My Guide to the Vampire Cure (Oblivion) **SPOILERS**

[Viper]

Vampirism FAQ


How do I become a vampire?

The only way to become a vampire is to get bit by one. If you happen to be somewhere where you’re going to be fighting vampires, be on your guard. Also, if you want to become a vampire, you can do so within the Dark Brotherhood. Once you progress far enough, you will be asked if you want “The Dark Gift”. If you say yes, you will be bitten in your sleep and become a vampire.


How do I know if I have been bit?

You should see a dialog display at the top of your screen when you initially contract the disease. After sleeping, you will receive a message that you had a strange dream, and that you have found two pricks on your neck. Vampirism will also be in your list of active effects under the magic menu.


Is it possible to be cured of Vampirism?

Yes. If you catch it in the first three days of contracting Vampirism, you can simply take a heal disease potion or go to any chapel to be healed. If after three days you don’t catch it, the only solution is to complete a rather daunting quest. A full walkthrough can be found a little ways down this post.



What are the positives and negatives of being a vampire?

There are many advantages to being a vampire, but there are several disadvantages. For starters, when you become a vampire, you will get a decent stats boost. You will become very strong and very fast. You will also be resistant to many spells. On the contrary, you become weak to fire. In addition, there is the issue of feeding. For every night you do not feed, you get an additional stat boost, plus some new spells. However, for each night you do not feed, you become more and more weakened by the sun. After one day without feeding, your health will drain, though slow enough you can keep alive using your health regeneration spell long enough to find a bed. After two days though, do not bother trying to go outside. You will toast almost instantly. In addition, each night you do not feed, you become more and more grotesque looking. After two days, people will be frightened, and will not talk to you. If you feed at night, you will be allowed to go out in the sunlight without harm for the remainder of the day, and you are returned to a semi-normal appearance, but you loose your spells and stat boosts than you gained by not feeding. In the end, it’s a loaded issue. If you can live with the feeding, then the advantages can make being a vampire fun. Some embrace it, some loathe it. It’s your call. My best advice is to give it a shot for a few days before curing it, you may enjoy it.


So, I am a vampire, how do I feed?

Feeding is simple. Find any sleeping body, and you will be given the choice to wake them up to talk, or feed on them. Be sure no one else is watching, or they will panic.


I cannot find anyone to feed on. Where is a good place to start?

There are lots of places. I have found the beggars to be quite willing participants. No need to break in anywhere, and they are secluded, so no one will catch you. If you plan to remain a vampire, I suggest learning the spots where beggars sleep in every city.


Does feeding on an NPC turn them into a vampire?

No, which may be a good thing or a bad thing I guess. On one hand, it would be fun to turn an entire city into blood sucking vampires, but on the other, it would suck to have an entire city of blood sucking vampires ;).


I read your guide to find the cure, but it is to long. Isn’t there a quicker way?

Sadly, no… not unless you catch it fast enough to cure yourself in a chapel. Once you are fully turned, the quest is the only way. It’s a long quest, but with the aid of the guide, it’s not terrible.


Being a vampire sucks. Why in the world would Bethesda put this in the game?

Well, I cannot speak for Bethesda, but let’s be realistic. You may hate being a vampire, but some love it. I have had many people tell me the first thing they did is go get infected. I for one am glad it is here, and I hated being a vampire. The quest provided an interesting challenge for me. Just one more thing I can say I’ve done in the game.


I am trying to cure myself, and I can’t complete ________ step. Is this a bug?

Sadly, it seems there are many bugs in this quest. See the bottom of the guide; I have a section specifically on bugs. If you are experience a problem that is not listed, please email me with as many details as possible.


I emailed you, but you did not email me back. What gives?

Please, be patient. Since I initially published my guide, I have received hundreds of e-mails. At that, I have been getting them in several languages. Something tells me my guide has made it to many parts unknown. Please give me a day or two to respond. I know you are in a hurry to rid yourself, but so are hundreds of other people. I can only respond to so many emails per day.



Quest - A Cure for Vampirism


SPOILER NOTE: The following guide contains many spoilers. Some of you many want to simply read through the guide and finish the quest as quick as possible. Others may want to attemp the quest on there own, and refer to the guide only when necessary. For that reason, I have split the guide up into multiple sections. Highlight the text to read it.


Part I – Initiating the Quest: There are a number of ways to initiate this quest. You should be able to start it in any Chapel, or via the Dark Brotherhood. I went to Cheydinhal's Chapel of Arkay and talked to the first person I could find about a cure for vampirism. So it beings…

Part II – Gathering Information: You will be told that Raminus Polus has been doing some research on a cure, and that you should talk to him on any leads he may have. You can find him in the Arcane University located in Imperial City. He will tell you a bit about a cure, and refer you to Count Hassildor of Skingrad for more information. Talk to his Argonian servant, who will go retrieve the count for you. It takes a minute for her to get back, so be patient. Once you meet the count, he will explain to you that he and his wife were both bitten. While he has learned to life with it, she refused to feed, and went into a coma. He wants the cure for his wife, and therefore gives you what little information he has regarding a cure. He will tell you about witches long ago that could make the cure, and about one of them which may still be alive.

