Slaying Skyrim‘s Vampires – Expert Hunter Shares Most Effective Weapons and Tactics

As a veteran vampire hunter stalking my prey across Skyrim for decades, I‘ve faced down deathlords, master vampires, and even mighty vampire lords in combat. After countless skirmishes and research into exploiting their weaknesses, I‘ve discovered the most potent weapons and strategies for sending these undead monstrosities back to Oblivion!

Equip yourself with fire, silver, and wooden devastation to crush the vampire menace.

Ignite Vampiric Flesh and Melt These Foes Away

Fire burns vampiric flesh, making it one of your most invaluable tools for exterminating this scourge. Vampires‘ weakness to fire causes additional burn damage as flames persistently eat away at their undead bodies.

By channeled the arcana of Destruction magic, I evoke meteors of flame to pummel targets from range and ignite multiple vampires at once with sweeping shockwaves of fire. For more precise control, I launch scorching firebolts that incinerate vampires as the concentrated flames roast them.

With the Ignite perk trained, my fire spells cling to vampires, practically melting them as the higher-level perk doubles the burn duration. This allows fire damage to persist even after breaking combat, vanquishing wounded vampires attempting to flee the ensuing inferno.

When wading into close quarters combat, I slash viciously with my personally forged katana, engulfed in hellish flames by its "Bane of the Undead" enchantment. Each strike deals potent fire damage atop the razor-sharp steel cutting into their putrid bodies. Training in smithing and enchanting allows me to hone my craft and keep my blades lethally burning bright.

To share one harrowing tale, I stalked reports of missing villagers to Lost Knife Hideout. There I discovered death hounds and vampiric thralls led by a dungeon boss – a mighty vampire lord! As this winged terror summoned gargoyles to his aid, I enveloped the cramped cavern chambers in a maelstrom of fireballs and blazing shock spells, incinerating his minions. Weakened by the intense flames, the fiend fell before my sword‘s enchanted flames in a titanic battle!

Here is a comparison of select fire spell damage, highlighting their DPS against vampiric foes:

As shown above, damage over time from lingering burns significantly increases fire spells‘ effectiveness against vampires. Combine this with equipping blazing weapons, and these unholy terrors will think twice before facing you!

Hack Away at the Undead with Silver Weaponry

While fire attacks target vampiric physiology, silver weapons exploit vampires‘ inherent weakness to silver itself. As supernatural entities vulnerable to holy metals, silver cuts through a vampire‘s magical defenses, allowing for maximum carnage.

Through experimentation on captive vampires, I‘ve confirmed silver weapons deal precisely 20 extra points of damage on each strike, with devastating consequences! Across 10 samples, my silver sword dismembered limbs and decapitated heads 25% faster compared to steel.

For close combat, wielding a silver greatsword allows me to cleave lesser vampires and thralls in a single mighty chop! With bows, silver arrows punch deep into a vampire‘s chest, bypassing outer flesh to strike at their unbeating hearts. Lacing crossbow bolts with molten silver tips makes them absolutely impale targets.

Once I purged Elgrim‘s Elixirs in Riften of a master vampire named Hern regaling himself on the resident alchemist. Tipped off anonymously, I burst in through the skylight with silver daggers drawn to catch the beast by surprise. Before he could mesmerize me, my daggers found their marks, as silver‘s mystical touch undid his magic. A dozen rapid slashes later, the creature lay dismembered on the floor, finished off permanently.

Some equipment of note – the Silver Sword in Dragonsreach does +22 extra silver damage. Silver Greatswords are scarce but offer the highest physical and silver damage output. As for ranged options, seek Fletcher in Solitude for the finest silver arrows around.

Pin Down Bloodsuckers by Staking Their Heart

The ultimate tactic straight from ancient vampire hunter tradition – drive a wooden stake through a vampire‘s unbeating heart to paralyze and finish them off! Though not a direct game mechanic, by impaling and immobilizing vampires on stakes, they‘re left vulnerable to behead or incinerate at your leisure.

I personally sharpen sturdy oak stakes, fire harden the tips for penetration, and debark the shafts for smooth plunging through a vampire‘s chest cavity. Pine offers excellent strength-to-weight ratio for portability while ash wood stakes carry mystical anti-vampire powers. Sharpen and debark your stakes as smooth plunging requires less force and leaves you less fatigued during extended hunts.

By carrying capacity alone, I can equip up to 40 stakes in my pack plus a half-dozen more strapped across my chest for easy access in battle. More than enough for even a large vampire coven!

Once pinned by your stakes through non-vitals, vampires enter a state of torpor-like paralysis as their healing factor is overwhelmed. Helpless bloodsuckers make easy prey to leisurely hack apart into dust with an axe or set fully aflame with destruction spells channeled over several seconds at point-blank range.

Combining axes, stakes, and fire magic works perfectly! Stake a vampire through each limb into the ground, rendering them unable to move, then whip out a pair of silver axes enhanced with fiery soul trap to chop away as the flames finish the job. I call this the "bleeding bonfire" technique!

Supplementary Knowledge to Defeat Vampires Decisively

Higher vampires require arcane witcher tricks to combat their immense power, such as channeling the Igni sign to stun and burn the monsters. Also analyze patterns during the fight as vampires enter bloodlust frenzies at low health for exploiting later.

Vampires cannot cross barriers made of ash wood or dotted lines of juniper branches, allowing secure fortification inside houses.

Always keep cure disease potions handy after combat encounters involving bites or scratches to mitigate risk of infection over time. Recruit followers as distractions plus extra damage against individual vampires. And beware attacking vampire dens at night when they are most powerful and plentiful!

Here is a compiled tier list ranking various anti-vampire tactics from my firsthand experience:

This covers the most essential knowledge to decimate Skyrim‘s vampire population. Now get out there and start stalking your night creatures! I plan to document further exploits and research to bolster my vampire hunting guide series. Fare thee well hunters!