underforge - Stage 4 9.2 Timing at the Underforge - Stage 2 9.3 When Curing Lycanthropy 9.4 Necromage 10.0 DLC 10.1 Dawnguard 10.1.1 Werewolf Perk Tree 10.1.2 Vampire Lord 10.1.3 Unique Dawnguard Hybrids 10.1.4 Regaining Lycanthropy 10.1.5 New Stuff 10.2 Dragonborn 10.2.1 Unique Werewolf Rings 10.2.2 Frostmoon Hunt 10.2.3 Blessings 10.2.4 Dragon Shouts 10.2.5 Greater Powers 10.2.6 Cleansing Stones 10.2.7 Lesser Powers 10.2.8 Passive Abilies 10.2.9 Spells 11.0 Q&A 12.0 Legal ** [ 0.1 ] OVERVIEW ********************************************************* This guide is to detail the ins and outs of becoming a werewolf in Skyrim and how to most efficiently play as one. This is one of my favorite play- styles and even more so with the addition of the Dawnguard and Dragonborn DLC. Hopefully you find this to be helpful and informative. This guide is assuming that you have played through the game and I will divulge spoilers (albeit, I attempted to keep them to a minimum) throughout. ** [ 1.0 ] BECOMING A WEREWOLF *********************************************** [ 1.1 ] Take up Arms Head to Whiterun to encounter Aela the Huntress, Ria, and Farkas fighting a giant near Pelagia Farm. She will send you to Jorrvaskr to talk to Kodlak Whitemane about joining the Companions. Go downstairs and talk to Kodlak and he will have you go outside with Vilkas to test you. Hit him a few times and he will send you to Eorlund Gray-Mane to have his sword sharpened. Eorlund will ask you to take Aela's shield to her. She is in Jorrvaskr downstairs. She'll have Farkas show you the barracks. Speak to Farkas after his dialogue for a radiant quest. [ 1.2 ] Trouble in Skyrim Just follow the quest marker and complete this quest. It will often require you to kill an animal terrorizing someone's home or to brawl someone. Once you have completed the quest return to Jorrvaskr and speak to Skjor. [ 1.3 ] Proving Honor Skjor will send you and Farkas to Dustman's Cairn. It is located in the plains west of Whiterun. Filled with Draugr and Silver Hand members you can have Farkas take out most of the enemies but he can get overwhelmed so use Alteration flesh spells, conjure familiar, and your best weapon since you don't have Beast Form yet. The dungeon is pretty straightforward. You will come to a room where activating a switch will cause you to become trapped. Farkas will be surrounded by Silver Hand members and will shift into Beast Form to dispatch them before freeing you. Proceed through the dungeon. You can let draugr and Silver Hand members fight it out before mopping up the survivors. If you are wanting money the silver weapons sell for a good price. At the end of the dungeon you will have to fight numerous Draugr (you can kill them in the coffins before grabbing the fragment) and can obtain a word for the Fire Breath shout (meh). Once out, you may want to travel south to the mountains and find Bloated Man's Grotto. You'll be headed there soon. Now head back to Jorrvaskr and speak to Vilkas to become an official member of the Companions. You can get a free Skyforge Steel weapon from Eorlund, not that you will need it soon. [ 1.4 ] The Silver Hand After doing another radiant quest you will be sent back to Skjor. He will tell you to meet him at night near the Underforge. Enter and follow the dialogue options to participate in the ritual and gain Beast Form. If you want to become a werewolf/vampire hybrid then see the section on vampirism BEFORE you join in the ritual to become a werewolf. Drink the blood. You will automatically transform and be released into Whiterun. You cannot die. If your health drains too low you will simply continue on with the quest and wake up near Gallows Rock. You will not incur bounty during this time. You can re-enter the Underforge and wait out the transformation if you wish. It is worthy to note that Aela can be attacked repeatedly with no retaliation infinitely and you can increase your weapon skills since she will regenerate her health. You can choose to continue with the Companion's quest line but typically I would recommend heading to Gallows Rock to mark it on the map and then go to Falkreath to obtain the Ring of Hircine for unlimited werewolf transformations. See Ring of Hircine section. ** [ 2.0 ] THE BEAST FORM **************************************************** Once gaining the Beast Form ability you can transform into a werewolf once per day by equipping the ability to your RB button just like a racial power. You are vulnerable to attack during the transformation animation. Your new form lasts for two minutes and thirty seconds and the duration is increased by 30 seconds by each humanoid corpse you feed upon. When you wish to revert to human form you can either wait out the duration of the transformation or you can use the "wait" function to wait for one hour (or more) which will cause you to revert. Note that you can only do this when you are out of range of enemies. Some of the information here changes when you install the Dawnguard DLC. See Dawnguard section for details. -- [ 2.1 ] ADVANTAGES ------------------------------------------------------ - Beast Form increases max health and max stamina by 100. This changes with the inclusion of the Dawnguard DLC. Health is only increased by 50. - Werewolves are 100% resistant to disease and cannot contract any diseases including the one causing Vampirism. It is possible to become both a werewolf and a vampire. See Werewolves and Vampirism. - Werewolf sprinting speed is faster than any other creature including horses. This makes overland travel much easier. In addition, it also allows for more control over outdoor battles. The maneuverability gained by this speed allows you to adopt more of a hit and run tactic so that you can employ the leap attack... one of the werewolf's most powerful abilities. - Beast Form increases carrying capacity by 2000. - The werewolf's claw attack is dependent upon character level. The attack power is base 20 and levels five points every fourth level beginning at level 11 to a maximum of 70 at level 45+ for normal left and right claw attacks. Directional power attacks cause any enemy apart from mammoths and dragons to ragdoll. However, the power attacks can stun these larger enemies instead. Standing power attacks will do a 3-swipe combo power attack. The most damaging attack that you can perform is the leap attack. This is achieved by using the sprint button and either left or right claw attack while running. You will do a running leap with both claws at the enemy and will do 3x damage and cause knockdown. You can easily take down giants and dragons in a few swipes. Details on how best to use these attacks are detailed in the Techniques section. Claw attacks are not related to any weapon skill so they do not provide any skill increase, nor do they benefit from any weapon perks or racial perks. - Werewolves have four kill cam moves. By finishing the enemy with a RT attack you will jump on the enemy and maul them with both claws repeatedly. By finishing with the LT button you will jump on the enemy and bite them. By finishing with both RT and LT simultaneously you may either pick up the enemy and throw them a long distance or alternately you may decapitate them. - When coming across (or creating) a humanoid corpse you can stand over them and press A to feed. This will allow you 30 additional seconds of Beast Form as well as healing 50 health each time you feed. You cannot feed on Draugr, Falmer, etc however Vampires and any playable race humanoids permit feeding. You are vulnerable and can be damaged or killed while feeding. If you use a howl or press the X button once you begin feeding you can cancel the animation and still gain all of the benefits. Feeding is the only way to regain health while in Beast Form (apart from the Avoid Death perk). Health regeneration virtually stops (but can be boosted by incredibly high Fortify Health Regen potions created using the Fortify Restoration glitch) but Stamina regeneration is boosted dramatically. - Werewolves have the ability to use unique shout-like abilities known as howls by using RB while in Beast Form. The default howl is called Scent of Blood and causes a fear effect on all living creatures under level 25. Additional howls can be obtained through the Totems of Hircine quests [see Totems of Hircine]. Howls will not cause summoned or raised creatures to become hostile. Howls use the shout bar for recharging and shouts with long cool-down times can prevent you from howling when you shift. - Most abilities activated prior to transformation will still be in effect when you transform. This allows your Beast Form to be much more viable that it otherwise would. Details on individual abilities are detailed in the Building a Better Beast section. - Crimes committed as a werewolf do not incur bounty unless you are seen feeding on a corpse. - Wild wolves will not attack you while you are in Beast Form. -- [ 2.2 ] DISADVANTAGES --------------------------------------------------- - In this form you gain no bonuses from sleeping (i.e. Well Rested, Lover's Comfort). Standing Stones that allow for fast skill leveling still operate normally. - Transforming in sight of most NPCs, including spouses (unless they in one of the excluded groups), will cause them to become hostile and incur a 1000 bounty in that hold. Companions, housecarls, Eola, members of the Dark Brotherhood, the Thieves Guild, Serana, and Maliq the Liar will not become hostile while seeing you transform. However, if you use howls around them it can cause them to become hostile or leave your service. - When in Beast Form all equipment is removed giving you an effective armor rating of 0 (unless you are using a pre-1.3.10 patch version of the game in which case armor is affected by your Light Armor skill). Dawnguard werewolves will gain damage reduction as level increases. - The character menu cannot be accessed so you cannot use potions, change equipment or powers, use magic, use activated racial or Standing Stone abilities, etc. You cannot loot corpses or open chests. You can still open unlocked door and activate switches in dungeons. You cannot open locked doors or (surprisingly) claw through spiderwebs. Also, you cannot speak to NPCs unless they initiate the conversation. - Forced third person view. This may cause some adjustment when learning to attack but becoming comfortable with this view is imperative to being a successful werewolf. ** [ 3.0 ] THE RING OF HIRCINE *********************************************** If you are truly wanting to play a werewolf character then you are going to want to obtain the uncursed Ring of Hircine which is an artifact obtained during the Ill Met by Moonlight Daedric quest and it will allow you unlimited transformations per day. You must re-equip the ring and the Ring of Hircine ability to your power menu after each transformation since the ring will be unequipped when in beast form. This quest can be done at any level, however the ring will only allow multiple transformations if the wearer has already obtained Beast Form through the Companions quests. In order to start the quest you need to travel to the hold of Falkreath. Enter downstairs of Falkreath Barracks and speak to Sinding. Accept the Cursed Ring of Hircine. This will cause you to randomly transform into Beast Form (only if you have obtained it). Head out of Falkreath to find and kill the white stag. Once you have done so, Hircine will ask you to find and kill Sinding. Accept the quest and head to Bloated Man's Grotto. Speak to Sinding and offer to help him destroy the hunters. If you have Beast Form it can be fun to have two werewolves running amok. Once the hunters are dead, exit the cave and speak to Hircine to get the uncursed Ring of Hircine. (Optional) You can go back in the cave to kill Sinding and skin him to receive the Savior's Hide as well (as of 1.9 patch). If you get both it counts as two Daedric items for the Oblivion Walker achievement (in case you missed one or want to keep Barbas around). If you chose not to complete the quest and keep the cursed ring it has a 10% chance every minute to cause you to transform into a werewolf. It is also possible to obtain both rings if you give the cursed ring to a follower after you receive the "completed" message when you kill all of the hunters. You can obtain an uncursed ring from Hircine and retrieve the cursed version from your follower. You can still obtain the Savior's Hide as well. The randomness is just that...random. You may go many in-game hours without transforming. ** [ 4.0 ] TOTEMS OF HIRCINE ************************************************* Once completing the Companions quest line you can speak to Aela the Huntress to enable