Newbie-To-Dawngaurd Question:
My character level is 35 now, i'm playing on Xbox and i just bought the Dawngaurd DLC last week. I chose NOT to become vampire so i have just helped Serana find her mother and i've obtained one of the Elder Scrolls from her. That Pretty much sums up where i am in the game and my question is...

At what point do i come across werewolves and/or where can i find them?

I know it's a dumb question, but i havent seen or heard ANYthing about them yet. Are they part of another DLC? Am i not far enough in quest lines? Am i not high enough in leveling?

It doesn't have to do with questlines, level, or anything. It's simply a random encounter as far as I'm aware.

They're just something rare, but are just like wizards challenging you to duels randomly. It's something that will just, eventually occur for no reason lol.

Dawnguard really isn't Vampires Vs. Werewolves. It's primarily about Vampires Vs. Vampire Hunters. It gave Werewolves the perk tree so that they wouldn't be left behind in the dust, as the Vampire perk tree was added.

Werewolves get their own story in the Companions questline, part of the base game.

Join the Companions if you want to do some werewolf related quests.

Edit: Dawnguard added a Werewolf perk tree and according to UESP "As a part of the Dawnguard plug-in, there are new random encounters featuring wild werewolves, which can be found along roads and in the wilderness at night. Another random encounter involves a farmer afflicted with lycanthropy."

I've actually never seen werewolves as a random encounter despite walking everywhere.

That's not what OP is asking, the question at hand is when,where,how to have a werewolf encounter. Xharon answered the question, it's a rare encounter that can happen out on the map only problem is that it's really,really,really rare. I've only had one encounter with a pair of werewolves since the release of Dawnguard and that was by chance while exploring the mountains around Markarth. There have been reports that you can bump into a traveling farmer/hunter that will transform in front of you then attack you, then there's reports of walking into a werewolf Vs vampire brawl. Neither of which I've seen personally but they are a VERY rare random encounter while out on the map, my best advice is to travel in the woods / cross country rather then the roads this may increase your odds of bumping into a werewolf.

The Werewolf and Werewolf vs. Vampire encounters are about as rare as encountering the random Skooma dealers when wandering.

How rare is that? I don't have hard numbers for statistics, but I've been playing since 11-11-11, and only ran into the previously mentioned Dealer once.

That's all, just once.

So, like Carrots said, they are there, just very very rare.

BTW, well said, Carrots.

wow, Thanks Alot for the help answering my question everyone. I'm just really surprised how much talk i've seen of Werewolves on these discussion boards considering they are such a rarity. I'm not going to go out of my way to look for any but i was curious as to the circumstances required for me to see one. I got a great answer and will be VERY excited if i come across one since they seem to be the most endangered species in the Elder Scrolls Series.

Thank you


Good luck in your hunt, us werewolves can be rather illusive Travel only at night, off the road and explore the wilds is the best advice that I can give ya. As I said I've only had one encounter with two werewolves since the release of Dawnguard so your gonna need to be patient and pretty lucky in order to have a run in with a werewolf. Try the mountains around Markarth that's where I had my run in or the forest around Falkreath.

Happy hunting

Ran into one recently. It stung a bit to kill my kin but whatever.

I'm fairly sure this is added by Dawnguard and has nothing to do with the Companions. 308 days as a werewolf and 487 mauls, and I haven't met a single werewolf that wasn't in a cage of some sorts, before I got Dawnguard.

I played DG several times on Xbox and never encountered them.
So it is very rare and random unlike the Vamps who are scripted to appear from Lvl 8-10.

I found one once dueling a mage on the backroads of Falkreath.
I happened to just be doing a "Let's see what's out there" walkabout at the time.

I must be lucky because they are not that rare in my game. I do have a regular habit of traveling almost every night (I'm a Vampire) and I'm familiar with all the spawn points that are just off the roads so I cast Aura Whisper whenever I'm running around and then go investigate whatever life I find. I've seen 3 different werewolf encounters just outside the gate to Riften. Leaving Riften if you cast Aura Whisper and look to your right there will always be one or two random encounters in the trees there. One of the encounters was a farmer who turned into a werewolf and killed his wife. I think the only reason I've seen so many there is only because I go to and from Riften at night a lot.

Me and Serana had a tag team match with 2 of them, just a little south of Whiterun. They were called Werewolf Vargrs.

