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Elder Scrolls
Main article: Lycanthropes

"I'm telling you, I heard it! Howling! Those werewolf tales are true!"
―Hold Guards[src]

Werewolves are the most commonly known type of lycanthrope found in Tamriel, where they can be found in every province. Werewolves are individuals who assume wolf-like characteristics during the full moon (or in rare cases, at will).

While first appearing in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, werewolves are featured more prominently in The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon. The Daedric Prince Hircine keeps werewolves as his wards and servants. In Bloodmoon, when infected with Lycanthropy, the player will get strange dreams and be tasked with quests by Hircine. One can also try and find a cure for the condition. Should the player complete the tasks for Hircine, the Daedric prince will enhance the player's powers, such as by giving them sharper and stronger claws.

Werewolves also appear in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The Dragonborn may become one by completing The Companions quests and attending a ritual which involves drinking the blood of Aela the Huntress (when she is in werewolf form). From this point onwards, those carrying the gift (or curse, depending on whom one is talking to), will be able to change into a Werewolf once a day, which causes people nearby to retreat and yield or attack. The player will also get a bounty if the transformation is witnessed by a citizen.

Members of the Dark Brotherhood or Thieves Guild/Nightingales will not attack the Dragonborn in either humanoid or werewolf form (after joining). Also, if the player has officialy joined the ranks of the Stormcloaks or Imperials, soldiers of the player's side protect the player when in werewolf form.

Abilities

Werewolf-Mode affecting skills, perks, spells and abilities:

  1. Racial Abilities: Any of the various "Racial skills" do not affect the Werewolf, because Werewolf-mode changes the race. But spells or active abilities such as an Orc's "Berserk Rage" can be cast before transformation, saving the effect.
  2. "Skin" Spells: Werewolves are considered unarmored, therefore "skin" spells cast remain effective (such as Dragonhide), but cannot be recast while in Beast Form.
  3. One-Handed tree: There is a misconception that a werewolf's claws are considered one-handed weapons. However, such isn't normally the case. There is a bug in which a character's sword glitches into one's hand or forms inside it after transforming, which will cause attacks with that hand to carry any effects of that weapon, and increase One-handed experience.
    1. Tested on PC with Daedric Sword of Vampirism, Dawnbreaker and Silver Sword of Fiery Souls.
    2. In the Xbox 360 version, this can happen with most one-handed weapons.
    3. On PS3, enchanted glass weapons used in the right hand will almost always appear in the werewolf body's hand.
  4. Alteration: Perk abilities like "Atronach" still affect werewolves.
  5. Carry Weight: The base carry weight gained from Beast Form is 1,900 regardless of level, race, or sex. To find the maximum carry weight in Beast Form, add 1,900 to the max carry weight in normal form. this is a useful aspect to exploit as even if you are encumbered, transforming into werewolf form makes the encumberment effect inactive and so you can carry a huge amount of loot without being slowed by the effect. This can be exploited even more if you have the ring of Hircine, meaning that you can travel back to towns around Skyrim a lot faster and deposit the loot in your house (if you own one).
  6. Sleeping: As long as one has the "Blood of the Wolf" in effect, there are no resting bonuses.
  7. Disease resistance: All lycanthropes, in werewolf form or not, have 100% resistance to all diseases. In Skyrim, this is only true for Sanguinare Vampiris, while other diseases may (rarely) still be caught.
  8. Other abilities: All effects that are gained through quests and other methods but are not "racial", like spell resistance, still affect werewolves.
  9. Vampires: A vampire cannot drink the blood of a sleeping werewolf.

