Skyrim Dawnguard DLC Guide: Vampire Lord & Werewolf Skill Trees

Skyrim’s Dawnguard DLC is finally here, and now you have the upgraded powers of a Vampire Lord to bring into battle.

Werewolves have been buffed slightly too, enabling you to unlock new abilities and upgrade those that you already have.

We’ve detailed each of the new perks in the skill trees for Vampire Lord and Werewolf, what their effects are and how they can be used.

Vampire Lord

Unlike a normal Vampire, the new Vampire Lord form can only be accessed by accepting Lord Harkon’s gift at the Vampire Keep. This part is only made available after rescuing his daughter during the quest ‘Bloodline’, which is the first dungeon as part of the Dawnguard DLC.

Once accepting the gift you will be able to transform into a Vampire Lord at will, which will equip you with two types of abilities – Night Power on the left for nercomancy and Blood Magic on the right, for draining health.

Additionally you can press in the left stick to switch out of magic mode and into melee combat, where you will fight as normal.

The camera is locked to third-person when playing as a Vampire Lord.

Vampire Lord Skill Tree

Click image for full size version.

Levelling up the Vampire Lord skill tree does not work the same way as normal levelling up. Here you need to kill enemies with either your Drain Life ability or the bite power attack to earn new perks.

Each new perk requires a few more feedings.

Power Of The Grave
– 50 point bonus to health, magicka and stamina as Vampire Lord

Detect All Creatures
– Night Power: Detect all creatures, even Dwarven Automatons. Requires Power Of The Grave.

Mist Form
– Night Power: Transform into an invulnerable mist, while health, magicka and stamina regenerate. Requires Detect All Creatures.

Supernatural Reflexes
– Night Power: Everything slows down while you move faster. Requires Mist Form.

Vampiric Grip
– Blood Magic: Can pull a creature to your from a distance, and do choking damage once it’s close. Requires Power Of The Grave.

Summon Gargoyle
– Blood Magic: Can conjure a gargoyle to fight for you. Requires Vampiric Grip.

Corpse Curse
– Blood Magic: Target is paralysed. Requires Summon Gargoyle.

Blood Healing
– Killing a person with a power attack bite restores all your health. Requires Power Of The Grave.

Unearthly Will
– Night Powers and Blood Magic cost 33% less. Requires Power Of The Grave.

Poison Talons
– Melee attacks do 20 points of poison damage. Requires either Blood Healing or Unearthly Will.

Night Cloak
– In combat you are surrounded by a cloud of bats that feed on enemies within melee range.

Werewolf

Werewolves now have an additional skill tree to upgrade their abilities, though it’s not quite as in-depth as the Vampire Lord skill tree. Nothing else has really changed for the Werewolf abilities.

If you’ve still yet to open the Werewolf quest line then you must visit the Companions Hall in Whiterun and follow the quests until you meet with one of the Companions underneath the Skyforge at night.

Werewolf Skill Tree

Click image for full size version.

Just like the Vampire Lord skill tree, Werewolf perks can only be unlocked through special means – namely, feeding on corpses as a Werewolf. 

Each new perk requires a few more feedings.

Bestial Strength
– Do 25% more damage as a Werewolf. Has four upgrade possibilities.

Totem Of Ice Brothers
– Werewolf Totem Of Brotherhood howl now calls Ice Wolves. Requires Bestial Strength.

Totem Of The Moon
– Werewolf Totem Of Brotherhood howl now calls Werewolves. Requires Totem Of Ice Brothers.

Totem Of The Predator
– Werewolf Totem Of The Hunt howl has extended range and sows whether targets are not in combat, searching or actively in combat. Requires Bestial Strength.

Totem Of Terror
– Howl Of Terror affects even higher level creatures. Requires Bestial Strength.

Animal Vigor
– 100 point bonus to health and stamina in beast form. Requires Bestial Strength.

Gorging
– Feeding heals twice as much health. Requires Animal Vigor.

Savage Feeding
– Able to feed off most dead creatures. Feeding off creatures instead of people only provides half the extended time.

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