these quests. She will have the dialogue prompt "Is there any work to be done?". Sometimes you must complete Animal Extermination Quests before Aela will give you a Totem quest. There are three in all. The quests are not scripted to specific dungeons so they appear like radiant quests. These are not available if you have cured yourself of Lycanthropy. You will need to obtain these if you wish to use the upgraded howls from the Dawnguard DLC tree. These quests are plagued with glitches that will cause them to be unobtainable. Most of these are supposed to have been remedied in patch 1.9 but it is better to be safe than sorry. Some key points to remember to help avoid these glitches are as follows. Once you have completed all three quests you can disregard these points. - When you obtain the Glenmoril witch heads do not drop or store them. - Do not accept Aela the Huntress as a follower - Do not marry Aela the Huntress Once obtaining a Totem you will need to place it in the Underforge. You can pray to these Totems at any time to change your werewolf howl. You can only have one equipped at a time but can change them whenever you wish. Howling has a large AOE and it targets everything it range which can cause followers to become hostile or leave your service. The three totems are: -- [ 4.1 ] TOTEM OF THE HUNT ---------------------------------------------- Totem of the Hunt is identical to the Alteration spell Detect Life. During most enemy encounters you will want to already be in beast form before engaging and you won't be doing much sneaking. Totem of the Hunt is beneficial in tracking down enemies in battle, but using any of the other howls will show the enemies on the compass so it is really obsolete. When you are not in beast form you can just use Detect Life or Aura Whisper to find enemies before transforming. -- [ 4.2 ] TOTEM OF BROTHERHOOD ---------------------------------------------- Totem of Brotherhood is the best howl for higher levels. This howl creates two red wolf spirits that attack enemies. These wolf spirits are similar to the wolf spirits created by the Familiar conjuration spell. Unfortunately, unlike your summons, followers will attack the wolves when they spawn since the howl causes them to become hostile. The wolves aren't particularly powerful either. However, they do serves a alternate targets for enemies which can take the pressure off of you. This howl has the longest recharge of the three. The wolves will disappear when you exit beast form. -- [ 4.3 ] TOTEM OF FEAR ----------------------------------------------------- Totem of Fear returns you to the default howl. It is a fear spell with a large AOE and is effective on enemies under level 25. As you increase in level and enemies scale with you it becomes less and less effective. It still can work on groups since they tend to have enemies of varying levels. It will also work on wild animals and other creatures that are encountered regardless of level. Totem of Fear is ineffective versus dragons and undead. It is not affected by Illusion perks that increase fear spells. ** [ 5.0 ] CURING LYCANTHROPY ************************************************ [ 5.1 ] Glory of the Dead If you no longer wish to be a werewolf then you can be cured by continuing on with the Companion's quest line. Your betters will send you to destroy the Glenmoril Witches. You will need at least two Glenmoril Witch heads. One to cure Kodlak and one to cure yourself. It is of note that you can feed on Companion ghosts if you do it before they disappear. This can keep your health up throughout the dungeon. Once you make your way through Ysgramor's Tomb you will speak to Kodlak and toss a head into the Flame of the Harbinger to remove Kodlak's beast spirit. Once you defeat it (which is also RP fun to do in Beast Form) you free Kodlak and become Harbinger. If you want to be cured of Lycanthropy you can activate the Flame of the Harbinger again to fight your wolf spirit and cure yourself. If you leave the Tomb of Ysgramor you will have to cure Farkas or Vilkas of Lycanthropy before you can cure yourself. You can even use your beast form to fight your own beast spirit, however you will lose the ability to transform once the spirit is slain. [ 5.2 ] Purity If you didn't cure yourself of Lycanthropy during Glory of the Dead and you choose to do so later you must speak to Farkas or Vilkas with a Glenmoril Witch head in your inventory. They will ask to be cured and you can take them to the Tomb of Ysgramor to do so. You will have to eliminate their wolf spirit as well before you can cure yourself by throwing a second witch head into the Fire of the Harbinger. Sometimes you are required to cure both before you are able to cure yourself. If you decapitated all of the Glenmoril Witches and somehow lost their heads then you are out of luck as they DO NOT respawn and aren't available anywhere else. Hopefully you have a previous save. ** [ 6.0 ] BUILDING A BETTER BEAST ******************************************* -- [ 6.1 ] MAGICKA, STEALTH, and HEALTH -------------------------------------- At each level increase you will have the option to increase one of these attributes by 10. Here is how I would recommend you distribute these bonuses. - Magicka Since spells cannot be used while in werewolf form and you can find and equip Magicka- boosting equipment prior to transforming which allows you to cast your protection spells, putting points here shouldn't be a priority. However, If you are wanting to dual-cast dragonhide (which you should) without crafting or scouring shops for Fortify Alteration equipment you will need to put points here. With only one level in magicka (110) you can single cast Ebonyflesh at least with a shorter duration. See Ebonyflesh and Dragonhide section. - Stamina Werewolves regenerate Stamina at an accelerated rate and receive a bonus of 100 points to you max Stamina. You have no need to put points in Stamina. If you find that you cannot make enough power attacks eat a Vegetable Soup prior to transforming. You only need 1 point of stamina to power attack. - Health I recommend putting all of your points here. You can't go wrong with more health. It allows Avoid Death to trigger earlier and in Beast Form heal you earlier. At level 51 700 health in beast form. Avoid Death can kick in for an extra 400 giving you almost 1100 health. If you abuse Necromage you can push Avoid Death to almost 500 for 1200 health. At level 81 it would reach almost 1500. As it stands currently, there is no cap in levels or health with patch 1.9. [ 6.1.1] Ebonyflesh or Dragonhide NOTE: Werewolves after Dawnguard have natural armor as high as 400 which makes dragonhide obsolete. You can reach the armor cap with ebonyflesh which is easier to find, cheaper, and lasts longer. A good question is: which Alteration flesh spell is better...ebonyflesh or dragonhide? Just like most spells increase in potency and magicka cost as you increase, they are all viable when they are obtainable but become outclassed by the stronger versions. This rule applies to the flesh spells as well...mostly. Assuming 100 Alteration and all Alteration perks, a dual-casted Ebonyflesh will provide you with 300 armor for 300 seconds for 236 magicka. That is easily obtainable with guaranteed equipment finds like Archmage Robes, Savos's Amulet, Atronach Stone (that is 250 magicka right there when you add in the 100 base). But once you start hitting level 40 and up you definitely benefit from something more potent. There is a cost, however. A big one. Dragonhide with 100 Alteration and all the relevant perks costs 204 magicka to cast and it provides the maximum armor rating for 45 seconds. It will appear in your menu as armor rating of 1 even though it reduces damage by 80% (which is the most damage reduction that physical armor offers). Werewolf forms last a minimum of 150 seconds. That means for 70% of the time you are left vulnerable. In this case, ebonyflesh is probably better. The great thing about dragonhide is that it is the only master spell that can be dual-casted. This will provide you with 99 seconds of protection (or 66% of the time). The biggest issue with this is the magicka cost. With Archmage robes and the Vokun dragon priest mask (-15% cost and -20% respectively) it will still cost 453 magicka to cast. Of course, enchanting gear to reduce cost is the best option. There are fortify magicka potions and making fondue, but this is for those of us who want to use the least amount of steps. If we will be using this as the primary defense you don't want to have to use a potion every single time you cast it. NOTE: Dawnguard werewolves get damage reduction that scales with levels. Combined with ebonyflesh you can almost reach the damage reduction equivalent of Dragonhide at level 40 so it makes Dragonhide, and also the need for magicka boosting equipment, less important. Paying for DCDH can be done one of two ways: either with magicka increases from leveling (in which case you sacrifice health) or you can craft/find a ring and gauntlet with total cost reduction of 25%. That would reduce the cost to 279 magicka. Altmer get a step up here. Magicka base (100) + Altmer (50) + Atronach Stone (50) + Savos Aren's Amulet (50) + Blessing of Julianos (25) + Archmage Robes (50) = 325 magicka. You would have to sacrifice 130 HP, or 13 levels, to be able to DCDH. With a ring/gauntlet you can cast it without sacrificing HP. Non-Altmer will need to spend at least 1 level for magicka since you can only reach 275. If you forego enchanting you will need to sacrifice 180HP. At level 50 that would take you from a max of 600HP to 470 for Altmer or 420 for other races. A 22% loss for Altmer and 30% loss for other races. Ebonyflesh is good, for a time, but if you are planning to DCDH then you will want to either craft some Fortify Alteration equipment or suit up with the Archmage robes, Vokun, Savos Aren's Amulet, and keep an eye out in the shops for some Fortify Alteration rings and gauntlets (remember you need at least 25% in combined cost reduction). Personally I recommend using Enchanting since you will need to use other skills if you want to level higher than the 30s and you don't want to sacrifice health. -- [ 6.2 ] RACES ------------------------------------------------------------- Building a decent werewolf build starts early. Your race can provide extra protection, power, or damage based on your selection. Since racial powers cannot be activated in werewolf form you need to activate them prior to or after transforming. Also your race changes to "werewolf" when you transform so racial bonuses will not benefit you, either. Some races provide nice skill bonuses. Skills are further covered in a later section. Note that all races can reach 100% magicka absorption or 87.5% magicka resist by using Necromage (see Werewolf and Vampirism section). The races with their pros and cons are: - Altmer Altmer's receive a permanent +50 to Magicka. This will allow you to equip less magicka-boosting armor when casting your higher level Alteration protection spells. See Ebonyflesh and Dragonhide. Magicka regen is not needed in Beast Form. Alteration, Restoration, Conjuration, and potentially Destruction and Enchanting get +5 initial bonus which is useful. High levels of enchantment to make fortify alteration equipment diminishes the value of Altmers. With Dragonborn DLC and Seeker of Sorcery an Altmer only needs 62 more magicka to dual cast Ebonyflesh which is easily obtainable. - Argonian Resist Disease disappears on transformation. You are 100% resistant already. Waterbreathing isn't generally needed either. Histskin allows health to recover 10 times faster for 60 seconds once per day. The werewolf health regeneration is so slow that this doesn't make a dent in the middle of battle. However, with the Frostmoon Hunt ability from the Dragonborn DLC (see the Dragonborn DLC section) it can make you nigh invincible for 60 seconds. You receive +5 Alteration and +5 Restoration. With DLC Histskin is amazing. - Bosmer Resist Poison 50% is useless. Resist disease is, too. Command Animal allows for an animal ally for 60 seconds once per day. This is really only useful to create another target for enemies, and only once per day. Bosmer doesn't really add any good skill bonuses which is the worst part about this race. - Breton Breton's have a natural 25% Magic Resistance. While not useful in Beast Form it can be beneficial in human form and allow you to reach the cap without gear. Good for pre-transformations or when you revert. Dragonskin allows you to absorb 50% of incoming Magic for 60 seconds once per day. If you take the Atronach perk from the Alteration Tree this allows Breton's to be nearly immune to magic and