The Werewolf perk tree arrives with the Dawnguard add-on and finally gives lycanthropy some long-term growth. In the base game Beast Form is a fun, raw power that never improves; with Dawnguard you get eight perks (eleven perk points in total, since Bestial Strength has four ranks) that make your wolf hit harder, last longer and howl with more purpose. The tree can only be opened while you are actually transformed.
To use it you first need lycanthropy, and the only way to get it is through the Companions in Whiterun. During The Silver Hand you take part in the blood ritual with Aela the Huntress and wake up with the Beast Form power. If you later cure yourself or switch to vampirism, Aela will give you the beast blood back once in Dawnguard. Lycanthropy also makes you immune to disease, vampirism included.
How the Werewolf tree works
Earning perks by feeding
Werewolf perks have no skill level. Instead, you feed: walk up to a fresh corpse in Beast Form and activate it as if you were looting it, and your wolf tears out the heart. Every feeding counts toward the next perk point, and each point needs a few more feedings than the last. By default only humanoid corpses work, and undead such as vampires and death hounds can never be eaten. The Savage Feeding perk opens up most dead creatures, but animals only give half the time extension.
| Perk point | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feedings | 5 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 21 | 23 | 25 | 164 |
Transforming and time limits
Beast Form is a once-a-day power used from the Powers menu, at any hour and anywhere. The change takes a few seconds, and you are vulnerable while it happens. The form lasts 150 seconds; each humanoid you feed on adds 30 seconds and restores 50 health (animals add 15 seconds with Savage Feeding). Health does not regenerate on its own as a werewolf, so feeding is your only real healing. If you want out early, wait two or three in-game hours.
Howls and attacks
Your power button triggers a howl. The default Howl of Terror scatters weaker enemies, and after the Totems of Hircine quests you can swap it for the Totem of Brotherhood (summons allies) or Totem of the Hunt (detects targets) at the Underforge. A sprinting attack does three times normal damage and knocks targets down, which is brilliant against giants.
Limits
As a werewolf you are stuck in third person, cannot open the map, inventory or other menus, cannot loot or talk to most people, and you are big enough to get stuck in tight tunnels. Gear stops counting, and anyone who sees you transform adds a 1,000 gold bounty in that hold. You also lose rested bonuses while you carry lycanthropy.
Werewolf perks
The Werewolf tree has 8 perks with 11 ranks. There are no skill-level requirements – every perk point is earned by feeding, and a perk can be taken once the perk it branches from is unlocked.
| Perk | Ranks | Requires | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bestial Strength | 4 | – | Rank 1: Do 25% more damage as a werewolf. Rank 2: Do 50% more damage as a werewolf. Rank 3: Do 75% more damage as a werewolf. Rank 4: Do 100% more damage as a werewolf. |
| Animal Vigor | 1 | Bestial Strength | 100 point bonus to health and stamina in beast form. |
| Gorging | 1 | Animal Vigor | Feeding heals twice as much health. |
| Savage Feeding | 1 | Gorging | Able to feed off most dead creatures. Feeding off creatures instead of people only provides half the extended time. |
| Totem of Terror | 1 | Bestial Strength | Werewolf Howl of Terror affects even higher level creatures. |
| Totem of Ice Brothers | 1 | Bestial Strength | Werewolf Totem of Brotherhood howl calls Ice Wolves. |
| Totem of the Moon | 1 | Totem of Ice Brothers | Werewolf Totem of Brotherhood howl calls werewolves. |
| Totem of the Predator | 1 | Bestial Strength | Werewolf Totem of the Hunt howl has extended range, and shows whether the targets are not in combat, searching, or actively in combat. |
Perk guide
The whole tree hangs off Bestial Strength, so it is always your first point, and honestly your second, third and fourth too. Each rank adds 25% damage as a werewolf, ending at 100% more damage at rank 4. Because your claws scale with your level anyway, doubling that is the single biggest upgrade in the tree.
Next, head down the survival branch. Animal Vigor gives 100 extra health and stamina in beast form, which matters a lot because you cannot regenerate health without feeding. Gorging then doubles the health you get from each feeding, turning every corpse into a proper heal. Savage Feeding lets you feed off most dead creatures, not just people. It is the perk that speeds up the rest of the tree, since wolves, bears and other wildlife suddenly count, so many players rush it as early as the prerequisites allow. Remember that creatures only give half the time extension.
The three totem perks only matter if you use the matching howl, and Totem of Ice Brothers, Totem of the Moon and Totem of the Predator do nothing until the Totems of Hircine quests are done. Totem of Terror lets Howl of Terror affect higher level creatures, a decent pick since the default howl starts failing on tougher enemies. Totem of Ice Brothers makes Totem of Brotherhood call Ice Wolves, and Totem of the Moon upgrades that to werewolves, which are the strongest allies in the tree. Totem of the Predator widens Totem of the Hunt and shows each target’s combat state; nice for scouting, but the first to skip.
A solid order: Bestial Strength 1-4, Animal Vigor, Gorging, Savage Feeding, then Totem of Terror, Totem of Ice Brothers, Totem of the Moon and finally Totem of the Predator. With all eleven points you own the whole tree, so the order is about comfort on the way there. For extra damage outside the tree, the werewolf rings sold by the Frostmoon Pack on Solstheim in Dragonborn stack nicely with Bestial Strength.
How to earn perks fast
- Pick Savage Feeding as early as you can. Once animals count, every wolf pack and bear becomes a perk point source.
- Transform at bandit camps, forts and the Silver Hand hideouts: lots of humanoid corpses close together means a chain of feedings and an ever-longer transformation.
- Feed on every body during a fight, not only at the end. Each feeding adds 30 seconds, so a busy fight can keep you in Beast Form for a long time.
- Do the radiant Companions jobs Aela hands out after you become Harbinger; they send you to camps full of people to eat.
- Get the Ring of Hircine from Ill Met by Moonlight. Its extra transformation lets you change more than once a day, which means more feeding sessions.
- Transform somewhere no one can see you (outside a city or in your own house) so you can hunt without picking up the 1,000 gold transformation bounty.
Tips and notes
- To cure lycanthropy, bring a Glenmoril Witch head to the Flame of the Harbinger in Ysgramor’s Tomb and defeat your beast spirit. The heads come from the witches of Glenmoril Coven, killed during Purity of Revenge. They do not respawn, so keep spares.
- Becoming a Vampire Lord removes Beast Form, and Aela will make you a werewolf again (only once). Perks you unlocked stay in the tree if you switch back.
- Beast Form is great for escaping prisons such as Cidhna Mine, where your gear is taken away anyway.
- Buffs you cast before transforming, like Oakflesh, Muffle or a health regeneration potion, keep running in beast form, so prepare before you change.
- You cannot feed while swimming and cannot level up in beast form. Pull floating bodies out of the water first.
- While transformed, wolves treat you as an ally unless you attack them.
See also the Vampire Lord perk tree.
Perk tree and effects from Dawnguard.esm (AVIF AVHealRatePowerMod and PERK records), Skyrim LE 1.9.
