Becoming a vampire in The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is one of those choices that can flip your playthrough on its head. It’s not just about drinking blood and dodging the sun—it’s a whole new layer of gameplay, offering some serious buffs but also a fair share of drawbacks. Whether you’re trying to roleplay a mysterious night stalker or want powerful perks, learning how vampirism works in Oblivion Remastered is crucial to avoiding surprises and making the most of your undead lifestyle.
The remastered edition hasn’t overhauled vampirism drastically, but it does smooth things a little in terms of visuals and fixes some underlying quirks. The core mechanics are still here: you get infected, you turn, you feed or suffer, and if things get too intense, it’s possible to get cured. This guide breaks down all from catching the disease and becoming a vampire to managing your vampiric needs and recovering from vampirism when you no longer want to play as a bloodsucker fiend.
Oblivion Remastered Vampirism Explained
Vampirism in Oblivion Remastered starts with a disease called Porphyric Hemophilia. You’ll usually catch it from getting attacked by a vampire enemy, typically through melee attacks. Once infected, you’ve got 72 in-game hours to cure it using methods like potions, chapels, or a Cure Disease spell. If you let that timer run out and then take a nap (you have to sleep to trigger it), you’ll wake up from a disturbing dream, and now, you will be a vampire.
Vampirism in the game comes in four stages, and they’re all based on how long you go without feeding. The longer you go without blood, the more powerful your abilities get, but the nastier the downsides become especially your weakness to sunlight. At Stage 1, you look mostly normal and take only minor sun damage. At Stage 4, you’re a crispy walking torch the moment you step outside during day hours, but you also have access to very strong powers and stat boosts. Feeding resets you back to Stage 1, so if you want to keep vampiric effects within limit, you must feed regularly.
The cool part is that there are a lot of perks. Vampires get buffs to skills like Sneak, Illusion, Strength, and Willpower. Plus, you unlock a few unique powers like Hunter’s Sight (night vision and detect life), Vampiric Seduction (calm humanoid targets), and Embrace of Shadows (100% invisibility for 3 minutes). Considering the trade-off, sunlight starts to burn you. You take damage the longer you’re exposed, and many NPCs will refuse to talk to you if you’re at a higher stage. Fast traveling can also be dangerous if you’re not careful about where the sun is in the sky.
Here is a table of all vampirism bonuses, weaknesses, and abilities for every stage:
| Stage | Time Since Last Feed | Attribute Bonus(Strength, Willpower, Speed) | Skill Bonus(Acrobatics, Athletics, Destruction, Hand to Hand, Illusion, Mysticism, Sneak) | Weakness to Fire | Resist Normal Weapons | Sunlight Damage(HP per second) | New Ability Gained | Ability Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stage 1 | 0–24 hours | +5 | +5 | 20% | 5% | 0 | 🧿 Hunter’s Sight | Night Eye (30s), Detect Life 100ft (30s), Cost: 5 Magicka, Repeatable |
| Stage 2 | 24–48 hours | +10 | +10 | 30% | 10% | 1 | 😌 Vampire’s Seduction | Charm 50pts (20s) on Touch, once per day, Free |
| Stage 3 | 48–72 hours | +15 | +15 | 40% | 15% | 4 | 😱 Reign of Terror | Silence (20ft, 60s), Demoralize up to Lvl 6 (60s), once per day, Free |
| Stage 4 | 72+ hours | +20 | +20 | 50% | 20% | 8 | 🌑 Embrace of Shadows | Night Eye (90s) + Invisibility (180s), once per day, Free |
How to Become a Vampire in Oblivion Remastered
The most common method is finding a vampire lair—Barren Cave, Fort Carmala, and Memorial Cave are all reliable spots. Get into melee combat with any vampire and let them hit you a few times. If you contract Porphyric Hemophilia, you’ll see it in your Active Effects list. Keep in mind, you have three days or 72 hours to act. If you don’t cure it and decide to sleep after that, you’ll become one of the undead.