Dragonskin is good vs magic using bosses. You get the Conjure Familiar spell for free and get a +5 boost to Alteration and Restoration and +10 to Conjuration. - Dunmer Dunmer get a 50% resistance to fire...again, useless in Beast Form. Ancestor's Wrath does 8 fire damage/second to enemies getting close for 60 seconds. This allows for a maximum of 480 damage. Seeing as how you don't want to get surrounded this is of limited use. If you are planning on using a werewolf/ vampire hybrid level 4 then being a Dunmer will offset the vulnerability to fire while not transformed. If you have Dawnguard it will completely negate it. You receive a +5 to Alteration and a +10 to Destruction. - Imperial Voice of the Emperor allows you to calm (like the spell) nearby people for 60 seconds once per day. This is helpful when you are in battle and you revert to human form. This can give you enough breathing room to escape or transform again. You don't receive any good skill bonuses. Of course you could always use Become Ethereal shouts for this and have better racial skills. The power to find more gold when looting can be beneficial since you will want gold to craft enchantments and potions, but looting is inconvenient if you have to go back through a whole dungeon to search for gold. Just grab items from the boss chest/boss. - Khajiit Claw attacks don't increase damage in werewolf form which is disappointing. Eye of Night gives improved night vision for 60 seconds...a power not useable in Beast Form. Khajiit doesn't provide you with any good skill bonuses, either. - Nord Nords give Resist Frost 50%, useless. Battlecry causes enemies under level 25 to flee for 30 seconds once per day. This can allow you breathing room to escape or retransform if you revert in the middle of a battle but if you are under level 25 you should be using your fear howl anyway. You don't receive any noteworthy skill bonuses. - Orc Berserker Rage allows you to take half damage and deal double damage for 60 seconds once per day. Yes, please. It is particularly useful for bosses and dragons. No great skill bonuses are given to Orcs but Berserker Rage alone makes this a worthy selection. With a maxed werewolf and the Dawnguard DLC perks you have an attack doing 800+ damage. With the Dragonborn DLC you can obtain a ring to do even more damage once/day at the expense of taking normal damage from attacks instead of half. - Redguard 50% Resist Poison is useless. Adrenaline Rush allows you to regenerate Stamina 10x faster for 60 seconds per day. Eating a Vegetable Soup allows Stamina Regeneration of 1/second for 300 seconds. Since power attacks only need 1 Stamina to activate, eating a Vegetable Soup prior to transformation allows for repeated power attacks which makes Adrenaline Rush kind of moot. That and the fact that you already have increased stamina regen. You do receive +5 to Alteration/Destruction. What do I recommend? Altmer for the boost in magicka, Breton for Resistance, Orc for Berserk, or Argonian for the Histskin if you have the Dragonborn DLC. -- [ 6.3 ] SKILLS AND PERKS -------------------------------------------------- Many skills are not useful or used when in Beast Form. Some skills allow you to make your Beast Form stronger and add a needed amount of survivability. This section details the Skills and their relevant perks and how beneficial they are to werewolves. This will only pertain to use of skills immediately before, during, or after transformation. Skills like Block, for example, may be useful but do not enhance or benefit Beast Form any more than it does for a normal character. One thing about werewolf form is that you will find you need to use skills outside of werewolf form if you want to reach higher levels. Usually non- combat skills are good if you rely mostly on beast form for combat. I typically don't like to take too much time with crafting skills so I only go for Snakeblooded in Alchemy and maybe enchantment. - Alteration Alteration is hands-down the most valuable skill tree. Your only way of increasing your armor in werewolf form is to cast the "flesh" spells prior to transformation. You will want to take every perk in this tree. Novice, Apprentice, Adept, Expert, and Master Alteration reduce the cost of your spells so that you don't have to put points in magicka and you can put them in health where they belong. Stability and Dual Casting allow your spells to last longer. Mage Armor increases the protection of your defensive spells. A dual casting of ebonyflesh with Stability lasts longer than the normal duration of Beast Form. Magic Resistance and Atronach provide much-needed magic protection. You'll want to purchase all of the flesh spells as they become available and also complete the Master-level sidequest for Dragonhide. Again, werewolves after Dawnguard can reach the armor cap with ebonyflesh. Fortify Destruction and Fortify Restoration potions increase the power of the Atronach perk. You can reach 100% absorption by drinking a potion prior to taking the perk. The increase is permanent as long as you have the perk. Beware that this can cause issues with some quests. - Alchemy Potions that Fortify Alteration and those that that fortify elemental and magic resistance can be helpful it taken prior to transformation. Invisibility potions will wear off once you use your Beast Form power. Potions affecting weapon damage (one handed, two handed, marksman) have no effect on werewolf claws. Fortify Conjuration can increase the duration of summons. Good to make healing potions if you don't use Restoration (which you should). Snakeblooded gives 50% resistance to poison which helps vs chaurus and falmer. Go up the right side of the tree if you want more potent potions. You likely won't be using many poisons. This tree is exceptionally valuable if you have the Dragonborn DLC (see the DLC section). If you drink a Fortify Restoration and/or Fortify Destruction potion before taking the Atronach perk or choosing the Atronach Stone your Magicka Absorption rate will increase accordingly. You can make a Fortify Alteration potion and with Stability and Dual Casting you can make Ebonyflesh last for over 7 minutes. - Archery Does not benefit Beast Form - Block Does not benefit Beast Form - Conjuration Conjured allies can help turn the tide of battle. Thralls will disappear, however, when you transform into Beast Form so not much use here. If you buy Twin Souls it can be a bit fun to summon two wolf familiars and use totem of brotherhood for a total of four spirit wolves. Summons and raised enemies aren't affected by howls but will become hostile if you attack them. Be careful swinging your claws into the fray because you may have some elementals or raised NPC's targeting you when the enemies fall. - Destruction Destruction spells, except cloaks, cannot be used in Beast Form. Cloak spells can be used prior to transforming and give you a little extra damage. If you take Aspect of Terror perk in the Illusion tree then Flame Cloak will do 18 damage per second. Augment perks don't work on cloaks but Deep Freeze, etc. do. A frost cloak can slow and freeze enemies making multiple enemies more easily managed. Disintegrate with the lightning cloak destroys enemies when their health is reduces below 15% effectively reducing enemy HP by 15%. Choose whichever you prefer. Whirlwind Cloak sends nearby enemies flying. Dual casted cloaks have increased range so take advantage of that, too. - Enchanting Enchanting is for Dragonhide. You can cast all other flesh spells with items that you find throughout Skyrim. Regretfully Dragonhide requires too much magicka and can only be dual cast by spending a lot of levels in magicka or forging Fortify Alteration equipment. Also useful if exploiting glitches that allow you to equip weapons and armor. It is possible to equip armor and weapons in beast form in which all enchantments on them act normally. If you want to dual-cast Dragonhide you will need two Fortify Alteration items with at minimum reduction of 13% per item. One ring and one glove. You can find enough equipment to cover the rest of the cost (see Ebonyflesh and Dragonhide). Players with the Dawnguard DLC can reach the damage resistance cap with Ebonyflesh and 3/3 Mage Armor since werewolves have natural damage resistance making Dragonhide an unneeded investment. If you want high health regeneration with the Dragonborn DLC you will want to make some good Fortify Alchemy gear as well. Enchanting is also necessary if you are wanting to take full advantage of Alchemy. - Heavy Armor Useless without glitches. - Illusion Quiet Casting allows you to transform and use howls without being detected. This can be especially useful for Totem of the Hunt and searching out prey. Most of the other perks don't work with werewolf howls so it is of limited use to werewolf form. Aspect of Terror adds 10 damage to Flame Cloak spells if you are fond of the them. Grab muffle from Dragonsreach and use it repeatedly as you walk. You only need level 50 for Quiet Casting. - Light Armor Useless without glitches. In versions earlier than v 1.3.10 Agile Defender and Light Armor skill contribute to armor rating. - Lockpicking Cannot be used in Beast Form - One-handed One-handed perks and skills don't work with werewolf claws under normal circumstances (in versions prior to v1.3.10 or earlier one-handed skill-level contribute to damage). - Pickpocket Cannot be used in Beast Form. Can be useful to power-level Restoration and Alteration with the mages at the college if you want to train and repeatedly steal your gold back. - Restoration Restoration is one of the more beneficial schools. Not only does it allow you to heal once you revert, but it also allows for Avoid Death which allows you to heal 250 damage once per day if your health falls below 10% (if the damage doesn't kill you). It is especially useful for boss fights and is affected by the Regeneration Perk which increase the healing by 50% to a total of 375 points. The quest reward Sailor's Repose (see other powers section) allows for an additional +10% for a total of 400 points. Another perk, Recovery, can be helpful to counteract loss of Magicka regeneration if using the Atronach stone. Stendarr's Aura (Dawnguard) also provides a cloak vs undead. - Smithing Only useful if glitching in weapons and armor (pre patch 1.9). The Alteration spell Transmute can allow you to turn iron ore into gold ore for making jewelry. This will increase both Smithing and Alteration. - Sneak Initially I thought that the sneak tree was useless since you cannot enter into sneak mode as a werewolf. I was wrong. Light Foot is an immensely beneficial perk to have when running through dungeons. It will prevent you from triggering traps while tracking down your prey. Muffle and Silence will allow you to walk, and even run, up to enemies without being detected. It also allows you to walk through most Draugr crypts without awakening the enemies. Since your leap attack does so much damage you can usually pick of enemies silently one by one. The right side of the tree can get you easy sneak multipliers for additional damage in human form. Shadow Warrior can be absorbed by spell absorption so if you are wanting to take the Atronach Stone and Perk then stay away from the final Sneak perk. This is one of the hardest to level since most of your combat is in werewolf form. Grab the DB gloves & sneak attack sleeping Draugr. - Speech You won't be spending much on weapons or armor so Speech is of limited use. Good for roleplaying if you want to increase Intimidation, etc. Otherwise it is a waste of perks (as it is for most builds). You can use this to bribe guards and avoid bounties. There are many ways to increase your speech for free. - Two-Handed You cannot use weapons and beast form. You cannot even glitch in a two-handed weapon. Not useful at all. -- [ 6.4 ] STANDING STONES --------------------------------------------------- Standing Stones are located in various locations spread throughout Skyrim. Only one stone can be active at a time but you can freely switch between them. You must only visit a new Standing Stone and activate it to gain the new ability. It will overwrite the previous Standing Stone's power. The most recommended stones are Lord or Atronach for protection against magic. - The Apprentice Stone Regenerate Magicka +100%; Weakness to Magic +100% You don't need to regenerate Magicka in Beast Form and increases a weakness to magic. Kind of one-sided and not a good choice at all. - The Atronach Stone Regenerate Magicka -50%; Magicka +50; Spell Absorb 50%. Regenerate Magicka loss can be countered with perks from the Restoration tree. 50+ to magicka allows you to cast your "flesh" spells with fewer