A Werewolf is very tall and fast, easily capable of ripping apart flesh and armor. They have very few weaknesses, besides Silver. Werewolves have the following abilities:

Bloodmoon

Werewolf Attack

A Werewolf attack in Skyrim

  • Enhanced Sneak: Sneak is increased to 95 as a werewolf.
  • Enhanced Acrobatics: Acrobatics is increased dramatically and enables jumps further and higher than normal.
  • Claws: The claws of a werewolf can tear through anything but Daedric Armor. Hircine may enhance this ability if his requests are completed.
  • Durability: Werewolves are very tough, and have a resistance to normal human weapons. However, they are highly vulnerable to Silver and Daedric weapons.
  • Super-Speed: A Werewolf is incredibly fast and agile, especially when running on all fours.
  • Super-Strength: A lycanthrope has strength beyond that of a regular human.
  • Bite: A bite from a werewolf is infectious and will turn any creature into a were-creature (wolf, boar etc.). Undead are immune to it, but will spread it.
  • Eye of the Wolf: Like Vampires, Werewolves can see in the dark. They use this ability to hunt at night and observe their surroundings better. Eye of the Wolf also gives Detect Human within 200ft.
  • Spirit of the Wolf: Health replenishes slowly over time.
  • Health is regained by feeding rather than by regeneration, unless not in a fight, in which case the werewolf's health will regenerate significantly faster than of most living beings in the world (Bloodmoon).

Weaknesses

File:SKYRIM WEREWOLF.jpg

Werewolf

  • Bloodlust (Bloodmoon): Werewolves have an insatiable blood-lust that drives them to kill.
  • No bonus is gained from sleeping (Skyrim).
  • Transformed werewolves cannot equip apparel, including armor. 
  • When in werewolf form, the player cannot pick locks or collect items/loot from corpses.
  • When transformed, they may be unable to fit through narrow dungeon doorways. Walking through such doorways backwards may fix this.
  • More vulnerable to Silver weapons.
  • People other than followers will attack a werewolf on sight.
    • If someone sees the player transforming, they will recognize them as a werewolf even in human form, and may treat them like an outsider or attack on sight.
    • If the player is seen transforming, they will get a 1000 gold bounty and most NPCs will attack them. (Skyrim)

Transformation

File:Werewolf First person.jpg

First person view

File:Werewolf Third person..jpg

Third person view - Morrowind

The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind

In Morrowind, there are two ways of becoming infected with Lycanthropy:

  • Play the main quest for Bloodmoon up to Siege of Skaal Village. (If the Sixth house's base quest has been completed, one can't get the disease any other way.)
  • Find "wanderers". These people are already infected, and may pass the disease to the player. However, these werewolves have reached their ultimate strength and are very powerful. One can identify a wanderer by finding a naked man or woman who tells the player to go away. There are only nine of them though, so finding them is difficult.

The character will lose large amounts of health if they do not kill an NPC during the night. Solstheim is indeed a good place for this due to NPC bandits that spawn there, but Morrowind is also a good place for finding victims.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

In Skyrim, the only way to become a Werewolf is to complete the quest line for the Companions of Jorrvaskr in Whiterun, up until the quest "The Silver Hand". Within the Companions exists the Circle, an inner sub-faction. After some time, Skjor will lead the Dragonborn to the Underforge. There he will offer the opportunity to drink the blood of Aela the Huntress when she is in Werewolf form, and become a Werewolf.

Note: With the addition of Dawnguard, characters who already have the Vampire Lord power will lose it at this point, and it will be replaced with Beast Form.

Beast Form lasts approximately two and a half minutes, with only one use per day. Unlike in Morrowind, one doesn't change into a Werewolf at a set time, as it is a power. To be able to stay in Werewolf mode for a prolonged period of time, one must "Feed" off fallen human NPCs, which adds 30 seconds to the current time per feeding. Once returned to human form, all items will have been unequipped and the player will have to wait twenty-four hours to be able to use Beast Form again.

If the Dragonborn has obtained the Ring of Hircine, equipping it will allow the use of a separate power, "Ring of Hircine", which is identical to Beast Form and offers all the same benefits. The only difference is that it is not limited to once-a-day use, it is made available any time the Dragonborn equips the ring.