Really?? I always take that way to Fort Dawnguard and I've never bumped into a werewolf there, most times it's a pyromancer and a cryomancer locked in mage combat, naturally I get the jump on the both of them and make quick work of them. I've been taking regular moonlight strolls in an effort to find the elusive werewolf and have yet to find any on two newish characters. The only encounter with my main character was near to http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Dushnikh_Yal, I don't know the exact location but it's a trap set by bandits. If you follow one of the trails in the area you'll come to a point where the trail is " bottle necked " by rocks on either side, the bandits have this tight spot littered with bear traps and it's usually guarded by 2-3 bandits hidden behind said rocks. Best I can figure is that 2 of those bandits are werewolves and I just miss out on them changing, all because the bandits are no where to be found when the werewolves are there, there's no bodies either to say that they where eaten.


The two that I ran into ( what I was talking about above ) where Vargrs, their said to be the strongest of the werewolves. I didn't find it too bad, they did manage to surprise me but I quickly pulled together and slaughtered them if they where able to ragdoll me ( the player ) it would have been another story

Interesting they are called Vargr.
That was the humanoid dog race from the Traveller RPG

Might be an easter egg that no one picked up on yet

I think Varga is Swedish for wolf. And a Vargr is a giant wolf in Norse mythology. Games are great for bringing back old terms and mythologies. [Vul]Kodlak (Kodlak) and [Vor]Volaka (Volkihar in game) are also words that mean werewolves and Vampires.

I think Werewolf Vargrs show up in game when you get to a high level. Their speed scares the crap out of me.

In a huge wtf the moment and caught completely off guard and without my follower.. I was jumped by 6 at one time ~_~... could be a bug perhaps, since their IDs were ff indicating duplicates, but still.. I was not ready for that fight..and struggled. Thankfully the stupid Forsworn wanted a temp cease fire and we killed them off.

I was once traveling at night in the Reach and was up high in the mountains in the area above Karthwasten and saw, way below me, 4 werewolves running in a pack in the moonlight. They made me instantly hit the sneak button because they were going so fast and were literally swiping goats and sending their corpses flying through the air. It's the scariest thing I've ever seen in Skyrim. I think it may have been a bugged encounter where the 2 werewolf spawn had doubled up since I don't use mods, unless there really is an encounter with a full pack of werewolves, although I haven't seen one in the CK.

Do you use the Warzone mod by any chance?

I don't use mods (except for one of my own that's a set of custom armour). I'd say it was either a rare fluke of two werewolf spawns meeting up, or a bug. Or maybe Bethesda knows that crazy ninja werewolf spawns will mess with my head.

Then if it is a bug, it's a cool bug I'd want to stick around . Long as it's nothing like that Letrush bug or whatever his name is.

Random encounters really are random! I just ran into a werewolf battling 3 vampires and a bandit just south of Alftand. The bandit was shooting at everyone in sight while the vampires concentrated on the werewolf.

Normally you see 3 on 3 fights, like stormcloaks versus imperials. But I have also seen 3 on 3 on 3 fights, like vampires versus bandits versus imperials.

Things can get pretty wild in Skyrim!

Also, I believe I read somewhere that you have to join the companions before werewolves show up.

With that rumor.. only someone who started Dawnguard before joining the companions can say if thats true or not.

But yes, things are getting wild and crazy in Skyrim. Bring on more wildness!

Started a new character who hasn't started either the Companions quest or the Dawnguard quest, 40 hours in and no werewolf sightings BUT he did have a run in with 3 wild gargoyles . It was a pair of Gargoyle brutes and a Sentinel gargoyle, IT...WAS...AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Might just be one of the hardest encounters I've had my entire time playing the game. The three of them circled me and made their move, first they would attack one on one coming from 3 different directions then they would switch to a group effort where all three would attack at the same time. I'm not a big fan of the shouts, I hardly ever use them aside from Dragonrend and Clear skies but I must have used Unrelenting force a half dozen or more time trying to keep them at bay when attacking at once. The fight lasted for about an hour in game, it started around 10pm and ended close to 11:30pm (give or take a half hour).

They would each take turns charging at me for an attack coming from every direction, then would circle around me once or twice and then attack at one. It was the same two attacks but in different orders, some times it would be a volley of them taking turns at me then they would switch to a group attack unexpectedly, there was next to no pattern to their attacks which made it rather difficult to predict the next move . IT WAS AWESOME, all I need now is to have a run in with a pack of werewolves Hopefully they pose more of a threat then the gargoyles, ....... I'm a svcker for punishment