Hey!
Im playing Skyrim as a Vampire. Once I reaced stage 4 accidentally, and I realised i was not attacked by guards or anyone. I thought it was a bug, but since I read some topics, i know it is because of the Dawnguard DLC and this is absolutely normal. My question is: Why should I feed and drink blood if enemies wont attack me, only on Vampire Lord mode? My abilities are the strongest at Stage 4. This is awesome, because I can use the strongest version of my vampire abilities, but on the other hand, the game looses its true role playing feeling, the sense to know what does it cost to be a vampire.
So far, i did not found any disadvantage of the stage 4 vampire: you dont need to drink blood, improved resistance, improved abilites, etc. I think Stage 1 should have the strongest version of the vampire abilities, and then it would make some sense to feed on enemies. At the moment, I am an ultimate vampire who does NOT need to feed (the main trait of the vampires) to become strong, and still, noone cares about it.
Any explanation?

I think you're still taking more sunlight damage at the higher stages of vampirism, even with Dawnguard.

I have always said that this is backwards. I don't really understand it. You would think a vampire would be stronger when they feed. I'm planning on getting the PC version of Skyrim before too long and I hope that there is a mod that addresses this area of the game. I play as a vampire and don't like how Bethesda has set it up.

Your vampiric powers are strongest at stage 4 but you are weakest towards the sun and fire at stage 4.

Lets be honest, you earn more benefit from the bonuses than the disadvantages, especially when you r doing dungeons and moving at night. So far I only felt this weakness when i was fighting a dragon that dealt fire damage, but not a big thing. So in my opinion, vampires should be in the strongest phase at Stage 1, so you must feed.

If you get it for PC, make sure to get the BETTER VAMPIRES mod. It changes everything.

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/9717

To be fair, it's health, potions, magic resistance, spell absorption, low player level and/or low difficulty level that's making those dragon fights doable.

Prior to Dawnguard you did have to feed if you wanted to interact with non-hostile NPCs. It's a challenge at times, making sure you don't hit stage 4 at inopportune times. My current pre-Dawnguard vamp doesn't have that problem because she is always stage 4. But if you want to run quest lines and interact then you need to pay attention.