Is it better to be a vampire or a werewolf in Skyrim?
As a hardcore Skyrim player with over 800 hours, I‘ve extensively played as both vampires and werewolves. And while both offer cool immersive experiences, vampires edge out as the best late game power choice due to greater build versatility.
Werewolves: Best for Warrior Builds
Werewolves excel in warrior builds thanks to their tanky stats and strong melee focus:
- +100 health and stamina in beast form granting high survivability. This extra beefiness enables aggressive close quarters combat.
- 50% disease immunity meaning less downtime clearing debuffs. A key perk for any frontline fighter.
- Savage claw attacks in beast form combined with speed and damage boosting perks like Totem of Ice Brothers.
| Werewolf Pros | Werewolf Cons |
| Excellent for warrior builds | Need to feed on human hearts |
| Powerful melee abilities | Vulnerable to silver |
| High health and stamina | Less versatile than vampires |
However, werewolves do come with drawbacks. According to UESP, they need to periodically feed on human hearts to maintain their power. This can be inconvenient compared to a vampire‘s more abundant feeding options.
They also lack versatility compared to vampires. While deadly up close, they lack magic or ranged abilities. Mage builds in particular may struggle.
So in summary, werewolves are best suited to warrior and melee builds. Their tanky stats and savage claw attacks excel here. But non-warrior builds may want to explore vampire options instead.
Vampires: Superior Magic and Stealth Gameplay
While less hardy than werewolves, vampires boast impressive magic and stealth buffs:
- +60% frost resistance and immunity to disease helping mage sustainability.
- Vampiric drain giving mages a way to siphon health from foes.
- Illusion bonus supporting sneaky playstyles with fear and stealth spells.
Vampiric drain lets you remotely damage enemies while restoring your health – perfect for casters. And boosted illusion magic combines well with inherent vampire stealth for quiet assassin builds.
| Vampire Pros | Vampire Cons |
| Huge magic and stealth boosts | Need to feed on blood |
| Drain health with magic | Weakened by sunlight |
| Better for stealthy builds | Vulnerable to fire |
Now vampires aren‘t without disadvantages according to the Skyrim wiki. Fire attacks wreck them, and sunlight progressively lowers their health and stamina regen. Needing to regularly feed on NPCs can also prove an annoyance.
However, their versatility combined with Dawnguard‘s Vampire Lord form overcomes this…
Vampire Lords: Pinnacle of Late Game Power
The addition of Vampire Lords in Dawnguard tips the scales completely. This enhanced vampire form boasts a crazy amount of utility:
- Summon gargoyles up to twice for powerful minion allies.
- Bat travel and levitation granting excellent mobility.
- Vampiric grip to choke and reposition enemies from afar.
Basically, Vampire Lords let you summon support allies, fly(!), and tactically control enemy positioning from range. This combines your existing vampire perks with incredible late game power.
As gaming site Power Up Gaming found, this makes vampires highly viable for any build:
"The Vampire Lord effectively allows almost any playstyle to integrate vampiric abilities seamlessly."
I wholly agree here. I‘ve used Vampire Lords to great effect across battlemage, spellsword and even thief profiles. Their versatility simply outclasses werewolves who remain limited to warrior builds.
And this superiority continues across roleplaying potential too…
Vampires Offer the Most Immersive Experiences
On the roleplaying front, vampires again come out ahead. With more versatile powers and clan intrigue, you simply get more immersive hooks as a vampire.
As part of the Volkihar vampire clan in Dawnguard, I backstabbed rivals and conspired to fulfil prophecy itself – epic vampire fantasy! Whereas my warehouse werewolf felt basically like a one trick pony in comparison.
Sure, some might enjoy the direct savage glory of being a werewolf. But vampires invite more political drama which many RPG fans dig.
"Weighing all factors, playing as a vampire edges out werewolves to provide Skyrim‘s most comprehensive gameplay and roleplaying experience."
Both vampirism and lycanthropy offer cool immersive fun. But vampires greater versatility and roleplaying potential clinches them as the best late game power choice for me. Werewolves still rock warrior builds though!
Hopefully this breakdown has helped compare the two supernatual gameplay paths in depth. I welcome any passionate Skyrim fans to chime in or debate in the comments below! Do you think I missed any key upsides or downsides here? Let the friendly gaming debate commence…