magicka- boosting pieces of equipment. Spell Absorbtion 50% allows for better magic defense. An exploit exists where you can reach even 100% absorption. If you consume a Fortify Destruction or Fortify Restoration potion prior to activating the stone your value will be increased by the potion and remain increased until you change stones. You would need a +200% potion if you only use the stone. You would only need a +126% potion if you do this with both the perk and the stone. - The Lady Stone Regenerate Stamina and Health 25% faster. You already regenerate stamina quickly and the boost to health regeneration does nothing since your health regeneration is slowed so dramatically. If you have Dragonborn DLC you can take advantage of this stone for greatly increased regen in Beast Form. See the Frostmoon Hunt section for details. - The Lord Stone +50 Armor; Resist Magic 25% Useful for just about any race the Lord Stone provides two useful bonuses to make up for some of the werewolf form's shortcomings. - The Lover Stone Learn all skills 15% faster Other stones are more useful. You will usually want to go with a Mage Stone to increase your magic skills. - The Mage Stone Learn magic skills 20% faster Most of your skills fall under this category. The sooner you level up Restoration and Alteration the better. Especially since you can't use Lover's Comfort or Well-Rested bonuses. - The Ritual Stone Raise all dead to fight for you once a day for 200 seconds. Raised enemies aren't affect by howls and remain when transformed unlike Dead Thralls. The bodies don't turn to ash when the effect expires so you can reanimate them again if you wait 24 hours. This can be useful to bring allies to a big battle or to make minions rise up against a boss after you have slain them. However typically you will want to go for the boss first and then mop up the minions later, meaning there won't be many to raise. - The Serpent Stone Paralyze target for 5s and Damage Health of target 25pts once per day. If you are using this you probably want it to count and use it on a powerful enemy. Typically powerful bosses are usually surrounded by minions. If you use this on a boss and then transform the minions will put a huge dent in to your life total. - The Shadow Stone Become invisible for 60 seconds once a day A good escape mechanism when your werewolf transformation ends. You will usually want to have Lord, Atronach, or Mage, though for more constant bonuses. Invisibility, like the spell, ends when you transform. If you are leveling illusion then you probably can just cast Invisibility. - The Steed Stone Wearing armor does not affect speed. Carry weight +100; Equipped armor is weightless. Werewolves don't wear armor and have unlimited carry weight. - The Thief Stone Learn stealth skills 20% faster. This can really help with leveling sneak and alchemy. You will usually either want to have this or the mage stone active at early levels. - The Tower Stone Unlock any Expert or lower level lock instead of picking it once a day. Cannot use lockpicking in Beast Form. Just keep a decent number of lockpicks for when you really need them. I've never used this stone or put any perks in lockpicking. - The Warrior Stone Learn combat skills 20% faster. If you are wanting to level Smithing to abuse the equip-weapon glitch then you may want to use this now and again. Since werewolf claws max at 70 damage and you can do a leap attack for 210 damage you will need a weapon to exceed that to be useful. -- [ 6.5 ] EQUIPMENT --------------------------------------------------------- [ 6.5.1 ] ARMOR Most equipment is ineffective as a werewolf. Equipment can be useful, however, outside of Beast Form. If you place all of your level bonuses into health you will stay at 100 magicka. This isn't enough to cast even mid level Alteration spells and surely not enough for Ebonyflesh and Dragonhide. The good news is that you can easily find equipment for free to allow you to cast anything you need. It is handy to put your boosting equipment into favorites to easily re-equip after reverting to human form. If you are not into smithing and enchanting then there are some important pieces of equipment that you will want to obtain. If you do the College of Winterhold quests you can immediately obtain a Novice Hood (+30 magicka) if you didn't grab it in Helgen. You will obtain a Galdur Amulet Fragment (+30 magicka) when you visit Saarthal. Proceeding through the quests allows you to obtain the Mage's Circlet (leveled +20-70 Magicka), Savos Aren's Amulet (+50), and Archmage Robes (-15% cost to all schools, +50 magicka). Another important piece of equipment to obtain is the Vokun dragon priest mask. Head to Solitude and east to High Gate Ruins. The mask provides 20% reduction to Conjuration, Illusion, and Alteration and is usable with the Archmage robes. Remember you can't have this equipped if using Mage Armor and flesh spells in human form since it has an armor rating. This boosts three schools that are useful for werewolves. The Atronach stone also provides +50 magicka, as does the Altmer racial bonus. [ 6.5.2 ] WEAPONS Weapons glitched into your hand can provide extra damage provided it is a strong enough weapon to exceed the normal werewolf damage cap. However, this will negate the additional damage from werewolf special attacks like the leap attack. It will do damage but will not receive the special multiplier. If your weapon is weaker than the normal werewolf attack then you will use the weaker value for damage. If you have a weapon with an enchantment it can provide a good boost to damage. Absorb Health will allow you to survive a bit longer and do some extra damage. Weapons with elemental properties can boost damage and slow enemies. If you dual enchant weapons you can do significant damage but you will need to recharge quite a bit. Turn Undead can be useful against Draugr. This exploit is no longer effective after patch 1.9. -- [ 6.6 ] SHOUTS ------------------------------------------------------------ Shouts are obtained by finding word walls spread throughout Skyrim. Each shout consists of three words and each word is found at a different word wall. Typically the more words used in the shout the more powerful the effect and the longer the cooldown. Shouts use the same meter as howls for cooldown so shouts with particularly long cooldown periods like Call Storm will prevent you from using howls in werewolf form. Shouts can provide extra damage or allow you to flee a dangerous situation. Shouts added by DLC is detailed in those sections. - Animal Allegiance It is always beneficial to have another ally in your corner, unfortunately this doesn't provide many available targets where you need them most...in dungeons. It is notable that transforming will not make animals affected by this shout hostile. More words only affects the range. You can befriend even mammoths with just one word. - Aura Whisper One of the better shouts for a werewolf, this can allow you to see enemies in dungeons so that you can prepare before engaging. Unlike other methods this doesn't use magicka which is better used for defensive spells. This is not silent so it can alert enemies to your presence. - Become Ethereal***** If you try to enter Beast Form while ethereal it will end the ethereal effect and you will not transform. In the case of Beast Form you will deplete your use for the day. With Ring of Hircine it will not allow you to use it repeatedly as normal until you wait 24 hours. This can be useful once your transformation ends as a means of escape. By meditating on this shout with Parthunax you can increase your health regen while ethereal by 25%. Lasts 18 seconds with all three words. Also good to recast flesh spells including Dragonhide, then re-shifting and resume attacking. - Call Dragon Yet another outdoor ally ability, Call Dragon allows you to summon Odahviing and he will remain until all enemies are killed. This has a long recharge time so it can prevent you from using your werewolf-specific howls. - Call of Valor Summons one of three heroes to aid you in battle for 60 seconds. Again, always handy to have additional targets to draw enemy attention. This will replace a conjured creature. Can be absorbed by Atronach stone and perk. - Clear Skies Clears up outside weather. Of no notable use for werewolves. - Disarm Disarm will affect any enemy up to level 30. It is easier to just use Totem of Fear up until level 25 and knockdown power attacks after that. You don't want to run into a group of enemies and disarm one before transforming and there isn't much benefit to using this between transformations in battle. - Dismay Fear effect effective up to level 24. Just use your howl. - Dragonrend***** Grounds a flying dragon and temporarily paralyzes it putting it in range of your claw attacks. The worst part about dragons is waiting for them to land while your transformation time depletes. Once they hit the ground you can usually deal a large enough amount of damage to them to keep them there. Your power attacks will stun-lock them At three words it lasts 22 seconds. - Elemental Fury Doesn't work in werewolf form, sadly. - Fire Breath, Frost Breath, Ice Form Cannot be used in Beast Form - Kyne's Peace This will calm all wild animals up to level 20 within range for 180 seconds at three words. This doesn't work on Frost Trolls. Good if you stumble across a powerful enemy unprepared or need to calm an animal when a transformation ends. Personally, just stick with animal allegiance. - Marked for Death This shout reduces armor and depletes health for 60 seconds. 1 word reduces armor by 25 and does 1hp/second damage. -50 armor and 2hp/sec for 2 words. -75 armor and -3hp/sec for 3 words. This stacks causing multiple stat loss, however the duration is short seeing as how transforming into Beast Form takes almost 10 seconds. This stacks on respawning enemies even when killed. Using this on the same giant, for example, over and over will allow you to 1-shot it. - Slow Time Causes slow time. 30% normal speed for 8 seconds, 20% for 12 seconds, and 10% for 16 seconds for one/two/three words respectively. Slow time is not useful going into battle even at three words. You only have a few seconds of attack time if you shout and then transform. Become Ethereal is better for fleeing. - Storm Call Usable outside. 10 minute recharge time with 3 words. Probably the most powerful shout doing 80 lightning damage every 3-6 seconds to any target within 150 at three words it can help put a dent in the health of higher level dragons. It won't allow you to use werewolf howls, however, since the cooldown is so long. Using Blessing of Talos and equipping an Amulet of Talos can reduce the cooldown since it is calculated upon casting the shout. Likely it will still be cooling down once you revert though, even with the reduction. - Throw Voice Allows you to see prepare for enemies before you encounter them allowing you to dive in attacking and not be caught in human form. The recharge time actually decreases with more words so it is most useful with three. Very beneficial. - Unrelenting Force Nice when stumbling upon an enemy 1-on-1 or when you need to knockdown a difficult enemy when not in Beast Form, giving you time to transform and attack. Best if used with all three words. - Whirlwind Sprint Not useful in werewolf form -- [ 6.7 ] OTHER POWERS ------------------------------------------------------ Outlined here are other effects and powers gained through quests. [ 6.7.1 ] QUEST REWARDS The following powers are granted by completing their relative quests. These provide permanent and continuous bonuses and have no level prerequisites. You can have all of them active at the same time. Some are more beneficial than others. - Agent of Dibella http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Heart_of_Dibella +10% melee damage vs. opposite sex Females benefit most from this since most of the enemies in the game are male. However, boosted damage for free vs anything is good. - Agent of Mara http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:The_Book_of_Love +15% Magic Resistance Definitely something you want to obtain. If you are a Breton than you can reach the resistance cap but even if you are not...every little bit helps vs mages. Free magic resistance = good. - Ancient Knowledge http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Unfathomable_Depths Smithing +15% and +25% armor bonus while dwarven wearing armor Really only beneficial if you plan to use Smithing and glitch weapons and armor. - Dragonslayer's Blessing http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Esbern +10% critical hit vs. dragons for 5 days More damage vs. dragons? Yes, please. - Prowler's Profit