Oblivion Remastered: How to become a Vampire

Being a Vampire comes with some serious benefits, if you can stand the sunlight

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Bethesda

Want to know how to become a Vampire in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered? There are some very strong advantages to becoming a Vampire in Oblivion, particularly early on in your playthrough. Prime among them is a dramatic increase in several important skills and attributes, making many encounters much easier than they would otherwise. Plus, you’re a Vampire. And that’s just cool.

Vampirism in Oblivion takes hold of you via the Porphyric Hemophilia disease , which - if left untreated for 3 days - will turn you into a full Vampire. But even after that point, you’ll have to pay attention to your Vampirism Level , which fluctuates based on how long it’s been since you last drank a humanoid’s blood. The higher your Vampirism Level, the more powerful your abilities and bonuses - but also the weaker you are to sunlight and fire damage.

If all this sounds up your alley, then you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll walk you through every method of becoming a Vampire in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, from random Vampire encounters to the two specific questlines which can culminate in you contracting the all-important Vampirism disease.

In this guide:

• How to become a Vampire in Oblivion
• Option 1: Random encounters with Vampires
• Option 2: “Darkness Eternal” quest
• Option 3: “Unearthing Mehrunes Razor” quest
• Advantages of Vampirism
• Disadvantages of Vampirism

Note: If you’re already a Vampire and you’re looking to rid yourself of this affliction, have a read of our sister guide on how to cure Vampirism in Oblivion . Be aware though that once it’s cured, you can never again be a Vampire! So make sure it’s what you want!

How to become a Vampire in Oblivion

To become a Vampire in Oblivion, you need to contract the Porphyric Hemophilia disease, and let it take hold for 72 hours without attempting to cure it. After this time has passed, if you sleep anywhere then when you wake up you will be a Vampire.

You’ll start to feel the effects of Vampirism immediately - both the advantages and the disadvantages. The longer you spend without feeding, the more “vampiric” you get, which gives you stronger bonuses but also increases the disadvantages in other ways.

There are only three ways to contract the Porphyric Hemophilia disease and become a Vampire in Oblivion:

• Randomly contract Porphyric Hemophilia during fights with Vampires.
• Complete the Dark Brotherhood contract quest, “Darkness Eternal”.
• Eat the Beating Heart during the quest, “Unearthing Mehrunes Razor”.

After you’ve contracted Porphyric Hemophilia, make sure you do not eat an ingredient, drink a potion, or cast a spell with the Cure Disease effect , because this will remove the disease. All you need to do is wait 72 hours and then sleep, and you’ll become a fledgling Vampire.

Option 1: Random encounters with Vampires

Whenever you fight a Vampire in Oblivion, each time the Vampire hits you with a melee attack, there is a chance of you contracting Porphyric Hemophilia. This chance is not affected by Resist Disease, and it happens whether the Vampire attacks you with a weapon or with their hands. After the fight, you can check the Active Effects screen to see if you’ve contracted Porphyric Hemophilia or not.

Tip: If your aim is to become a Vampire, it’s a good idea to quicksave before a Vampire fight so that you can reload if you happened to end the fight before contracting the Vampirism disease.

Here’s the full list of all caves, forts, and dungeons where you can find hostile Vampires to fight:

Option 2: “Darkness Eternal” quest

A more reliable method of becoming a Vampire is to join the Dark Brotherhood, and complete all the other contract quests that Vicente Valtieri (also a Vampire) gives you:

• A Knife In The Dark
• A Watery Grave
• Accidents Happen
• Scheduled For Execution
• The Assassinated Man

After all these quests are completed, you’ll gain another quest called " Darkness Eternal “. You can then speak to Valtieri again and ask him about the “Dark Gift”. He’ll agree to visit you when you next sleep, and bite you to pass on the Porphyric Hemophilia disease. After the conversation, sleep in any bed and afterwards your quest status will update with the following journal entry:

“Upon awakening, I discovered two bleeding pinpricks on my neck. It would appear Vicente Valtieri did indeed visit me last night, and passed along his Dark Gift! If what Valtieri told me is true, my vampirism will begin to manifest itself in three days, after I sleep once more.”

Ta da! You are now a Vampire. Or you will be, in 72 hours’ time. Of course, this does involve completing quite a few Dark Brotherhood quests first, so it’s not the fastest way to become a Vampire, but it’s one of the only reliable methods of doing so.

Option 3: “Unearthing Mehrunes Razor” quest

The only other way to become a Vampire in Oblivion is to make your way through the Daedric quest, " Unearthing Mehrunes Razor “, and at the appropriate point, eat the Beating Heart of Mehrunes Dagon’s champion, Msirae Faythung.

“Unearthing Mehrunes Razor” was once a DLC quest in the original Oblivion, but in the remake it’s a part of the base game which becomes available after completing the game’s tutorial. The quest marker leads you in the direction of a fort called Sundercliff Watch on the far eastern edge of the map, near Lake Canulus.

Sundercliff Watch incidentally is the largest and arguably most challenging dungeon in Oblivion, so make sure you’re prepared. Inside the fort you’ll find a door with a journal nearby that gives you the password needed to enter the main dungeon. Beyond that, in this vast underground area, you must seek out and defeat two powerful hostile NPCs: the Drothmeri Commander in Sundercliff Commune, and the Forgemaster in Sundercliff Forge. Both NPCs carry an Enchanted Bezoar which you must collect and place on the two pedestals in Sundercliff Village. This allows you access to the hidden Ayleid Ruin, Varsa Baalim .