Part III – Grand Soul Gems: You can find the witch, Melisandra, along the Corbolo River, which is east of the Imperial City. Here is where the fun begins. Before she will help you, you have to help her. She requests you bring her five empty grand soul gems. Though the task may seem daunting, these are easy to find. Inside each Mages guild, there is a shop. Each shop should have one empty Grand Soul Gem for sell. Buy it, or if your good at thievery, pickpocket it. If for some reason these shops do not have Gems, here are a few more places they can be found, though they will be a bit trickier to get.

You can find one for sale in the Mystique shop in Imperial City. Three more can be found in the Arcane University. It requires picking a level 5 lock, so I hope your skilled at this. It is best to go at night where you won’t be seen. Go inside, and on the first floor there is a chest with three Gems inside. All are Grand gems, but I believe two of them are not empty. Take them all anyways, the full ones will fetch you a good amount of gold. For another gem, head to the Chorral Mage's Guild. Inside, there is a staircase, and display cases to the left and right. The one to the right looks tempting, three gems inside. None are grand though, save your picks. The one the left has one. It's another level 5 lock, so good luck to you.

Part IV – Gathering Ingredients: Go visit Melisande again now. She will take your gems, but you aren't done yet. She says she can probably make the cure, but you need a slew of ingredients. She asks you to find six Garlic Cloves, five Nightshade Leaves, 2 BloodGrass Shoots, The Blood of an Argonian, and the dust of the vampire Hindaril. Below you will find locations to all ingredients.

Garlic Cloves: These are somewhat difficult to find. Alchemy shops, Inns, and Mages Guilds have them, but it seems only a hanful of them carry Garlic, and not all of them restock. Just work your way from shop to shop until you have six. It will be time consuming, but you should be able to find it.

Nightshade: You should be able to take care of all five Nightshade in one go. Go to The Main Ingredient in Imperial City. He should have five. Incase he doesn’t, I was also able to find two at the Mystique Emporium in Imperial City, as well as in various Mage’s Guild shops.

BloodGrass: This is the easiest part of your quest. Both The Main Ingredient and the Mystique Emporium in Imperial City have four, so take your pick. If you want to find it in the wild, it is all over Oblivion, so find yourself a gate and you should be able to come across BloodGrass pretty quickly.

Blood of an Argonian: Melisande gives you a special dagger or this. You don't need to kill them, just give them a good stab and hide so the guards don't nab you. For those of you who don't know, an Argonian is the lizard looking people.

Hindaril's Vampire Dust: If you are at a decent level by now, this should be a breeze. At level 5, this was a cakewalk. Go to the location on your map. It is pretty straightforward navigating your way there. Once inside the cavern, you will have a few things to pick off before you get to your vampire. I ran into a few rats, a few skeletons, and two lesser vampires before I got to him. I made short work of them all. Hindaril was the easiest of them all though. He was sleeping, and I was able to kill him before he even got to his weapon. I made short work of him. If he manages to get to his weapon, he may be more difficult, so don’t bother with sneaking around, just run in and kill him.


Part V – The Cure: So, you now have everything. Take it all back to Melisandre. She will tell you she can prepare the cure, and to come back in 24 hours. This is it. Go enjoy your last night as a Vampire. Feast on everyone you can get your bloody hands on. Then go take a nap. The next day, pay your friend a visit again. The cure will be done. Feel free to drink it. You are now officially cured, but your quest isn't over. Remember the count? Head back to Skingrad and pay him a visit. You will be taken to the place where his wife rests. Melisandre will be there also. After a bit of dialogue, he gives her the cure, but it kills her. He requests you give him 24 hours to grieve. Go back into the Count's Mansion and just wait for 24 hours. Same as before, talk to The Count, it’s time for your reward. One thing to keep in mind, The Count will pay you more the higher his disposition is. If your good with the speech craft mini-game, then use that to max his disposition. Otherwise, bribe him, it’s worth it. Your reward will be 2500 gold. That’s it, your now officially finished, and can put this nasty quest behind you.


Known Bugs

BloodGrass Bug: Many people have been reporting a bug where Melisanda will not take BloodGrass. It seems it is linked to having completed the main story. Everyone whom I asked that was having the bug had completed the main storyline, and loading a save from before they finished solved the problem. There is a workaround for those of you on PC. Open up console and type “set ms40.bloodgrassvar to 2”. I do not have the game on PC so I cannot test this, but rumor has it this works.

Hindaril’s Cave: Some people have been E-Mailing me saying they cannot find Hindaril’s cave. Make sure a Cure for Vampirism is your active quest, and it should point you in the right direction. If not, the name of the cave is called Redwater Slough. Hopefully you can find it.

Melisandra in Hiding: After you gather your ingredients and give them to Melisandra, she tells you to come back in 24 hours. Some people are having the problem where they return, only to find her locked in her basement, which opens only with a key. I did not have this problem, but I have a solution that may work. Technically, you are trespassing inside her house, which pisses her off. Loiter a bit; eventually she should come out to attack you. Be prepared, she will summon all kinds of fun beasts for you. Ask her to yield, then talk care of the creatures. You should be good to go now.

