Sun Damage

[sevenindasun]

Feeding always makes vamps weaker, a popular novel in the states emphasizes that a vamp is easier to kill after they have fed... Although feeding in earth vamp allows them to use their abilities more affectively suck as seduction and physical traits like speed... So yea feeding clouds their mind while allowing them to strengthen other powers... It's a balancing act...

[Mauin]

I wonder which popular novel that would be? Wait - don't answer. I don't want to know.

It's not feeding that clouds their mind. It's the hunger, that constant thirst for blood that drives their actions and influences who they are. If anything, feeding would clear their mind. If only temporarily. Hence why it's main purpose is to maintain the sanity of the Vampire. You've just got to wonder how much of that a person can take.

There certainly is not balancing act involved in the Vampires of Tamriel. They feed, they lose most of their strengths and bring themselves back closer to their mortal, pre-Vampire selves. They don't feed, and they change to become full Vampires with access to their best powers. It might be more of a balancing act if feeding brought you back one stage rather than bringing you back to the first stage, but that just isn't how it works.

[Br3admax]

I always saw it as, "You can't get food? How 'bout now?"

[Mauin]

Pretty much any way you look at it, it's going to seem like torture. Torture that seems like it has no end.
At least, it'll seem like torture until you go insane anyway. That seems like one of the most likely ways for it to go. The average person probably wouldn't be able to cope all that well. There has to be those that can (like Serana, and the others) handle Vampirism, otherwise they'd all be mad and being in Castle Volkihar would be... A mess. And not the good sort of mess, either.

I just see the blood thirst that comes with Vampirism as a powerful and dangerous force. The blood itself may not be necessary to survive, but the thirst will push them to get it until the Vampire snaps or learns to control it. Or both.

[sevenindasun]

My post on feeding making them weak is more along the lines of drunk with blood, sloppy thinking where a hungry vamp is more focused on the task at hand, albeit careless but still focus and more dangerous.. And I was talking about Anne Rice not the teen vamp new age novelist... Lol, I would think she is a bit of an expert on earth vamps due to research...

[Mauin]

I've never heard of any Elder Scrolls Vampires getting drunk on blood...
Though I did once have a dream where a group of Vampires (including myself, apparently) were drinking blood out of wine bottles. You just reminded me of that.

How focused a hungry Vampire is would depend on that particular Vampire and how well they could handle the thirst. Those who can't handle it are more likely to act like beasts, not people. Those who could handle it would likely plan their attacks very carefully. Or maybe they would just scare the crap out of everybody. Who wouldn't do that at least once?

[sevenindasun]

Bottom line, they should add some type of sun damage, perhaps no fast travel during 6am-6pm, I'm not a fan of this seasons vamp although I allow myself to be infected not for the cure quest but for the experience of being a skyrim vamp... Perhaps feedin off animals would be a idea since I have never fed from Morrowind to skyrim I have never drank human blood.. I kinda like the perks.. The whole dawnguard thing made it soft tho, sure we got beast form but I can walk into any town and chat up the locals with no reaction from them other than u look pale... Maybe they got them rings like Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder...

[Robvaro]

I didn't like sun damage so after trying vampirism once in Oblivion, I avoided it thereafter. With Skyrim, I just assumed that they took Bram Stoker's approach to Dracula where the Count could indeed go out in sunlight but he was severely weakened. I don't think sun damage came into the vampire mythos until Anne Rice and Interview with the Vampire.

[The SheoDovah]

The vampires in Elder Scrolls lore have always been weak to the sun and will die if they are exposed to it for a period of time. They should have kept it in as it forces you to plan your journey and if you actually want to be a vampire or not. Instead, we have vampires that feel a bit tired when in the sun and that can be easily fixed via enchantments thus meaning that we can have all the benifits of being a vampire without any drawbacks.

I know they removed sun damage to try and please the mainstream but vampires should always suffer from sun damage when in the sun due to the lore stating that they are weak to it. Dawnguard makes it even easier to play as a vamp due to the weaknesses being reduced thus less enchantments are needed to eliminate it. I really hope in the next game, the vampires are not immune to the sun and end up being powerful as that would be a bit rubbish.

[Marelo]

Volkihar do suffer in sunlight. They don't regenerate their health, magicka, or stamina without outside assistance, which is a weakness compared to mortals. Seems pretty cut and dry!

Also, there is nothing in the lore stating all vampires are the same. In fact, the variety presented in the games is rather lacklustre when held against the variety presented in lore. The slight difference in how weak they are to the sun is nothing compared to vampires that were supposed to be able to reach through the ice, or vampires that change into mist, or swallow victims whole.

I mean, yeah, gameplay-wise the weakness is underwhelming. But the problem isn't in departing from the lore, nor is it simply that there is no weakness. It's just not an interesting weakness, which some people find annoying and others don't. (I don't, personally.)

[MidbossVyers]

They're vampires, not solar-powered suicide bombers. They should not explode in sunlight.

[SpikeSpeigel]

I can only speak from the standpoint as someone who's PC's love to kill vampires for the vile beasts they are.

The Volkihar vampires can attack in day or night, albeit with regen disadvantage during the day. I like being attacked by them at any time no matter the hour and I like that I have a SLIGHT advantage in combat during the day.

If there was full-on sun damage maybe then they would only attack at night, making them less a nuisance-to PC and NPC alike. But Bethy wants to make the DLC content's presence felt as much as feasible. I'm sure they wouldn't want to cut DLC vampire activity/spawns in the world in half straight out of the gate.

[House of the Wolf]

Vampires and they're reaction(s) to sunlight very greatly in many other genres.

Some aren't affected at all by the sun, others are slightly/severely weakened by, while still others burst into flames from it. So it all depends on your opinion, and possibly your culture.


IMO, the strain in Skyrim (I refuse to call it the actual Volkihar strain) appears closer to Bram Stoker's version than any previous strain experienced in TES; so no, I think the way they have it (without actual fire damage from the Sun) is just fine.

[tornadokirby]

I think the way vampires are portrayed in Skyrim is just fine. I think the regeneration losses and stat drains are good enough to counter out vampires. It feels weird that people no longer attack me at Stage 4, but I just pretend that they've learned not to challenge the DovahVamp.