http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:No_Stone_Unturned Increase gems found Allows you to smith better jewelry and find get more money. Money is easy to come buy but you cannot loot corpses or chests so it doesn't get the fullest effect. - Sailor's Repose http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Frostflow_Abyss_(quest) Healing spells and abilities are +10% more effective. Great free boost to healing spells, particularly Avoid Death. Allows Avoid Death to reach 400 healing with the Regeneration Perk. - Sinderion's Serendipity http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:A_Return_To_Your_Roots 25% chance to duplicate a potion when crafting. More potions sell for more money and makes Alchemy slightly less annoying. But only slightly. Potions can be very beneficial and this is a good power. [ 6.7.2 ] MEDITATIONS ON THE WORDS OF POWER Meditations are available during the main quest when visiting the Throat of the World. http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Paarthurnax_(dragon) - Ethereal Spirt +25% health regeneration when ethereal This can benefit a werewolf who reverts in the middle of battle, however you will have to end the ethereal effect before attempting to transform or the two powers will cancel each other out. - Force without Effort Stagger 25% less and stagger foes 25% more This applies to any effect causing the enemy to stagger including regular power attacks, etc. - Fire Within Fire Breath shout damage increased 25% Fire Breath isn't used in Beast Form so this is useless. [ 6.7.3 ] GUILD ABILITIES Guild Abilities are gained through completing quests in through either the Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, or College of Winterhold. - Nightingale Strife http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Darkness_Returns Absorb 100 health from target once per day Not really good mid-battle and you don't want to start a battle with this before transforming. - Nightingale Subterfuge http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Darkness_Returns Causes frenzy for 30 seconds in AOE once per day Possible good escape mechanism. Has no level limit (?). - Shadowcloak of Nocturnal http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Darkness_Returns Makes the user invisible while sneaking for 120 seconds once per day Good for an escape plan but dissipates when entering Beast Form. - Summon Arniel's Shade http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Arniel%27s_Endeavor Again, always useful to have another summon. - Summon Spectral Assassin Another summoning spell. Your spectral assassin disappears when you enter Beast Form as if he was defeated. He can be re-summoned after 24 hours. [ 6.7.4 ] MISC POWERS The following abilities aren't gained through quests and none of them provide much of a benefit to Lycnthropes but they are listed here for completion. - Gift of Charity +10 Speech Werewolves don't use speech unless you are trying to talk your way out of a bounty. - Voice of the Sky Animals will not attack or flee for 24 real time hours This is beneficial so as not to run into random wild animals unprepared. Also if you are hunting for leathers to smith it can make catching animals easier. - Nightingale Armor/ Shrouded Armor +25 armor when equipping full sets You can't get the bonus since you won't be wearing armor [ 6.8 ] BLESSINGS Blessings are obtained by praying at the corresponding altar. They provide small bonuses for 24 hours. While they will not make a critical difference in your werewolf build, they can be a small boon. Blessings are affected by Fortify Restoration potions so you can boost these a bit further if you were so inclinded but you must use another potion each time the blessing wears off. - Blessing of Arkay Health +25 This is less useful than you might think. At higher levels +25 damage is a dent in your 500+ HP pool. At early levels your Totem of Fear howl, damaging claws, and decent Alteration spells make this unnecessary since you will plow through most enemies early on. - Blessing of Dibella +10 Speech Werewolves don't use speech unless you are trying to talk your way out of a bounty. - Blessing of Julianos +25 Magicka Allows you to cast more powerful spells and more frequent spells at early levels and enables you to use less magicka-boosting equipment at higher levels. One of the better blessings along with Blessing of Talos. - Blessing of Kynareth +25 Stamina Stamina already regenerates quickly. Not much use. - Blessing of Mara Reduces Restoration Spell Cost by 10% Would be a nice boost. Too bad it is only usable when you have the Ring of Matrimony equipped...which you won't when you are a hulking werewolf. - Blessing of Nocturnal +10 Sneak for 8 hours Good for a slight boost when increasing your sneak skill. By the time you can obtain this you likely are far along on the sneak tree. - Blessing of Stendarr Block +10% Werewolves don't block - Blessing of Talos Shout cooldown reduced by 20% This will allow you to use your shouts and howls more frequently. Totem of the Hunt and Totem of Fear have such a short cooldown that it doesn't really affect them. It is beneficial for Totem of Brotherhood and using other good Dragon Shouts. - Zenithar 10% Better prices Werewolves don't shop ** [ 6.9 ] FOLLOWERS ******************************************************** Many followers will attack you while you are in Beast Form or if seeing your transform. This includes all NPCs (including spouses) with the following exceptions: - Companions Aela the Huntress, Athis, Farkas, Njada Stonearm, Ria, Torvar, Vilkas Aela, Vilkas, and Farkas are the only Companions to reach max level of 50. The others max out at level 25. Companions won't commit any crime for you, but also won't report you unless the crime is against them. They can be recruited to the Blades. They all can be married. - Dark Brotherhood Cicero, Dark Brotherhood Initiates There are a number of resources detailing how great the DB Initiates are. Their level scales higher than almost any other follower besides J'zargo, they can dual wield Forsworn Swords for crazy DPS. Great followers to have around. Cicero will level to max 50. They have no morality and will do anything or kill whomever you wish. The cannot be recruited to the Blades. No marriage here. Dark Brotherhood Initiates cannot be killed or sacrificed to Boethia. - Housecarls Argis the Bulward, Calder, Iona, Jordis the Sword-Maiden, Lydia Housecarls scale up to level 50 and will pretty much follow you and let you do whatever you want. They all can be recruited into the Blades and married. Good to have around. - Dogs Meeko, Vigilance, Stray Dog Dogs tend to have lower health and their habit of running straight into the battle, and consequently right into the path of your swinging claws, causes them to be not good choices as follower. - Quest Followers Barbas Barbas is a good follower to have since he cannot die and will not leave you when using your howls, however he will always attack wolves summoned with Totem of Brotherhood and is strong enough to dispatch them in one hit each. Plus many players don't like him because he maintains such a close proximity to the player often moving them involuntarily or knocking them off of ledges. ** [ 7.0 ] GLITCHES ********************************************************* Transforming into a werewolf can cause many different glitches. Some off these are controllable and, therefore, exploitable. Others are random or have yet to have their methods identified. Reports of werewolves having spikes from equipped Daedric armor, holding swords, and other glitches are abundant. Just search "Skyrim Werewolf Glitch" on youtube and you will get many results. Below are the few glitches that I have been able to consistently reproduce. [ 7.1 ] FOLLOWER EQUIP GLITCH (WORKS AS OF 1.9) Pros: Using this glitch you can equip yourself in werewolf form as you would a human and gain all the normal benefits of equipment including armor, melee weapon damage rating, enchantments, etc. Can equip unlimited pieces of armor. Can paralyze foes, absorb health, etc. in werewolf form with the weapon. Can use unique and two handed weapons. Can equip Ebony Mail and become a black smoking werewolf! Allows you to become a vamp/werewolf hybrid in Dawnguard. Cons: If your weapon damage does not exceed that of your werewolf form you will do less damage as you normally would. You lose the 3x damage multiplier to your leap attack (it does normal damage). It can be difficult to execute. It requires a follower. Has to be repeated after each transformation. Requires perks, smithing, and possibly enchanting investment to become useful. How: Have a follower that will allow you to exchange equipment and initiate a conversation with them with the A button. When pressing the A button you need to simultaneously press RB to transform. If performed correctly you will be able to access the equipment trading menu. This can be tricky timing and frustrating if you don't succeed because you either have to use the wait function, reload, or wait until Beast Form wears off to try again. Whenever you revert to human form you will still have all of your equipment on but if you transform again you will be unequipped as normal. You can equip unlimited pieces of armor and gain the armor rating and benefits of each piece through this exploit. You can only equip a weapon to your right hand but you can equip two handed weapons, but not bows. If wishing to use this frequently, make sure that you have a follower that will not become aggressive when you transform (obviously), and you need to be careful not to use werewolf howls as this can cause your follower to become hostile or leave your service. [ 7.2 ] RIGHT HAND EQUIP (PATCHED AS OF 1.9) I have tested this glitch 100s of times and have made it work reliably with daggers. Swords can be used by reversing the L/R instructions, but I have had more difficulty in getting this to work. I have been unable to get it to work with other weapons. Pros: Using this glitch you can permanently equip a dagger to your right hand. As long as you do not unequip the glitched weapon or equip a two-handed weapon you can do all other actions normally including using Beast Form, dual casting magic, etc. This will also increase your right-handed unarmed attack damage as a human. Easier to execute. Doesn't require a follower. Daggers cannot be seen equipped when in Beast Form. Won't have to be repeated when successful. Cons: Cannot use unique weapons. Requires perk investment to smith/enchant a weapon strong enough to exceed the normal werewolf attack damage. Have only been able to use reliably with daggers and swords. Requires a bit more setup. Note: using swords will cause a sheath to appear at your side in Beast Form. How: First you need to obtain two daggers of the same material with the same name (or two swords of the same material with the same name). Enchantments and tempering don't matter, however the weapons must appear as two separate items in your inventory. One weapon should have a triangle ^ after it. Examples: Yes - Iron Dagger + Iron Dagger^ Yes - Iron Dagger + Iron Dagger (Exquisite)^ Yes - Iron Dagger + Iron Dagger [Enchanted with X]^ No - Iron Dagger (2) No - IRON DAGGER + Iron Dagger^ No - Iron Dagger + Iron Dagger of Burning No - Iron Dagger + Dwarven Dagger^ The easiest way to do this is to craft them yourself. You will need to have a high smithing anyway to make this worthwhile. For ease of explanation I will assume that you have no other weapons in your inventory. 1. Equip Beast Form or the Ring of Hircine Power to your RB. Entering into the main menu (Magic, Skills, Map) during this process will affect the glitch. 2. Go to your weapons menu. You should see one weapon with a triangle (^) and one without. Using the RT and LT buttons equip one weapon and then the other. Toggle between the weapons menu and the main menu until you see the (^) weapon on your right hand. Press A to exit. Do not go back to the main menu. Note: this is why equipping Beast Form after setting the glitch will disturb the process as the main menu juggles weapons from hand to hand. 3. Use RB to transform. If done correctly your attacks should now possess the properties and damage of the glitched weapon. Another way to know that the glitch has worked is that if you equip an enchanted dagger to your right hand and have an unenchanted weapon in your left...when you press A to exit you will see the enchantment charge bar on the right of the screen. If it is on the left then the glitch will not work. If done correctly you will also see a dagger sheathed at your side regardless of weapons or magic currently equipped. 