The Dragonborn, regardless of their chosen race, can become a Werewolf in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Although not available in the very beginning of character creation, becoming one is possible when one joins the Companions located in Whiterun. After performing a few quests, the player can choose to partake in a Blood Oath and become a Werewolf like most of the Companion clan.
About Beast Form[ | ]
The Beast Form power can be used once a day unless you have the Ring of Hircine, and is used just like a shout. Once you become a werewolf, you can never gain rested bonuses from sleep unless you find a cure. As a Werewolf, sprinting is much faster, stamina is greatly increased, and attacks do much more damage. Your claws are your only weapon yet they are extremely useful (although in some kill animations, your mouth can be seen eating the enemy). Power attacks as a Werewolf are used to stun enemies and send them flying. Attacking while sprinting is one of the most powerful attacks in the game, as your werewolf slashes their claws at high speeds. Roaring or howling can also be used to scare certain enemies away in order to make defeating a larger group easier. In order to stall the inevitable transformation back into a human for roughly two minutes, the player can feed on the corpses of its victims in order to remain in Beast Form. This however can be a problem if fighting enemies whose corpses cannot be fed on.
The Ring of Hircine[ | ]
The ring of Hircine is a ring you can get in the quest "Ill Met by Moonlight" by siding with Sinding and will allow you unlimited transformations for Werewolf Form. In vanilla Skyrim, equipping the ring will instantly start the transformation, while with the Dawnguard DLC wearing the ring of Hircine will give you a power to transform unlimited amounts of time.
Alteration Spells[ | ]
The fleshspells in the magic tree of Alteration like Oakflesh can be used before entering Beast Form to get more armor as the armor effects carry over. The perk from the alteration tree that gives magic resistance and magic absorbance is also kept while entering Beast Form.
Werewolf Totems[ | ]
The Totems of Hircine are totems that can change the different powers that are initiated by the shout button in Beast Form. These can be found by doing radiant companions quests for Aela the Huntress and eventually a quest will be given to you by Aela to retrieve a Totem of Hircine from a radiant location. Upon retrieving it and giving it to Aela she will take it from you and place it in the Underforge where you can activate to change your Beast Form powers. There are a total of three Totems of Hircine.
Cautions When Using Beast Form[ | ]
Before you begin your next Beast Form rampage, you might want to consider some of these warnings:
- You can't pick locked doors.
- Looting dead bodies is disabled.
- You can't access your map, your inventory, or use items.
- In some cases, you may get stuck in small rooms or hallways due to your size.
- Be sure you're fighting enemies that can be fed on for Beast Form extension, and not enemies like ghosts, Falmer, etc.
- If any non-hostile player see you transform (like guards, town people, shop owners, etc) then you will get an automatic 1000 gold bounty.
- If you get a bounty as a werewolf the bounty won't carry over when you transform back into a human.
Dawnguard DLC Werewolves[ | ]
Upon downloading the DLC, Werewolves will gain a perk tree to increase their power with 11 perks in total. Four of these perks require the Totems of Hircine to function though if none are obtained or changed the perk Totem of Terror will still function as you use the howl as a special attack.
Perks | Requirements | Description |
---|---|---|
Bestial Strength | None | Increases the amount of damage a werewolf's attack will inflict by 25% |
None | Increases the amount of damage a werewolf's attack will inflict by 50% | |
None | Increases the amount of damage a werewolf's attack will inflict by 75% | |
None | Increases the amount of damage a werewolf's attack will inflict by 100% | |
Animal Vigor | Bestial Strength | Gives 100 extra points to both Stamina and Health while in Beast Form |
Totem of Terror | Bestial Strength | Increases the strength of the howl performed by werewolves |
Totem of the Predator | Bestial Strength | Increases the range of the Life Detect totem power |
Totem of Ice Brothers | Bestial Strength | Summons two spectral ice wolves instead of two wolves when using the Totem of Brotherhood |
Totem of the Moon | Totem of Ice Brothers | Summons two spectral werewolves instead of the two ice wolves from the previous perk using the Totem of Brotherhood |
Gorging | Animal Vigor | Feeding will recover double the amount of health |
Savage Feeding | Gorging | Allows feeding on creatures as well as humans but not undead |