My mystery began when I picked the Necromage perk so I could do more damage vs. draugr and thrall level 50 pets instead of 40. Then I noticed my Become Etherial shout was lasting a long time and the recast was shorter. Then I noticed that when I put on a necklace that grants 15 bonus to carrying capacity, it actually added 19.

It finally dawned on me today:

If you become a Vampire, Bethesda has made it so that YOU ARE FLAGGED AS UNDEAD. That means the Necromage perk that makes all spells have greater effect on undead WORKS ON YOU TOO!! That also works on enchantments on your clothes and conjuration summons (since they're actually a spell cast on yourself...my dual casted Dremora lord shows as duration 6 minutes)

My Archmage robes now have the following stats: 125% magicka regen, 18% reduction in casting costs, 62 bonus magicka

My Nahkriin Mask (the last one) shows as 25% reduction to restoration and destruction costs (instead of 20%) and gives 62 bonus magicka (vice 50)

My Talos necklace and talos buff from shrine still show the same display stats, but Become Etherial usually has recast 20 seconds. With two talos buffs it's 12 second recast. With Necromage and two talos buffs, it's 10 second recast. AND, the actual shout lasts longer. Become Etherial lasts longer than the recast. It used to last 8 seconds and now it lasts longer than 10. I can literally run through the game invincible and it uses no exploit...just making myself undead and picking a perk that affects undead.

My 60% magicka regen ring is now a 75% magicka regen ring.

My Fire Resist boots that provided 40% resist now provides 50%

There is now a DAMN good reason to be a vampire mage in addition to the illusion bonus.

WOW, sounds cool, nice discovery

Wow...that's pretty awesome. I'm thinking about becoming a vampire.

This is a nice discovery.
Thank you for sharing

Yowza!

Well my necromancer may become a vampire soon. Awesome discovery

Update. Potions work too. 20% fortify barter turned into 25% fortify in my active effects.

Otar mask gives 37% resistance to all three elements. Is it usually 30?

Morokei is now giving me 125% regen instead of 100.

Fortify alchemy bracers 12% becomes 15%.

Shouts seem to be affected more than 25%. Summon hero now has recast of 90 seconds and instead of 60 second duration, the hero goes away as the shout is ready to cast, so it now lasts 90 seconds. I can have a permanent hero pet just by picking necromage and vampirism.

Dare I say, this one perk now makes Vampirism > Werewolf?

u sir....soooooooo freaking awesome!!!!

Holy crap, this is a rather incredible discovery. I'm going to have to test this out myself

That is actually really cool. Nice discovery!

Haha nice one. Anyone else double checked it?

The added effects seem quite overpowered IMO. Clearly an unintended bug but knowing Bethesda they won't fix it, ever.
Being a Vampire was already my favorite pastime activity in Skyrim (stage 4 nonetheless) and really strong for a sneak attacking illusionist, but this just made it over the top.

Any negative side effects though?
Are enemy effects on you also 25% stronger/longer now?

I can't think of a reason why would they, as it's the player that has the Necromage perk, not the enemies. I.e. if it doesn't originate from the player it shouldn't be affected.

Anyway, very nice find. Too bad the way you present it makes most bonuses item-dependent.

An interesting discovery Thank You ,

If you drink a potion of Fortify Enchanting while a vampire, and you enchant some object, will the enchantment be at a higher level? Will that level remain even after you've been cured of vampirism?

Nice find. This'll stir up the vampire = undead/living debate again.

Working towards checking it today.

I also don't see how it could be a bug...I really can see the logic behind it, personally. And if it is, I hope it doesn't get fixed, because it makes sense to work that way

Does this boost spell effectivness too.
Like does it make Dead Thrall + Necromage even better than before?

I ask because I have encountered a Master Volkihar vampire in a quest that is level 53. And that is 3 levels higher than Dead Thrall + Necromage perk will work on. If this find boosts Dead Thrall's level range even further then I'll reload my save and prepare before meeting the vampire so I can use Dead Thrall on it.

Then please share your knowledge of this 'logic' with the rest of us because IMO it clearly, most certainly is an unintended consequence.

First of all the wording of Necromage states: "All spells are more effective against undead." Notice how it doesn't just say "on". Besides this restoration perk is obviously designed for the restoration Turn Undead spellline. But because of the way the buff system works it accidentally also applies to your vampire undead status. There is no indication whatsoever that this was intended on purpose and all the reasons that it was not.

I hope Necromage isn't bugged. When I learned it increases the level of vampire Dead Thrall works on, it's the only reason I got it.

Oh sure, you couldn't have discovered this before my dark elf archmage cured his vampirism? Awesome discovery man, this confirms that Molag Bal favors the mages. I wonder if Bethesda did this on purpose or is it a bug? If it is, they should leave it alone. Wouldn't it svck if patch 1.4 "fixes" this bug, that would just be our luck.

It's definitely more of a boost than items. My shouts last longer like Become Etherial. My Hero call now lasts long enough to be a perma-pet. Dremora lords when dual cast with duration perk, or a reanimate spell when dual cast with duration perk makes it last 6.66 minutes.

I'm guessing that since the dead thrall spell is allowed to be cast on a level 50 with the perk, then that part works on what you're casting on. But the duration of regular summons works on the fact that you're casting on yourself. So what it probably does is raise the duration of the dead thrall which is already in the 10's of thousands of hours, so in other words, no benefit to that particular spell.

i have yet to test alteration magic (since my mage basically ignored that entire line), but I would assume 25% bonus to armor spells. Maybe longer duration as well. I also have yet to test standing stone abilities like Ritual Stone to see if there is a boost to duration or anything like that.

The boost doesn't seem to affect passive racial abilities (50% fire resist on my dunmer), passive vampire penalties (25% fire resist penalty), or perks that grant passive boosts like restoration's 25 and 50% magicka regen perks.

I always played Vmapires anyways... now I may need to work more than I already am on my Restoration Skill...

That's pretty hard ass, OP!!! Nice find!

edit = my own rampant stupitidy...

Interesting!

I wonder if it even affects the special thief powers you can get.
Or perhaps the meditations on shout words you can do.

I don't see why it wouldn't work...