4. If you revert and enter your weapon menu and your right hand is equipped then you were successful. You can recharge the weapon, temper it, etc. Just don't unequip it unless you want to do the process again. If your left hand is equipped then just unequip your weapons and try the process again. On rare occasions I have had to do the process again, but switch hands. Your right handed unarmed attack as a human will use the dagger sound effects but the unarmed animations and finishers. In this way you can make your unarmed damage equal to that of any dagger you can smith/enchant. [ 7.3 ] Bow Equip Glitch PROS: Ability to equip a one handed sword while in Beast Form. No need to use a follower. Can use unique and enchanted weapons. CONS: Has to be repeated after each transformation. Werewolf looks a bit odd holding a sword. Only works with one-handed swords. Like the others, requires time and perk investments to make beneficial. HOW: Ensure that your transformational ability is equipped to your favorites menu. Using your weapons menu, equip a one-handed sword to your right hand and have nothing in your left hand. Next, equip a bow and exit the menu using the A button. Transform by using the power in your favorites menu. Continue to press the RT as you do so. When you transform you should have the weapon in your hand and it acts in all ways like a normal sword. The weapons will be unequipped when you revert to a human. [ 7.4 ] Man-Beast Glitch PROS: Ability to use and equip all weapons, armor, and abilities like a normal human, just look like a weird wolfman. CONS: Cannot use Beast Form (will return you to normal). Look like a weird wolfman. HOW: Talk to a guard while simultaneously pressing RB to transform. You will incur a 1000 bounty. Allow yourself to be taken to jail. Rest in the bed and when you awake, if done properly, will appear as a half-man/half-wolf. Transform again if you want to return to normal. It is really hard to detail the visual effects of the glitch. You have the look of a normal human except it looks like you are wearing a wolf head hood and have claw gloves. It looks poor and doesn't really add any benefits. ** [ 8.0 ] TECHNIQUES AND STRATEGIES **************************************** Leap Attack, back up a few steps, Leap Attack, repeat. This is the best strategy for dealing with bosses and other dangerous enemies. Using Howl of Terror or the Totem of Brotherhood to disperse or distract lower level enemies while you focus on the main threat is advisable. [ 8.1 ] Wild Beasts This includes spiders, wolves, bears, horses, hoarkers, deer, mammoths, etc. Only mammoths are of a high enough level to not be affected by Howl of Terror. It is easy to chase enemies down and finish them with a leap attack or clawing. Totem of Fear works on most animals. [ 8.2 ] Monsters This includes trolls, spriggans, giants, whispmothers, falmer and chaurus. Giants (32), Whispmothers (28), falmer nightprowler (30), and Falmer Shadowmaster (38) are not vulnerable to Howl of Terror. Falmer are typically encountered in groups and use poison which make them particularly dangerous. Always target the strongest enemies first with leap attack. Use power attacks to knockdown other enemies and finish them once the main threat is gone. Falmer typically like to use lightning magic so plan accordingly. Poison can really ruin your day as well. Giants are only encountered outdoors so you should be able to fell them even at lower levels due to your leap attack and greater speed. If you really have problems with them you can use Animal Allegiance or other abilities on nearby mammoths. Spriggans have the annoying ability to heal themselves. Just use the leap attack and keep moving to avoid the wind animals that they spriggan likely manipulated into attacking you. Most of which are vulnerable to Howl of Terror anyway. [ 8.3 ] Dragons Dragons become much easier once you obtain Dragonrend. Too bad that isn't until later in the main quest. The worst part about dragons is that they don't want to land where you can really rip in to them and when they do, you are almost out of transformation time. Once they hit the ground you can stun-lock them with power attacks to kill them. With magic resistance and Atronach spell absorbtion can prevent a lot of damage from their breath attacks but you will want to stay out of their way until they land. Dragon's are typically pushovers until Elder or Ancients hit the scene. Call Storm and other outdoor shouts can add to the damage. [ 8.4 ] Dwarven Automatons Dwarven Spider, Spheres, and Centurions (and their variations) are immune to fear so Howl of Terror won't do you much good. They are all vulnerable to knockdown, however and they don't often appear in mass groups like the Falmer. If you take it slow through dwarven ruins you can typically destroy these enemies one at a time as you go. Dwarven Centurion Masters, the most difficult of the automatons have 1000 health. Leap attacks max at 210 so it will take a few swings to bring these big fellas down. [ 8.5 ] Draugr Ah, yes. The most abundant enemy in Skyrim apart from humanoids the Draugr are immune to your fear affects and you can't feed on them, either. What is a werewolf to do? Hit and run. Since Draugr are only encountered in crypts and underground dungeons it is easy to do a great deal of damage and use the werewolf's supreme speed to flee if health gets too low. Typically running in and using a power or leap attack on Draugr Deathlords and Dragon Priests is the way to go. Draugr use frost magic which makes Nords and Bretons have an advantage. With good magic resistance and magic absorption you can take on Draugr Scourges and Restless Draugrs all day long. Once the more dangerous Draugr are dealt with work your way down the food chain. Scourges can summon Atronachs which will disperse once you kill the Scourge. Single Dragon Priests using magic fall quickly to a resistant werewolf using repeat leaps and knockdown. [ 8.6 ] Humans Humans make for easy targets. Feeding which allows longer transformations and healing make locations with humans much easier. They are also vulnerable to Howl of Terror up to the level limit. Unfortunately human enemies' levels scale quite high and they normally appear in groups making them dangerous. Forsworn scale up to level 34 and Briarhearts up to 58. Bandits level up to 25. The same strategy applies as does with Draugr indoors. Take out the most dangerous enemy first. Outdoors you need to be wary since a horde of Forsworn or Bandits with bows can do considerable damage while you are pounding on their leader. It is best to use a hit and run tactic here. Being outdoors surrounded by humans with good bows in an open area is certainly fatal. Since they like to populate ruins, knocking them off cliffs and bridges with power attacks is a good way to clear an area fast. [ 8.7 ] Glitched Weapons and Equipment If you don't mind using exploits and glitches (I know, I know. It is a single player game, do what you want, etc.) then obviously having armor and enchanted weapons as a werewolf makes you more powerful. I have found all weapon enchantments to work using methods explained in the glitches section. The most effective enchantments for weapons are Fire/Frost/Shock Damage, Paralyze, and Absorb Health. Fear, Turn Undead, etc. are only useful at low levels when you shouldn't need them. Soul Trap doesn't benefit your damage output or stun enemies like the aforementioned enchantments. A daedric dagger with Frost +25 and Absorb Health +20 can really tear apart enemies. In this case you would only need a weapon with 25 damage to equal that of a normal werewolf attack. You would lose the 3x damage leap, though. Even paralyzing enemies for 1 second can give you a lot of control over the battle since it takes them a few seconds to come to their feet. You get many more charges this way and can benefit from a high Alteration skill. Stability also affects the duration of Paralyze effects. As for armor enchantments: Fortify Health and Resist Fire/Frost/Shock/Magic are beneficial. If you are using a weapon with an enchantment as well then Fortify for the corresponding school can give you more charges. Wear fortify destruction 100 gear and use an absorb health weapon and drain health from enemies repeatedly. ** [ 9.0 ] WEREWOLVES AND VAMPIRISM ***************************************** *Thanks to laml3rian and metatrongrhm1 from the Gamefaqs 360 board for your research into vampires and Necromage and help with details for this section. *Thanks to jammymacster for discovering Necromage enhanced perks are still enhanced after curing vampirism. *Thanks to Cast_Supremacy for a great deal of help with testing, specifically with the Ring of Hircine glitch. Typically Sanguinare Vampiris and Lycanthropy typically cannot be contracted together on account of the Lycanthropy's 100% disease resistance but there are ways to become both a Vampire and a Werewolf together. An easy location from which you can contract vampirism is Movarth's lair north of Morthal. Kill the two spiders in the cave and the two vampire thralls. You can lure the Master Vampire back through the corridor to the room with the pit. I've experienced where the vampires won't follow you in to the room so you can control them attacking you with vampire drain to give you the disease. Here are the three currently known methods to becoming a hybrid: [ 9.1 ] Timing at the Underforge - Stage 4 Pros: -Beast Form 1/day or unlimited with Ring of Hircine -Vampiric Drain ability for 5 health/second -Vampire Servant reanimates a very powerful undead for 60 seconds 1/day. -Vampire Seduction calms creatures up to level 10 for 30 seconds 1/day -Vampire Sight gives improved nightvision for 60 sec 1/day* -Embrace of Shadow makes you invisible 1/day for 180 seconds -100% Resistance to frost (50% with Dawnguard, 100% if a Nord) -Champion of the Night for vampire's +25% to Illusion spells. -Nightstalker's Footsteps for the vampire's +25% bonus to sneaking -100% resistance to poison* *(if obtained, removed after 1st werewolf transformation) Cons: -You cannot feed as a vampire and you will progress to Stage 4 Vampirism -Weakness to fire 100% (50% with Dawnguard, 0% if a Dunmer) -In sunlight Health, Magicka, and Stamina -60 and doesn't regenerate -Most NPCs will be aggressive making Calm spells required to get quests Not applicable with Dawnguard DLC. NPCs no longer hostile. -Does not benefit from the Necromage perk How: The first method is to complete the Companion's quest line up to the point that you will partake in the ritual to become a werewolf. If you contract Sanguinare Vampiris and then complete the ritual before turning into a vamp you can be both. You must drink the blood as you turn into a werewolf. The best way to do this is to keep track of the time of day and continue to save so that you know the precise minute that you will turn and see the message "Your blood begins to boil". Just before you will see this message, drink the blood to become a werewolf. Return to the Underforge and wait one hour to revert and see if it worked. [ 9.2 ] Timing at the Underforge - Stage 2 Pros: -Beast Form 1/day or unlimited with Ring of Hircine -Vampiric Drain ability for 3 health/second -Vampiric Seduction calms creatures up to level 8 for 30 seconds 1/day -Vampire Servent reanimates a more powerful undead for 60 seconds 1/day. -You will not progress further in vampirism -50% Resistance to frost (25% with Dawnguard) Cons: -Weakness to fire 50% (25% with Dawnguard, 0% with Dunmer) -In sunlight Health, Magicka, and Stamina -30 and doesn't regenerate -NO Nightstalker's Footsteps for the vampire's +25% bonus to sneaking -NO Champion of the Night for vampire's +25% to Illusion spells. -NO 100% resistance to poison -Does not benefit from the Necromage perk How: Similar to the first method except you are already a vampire and you wait to drink the werewolf blood right before you move to stage two vampirism. Stage three provides less abilities and more fire weaknesses than level two so it is not recommended to use stage 3 vampirism. [ 9.3 ] When Curing Lycanthropy **PATCHED IN 1.6** Pros: -All the benefits of normal Vampirism -Ring of Hircine 1/day to transform into werewolf Cons: -Can only become a werewolf 1/day -Totem of Hircine quests will be unobtainable once you cure Lycanthropy -Cannot be used post 1.6 even if you had the ability prior to patching. How: If you obtain the Ring of Hircine from Ill Met by Moonlight you can equip the ring and the Ring of Hircine power. Complete the Companion's quest line and cure yourself of Lycanthropy. You should still be able to use the Ring of Hircine power once per day (even without the ring). You can then find a vampire and contract Sanguinare Vampiris normally. You should now be a normal vampire. Best of you are already a werewolf and want to be a hybrid. [ 9.3 ] Necromage Perks and abilities that you gain while a vampire are boosted if you obtain them after you take Necromage. If you cure yourself of vampirism the bonuses will remain as long as you have that ability or don't remove the affected piece of equipment. You can then become a werewolf as normal. This means that certain things can be boosted for the werewolf's benefit. Obviously weapons/armor won't retain their bonuses since they are unequipped upon transformation. Perks, quest bonuses, and standing stones can retain the necromage-boosted numbers. (Standing stone bonuses will be lost if you change stones). Unfortunately you need to reach 70 in restoration before you can do this. Fortunately if you want Avoid Death you were going to need the high ranking in restoration anyway. An easy way to grind this is to have 3000 gold and repeatedly train and then pickpocket your gold back from the restoration teacher at the College. Save before you pickpocket and level up when you reached your 5/5 training limit. You will gain around 10-15 levels this way and you will need to buy the perks from the pickpocket tree to be able to keep reclaiming your gold. Here is a short list of beneficial abilities (testing): NOTE: Necromage boosted Atronach Perk (37.5%) + Atronach Stone (62.5%) = 100% Magic Resitance (37.5), Lord Stone (31.25), Agent of Mara (18.75) = 87.5 spell resistance (the cap is 85). 