Followers will not react to the Dragonborn's transformation. Due to the restrictions placed on werewolves interacting with objects and NPCs, one will not be able to interact with a follower while transformed (on Xbox 360, one can bypass this by using Kinect commands). A follower will become hostile if hit while the character is in Beast form, even if they are a companion.

File:Werewolf..jpg

A werewolf howling.

Eorlund Gray-Mane will defend the Dragonborn if they transform publicly in Whiterun.

Wild wolves become non-hostile when one is in Beast Form, but wild werewolves, added on by Dawnguard, will still attack.

The Dragonborn can be killed while transforming, if facing a powerful enough foe.

Werewolf Powers

The following chart lists all available Werewolf Powers.
Name Description Notes and restrictions
Beast Form Transform into Werewolf form once a day. Part of Companions Quest: The Silver Hand.
Ring of Hircine Grants extra transformations for werewolves The Ring of Hircine only works if already a Werewolf. (To use, equip the ring, go into powers menu, select Ring of Hircine, and use powers key (default 'Z' on PC). Reward for Daedric Quest: Ill Met by Moonlight
Howl of Terror Fear nearby enemies goes up to Lvl 25, 30s Beast Form only; default Howl. (Totem of Fear)
Scent of Blood Detect Life in a large radius, 60s Beast Form only; replaces Howl of Terror; available after Companions Radiant Quest: Totems of Hircine. (Totem of the Hunt)
Howl of the Pack Summon two wolf spirits to fight at one's side Beast Form only; replaces Howl of Terror; available after Companions Radiant Quest: Totems of Hircine. (Totem of Brotherhood)


Skill tree

Werewolf

The Werewolf skill tree includes eight perks [2][5]. (Dawnguard expansion only)

Werewolfskilltreedawnguard

Perk Level Description Requirements
Bestial Strength 1 Do 25% more damage as a werewolf.
2 Do 50% more damage as a werewolf
3 Do 75% more damage as a werewolf
4 Do 100% more damage as a werewolf
Totem of Ice Brothers Summon 2 ally Ice Wolves. Bestial Strength
Totem of the Predator Totem of the Hunt howl has extended range, and shows whether targets are not in combat, searching, or actively in combat. Bestial Strength
Totem of Terror Werewolf Howl of Terror affects even higher level creatures. Bestial Strength
Totem of the Moon Summon 2 ally werewolves with a howl. Totem of Ice Brothers
Animal Vigor 100 point bonus to health and stamina in beast form. Bestial Strength
Gorging Feeding heals twice as much health. Animal Vigor
Savage Feeding Able to feed off most dead creatures (not undead, deadra, or automatons). Feeding off creatures instead of people only provides half the extended time. Gorging

Known Werewolves

Enemy Werewolves

Gallery

Werewolves Kept Secret in Skyrim

Before Skyrim released on 11-11-11, Bethesda attempted to keep the inclusion of Werewolves in Skyrim a secret. Spokespeople from the company answered questions on the subject with "no comment" or made statements implying that Werewolves were being considered, but probably wouldn't make it in the final game. A few weeks before Skyrim launched, Bethesda stated that werewolves would not be included in the game, but may appear in upcoming expansion packs. The secret was killed after video game critics, giving previews of the game, let it slip.

Skyrim Bugs

This section contains bugs related to Werewolf. Before adding a bug to this list, consider the following:

  1. Please reload an old save to confirm if the bug is still happening.
  2. If the bug is still occurring, please post the bug report with the appropriate system template  360  /  XB1  ,  PS3  /  PS4  ,  PC  /  MAC  ,  NX  /  PS5  ,  XS  , depending on which platform(s) the bug has been encountered on.
  3. Be descriptive when listing the bug and fixes, but avoid having conversations in the description and/or using first-person anecdotes: such discussions belong on the appropriate forum board.

Appearances

Sources

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