The Vampire Lord perk tree is part of the Dawnguard add-on and belongs to its winged, gargoyle-summoning transformation. It holds eleven perks split into three columns: Night Powers on the left, Blood Magic on the right and passive bonuses in the middle. Like the werewolf tree it has no skill level; perks come from feeding on enemies while transformed.
You get the form in the Dawnguard main quest. In Bloodline, Harkon offers to make you a Vampire Lord, and accepting means joining the Volkihar Clan. Refusing does not lock you out: Serana can turn you during Chasing Echoes, and again after Kindred Judgment, even if you sided with the Dawnguard. Taking the gift replaces lycanthropy if you have it, and you are also a regular vampire when in human form.
How the Vampire Lord tree works
Earning perks
Perks come from consuming life blood in Vampire Lord form. Two things count: killing an enemy with the Drain Life spell, or killing with the power attack bite in melee mode. Each perk needs a few more kills than the last, and the whole tree takes 156 feedings. Kills by your Night Cloak bats do not count, so it is worth being careful with that perk.
| Perk | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feedings | 5 | 6 | 9 | 10 | 12 | 14 | 16 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 24 | 156 |
Two combat modes
In Blood Magic mode you hover and cast. Drain Life is always in your right hand: an area projectile that absorbs health. The left hand holds Raise Dead (it reanimates almost anything for 120 seconds) or the spells you unlock. In melee mode you walk and fight with your claws, and only here can you pull off the bite, a power attack on a weakened humanoid that does not trigger every time.
Night Powers
Night Powers work like shouts with a cooldown and cost magicka. Bats (a short flight as a swarm) and Vampire Sight are available from the start, and the left-hand column adds Detect All Creatures, Mist Form and Supernatural Reflexes.
Transforming and limits
Unlike werewolves, you can change in and out as often as you like and there is no time limit. You grow wings, sprint quickly, hover over water and can carry more. Ordinary gear stops counting while transformed, apart from some rings and amulets from Feran Sadri’s side quests. The vampire stages still apply: fire weakness and frost resistance grow from 20% at stage one to 50% at stage four, and sunlight still stunts and blocks your regeneration. Being seen changing (or changing back) adds a 1,000 gold bounty, and at stage four people turn hostile when you are in Lord form.
Vampire Lord perks
The Vampire Lord tree has 11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Power of the Grave | 1 | – | 50 point bonus to health, magicka and stamina as Vampire Lord. |
| Vampiric Grip | 1 | Power of the Grave | Blood Magic: Can pull a creature to you from a distance, and do choking damage once it's close. |
| Summon Gargoyle | 1 | Vampiric Grip | Blood Magic: Can conjure a gargoyle to fight for you. |
| Corpse Curse | 1 | Summon Gargoyle | Blood Magic: Target is paralyzed. |
| Unearthly Will | 1 | Power of the Grave | Night Powers and Blood Magic cost 33% less. |
| Poison Talons | 1 | Blood Healing or Unearthly Will | Melee attacks do 20 points of poison damage. |
| Night Cloak | 1 | Poison Talons | In combat you are surrounded by a cloud of bats that feed on enemies within melee range. |
| Blood Healing | 1 | Power of the Grave | Killing a person with a power attack bite restores all your health. |
| Detect All Creatures | 1 | Power of the Grave | Night Power: Detect all creatures, even dwarven automatons. |
| Mist Form | 1 | Detect All Creatures | Night Power: Transform into an invulnerable mist, while health, magicka and stamina regenerate. |
| Supernatural Reflexes | 1 | Mist Form | Night Power: Everything slows down while you move faster. |
Perk guide
Power of the Grave is the root and the only way in: 50 extra health, magicka and stamina as a Vampire Lord. Then the tree branches four ways, and since all eleven perks are eventually yours, the order is about what helps you earn the rest.
Many players go to Unearthly Will early. Night Powers and Blood Magic cost 33% less, which means more Drain Life casts, and Drain Life kills are what fill the tree. Vampiric Grip is also a fun early pick: pull enemies to you, choke them and fling them away. It leads to Summon Gargoyle, a sturdy ally that soaks hits while you drain, and then Corpse Curse, a paralysis spell.
In the middle column, Blood Healing restores all your health when you kill a person with a power attack bite. Fantastic if you play melee. Poison Talons adds 20 poison damage to melee attacks and needs either Blood Healing or Unearthly Will, so you can reach it from whichever side you took first. It leads to Night Cloak, a cloud of bats that absorbs health from enemies in melee range. Because cloak kills do not count toward perks, many players leave Night Cloak for the very end.
The left column is utility. Detect All Creatures finds everything nearby, dwarven automatons included. Mist Form makes you invulnerable for a short time while your stats regenerate, which is a great emergency button. Supernatural Reflexes slows the world down while you keep moving faster.
A comfortable order for a caster: Power of the Grave, Unearthly Will, Vampiric Grip, Summon Gargoyle, Detect All Creatures, Mist Form, Blood Healing, Poison Talons, Corpse Curse, Supernatural Reflexes and finally Night Cloak. Melee fans can swap in Blood Healing and Poison Talons earlier.
How to earn perks fast
- Finish enemies with Drain Life rather than claws or followers: a kill only counts if Drain Life or the bite lands the final blow.
- Let your gargoyle or Raise Dead minions soften up a crowd, then switch to Drain Life for the killing blows.
- In melee mode, power attack humanoids when they are low on health to trigger the bite; with Blood Healing it also refills your health.
- Take Unearthly Will early so you can cast Drain Life more often in big fights.
- Skip Night Cloak until the end, since bat kills are wasted feedings.
- Clear bandit camps, forts and dungeons full of humanoids in Lord form; the more enemies per fight, the faster the counter fills.
- Sigdis Gauldurson’s respawning copies in his boss fight are a known farm spot: kill the copies with Drain Life and leave Sigdis for last. Some players see it as a cheesy trick.
Tips and notes
- To cure vampirism, see Falion in Morthal (the quest Rising at Dawn). He needs a filled Black Soul Gem and performs the ritual at a stone circle. Your Vampire Lord perks stay unlocked.
- Lycanthropy also cures vampirism: Aela can turn you into a werewolf, and Serana can make you a Vampire Lord again later.
- Feed often in human form. Every stage of hunger makes fire hurt more and sunlight harder to bear, and stage four makes everyone hostile to you in Lord form.
- Summon Gargoyle conjures a gargoyle for 120 seconds, working much like a Conjuration atronach.
- Speaking to Castle Volkihar residents in Lord form earns some snarky comments; most of them would rather you changed back.
- Unlocking all eleven perks earns an achievement.
See also the Werewolf perk tree.
Perk tree and effects from Dawnguard.esm (AVIF AVMagickaRateMod and PERK records), Skyrim LE 1.9.