81.25% for a Breton without the stone. - Atronach Perk will give you 37.5% spell absorption instead of 30% - Atronach Stone goes from 50% to 62.5% - Magic Resistance goes from 30% to 37.5% - Agent of Mara 18.75% magicka resistance - Recover regenerates magicka 62% faster - Avoid death +312 health - Sailor's Repose +12.5% to healing spells - Avoid Death + Sailor's Repose necromaged heals between 450-500 health - Pickpocket gives you more carry capacity - Lord Stone gives 31.25% magicka resistance, 62.5 armor If you have the Dawnguard DLC you can level your skills as a werewolf, gain Vampire Lord form, take the Necromage Perk and the perks you want boosted, and then speak to Aela the Huntress to become a werewolf again. You can only do this once. ** [ 10.0 ] DLC ************************************************************* -- [ 10.1 ] DAWNGUARD ------------------------------------------------------- [ 10.1.1 ] Werewolf Perk Tree With the release of the first DLC from Bethesda comes a much needed boost to the werewolf's capabilities...a WEREWOLF PERK TREE! Of course it should go without saying that you should completely fill out this tree. Experience is gained by feeding on corpses while in Beast Form. This tree boosts health, damage, feeding, and allows you to empower your werewolf howls. Be aware that you must obtain the Totems through the Totems of Hircine quests before the upgraded howls can be used. If you purchase the perk without the howl then the RB button will do nothing while in werewolf form. Some things that have changed for werewolves with the DLC: - Werewolves have an automatic natural armor that scales with level. It starts at level 11 with 35 armor and increases by 50 for every 5 levels to a maximum of around 391 (there are many decimals involved in the calculation) at level 46. We only need it to reach 367 to reach the cap. This stacks with flesh spells so that ebonyflesh will cause you to reach the maximum armor cap. This makes dragonhide obsolete for Dawnguard werewolves. - You can see the werewolf perk tree by pressing B while in werewolf form - Werewolf's health bonus is reduced from 100 to 50. Stamina is still 100 New perks become available after feeding on enough corpses. Each new perk requires a few more feedings. Whenever you feed you will get a message that you consumed the heart. With enough feedings it will tell you that a werewolf perk is available. You can gain one additional feeding per corpse if you cast the Soul Trap spell on it. If you wish you can just use this to level werewolf perks outside of beast form. *agentspoon on Gamefaqs also discovered this: While testing out Auriels Shield I found an interesting glitch. Auriels Shield allows the player to store the kinetic energy of blocked attacks up to three levels which takes 15 blocked attacks. Then pressing and holding attack while blocking will release this energy and blast the enemy back. What interesting is that this also puts the Heart Consumed message in the top left hand of the screen. So bashing with the powered up shield lets you level up werewolf perks without being transformed. The first perk is available after 5 feedings. Each subsequent perk requires 2-3 more feedings than the last. This amounts to around 164 feedings to acquire all of the perks. Once you obtain savage feeding you can feed from most living things to advance your perk tree. All feedings are equal whether it be a frost troll or a rabbit, it will fill the progress bar equally. There are a number of bandit hideouts near Whiterun that you can easily achieve savage feeding. Leveling is much easier from then on. *AddictedToXbox on Gamefaqs discovered that if you attack Sam Guevenne in any of the taverns, he will summon a Dremora. As a werewolf, you can maul this Dremora and immediately feed on it before it disappears. He summons the Dremora indefinitely, so it might be useful for leveling up your skill tree. - Bestial Strength 1/2/3/4 Do more damage as a werewolf Increase damage by +25% with each level. At maximum power this will allow normal attacks to do 140 damage and your leap attack to a whopping 420 damage! Add insult to injury with the orc's racial power and you can do 840 damage. - Totem of the Predator Werewolf Totem of the Hunt has extended range and shows whether the targets are not in combat, searching, or actively in combat. Aggressive creatures will glow red, passive ones glow blue. If you have Quiet Casting from the Illusion tree you can use this without alerting enemies. - Totem of Ice Brothers Werewolf Totem of Brotherhood calls Ice Wolves Summons two ice wolves in place of the two regular wolves. The Ice Wolves have twice as much health as the regular wolves, or estimated at about 150 each. - Totem of the Moon Werewolf Totem of Brotherhood howl calls werewolves Summons two werewolves in place of ice or regular wolves. The summoned werewolves have about 300 health each and can use power attacks to knockdown foes. Definitely the best endgame howl. - Totem of Terror Werewolf Howl of Terror affects higher level enemies The normal howl caps out at affecting level 25 enemies. This boosts it by about 10 levels. Tested with level 37 guards in Whiterun and they weren't affected. It will affect most enemies except bosses and leveled NPCs that can level higher than 35. - Animal Vigor 100 point bonus to health and stamina in beast form Dawnguard reduces the bonus from Beast Form from 100 to 50, but allows you to gain extra health with the Animal Vigor perks. Your stamina will still increase to 300 if you haven't put any points in it. Definitely get this. - Gorging Feeding heals twice as much health When feeding you regain 100 health instead of 50. You can still cancel feeding by pressing X or RB. - Savage Feeding Able to feed off most dead creatures. Feeding off creatures instead of people only provides half the extended time. You can feed off of most any living creature. Skeevers, spiders, trolls, wolves, sabercats, mudcrabs, giants, falmer, gargoyles...but not Draugr, and you can no longer feed on vampires. You will want to obtain this quickly since it will allow gaining the other perks much quicker. [ 10.1.2 ] Vampire Lord During the Dawnguard quest line you have the option of becoming a Vampire Lord. Using a some glitches you can be have different combinations: VAMPIRE -> HYBRID Complete the Companions quest to become a werewolf in the Underforge. Activate the blood the in-game minute before you progress to the next stage of vampirism. You will remain at that stage indefinitely and you will have Beast Blood. VAMPIRE -> VAMPIRE LORD Do the Dawnguard quest line to become a Vampire Lord. VAMPIRE/VAMPIRE LORD -> WEREWOLF Do the Companion's quest line to gain Beast Blood or, if you already had Beast Blood once and had it removed, you can speak to Aela to gain lycanthropy again. WEREWOLF -> VAMPIRE Cure yourself of Lycanthropy by the Purity quest line and contract the disease that causes vampirism or obtaining Vampire Lord form through Dawnguard. WEREWOLF -> VAMPIRE LORD See above. HYBRID -> VAMPIRE LORD You will lose Beast Blood when you gain Vampire Lord. VAMPIRE LORD -> HYBRID If you haven't completed the Companion's quest to become a werewolf then you can activate the blood when you progress to the next stage of vampirism (you will lose your Vampire Lord powers but still have Beast Blood and vampirism). If you have already done the Companion's quest then you cannot be a hybrid. You will not get the +25% to illusion and sneak if you do this. So Hybrids...you can gain Necromage benefits from permanent bonuses or a chosen standing stone that you keep active all the time and you have to do so BEFORE you become a werewolf or using the unique method to become a hybrid detailed below. For Werewolves, now you don't have to power level restoration in the beginning before becoming a werewolf. When you are ready with your abilities you want to boost you can hop into VL and then back to Werewolf. You only get one shot at it, though. [ 10.1.3 ] Unique Dawnguard Hybrids At the end of the Dawnguard quest there is a follower that will be able to transform you into vampire at any time. If you missed your chance when first becoming a werewolf you can take advantage of this one-time to become a vampire/werewolf hybrid. You can even be a Vampire Lord/Werewolf Vampire/Werewolf Hybrid Pros: -Beast Form 1/day or unlimited with Ring of Hircine -Vampiric Drain ability for 5 health/second -Vampire Servant reanimates a very powerful undead for 60 seconds 1/day. -Vampire Seduction calms creatures up to level 10 for 30 seconds 1/day -Vampire Sight gives improved nightvision for 60 sec 1/day* -Embrace of Shadow makes you invisible 1/day for 180 seconds -100% Resistance to frost (50% with Dawnguard, 100% if a Nord) -Champion of the Night for vampire's +25% to Illusion spells. -Nightstalker's Footsteps for the vampire's +25% bonus to sneaking -100% resistance to poison* *(if obtained, removed after 1st werewolf transformation) Cons: -You cannot feed as a vampire and you will progress to Stage 4 Vampirism -Weakness to fire 50% (0% if a Dunmer) -In sunlight Health, Magicka, and Stamina -60 and doesn't regenerate -Does not benefit from the Necromage perk -You cannot gain Vampire Lord form or powers How: You must have already completed the Dawnguard main quest to have Serana as a follower and you cannot have had Aela transform you back into a werewolf since she will only do this once. Get them both in the same room and equip either the Beast Form power or the Ring of Hircine power to RB. Speak to Serana with A and simultaneously press RB to transform into a werewolf. Quickly select the menu options to have her transform you into a vampire. Immediately speak to Aela the Huntress and select the option for her to give you the beast blood again. Vampire Lord/Werewolf Hybrid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcH8sHr7iaQ Pros: -You can switch back and forth between vampire lord and werewolf. -No vampire weaknesses -Access to both Beast Form and Vampire Lord form -Benefits based on your last transformation -If a vampire, you will be boosted by Necromage, and look like a vampire -If a werewolf, you will lose Necromage boosts and look human. -You can finish both Werewolf and Vampire Lord perk trees Cons: -No vampire powers except night vision -Difficult to perform. Have both Vampire Lord and Beast Form powers. Spoilers ahead. Get Serana as a follower and she must be able to transform you in to a Vampire Lord. Complete the Companions quest until "The Silver Hand". Press A to drink the blood and simultaneously begin your VL transformation with RB. You will appear outside of the Underforge and finish the transformation. Select "Revert". Immediately have Serana turn you back in to a vampire. If done correctly (the timing is quite strict) you will have both powers. If you feed as a vampire (not during VL or WW form) you become a normal vampire and can never again return to this unique state with no weaknesses. [ 10.1.4 ] Regaining Lycanthropy It is possible to regain the Beast Blood once you have cured yourself either by obtaining Vampire Lord form or through the curing quests mentioned in the earlier section. If you speak to Aela she