Once you reach the Cava Marspanga door, go through it and make your way to the final area: The Nefarivigum . Head to the room at the bottom of the stairs and you’ll find Drothan (whose notes you read earlier) in front of a casket containing Mehrunes Dagon’s champion, Msirae Faythung. Deal with Drothan, and you can then interact with the champion and take the Beating Heart from his inventory.

You can now eat the Beating Heart , which will immediately infect you with both Porphyric Hemophilia and Cannibal’s Prion . Make sure you wait 72 hours for the Vampirism to take hold before you attempt to cure yourself of the Cannibal’s Prion disease. Alternatively, if you have an Alchemy Level of 100, then you can create a Potion of Porphyric Hemophilia from the Beating Heart. Consuming this Potion will only give you Porphyric Hemophilia, not Cannibal’s Prion.

Congratulations! You are now a Vampire! Also, behind the gate next to the champion is Mehrunes Razor , one of the most powerful weapons in the game. With the Beating Heart consumed you’ll have enough strength to raise the gate. Just prepare for a fight, as Faythung will attack you the moment you interact with the gate. Another good thing about eating his Heart is that it will also weaken Faythung, gradually depleting his health to make the fight easier.

Advantages of Vampirism

Going the vampiric route means you’ll be quite the beast in combat - but get ready to start loathing the sunlight. |Image credit:Bethesda

There are plenty of benefits to being a Vampire in Oblivion Remastered. Some of them affect you no matter what your Vampirism level, but others will require you to be at a higher Vampirism level to obtain them. You control your Vampirism level by feeding on humanoid enemies or NPCs: once you feed, you return to 25% Vampirism level, but that number increases the longer you go without feeding:

• 0 hours since feeding: 25% Vampirism Level
• 24 hours since feeding: 50% Vampirism Level
• 48 hours since feeding: 75% Vampirism Level
• 72 hours since feeding: 100% Vampirism Level

Here’s the full list of all the benefits of Vampirism in Oblivion:

• +100% Disease Resistance
• +100% Paralysis Resistance
• +5/10/15/20 Bonus to Strength, Willpower, and Speed Attributes
• +5/10/15/20 Bonus to Acrobatics, Athletics, Destruction, Hand To Hand, Illusion, Mysticism, and Sneak Skills
• Hunter’s Sight ability (at 25% Vampirism Level)
• Vampire’s Seduction ability (at 50% Vampirism Level)
• Reign Of Terror ability (at 75% Vampirism Level)
• Embrace Of Shadows ability (at 100% Vampirism Level)
• Ability to complete Vampiric-specific quests such as “Vampire Cure”

Hunter’s Sight ability

Hunter’s Sight is the most basic Vampire ability available to you. It costs 5 Magicka and can be used repeatedly, unlike the other Vampire abilities. Hunter’s Sight gives you Night Eye for 30 seconds to see in the dark; and you can also Detect Life at a range of 100 feet for 30 seconds to help you track down potential prey.

Vampire’s Seduction ability

Vampire’s Seduction is accessible at a Vampirism Level of 50% or greater. It costs no Magicka but can only be used once per day. This is an ability that requires a touch on a target to activate; doing so will Charm the target for 20 seconds, increasing their Disposition towards you by 50 points for that time.

Reign Of Terror ability

Reign Of Terror is useable at 75% Vampirism Level or higher. Once a day, you can cast it by touch on a target to Demoralise them for 60 seconds, decreasing the combat confidence of any enemy up to Level 6 and increasing their chance of running from combat. The ability also casts Silence in a 20 foot area around you for 60 seconds, preventing spellcasters from using spells.

Embrace Of Shadows ability

The final Vampire ability is Embrace Of Shadows, which you can only use at 100% Vampirism Level. Once a day, you can cast it to give yourself Night Eye (see in the dark) for 90 seconds, and Invisibility for 180 seconds.

Disadvantages of Vampirism

Of course, being a Vampire isn’t all sunshine - in fact, that’s the main downside. The higher your Vampirism Level, the more sunlight will damage you:

• 25% Vampirism Level: No Sunlight Damage
• 50% Vampirism Level: Sunlight deals 1 HP damage per second
• 75% Vampirism Level: Sunlight deals 4 HP damage per second
• 100% Vampirism Level: Sunlight deals 8 HP damage per second

By the time you reach full Vampirism, sunlight will leach away your health very quickly, so you’ll need to plan your movements much more carefully than before. You also cannot Fast Travel while in sunlight , and you’ll need to be careful whenever you Fast Travel anyway in case you end up in an area bathed in sunlight.

The other main downside to Vampirism is that you become considerably more vulnerable to fire damage :

• 25% Vampirism Level: 20% weaker to Fire Damage
• 50% Vampirism Level: 30% weaker to Fire Damage
• 75% Vampirism Level: 40% weaker to Fire Damage
• 100% Vampirism Level: 50% weaker to Fire Damage

In addition to these two major downsides, your appearance will change to become more “vampire-like” over time, and at higher Vampirism Levels this will start to affect the disposition of many NPCs. Many people will refuse to speak to you once you’re at 100% Vampirism Level, and if you get into trouble with guards while at 100% Vampirism Level, they may choose to ignore your yielding , forcing you to fight or flee.

There you have it! That’s every single method of becoming a Vampire in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered, laid out in intricate detail. We’ve also got a guide on how to cure vampirism if you’re more interested in a less eldritch way of playing Oblivion. For more info on this epic reimagined version of a classic RPG, our guides on the best class , best race , and the best birthsign in Oblivion will prove especially helpful. It can’t hurt to learn how to close an Oblivion Gate either!

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion

PS3 , Xbox 360 , PC

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

PS5 , Xbox Series X/S , PC

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