Hi all,

I am finally about to finish the Dawnguard quest line (just have the final fight left) as a vampire hunter. I've been playing a stealthy archer assassin khajiit. Lots of firsts in this play-through (first evil character, first khajiit, first Dark brotherhood assassin) which was generally fun.

It occurred to me that a vampire/necromancer would be a good build to try next. I'd use the same profile (sneak, archery, no armor) but add conjuration as an essential skill and focus on bound weapons, raising dead etc. Here's the part with which I need advice:

* How do you contract the disease as early as possible without getting killed in a fight?

* How do you manage feeding so NPCs aren't automatically hostile?

* Have you managed to keep your vampirism a secret and live among the city/village folks (so you can access vendors and crafting facilities)?

* Aside from playing Dawnguard as a vampire, any must-do quests?

Thanks!

Vampirism is very bad in this game. Nevertheless:

1. Look for http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Broken_Fang_Cave Try to get a vampire to infect you. If you die, just try again.
2. http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Vampire%27s_Seduction/feed on a sleeping victim.
3. NPCs will only comment on your appearance. They will still trade with you, unlike in Oblivion.
4. None that I can think of.

Prior to Dawnguard, NPCs would turn hostile on you if you were a Stage 4 Vampire (hadn't fed in 3+ days). Post-Dawnguard, NPCs will only turn hostile on you if you've transformed into a Vampire Lord. If you're a Stage 4 in human/mer/beast form, they'll just make comments about you not looking well, but they'll still interact with you.

Move difficulty to novice and head to broken fang cave, or even haemar's shame to get infected easily and early. You can even use the sneak, journal, map, fast travel trick to bug out of helgen before going into the keep. Head to broken fang, acquire vampirism, head back into helgen, then the keep. You won't turn vamp until after you leave though. I fast travelled back and forth between helgen and the cave until I used up over four days of game time and still no luck. It's isn't until you leave helgen via the keep that you will turn.

Just remembered, I haven't done it myself, but the house in Windhelm looks absolutely perfect for a vamp. Very gothic, vincent price look going on. Looks like the home of a very old and powerful vamp. http://uesp.net/wiki/File:SR-place-Hjerim.jpg

First evil.... First vampire?

....sniff..... I'm so proud

I know, it seems like just yesterday when my goal was to help the helpless and defend the defenseless. What a quick slide to raising zombies and feeding on the sleeping...

If you contract vampirism from an ordinary vampire, you can't transform to the Vampire Lord form. You can head to Fort Dawnguard and get the quest to find Serana even at level 1, then have Harkon transform you.

As far as your build goes, if you want to use Necromancy, you need to focus the rest of your build and tactics on supporting it, or it will be too much of a nuisance to continue with. Note that vampires get necromantic abilities, so you don't really need Conjuration at all.