will give you the option to be granted the Beast Blood once again. YOU CAN ONLY DO THIS ONCE. [ 10.1.5 ] New Stuff New weapons, shouts, items, followers, etc, etc, etc. found in the DLC. Most of them don't benefit us in Beast Form, but here are some specific things that may be useful: - Serana Serana will not become aggressive when you transform or are in Beast Form. - Blessing of Auriel +10% to missile weapons - Dragon Shouts - Summon Durnehviir Like other summons, provides and extra target and additional damage. - Conjuration Spells Conjure Boneman — Summons a Boneman Archer for 60 seconds Conjure Mistman — Summons a Mistman from the Soul Cairn for 60 seconds Conjure Wrathman — Summons a Wrathman from the Soul Cairn for 60 seconds Like other summons, provides and extra target and additional damage. - Restoration Spell - Stendarr's Aura For 60 seconds, undead in melee range take 10 points sun damage per second. -- [ 10.2 ] DRAGONBORN ------------------------------------------------------- New weapons, shouts, items, followers, etc, etc, etc. found in the DLC. Most of them don't benefit us in Beast Form, but here are some specific things that may be useful: [ 10.2.1 ] Unique Werewolf Rings These rings can be bought from Majni in Frostmoon Crag. Inhabitants of the crag are friendly to you if you are a werewolf but will be hostile if you are not. If you kill Majini you will be unable to obtain the rings. They are between 5000-6000 gp each so have a fat wallet if you want them all at once. The effects only become active if you have the ring equipped when you shift. You cannot use the follower equip glitch to stack them mid-transformation or use the equip glitch on one transformation to equip them hoping to use them on a second transformation. The game will remember the last werewolf ring that you used and will apply the effect to your transformations until you change rings. For example if you use a ring and transform using Beast Form you will gain the bonus. If you equip the werewolf ring and then equip the Ring of Hircine (without removing the werewolf ring first) and then you transform you will still get the bonus from the last werewolf ring used. - Ring of Bloodlust While in Beast Form, you do 50% more damage, but you also take 50% more damage One of the top 2 new rings, with a properly build werewolf build you can take advantage of the damage increase but mitigate the damage increase with things like flesh spells and magicka resistance. Orcs can do exceptional damage with this ring while Berserk and the 50% damage resistance cancels out the weakness from the ring. - Ring of Instinct When you enter Beast Form, the world around you seems to slow for 20 seconds You can't use Slow Time before transforming because most of the effect is used during your transformation. Luckily, this takes effect only after your change is completed. This can provide you with a way to rack up damage quickly before the enemy has a chance to react. It can also prevent you from being massacred if transforming in melee. Couple this with Whirlwind Cloak for some effective crowd control. Ring of Instinct is affected by Fortify Alteration Spells. If you have Fortify Equipment +100% and all the perks you can get almost a full minute of slowed time. - Ring of the Hunt While in Beast Form, your health regenerates Normally your health is so stunted in beast form that relying on normal health regeneration is generally bad. Feeding on corpses and being quick on your feet will provide you with most of your healing. Ring of the Hunt removes the penalty to health regeneration. Your regeneration can be boosted by things like potions, the Lady Stone, etc but not from equipment since all of that is removed upon transformation. Remember, the more maximum health you have the more you regen/second. With this ring you can regenerate around 1.5% of your maximum/second. See the section on Frostmoon Hunt to see how to maximize this. - Ring of the Moon Increases the duration of your Howls by 25% This really only affects the Totem of Brotherhood since the Totem of Fear is spammable with a short cooldown and Totem of the Hunt usually doesn't want for a long duration. Probably the least beneficial of the four rings, IMO. [ 10.2.2 ] Frostmoon Hunt The Frostmoon Hunt power is granted by the Ring of the Hunt when you have it equipped before transforming. Normally your health regen in human form .49% in combat. The ring allows you a regen rate of 1.5% in combat, or over x3 as much. The best way to exploit this is with the Lady Stone. A permanent effect (unless you take another stone) with 136 Alchemy crafting gear (5/5 Enchanting, 100 skill, and an Enchanting Elixir) you can make a +159% potion. Taken before you activate the stone gives you a +64% from the stone. If you make 5 potions of different values (equip an additional piece of equipment each time) you can drink them all in a row and gain a +291% bonus from the stone. You could also resto-loop for even higher values. Things like the Ring of Namira will work as well (+50 regen for 5 minutes). If you are an Argonian then Histskin will allow you to regenerate 100% in 1-2 sec. [ 10.2.3 ] Blessings - Blessing of Azura +10% Magicka Resistance Located at the shrine in Raven Rock this is a great addition. With the Lord Stone you can get a good defense against mages. The con is that you have to travel back to activate it every 8 hours. Otherwise awesome. This can also be boosted by Fortify Restoration potions. [ 10.2.4 ] Dragon Shouts Battle Fury Increases the speed of your allies attacks like Elemental Fury. Unfortunately you cannot use this on your Brotherhood allies but you can use it with a follower. Hopefully they won't turn aggresive when you transform. Bend Will You can cause creatures and even dragons to become allies for 30 seconds. You can use it before starting a battle, but not as useful as summons and it does not remove the threat, only delays it. Cyclone Knocks enemies into the air. If you are caught unawares then Become Ethereal is probably a better escape button than this. Not really that useful. Dragon Aspect 300 second duration. With one word +25 Armor rating, and power attacks do 25% more damage. Two words: +100 Armor rating, Ancient Dragonborn summoned if health below 50%, +25% fire and frost resistance. Three words: Shout recharge time reduced by 20%. Can be used once per day. If ever there was a shout to benefit werewolves, this is it. Increase in armor, damage, fire/frost resistance, AND it summons an Ancient Dragonborn automatically when you are below 50% health. Good for big baddies since it is only a once/day shout, but wow. [ 10.2.5 ] Greater Powers *Only one power from each Black Book can be obtained at a time Hidden Twilight Mora's Boon - Restores 1000 to Health, Magicka and Stamina. Powerful, but not useful until Beast Form ends. Good to replenish in the middle of a long fight before reshifting. If you finish a fight, normally you can just wait one hour to heal. Mora's Agony - Summons a field of writhing tentacles that lasts 30 seconds and poisons foes who enter it. Another cloak/field effect. Not great since you move around alot while in combat. Mora's Grasp - Targets frozen between Oblivion and Tamriel for 30 sec., but are immune to damage. You want to damage the enemies, not freeze them. Filament and Filigree Secret of Arcana Spells cost no magicka for 30 seconds. Magicka cost reduction needs to be more reliable to cast Alteration and Cloak spells. Secret of Protection You take half damage for 30 seconds. Half damage is good, but by the time you transform this has all but worn off. Good to protect you while you transform in combat or are surprised. Secret of Strength Power attacks cost no stamina for 30 seconds. Same as Secret of Protection. The duration is too short. There are plenty of better ways to gain stamina. Summon Karstaag Summons Karstaag to fight for you for 120 seconds. You may only use this ability 3 times, period (not per day) and only while outdoors. [ 10.2.6 ] Cleansing Stones The benefit of the Cleansing Stones is that you can have all of them stored simultaneously. Unfortunately you have to reaquire them after each use. Bones of the Earth Caster ignores 80% of all physical damage for 30 seconds. Single use, then must be reacquired at the Earth Stone. Best of the Cleansing Stones. 80% DR. If you cannot kill your enemies in 30 seconds as a werewolf then you are doing something wrong. Good when you revert before retransforming. Conjure Werebear Summons a Werebear for 60 seconds wherever the caster is pointing. Single use, then must be reacquired at the Beast Stone. Stick to Totem of Brotherhood North Wind Targets take 20 points of frost damage for 10 seconds, plus Stamina damage. Single use, then must be reacquired at the Wind Stone. Not good. Root of Power All spells cost 75% less to cast for 60 seconds. Single use, then must be reacquired at the Tree Stone. Magicka cost reduction needs to be more reliable to cast Alteration and cloak spells. Sun Flare A 100 point fiery explosion centered on the caster. Single use, then must be reacquired at the Sun Stone. A one-shot 100 damage spell, not great. Waters of Life Heals everyone close to the caster 200 points. Usually you won't have many followers around so this isn't great either. Single use, then must be reacquired at the Water Stone. [ 10.2.7 ] Lesser Powers Bardic Knowledge Summons a spectral drum that plays for 300 seconds, improving Stamina Regen for you and nearby allies. Acquired from the Black Book Untold Legends. Your stamina regeneration is already high, but more stamina and a beating drum while you maul things, sure. Sounds ok. Black Market Summons a Dremora merchant for 15 seconds. Acquired from the Black Book Untold Legends. Has 2000 gold, unaffected by Speech perks. Not useful in werewolf form. Breath of Nchuak Draws upon stamina to release a scorching blast of steam that deals 15 points of damage per second. You have to have a mask equipped to use this. Secret Servant Summons a Dremora butler for 15 seconds to carry your excess items. Acquired from the Black Book Untold Legends. Can carry up to 148 units. Can be used to do the follower equip glitch. [ 10.2.8 ] Passive Abilities *Only one power from each Black Book can be obtained at a time Winds of Change Companion's Insight Your attacks, shouts, and destruction spells do no damage to your followers when in combat. Good so you don't accidentally maul your allies while you are swinging around. Lover's Insight Do 10% more damage and get 10% better prices from people of the opposite sex. Combine this with Agent of Dibella for even more damage. If you are a female then you will have increased damage vs dragons, draugr, animals, etc. too. The Sallow Regent Seeker of Might Combat skills are all 10% more effective. Unfortunately this affects skills affected by the Warrior Stone...so no good for werewolves. Seeker of Shadows Stealth skills are all 10% more effective. This affects skills affected by the Thief Stone. This helps stealth, but not much more. Seeker of Sorcery. All spells cost 10% less magicka. Enchantments are 10% more powerful. Probably the best of the three since it gives a permanent 10% reduction in your spell costs. As an Altmer you would only need 62 more magicka to cast a dual-cast Ebonyflesh. Fortify Magicka potions, enchanted equipment, the Atronach Stone, or a boosted Blessing of Julianos. [ 10.2.9 ] Spells - Whirlwind Cloak For 60 seconds, opponents in melee range have a chance of being flung away. Good for crowd control. Dual cast it for increased range. ** [ 11.0 ] Q&A ************************************************************ no questions submitted ** [ 12.0 ] LEGAL ********************************************************** I wrote this guide by using first hand experience and testing along with resources such as the UESPwiki and the Elder Scrolls Wiki. If you have any questions or contributions please email me at theonyxphoenix@hotmail.com with the subject Werewolf Guide. I am very busy but will try to reply. Feel free to copy and redistribute this work. It is here for the benefit of the community. Just don't be a jerk and claim it as your own. Thanks to all the contributors, participants, posters, and players on the Gamefaqs Skyrim XBOX360, PC, and PS3 boards for providing me with an audience. Thanks to my wife and family for putting up with watching me test things in werewolf form. Particularly watching me get stepped on by giants repeatedly. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Werewolf Guide by theonyxphoenix Version: 1.6 | Last Updated: 2013-11-01 | View/Download Original File Hosted by Return to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (X360) FAQs & Guides