Yeah just to be safe I'll keep using the mod. Most of my characters are above 10 so the dawnguard vampire attacks should start. And I don't want to take them through that story line yet. This forum got me scared into thinking the moment DG was installed I'd be faced with hords of vampires running across the lands haha.

Still not taking chances. I'm wise to the traveler. He shall harm no NPC.

With dawnguard done I'll have to visit all my favorite spots (saving often) and make sure no vampires appear. I avoided everything like the plague while doing dawnguard.

You have to actually hear about the attacks first or be approached to join the Dawnguard before you get any attacks on towns. And even then if you show no interest your character could still never get an attack. Some hear about the attacks and almost immediately get mobbed by a bunch of vampires.

You witness an attack, then hear about the attacks, or you find that one orc fellow. If you show no interest, you still get attacks.

I take it you haven't made multiple new characters to actually test it out?

I hear ya, I've started a new Khajjit assassin build and even at level 1 he's had the attack out on the map where a group of vampires have killed a couple Vigil and dawned their gear to ambush travelers but no attacks on cities / towns as of yet.

So far with my character thats finished dawnguard, I have fast traveled to Riften and several times out and about and returned to whiterun. I should have encountered the traveler at least but have not. I did map to riverwood and got that heart racing music that there was an attack going on. Turns out it was just a dragon and I felled it quickly.

Its been, what, like 46 days since dawnguard launched, and people are STILL complaining about this?

recheck your sources, us PCers only got Dawnguard a couple days ago. this is all new to us.

I'm an xbox user, so I wouldn't know, but it should be even less of a problem for you, since you guys have mods, and console commands, and what not.

I lost the woman who is the blacksmith at warmaidens in whiterun (forgot her name). Her brother said "since her death, he now gets his supplies from the Khajiit". He also randomly says "I should crush your skull after what you have done" like I killed his sister off somehow..

Did you accidentally kill Adrianne? I only got hostile comments like that when one of my characters decided to knock of a fellow Thane for her clothing.

I just got my first Vampire attack.

They went down pretty fast. Though those bastards killed the Magic dueling guy.

Started a new character with Dawnguard installed. Got to above Level 40 before I got a vampire attack in a walled city (Markarth) having never met the recruiter and having not visited Fort Dawnguard. The guards had started commenting about Vampires around Level 10. Either the attacks are very rare before meeting the recruiter or starting the quest, or I'm very lucky.

Also Markarth is a good city to visit at night when you're afraid of vampire attacks because the only people in the area where the vampires spawn are guards (i.e., expendable)... at least at 2am or so.

I have one character started just before Dawnguard was released and two other high level characters who have now completed Dawnguard, one with the Dawnguard, one with the vampires. So yes I am pretty sure you are not going to get any surprise attacks, you get a warning first that the vampires are attacking towns. Then you might get town attacks, or you might not. My highest level character went through the DLC first, an over achiever who had done everything and was used to being attacked by mass spawning enemies (came with mounted combat) and dragons any where outside of walled towns. He was the one attacked on the very first town he entered once Dawnguard was installed, the guard was talking about attacks at the gate, next thing there were vampires and vampire thralls all over the place. Like everything else he got a high level of attacks, so decided to join the vampires in the hopes of getting a quieter life, it worked, although he still got a fair few town attacks and is still fighting off Dawnguard, joining the vampires did get him a lower rate of vampire attacks.

Aussie went through second, little adventurer who hated being told what quests to do, she had all the houses, was started so I could get the Oblivion Walker achievement which had been done and went and did the Stormcloak campaign. After my first character Braggen's problems with dragons, I was not interested in having another character being chased all over Skyrim by dragons. Aussie never went very far with any other questlines and never let Alduin go waking no dragons. Aussie got vampire attacks in the wild, heard about the vampire attacks from guards, told the recruiter no thanks, not interested. She went up quite a few levels doing smaller quests and collecting stuff, she had no vampire attacks on towns, yet a high rate of attacks in the wild. Eventually she went off and joined the Dawnguard, she had attacks nearly every time she was in Windhelm, although usually not when she first entered. She also got attacks in a lot of the smaller towns, yet could not get an attack in any other walled town but Windhelm.

