This is my first day on the the Beth forums (hopefully the moderators don't give me grief about my name), and I have been wondering, does Necromage make vampirism worth using? I play on the Xbox (will import to PC once the base game gets old), and I am wondering if curing myself of Lycanthropy and then transforming into a vampire would be worth it. For those who don't know, the perk, Necromage, does the following to a vampire PC:

• Makes all effects 25% better on yourself as a vampire
  
• Makes shouts (but only those effecting you, I believe) more powerful
  
• Makes potions more powerful
  
• Makes spells/enchantments more powerful (especially important)
  
• Unfortunately, I've also heard that it amplifies the negative effects as well.

My question is, do you all think that this will be patched soon, or ever, and even then, do you think it is worth it? I've done some research on this, and I am very much on the side of becoming a vampire, especially with the infinite "Become Ethereal" shout. But if this were to get patched, then I would get the shaft. Granted, I only use lycanthropy for travel, rather than combat, so it wouldn't be a terribly big deal. Finally, as a side note, I have heard that level 4 vampires gain an effect similar to "calm," which allows them to talk to quest NPCs, so that the game isn't completely broken. Given the 25% increase to illusion, does the regular "calm" effect really allow me to talk to any NPC, or does talking just result in an "OH GOD DON'T KILL ME!" dialogue? If I do go vampire, I am really considering just going all the way with it.

Vampirism was "worth it" before the Necromage discovery, IMO... as long as you played a certain way. I would consider the Necromage boost something of a "latitude provider" in the sense that you aren't "locked" into playing a sneaky type to survive anymore. I would still take advantage of the vampiric Illusion boost, though -- with or without Necromage. You'll need it to find all the words for the Shouts you will be enjoying... assuming you aren't saving vampirism for the icing on the cake, and plan to play it throughout the game.

-Loth

Why would Illusion help to find shouts? I've already gotten all of them, and I never (had) to use illusion. Although spamming paralyze was great fun...

Search it!

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1332899-am-i-the-first-to-discover-this-synergy-with-necromage-perk-and-vampirism/

I actually did search it (and found that on the internet), but I guess there wasn't as much content as there is now. Or I didn't look hard enough. I'm still apprehensive about using this exploit(?) however...although I could change some things, anyway. I am currently level 81, and I skipped the necromage perk (and invested in Destruction like an idiot. Seriously, I should've learned from Oblivion). So I guess I'll be importing relatively soon, anyway. But what is everybody else's opinion? My character is only partially stealth based, but has an emphasis on magic and combat. And I am still unsure of the whole "interacting with NPCs while at 100% vampirism." I tried looking that up on the internet and UESP, but to no avail. To be more specific, I am wondering if I can still talk to ANY NPC with 100% vampirism...I kind of miss my Oblivion character right now...he only had to deal with a fatal sun allergy...

First off, Bethesda is famously negligent in fixing exploits. The infinite fortify restoration exploit is still around in 1.3 and mark my words, will still be around after 1.4 or 1.5. Mayhaps forever. Lesser exploits such as this (which some do not consider as an exploit) and dual helmets are very unlikely to ever be patched. Since they still can't fix real problems such as permanent ash piles since ... well ... the dawn of time when dinosaurs still rule the land.

Gamewise, if you are looking to improve armor or damage, it isn't really worth the hassle, because armor is capped and damage was never a problem even on master. However, if you dabble with magic from multiple schools, it does help you reduce the cost more. You can never get all 5 schools free, but it helps.

Using all available tricks, the maximum reduction is 41%. you can have two helms, a ring, a necklace and armor for a total of 10 slots which translates to 82% reduction for all five schools or 100% reduction for destruction, 41% for conjuration and 82% for the rest because you don't really need to cast conjuration so much.

You can cast calm or pacify spells on a hostile npc to talk to them. It is still better to just feed, the increased hunger levels aren't really worth it.

Wait, 82% is the maximum reduction if you want to do all magic schools?
Well, destruction svcks, so I don't care about that. As for improving armor...that's what the enchantment/alchemy loop is for. Honestly, I may start to just wear robes, along with an insanely powerful pair of boots, or something.

Oh, and thanks for the reply Beserkenstein! I've been wondering about that for quite some time.

This makes me depressed. I knew Oblivion's mechanics so well, and now I'm one of "those" people asking a hundred questions on a forum ;p

You have no skills. Please continue, my good sir..

^^^ hahaha - censors

But...but...why waste perks on destruction, when you could punch somebody in the face for just as much damage? Or have a dagger that has enough power to break Vegeta's scouter? XD

Yes, the necromage perk is a awesome gift for vampires. It almost makes up for the pathetically weak vampiric drain spell.

If you wish for ultimate power, you best bet is shout cooldown reduction. Morokei is currently incorrectly given the wrong enchantment. It's true unique enchantment is 100% magicka regeneration and 20% shout reduction.

Combined with talo's blessing, talo's amulet and necromage/vampire combo. That is 75% cooldown reduction, enough to cast continuous Slow Time. Without the morokei fix, there is a cooldown of 4-5 seconds between each Slow Time, but still makes you near godlike as long as you disengage during the cooldown.

I read about that...I hope they end up fixing morokei. I would probably end up wearing it, then. But yes, shouts are definitely your best friend with this.

It even seems to make Whirlwind sprint take me a little bit farther, but I require more extensive testing to see if this is actually the case.

If you note in my earlier post, when I said "Illusion will help you find word walls" before, that was assuming you were getting vampirism at a low level and playing nearly the whole game as a vampire. Of course, you don't NEED to use Illusion... but with such a nice bonus from being a vamp, why wouldn't you want to?

-Loth

Nice find! I hope that's the case. It would also be awesome if one could make a potion that fortifies shout durations. Imagine creating a potion that allows you to whirlwind sprint across the map!

The bonuses from Necromage are too indirect(and many concern skills that are widely considered imba in the first place).