There’s also another way via the Dark Brotherhood questline. After you complete the few contracts and join the Brotherhood, Vicente Valtieri will eventually offer the “Dark Gift” to you with vampirism once you talk to him after completing the “Darkness Eternal” quest. Accept it, go to sleep, and he’ll bite you. That also triggers the transformation, but in a much more story-driven way. This option is great if you don’t want to risk random combat infections. For those who are into crafting, there’s a rare and somewhat gimmicky way to make a Porphyric Hemophilia potion using Alchemy at level 100.
There’s also a third path in your journey to turn into a vampire, and it’s through the Mehrunes’ Razor DLC (included in Remastered). During the quest, you’ll fight Msirae Faythung, a vampire champion. After defeating him, you can eat his Beating Heart, which will instantly infect you with Porphyric Hemophilia and Cannibal’s Prion. You’ll have to wait the usual required hours and sleep to complete the transformation. Further, if your Alchemy skill is 100, you can turn the heart into a Potion of Porphyric Hemophilia and drink that instead.
Regardless of how you get infected, the path to the nightlife always ends the same: sleep after three days and enjoy your creepy vampire dream. Don’t forget to stock up on Cure Disease potions in case you change your mind or mess up the timing.
How to Prevent and Cure Vampirism in Oblivion Remastered
If you’ve been infected with Porphyric Hemophilia, there are 72 in-game hours to fix the problem before things get irreversible. During that window, you can use a Cure Disease potion, a Cure Disease spell, or visit any Chapel altar and pray. Even chomping on ingredients such as Mandrake Root or Shepherd’s Pie will work for it. As long as you act fast and don’t rest after the three days, you’re safe.
Vampirism doesn’t notify when it hits you; you won’t get a pop-up or message for it. If you see “Porphyric Hemophilia” in the effects menu, that’s your cue to cure it immediately. Another sign is your Fatigue stat draining faster than usual which you see in the Character menu—a subtle hint that you are not in good health. If you fight vampires, always carry Cure Disease items if you are battling them to turn yourself into one of them.
Curing Vampirism
Moreover, curing vampirism is possible in Oblivion Remastered, but you’ll need to take on a specific Vampire Cure quest, and it involves some legwork. Head to the Arcane University and talk to Raminus Polus. He’ll send you to Count Hassildor in Skingrad, who’s deeply invested in this whole vampire business for his own reasons.
After some dialogue, you’ll be directed to Melisande, an alchemist in Drakelowe. She is the one who can brew the cure, but she’s going to send you on a fetch quest for some rare ingredients. After getting and giving all items to her, Melisande will tell you that she can brew a potion to recover from vampirism but she asks you to collect a few ingredients for it which includes six cloves of Garlic, two shoots of Bloodgrass, five leaves of Nightshade, the blood of Argonian and the ashes of a powerful vampire (provided through a quest stage).
Bring all that to Melisande, and then return to her again after 24 hours; she will brew and give you two “Cure for Vampirism” potions – one for you and the other you can go back to Castle Skingrad and hand over the potion to cure Rona Hassildor.
In the Vile Lair DLC, there’s also a shortcut. Inside Deepscorn Hollow, there’s a Font of Renewal that can instantly remove your vampirism, once. You only need to gather some Purgeblood Salts, drop them in the Font, and you’re free of the curse. It’s more convenient but only works once, so use it wisely.
Note: After being cured from “vampiric” state, you can’t be a vampire again in Oblivion Remastered even if you get Porphyric Hemophilia disease as it only acts as a normal ailment with no bloodsucker affects anymore and can be cured with normal potions.
How to Feed as a Vampire
Feeding in Oblivion is your lifeline as a vampire. It keeps your vampirism in check and prevents you from hitting the higher, more painful stages. The longer you go without feeding, the more powerful your abilities become—but so do the downsides, like lethal sun damage and people refusing to have a chat with you. So if you want to work your way in daylight and buy your alchemy gear in peace, feeding regularly is the only option to keep your vampire in check.
To feed, you need to find someone sleeping—anyone unconscious will do. Sneak up to them, get close, and you’ll get a prompt to feed. It’s silent, quick, and doesn’t count as a crime unless someone sees you. Best spots for feeding are guild halls, inns, chapels, and poor beggars in the Imperial City Waterfront. Make sure no guards are around and no one is seeing you when feeding as getting caught leads to a bounty, and it breaks immersion if you’re trying to be a classy vampire, not a sloppy one.