My third character started Dawnguard around level 10, and only heard about the attacks at level 18 when that recruiter eventually caught up to him. He has not had any attacks on towns yet, and none in the wild. He is doing the Stormcloak and main questline together and is not that enthusiastic about chasing vampires unless they give him a reason. I will wait and see if he gets any attacks, no attacks he will not be doing Dawnguard. I will go start a fourth character to try a low level starter. My third character is an Orc and he is hopeless at fighting, I am never ever playing an Orc in Skyrim again.

Yeah, they did Orcs wrong in this game. Should have given them 50 extra health to start, just like High Elves get 50 extra magicka. Something to beef these guys up as warriors!

Puissance harvesters assailing settlements, you pronounce?

Portraits, otherwise the incident did not occur.

He turned out such a wimp as a warrior, he had to take up archery just to survive. I think he would fail at defending NPC's somehow, he dies too easy. An extra 50 health at the start would have at least given him staying power almost as good a as a Nord or an Imperial. I thought Orcs were meant to be tough, mine is a daisy. I put nearly everything on health and stamina, and still he croaks it just looking at an enemy. Fighting a dragon is a nerve wracking experience. I gave up and decided he needed a follower to keep him safe, so he has Lydia along for company now who can easily kill anything better than he can. Lydia does not seem to like him for some strange reason though, refuses to follow and eventually turns up at the last minute to save his sorry hide. Next he will have to work on alchemy to make stronger health potions!

Yes its new to the PC crowd and the PS3 are still without it. When I began this topic I was concerned about if the attacks persisted after you complete Dawnguard apparently that is not the case unless its a bug in which case if I encounter it after I complete the quest I will report it. But since the attacks will cease after I complete the quest it is of no consequence at least for me.

My main issue is bot that the vampires are hard its that the townspeople are idiots and incapable of defending themselves and they always get in my way or they tun into vampire spells and die. That can create a barren wasteland but this can be avoided on PC with mods obviously but there is nothing that can be done for console users.

Yea thats the problem that most people who have issues with the vamps are.You just gotta kill them fast enough or make sure their attention is on you. And some people claim that the city attacks persist, but not with anyone I know.

I've loaded up and have been playing my female orc lately. She got approached by Durak about joining the Dawnguard but I have yet to visit it. I've also not seen any vampires including the traveler. I've done nothing different then what I did with my Nord who already finished Dawnguard. Speaking of my nord. She has not seen the traveler since completing Dawnguard and she usually had to kill one every other night in Whiterun.

I am worried about issues my Orc and the citizens of various towns may have. I had forgotten I had perfected stealing on them and many including the guards are without armor or weapons... oops.

I've said it before and I'll say it again....

Named NPC's should not die unless YOU kill them, or it is a scripted event.

True its like a mad dash to save the populace that is if you do not have a mod that disables them.
As I said earlier in this thread in Markarth there was one master vampire on one side of town and the traveler on the other side by the gates and the master vampire can cast the ice storms and that is a one hit death area of effect shot on the non essential NPCs

What would be the point of vamp attacks then?

Attack you I would guess.
Anyways I just hope that mine does not bug after I complete the quest I have not got around to finishing it and testin that out yet for myself.

It'd be kinda lame if they attack only you. After dawnguard starts, it would be fine, but not before.

Guards, generics, and you would still be targets.

I just watched an entire settlement of NPCs get killed, but only the named ones. All that is left are the generic guards. I have not done any of the quests in this settlement or related to it on this character. One thing that needs to be tweaked is when new content eats other content in the game.

This is why DLCs usually take place off map. However, this one kind of needs to be in Skyrim.

It is possible to play the game so as to minimize attacks or the effects of them, FT so as to arrive in the daylight, only conducting business in a city during the day and sleeping somewhere else and saving before any cell load in a city being the easiest way among others listed in this thread. It does add a sense of urgency to the game.