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First of all, This is ***NOT** a philosophical question, it's a perk vs perk thread.


It just seems like the Dawnguard get all the goods and the Volkihar get the shaft.

I mean I have a character on both factions and just made a comparison.

First of all here are the perks both get

-Vampire lord transformation
-animal followers, although the dawnguards get passive regeneration
- necromantic healing
- basic crossbow
-master vampire robes (forgot the name)
-serana
-harkon's sword

Volkihar vampires

- Bloodstone Chalice
-Amulets with mediocre effects
-heal undead spell
-Ring of Beat and Erudite, one adds 20 melee damage comparable to the khajiit passive and some health while the other adds 75% magicka regen and mana.

Dawnguard

-Enhanced Crossbow, Dwarven Crossbow and Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow
-husky dogs that are kind of useless
-a bunch of exclusive spells
-multiple rune weapons with unique enchantments

So really... it all falls upon whether you prefer a buff that lasts a few days or one of the best ranged weapons in the game, bolt crafting, and an assortment of weapons.

It seems like a no-brainer to me.

As much as I prefer Castle Volkihar over Fort Dawnguard it's not a hard choice to make.

Also, a Dawnguard player that becomes a vampire lord via Serana will be 90% as powerful as one who joined the Volkihar that has the same perk points invested due to the lack of amulets, I loaded up both of my saves and could hardly tell a difference.

The vampires also get those two awesome rings. So each faction has their own artifacts.

Okay, I didn't know of those, ill edit my post accordingly.

Harkon's sword is pretty nice, and it's the added RP benefit, but damage for damage it may seem this way. I don't use crossbows, so I don't care either way.

The Volkihar are geared specifically to benefit a vampire PC. So, for a non-vampire, they can be rather useless.

It's just that the Enhanced Dwarven crossbow seems so potent in comparison to anything the Volkihar offer exclusively. It gets a ridiculous knockback chance and is on par with the dragon bow damage wise, plus it's aesthetically pleasing.

Most of us, well me at least, pick the side you agree with/like the most. Not just for the items or advantages. So I love vampires, and I always pick them except when role playing.

Yeah a lot of people join for personal beliefs but as a Khajiit player I tend to follow the side with the most loot, it's the same way irl lol.

Though I do find it unfair that the vampires didn't have some unique weapons besides Harkons sword.

You know the devs are gonna lean towards the vamp hunters and cast a poor light on the vamps... The good guys win. Even tho they know most of the TES fan base are vamps by choice, I'm one of few who cure myself almost all the time, I've played both factions and I do learn toward the hunter rather than the hunted... They did give most of the good stuff to dawnguard but in return for joining the vamps you get The vamp lord which if you don't eat dawnguard won't interact with you until you are cured... Rats probably should have posted a spoiler

The player bonuses are higher for vamp side.

The Dawnguard questline also get an extra dungeon that doesn't appear for Volkihar players.

Travalanche wrote:It's just that the Enhanced Dwarven crossbow seems so potent in comparison to anything the Volkihar offer exclusively. It gets a ridiculous knockback chance and is on par with the dragon bow damage wise, plus it's aesthetically pleasing.

Uhm... no. The Dwarven Crossbow doesn't do significantly more damage than the regular crossbow. Especially if you put smithing into the mix, the damage difference is negligible. Just with the weapon perks for blunt weapons, it sounds good on paper to partly ignore the opponents armor. But enemies either have no armor at all, or their armor rating is rather low, anyway, due to the lack of perks in their armor skills. And the knockback chance is the same for all crossbows. So, the difference between a regular crossbow and an Enhanced Dwarven Crossbow isn't as big as it seems.

Having said that, access to crossbows and being able to craft bolts is pretty much the only advantage the Dawnguard side has over the Volkihar side. Each side has their own pet followers. Both have spells that are exlusive to their side. Harkon's Sword vs Rune Weapons... I think it pretty much all equals out in the end.

