So with the approaching DLC quickly rolling up I am trying to prepare my character for being a Vampire Lord. I've haven't ever been interested in playing a vampire due to the perks not being all that great in Vanilla. However as we all know this is changing in Dawnguard so I was going to turn my main Warrior Nord into a vampire lord. I personally prefer the warrior archetype over being a mage or thief archetype so my character has no points into Magicka or any of the mage-esque skill trees. It seems that vanilla vampires heavily use magicka in many of their abilities. So the question I have to ask is can my Warhammer Pure Warrior be an effective VL or should I start putting some points into magic based skills and Magicka?


Thanks for the replies!

Should be able to, I don't see why not. Like.. a werewolf, it's the same effectiveness, no matter what archetype.

Also, welcome to the forums, buddy

I think you might want at least some kind of magical ability, but I don't see why not play as a warrior.

I think being a Vamp Lord also builds upon your own magicka reserves.

Welcome to ze forums!

http://images.wikia.com/elderscrolls/images/8/88/Fishystick.png

The dev stated quite clearly in the E3 demonstration of Dawngaurd that the Vampire Lord is primarily a spellcaster battle form.
So unless you find a way to deepen your magicka reserves while transformed you'll be relying mostly on fang and claw. In wich case a werewolf would probably be a better fit for you.

Thanks for the welcoming! I used to post around the Morrowind forums back in the day, but that's been so long that I don't remember my email or anything for that account.

I just feel that being a giant axe swinging, blood svcking, creature of death is more appealing that shooting spells or sneaking around. I suppose over the next few days I will allocate some points into the Magicka range of expertise. As for being a werewolf, I was for a good while until I realized that my human form greatly out played the werewolf form due to lack of armor. Maybe I will go werewolf again once I get a closer look at the perk tree, and assuming you can become one again (which I believe you can as I've read somewhere). I do believe however the DLC will be showing vampires quite more love than werewolves, considering the DLC is based around blotting out the sun.

Yep. Matt Carafano did say that the Vampire Lord Form is a heavy spellcaster. Therefore, the deeper your Magicka reserves, the better, especially considering your equipment enchants don't carry over to Vampire Lord Form.

Not quite. A low health Mage that goes into Werewolf Form is going to get wrecked in seconds, while a high health Warrior that goes into Werewolf Form will last a little longer. The lack of Armor Rating is still a huge problem for Werewolves though. Which is something that i've noticed that Vampire Lords don't seem to have a problem with. In the footage of the new Vampire Lords and the buffed Werewolves, i see that Vampire Lords don't seem to take much damage when hit (One even melees a damn dragon), but the Werewolf still loses big chunks of health with every hit taken.

From what I understand, Vampire Lord is more for magic orientated characters while werewolves are for melee orientated characters.

Exactly the problem I see with being a werewolf and why I want to try out Vampire Lord.

At lvl 45 and over you deal 80 damage per claw while in beast form -hugs his strategy guide- even taking only the first perk displayed on the werewolf tree durring the E3 vid, would boost it to 100. Presuming it follows the same math as barbarian or armsman ect you could look forward to a total of 160 per claw.. about eaven with legendary daedric without using crafting boosts.
The rest of the tree will make the beast tougher and more voracious, and eventualy able to summon other werewolves. It's an intensely physical play style that I and a good many others over in the call of the wolf pack part of the forum thuroughly enjoy.
The Vampire Lord on the other hand flips the bird at skyrim's currently sparkly vampires and pulls out Bram Stoker style dark arts and a hefty blood lust. If you've got some flesh spells and enough health you probably could make something of a melee combatant. One of the vamp perks completely refills health if an enemy is killed with a power bite. But mostly it relies on superior manuverability, black magic, and a summoned gargoyle to prove it's superiority

I've seen some references to blood magic in the vampire lord perks so that might be a thing I'm not sure tho maybe im getting things mixed up

Actually, yes. Power of the Grave, the first perk in the tree, boosts all of your stats by 50, effectively fortifying your magicka. The perk, "Poison Talons" makes your melee attacks deal poison damage. The left side of the perk tree is dedicated to defensive abilities. Supernatural Reflexes, the last perk in the left side, makes you move quicker and your enemies slower.

There's also a perk called Blood Healing that decreases vampiric spell costs. Oh yeah, and your mist form makes you turn into mist and heals up all of your stats. Obviously, you can't attack but it's cool for non-mage vampires.

All of this is from this page: http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/The_Elder_Scrolls_V:_Dawnguard

Ebony Flesh with all three Mage Armor perks and the Lord Stone gives a werewolf 350 armor. Would also work for the Vampire Lord.

I remembered hearing that Vampire lord form adds 100 health and mana, much like how how the werewolf form adds 100 health and stam. Sooo some mana already would likely be beneficial, but you likely won't be hopeless.

If you can, put the rest (Or a good amount) of your level ups into Magicka. (Just the amount of magicka) But yes, it could be an effective Vampire Lord, just not one as OP as a mage or thief would be.

Yes, but it'd only work if you used it before transforming due to the fact that Vampire Lords (While in the Transformation) can only use the Night and Blood Magic.

id personaly make my warrior dawnguard just for the new equipment and the crossbow,more toys to play with and more blood svckers to burn

vampire lord form adds 50 percent to health magic and stamina. Just to straighten that out.

50 points to health magic and stamina.

everyone's goin vampire be a hipster go wolf

I'm currenlty in the habbit of casting my buffs before changing any way. If you can spare the points in magica to cast it, Dragonhide offers a fantastic physical defence. (80% damage res).
When the spell wears off, swap back and recast.

Are you sure? I heard somewhere on youtube I cant remember by who maybe machinima but they said 50 percent.

Unfortunately it looks that some magic will be needed... though I'll never get why, vampires are not mages.

They were probably wrong. Mistakes like that happen all the time before things are officially released. Given that there are no effects in the game that boost hp by a % I would say they are wrong.

Ya you're probably right, anyways 50 points is still decent.