Returning to the Count: Another bug I have had people report is that when going to visit The Count, after securing the cure, the Argonian will not take you to him. I do not know the cause of this. If you are on PC, there is a way around it, similar to the BloodGrass bug. Open up console and type "player.coc SkingradCastleChamberOfTheLost". This will bring you inside the Counts chamber. Talk to the count to get more information. Once you are finished, type "movetoqt" which will advance you to the next part of the quest (you need to do this to leave the counts chamber). The Cure quest must be your active quest for this to work.


By: Gil Schwartzman a.k.a. Viper87227
Viper87227@gmail.com

Hopefully that helps you guys out. Discuss on if you need help, find any errors above, or know other ways to get something done. If you need help with something, the fastest way to do that would be to respond here, or to email me.

Also, if you would like to post my guide on another forum, contact me first! I have come across to many instances of others posting this guide without proper credit. At the very least, I should get credit for the effort I put into this.

[Variation]

Nice writeup. I'm hoping I don't become Vampire though.

[BoneHead]

I'm looking forward to doing the game as a vampire, but not until I beat it normal first.

[jHawk]

Why wouldnt you want to stay a vampire?

[BoneHead]

j, I believe it's due to the fact that it makes certain portions of the game much more difficult.

[Viper]

Originally Posted by jHawk

Why wouldnt you want to stay a vampire?

It's not for me. I enjoyed it while working for the theives guild since I was typically working at night anyways, but past that, I just didnt like it. Having to find someone to feed on every night and watch my time closly just for a bit of a stats boost... nah.

[jHawk]

Can you come out at daybreak, or does that stay true to the legend?

[Variation]

Originally Posted by jHawk

Can you come out at daybreak, or does that stay true to the legend?

If you've fed in the past 24hrs, sun doesn't affect you, but if not, it can kill you.

[speed stick]

If I have that problem this is definitly the place that I will come to for information. I should be getting this game tommorow I hope. Just have to find time.

And I'm spamming your email~~~~~j/k. lol

[bmdubya]

im a vampire right now, im working on the cure. i found it easier to get the ones at the arcane university if you are allowed in there haha. and if you are part of the mages guild, you don't have to use any lockpicks. this is good cuz i suck at lock picking. but thanks viper for the write up, i doubt i could have done it with out you.

[Variation]

So you don't have to keep bumping the thread, it's on the front page for your viewing pleasure

http://www.xboxcircle.com/content/view/1183/55/

[Viper]

Nice... thanks Vari

[Viper]

Hah... who would have thunk. You post that guide, and in a few hours someone on [H]F has accused me of plagerism (I posted the guide over there a few days ago).

What an asshat. He needs to check the date to that newspost, the link at the bottem, or the heading that clearly says by Viper.

[Variation]

Originally Posted by Viper

Hah... who would have thunk. You post that guide, and in a few hours someone on [H]F has accused me of plagerism (I posted the guide over there a few days ago).

What an asshat. He needs to check the date to that newspost, the link at the bottem, or the heading that clearly says by Viper.

Added your full nick on there at the bottom.

[Viper]

Thanks...

Over at [H] some other jerkass is now telling me I plagerised prima because our guides are "similar". Sigh... who knew helping people out would be so fustrating.

I don't suppose any of you have the prima guide? I'd be curious to see what they say to see how close mine is.

[NiK2DeepDDC]

How do you know when you become a vampire? i had the vampire nightmare.. and i killed the vampires for the Grey Prince... and it said i contracted something.. hmmmmmm

[Viper]

Originally Posted by NiK2DeepDDC

How do you know when you become a vampire? i had the vampire nightmare.. and i killed the vampires for the Grey Prince... and it said i contracted something.. hmmmmmm

Yep... you got a bite. How long ago did you get it? If it hasnt been three days yet, go to a chapel and get yourself cured. After three days, you have to do the quest.

[Variation]

Originally Posted by Viper

Thanks...

Over at [H] some other jerkass is now telling me I plagerised prima because our guides are "similar". Sigh... who knew helping people out would be so fustrating.

I don't suppose any of you have the prima guide? I'd be curious to see what they say to see how close mine is.

Ofcourse it's going to be similiar, it's a quest that has to be done in a certain way and a certain amount of steps. You know you made it, so who cares what someone else thinks? :P

[Viper]

Originally Posted by Variation

Ofcourse it's going to be similiar, it's a quest that has to be done in a certain way and a certain amount of steps. You know you made it, so who cares what someone else thinks? :P

Meh. I shoudln't care, but I do. I spent 8 hours or so between that quest, and the guide. Getting bitched at for plagerism doensn't exactly make me feel like my efforts were worth it.

Still, alot of people appriciate it, and I am getting lots of emails of people who need help.

Sadly,it appears as though there is a glitch in the quest, but I cant reproduce it.

[NiK2DeepDDC]

well.. i waited more than three days... i think i might ride this vampire thing out for a while.. cause i love all the perks.. hate that no one wioll sell me shit.. but i'm a journeyman armorer already and an assassin so whatever.. i just need to get more lock picks... any suggestions?