For vampire PC's, the Volkihar exclusively provide:

--Free human-cattle for you to gorge on consequence-free

--A plethora of coffins to sleep in (which, by doing so, provides a bonus to magic resistance)

--The Bloodstone Chalice (which is especially useful for vampires during the day)

--Four enchanted jewelry that significantly strengthen your Vampire Lord form (two gargoyles summoned for the price of one, or your Night Cloak ability becoming much more effective--along with either increasing your melee damage and health by great proportions, or increasing your magicka by a large amount (both made even greater by the Necromage perk from the Restoration tree)

--A never-ending supply of Human Blood (potions) for when you're on the run in the woods, with no one to feed on


If you like playing as a vampire, and gear your PC to do so, it's almost perfect for you. However, if you're not a vampire, it's not anywhere near as beneficial to side with them.

I'll always side with the Dawnguard, unless I plan to play a vampire character. Neither side really offers anything I couldn't easily replace. I don't like crossbows. And most of the enchanted jewelry isn't that good most of the time. Though my vampire character does use the Ring of Erudite constantly.

Dawnguard does offer more followers, but most of them are useless next to Serana, whom vampires get anyway.

So really, its how you want to RP your character. If you want to be a vampire, side with the vampires, most of their benefits are tailored for vampires. If you're not a vampire, better go with the Dawnguard. You don't have to worry about sunlight then.

To be fair, the biggest benefit of the vampires is getting your own castle, even repairing the old path way and basically live near the portal for the soul cairn. I went with dawnguard though, better overall gear and I can freely become a vampire lord whenever thanks to Serana. Now if only they added some quests that make it possible to claim the opposite's domain. Vampires storm the fort, create a player home now infested with vampires. Or the other, set camp in the castle and protect Valerica. I'm just bummed that the bodies won't despawn<_<
Anyways, the rune axe is by far my favorite perk, dual it with dawnbreaker and your set

meh only teenage girls and deluded goths like vampires, I always join the dawnguard so I can hunt down those bloodsucking, twilight watching, bad fashion having fetchers and and parade their corpses through the streets as a deterrent to any sap that thinks it might be cool to be a vampire.

Or, you know, people who like some of the perks they get--as well as turning into a giant [&@%!] Nosferatu capable of flinging giants into the air in a Darth Vader-like grip. But to each their own, right: I see a powerful, murderous, monster to play at my leisure; you see a potentially hunky, "mysterious", sparkly faery that you painstakingly avert your eyes from. It all works, in the end.

Well said. Made me delete my rant I had. To each his own, I love vampires. Playing one in game is fun and the perks match my natural game style. I always choose to be one.

I was only joking..... Although ive always hunted vamps in elderscrolls games id usually jump at the chance to be a vamp but for some reason i don't like it in ES.

I went dawnguard, though for moral purposes rather than loot.

For me it was both moral and perks. I hate killing named npc's in general, so I wished I only had to kill Harkon and not his followers. I tend to play a moral character but I always double check if I must commit murder. 2 sided I am, but then again I don't RP and I only use one guy<_<

i side with the Dawnguard. i always liked the members of the Dawnguard more than the Volkihar. but other than that, i like Crossbows, Dawnguard Armour, and Dawngaurd spells, and because i like playing as a Vampire Hunter.

i think the biggest reason was i liked the Members of the Dawnguard, and Isran and Seranas interaction.

I always disliked Isran. It seems like he has this grand idea of forming an elite band of vampire hunters, but has no clue how to actually do it. Gunmar, Sorine and Florentius seem to do all the real work around the place, Isran does next to nothing after recruiting them. He doesn't even give you any main quest missions for the Dawnguard once the others how up. Serana does all the mission giving.

i dont know why i liked him, but i did

he had that strange charm that characters from Oblivion have. i just found him interesting. and i liked the bit at the end when you kill Harkon and he says a few words to Serana, felt like he had a little bit of character development at least.

like i said, im not entirely sure why i like him, but i do.