Vampirism (Oblivion)



Vampirism is a syndrome acquired once Porphyric Hemophilia has infected the body for three days and the victim has slept at minimum of one hour. One infected with vampirism is called a vampire. Sunlight damages their pale complexion and a sensitivity to fire is acquired.

Beneficially, vampires acquire a resistance to frost magic, the ability to see living beings in complete darkness, enhanced speed, swordplay abilities, resilience to normal weapons, and boosts to magical skills such as Destruction, Illusion, and Mysticism.

Attribute and skill bonuses and deficiencies, in addition to uniquely acquired spells and abilities, increase with the severity of infection. Vampirism comes in four tiers. The first being the closest to mortality, the fourth being fully vampiric. The first tier occurs just after sleeping, once the Porphyric Hemophilia disease has taken root. After, the degree of infection augments, the longer a vampire goes without receiving sustenance from human blood. To feed, approach a sleeping human. A cursor depicting an ajar mouth with fangs appears. Press the activation button and commence feeding.

Porphyric Hemophilia
The disease, Porphyric Hemophilia, causes the vampiric condition after being infected for 72 hours. After this point, a bed must be slept it for the disease to take root and cause vampirism. If the infected is due for a level up, the addition of vampire skills takes precedence, meaning another sleeping session must be performed to advance in level afterwards.

Once vampirism has been successfully acquired, a message displays, indicating that the infected dreamt of being fed upon by a vampire. A list of abilities and modifiers are immediately applied.

Porphyric Hemophilia can be cured at any altar, with a Cure Disease potion or through the Restoration spell. Vampirism can only be cured through the quest Vampire Cure, and it can't be acquired again without the uses of console commands.

The moment the Imperial City Sewers are exited, after the completion of "Tutorial", Porphyric Hemophilia, and by extension vampirism, can be contracted.

Methods of Contraction
When the disease is successfully contracted, a message displays in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. The active-effects list in the Character Menu displays the disease a five point Drain Fatigue penalty.

Being the subject of a vampire's physical attack causes the infection to take root. This includes those attacks made by blades, blunt weapons, unarmed blows, and arrows. Unlike, which required being the victim of the Vampiric Drain spell, spells cast by vampires, getting attacked with a spell by a vampire​ in does not cause the Hero​ to contract Porphyric Hemophilia. Vampires inhabit caves across Cyrodiil. The Barren Cave, along the Blue Road, west of Cheydinhal, always contains vampires, despite Character Level.

During the Dark Brotherhood quest, "Darkness Eternal", Vicente Valtieri offers the "dark gift" as a reward for completing each contract up to that point. Accepting the offers infects the target with Porphyric Hemophilia, after which, the standard procedure for advancing the infection must be performed. However, Vincente is killed by the player itself during the quest The Purification, so if one wishes to become a vampire, the dark gift should be accepted as soon as possible

Alternatively, sleeping outdoors, beyond civilization, can cause the disease to be contracted. Bedrolls such as those found at bandit camps like Fisherman's Rock are ideal places for contracting the disease this way. This only occurs if at least one hour is slept during the night.

Stages of infection
As the severity of vampirism increases, the vampire's weakness and strengths enhance. Some effects are constant across the infection, while others are dynamic.

Static effects

 * Resist Paralysis - vampires are 100% immune to paralysis.

Feeding
To feed, approach a sleeping NPC and interact with them. The choice to feed then appears. Feeding reverts the vampire back to the first stage of vampirism. Feeding on a guard sleeping in a barrack nets a 40 bounty and immediately wakes them up. Sneaking decreases the chances of being caught while feeding. If the vampire is witnessed feeding on a victim, the witness sounds the guard.

Easy victims

 * Aelwin Merowald in Weye, just outside the Imperial City. His door is not locked.
 * Members of the Mages Guild can be fed upon. Since the mages sleep in close quarters, some can awaken and alert a guard.
 * Members of the Fighters Guild can be fed upon. As the porter follows the hero around, close all doors leading to the sleeping quarters before feeding.
 * In the Dark Brotherhood, you can feed on members without violating any of the tenets.

Curing vampirism
Aside from the Vampire Cure, initiated by Raminus Polus of the Arcane University, the only method for curing vampirism that does not involve the use of console commands is the Font of Renewal. Added through the DLC, Vile Lair, this magic fountain cures vampirism instantly upon activation. The Font is located in Deepscorn Hollow.

Once vampirism has been cured, it cannot be contracted again without the use of console commands.

Trivia

 * Fast traveling as a late-stage vampire is not recommended, since the game takes into account how much time was spent in the sun during the travel and deals the appropriate amount of damage upon loading. This can result in dying as soon as the player regains control. To avoid this, one can either fast travel short distances and wait indoors until night falls, then repeat, feed shortly before fast traveling, and then waiting until the desired stage of vampirism is attained again, or merely travel manually and avoid fast traveling at all.

Bugs

 * Game of the Year versions of for PS3 have no cure for vampirism. This only applies to North American copies of the game. During the quest, Melisande does not accept the Bloodgrass samples, causing the cure to be inaccessible.
 * European versions of the game can bypass this by switching the in-game language to German, then giving the Blood Grass to Melisande, saving the game, and switching to any other desired language.
 * Transforming into a vampire causes male faces to revert to the Old Man default skin. Females are reverted to the default male face. Curing vampirism may or may not resolve this.
 * Advancing to the next stage of vampirism may only be possible through sleeping and waiting.