Also, keep in mind that feeding doesn’t heal you or give you a buff. Its only real purpose is to reset you back to Stage 1, where sunlight damage is manageable and NPCs will not mind having a good conversation with you. Some players like to be at Stage 2 or 3 for the extra power, but unless you’re a full-time night prowler, feed usually is only the smart play.
How to Manage Sun Damage
Sunlight is your biggest enemy in a vampiric form in Oblivion. The longer you remain without feeding, the worse it gets. At Stage 1, you’ll take just a little health damage during the day. Annoying, but manageable. But at Stage 4, stepping outside is kind of like walking into an oven. Your health will drop fast, making it almost impossible to travel or fight during the day.
The best way to deal with it is to feed regularly and stay at Stage 1 or 2. At these levels, sun damage is much less punishing, and the stat boosts will still be under your hood. You should further plan your schedule when the night arrives. Fast travel is risky during the day unless you’re sure you’ll arrive before sunrise, so keep an eye on the in-game clock. In case you must travel in daylight, then use caves, ruins, or dungeons as safe spots to wait out the sun.
Another good strategy is to remain underwater in the direct sun as it doesn’t hurt in the water. Moreover, stay in the Oblivion Planes where sunlight mechanics don’t work at all. Though being dedicated, pick a race like Dark Elf for the fire resistance, or stack magic gear and potions that give Resist Fire. Anything that reduces fire damage will cut into sunburn damage too, making it easier to survive to flirt with higher vampire stages.
How to Tell If You’re a Vampire
The main thing to watch for is your Active Effects menu. If you see stats like “Vampirism” or new powers such as Hunter’s Sight or Vampiric Seduction, it means you have become a vampire.
Before you fully transform, you’ll first get infected with Porphyric Hemophilia, which also shows up in your Character menu – that’s a warning sign. If you ignore it and sleep after 72 hours, you’ll get a weird dream where you’re “thirsty and your body aches.” That turns you into a full vampire. Your character will look a little more pale and sunken too—not very obvious unless you’re using a mod or console commands.
You’ll also start seeing some social effects. NPCs greet you normally at Stage 1, but at higher stages, they’ll hiss, refuse to talk, or run away from you. Basically, if people are scared of you and the sun gives damage, it’s safe to say you’re a vampire.
Vampire Locations in Oblivion
The game scatters vampire enemies across different caves and ruins, and they’re usually part of leveled encounters, meaning they show up more often as you level up. Barren Cave, just north of the Imperial City, is the most well-known vampire nest as you always find bloodsuckers there. Memorial Cave, Fort Carmala, Ninendava (Ayleid Ruin), Nornalhorst (Ayleid Ruin), and Fanacas (an Ayleid ruin) are also filled with vamps and are great spots to either catch the disease or farm vampiric loot.
Should You Become a Vampire in Oblivion Remastered?
It depends on your playstyle. Vampirism in Oblivion is powerful, but it also changes your lifestyle to a great extent. If you enjoy sneaking around, casting illusion spells, and playing a more tactical or nocturnal character, being a vampire will be a fun act for you. You’ll get buffs to Strength, Speed, Willpower, and Sneak, plus unique powers like Embrace of Shadows (a full invisibility spell you can’t get anywhere else). It’s awesome for Assassins, Thieves, and Stealth Mages.
But if you like to fast travel during the day, shop, talk to townsfolk, or run between cities with no care for time of day, vampirism can be a hassle. Sun damage is a real killer, especially at Stage 3 or 4, and having NPCs refuse to speak to you can break quests or simply be big frustrating. You’ll frequently need to sneak into homes at night to feed or plan your activities around the moon.
For many players, it’s exciting for a while, but not ideal long-term. That’s why it’s good that The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered gives you a cure option. You can try out being a vampire, play along with the vampiric powers, and then get rid of it later to normally progress through the game’s storyline. So, should you become a vampire? If you want a challenge, enjoy sneaky gameplay, and don’t mind some micromanagement, go for it. Though for a smooth adventure experience and to enjoy Oblivion’s content with minimal hassle, I would recommend passing on the bloodsucking gig.
