Werewolf (Skyrim)

For other uses, see Werewolf.

Werewolf is a creature in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. They are the most commonly known type of lycanthrope found in Tamriel, where they can be found in every province. Werewolves are individuals who assume wolf-like characteristics during the full moon (or in some cases, at will).

Background[]

While first appearing in The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, werewolves are featured more prominently in The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon. Werewolves also appear in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The Dragonborn may become one by completing The Companions quests and attending a ritual which involves drinking the blood of Aela the Huntress while she is in Beast Form. From this point onwards, those carrying the gift (or curse, depending on whom one is talking to), will be able to change into a Werewolf once a day, which causes people nearby to retreat and yield or attack. The Dragonborn will also receive a bounty if the transformation is witnessed by a citizen.

Members of any faction will not attack the Dragonborn in either humanoid or Werewolf form after joining, nor will a Hero of Sovngarde assault them.

Abilities[]

Advantages[]

Skills, perks, spells and abilities as apply (or do not apply) to the Werewolf:

• Racial Abilities: The various race abilities do not affect the Werewolf, because Beast Form changes the Dragonborn's race. Spells or active abilities such as an Orc's "Berserker Rage," however, can be cast before transformation and will continue to apply effects for their usual duration.
• "Skin" Spells: Werewolves are considered unarmored, therefore "skin" spells such as Dragonhide remain effective if cast before transformation but cannot be recast while in Beast Form.
• One-Handed tree: Normally, the Dragonborn's claws in Beast Form are not treated as one-handed weapons, meaning claw attacks do not increase experience in that skill nor benefit from perks on that skill tree.
  • A bug may cause the Dragonborn's weapon to remain equipped after transformation, which will cause attacks with that hand to carry any effects of that weapon and increase one-handed experience.
    • Tested on PC with Daedric Sword of Vampirism, Dawnbreaker and Silver Sword of Fiery Souls.
    • In the Xbox 360 version, this can happen with most one-handed weapons.
    • On PS3, enchanted glass weapons used in the right hand will almost always appear in the Werewolf body's hand.
• Alteration: Perk abilities like "Atronach" still affect werewolves.
• Carry Weight: The base carry weight gained from Beast Form is 1,900 regardless of level, race, or gender. To find the maximum carry weight in Beast Form, add 1,900 to the max carry weight in normal form. This is a useful aspect to exploit as even if the Dragonborn is encumbered, transforming into Beast Form makes the encumbrance effect inactive, so one may carry a large amount of loot without being slowed by the effect. This can be exploited further with Hircine's Ring, allowing the Dragonborn to transform at will for the purpose of using the Beast Form's increased carry weight.
• Disease resistance: All lycanthropes, in Werewolf form or not, have 100% resistance to all diseases. In Skyrim, this is only true for Sanguinare Vampiris, while other diseases may (rarely) still be caught.
• Other abilities: All effects that are gained through quests and other methods but are not "racial," like spell resistance, still affect Werewolves. For other examples, the Lord Stone and Blessing of Mara will persist into lycanthropy.
• Immunity to Vampires: A vampire cannot drink the blood of a sleeping Werewolf.
• Power Attacks: In Beast Form, the Dragonborn's power attacks can inflict large amounts of damage and throw most foes (aside from dragons and mammoths) off balance. Giants can be killed with a power sprint attack.

Limitations[]

• Sleeping bonuses negated: No bonus is gained from sleeping.
• Inability to wear anything: Transformed Werewolves cannot equip apparel, including armor.
• Inability to access normal game functions: When in Beast Form, the Dragonborn cannot pickpocket characters, pick locks, engage in conversations, or collect items/loot from a container or corpses.
  • Doors can still be opened, except those requiring a key from one's inventory.
  • Levers, buttons, pull chains and switches can still be activated, except those that require the removal of debris to be operated (as in Raldbthar Deep Market, where items must be dislodged to activate certain switches.)
  • When transformed, they may be unable to fit through narrow dungeon doorways. Walking through such doorways backwards may fix this.
• Reduced number of orders that can be issued to a follower: Followers are unable to pick up items while you are in beast form. They will see such orders as simply a command to "move there".
• Weakness against specific weapon archetypes: Increased vulnerability to Silver weapons, even as a human.
• Expiration of all summoned thralls: Conjured thralls including dead thralls will instantly perish, although all other summoned entities will survive.
• Useless items: Equipment, some spells, Dragon Shouts and powers are all rendered useless. Certain other effects such as the Lady Stone or a Regenerate Health potion will be similarly ineffective unless the Dragonborn equips a Ring of the Hunt.
• Inability to heal health by normal means: The only way to recover health is to feed on dead bodies.
• Howls need to be unlocked: Howls all need to be made available from a quest that can be completed upon finishing the Companions questline. The only exception is Howl of Terror. This can only be done if the Dragonborn remain a werewolf.
  • There is also a limitation in that only one howl can be active at any time. The howl can be selected by visiting the Underforge and praying at the totem which relates to the howl that the Dragonborn desire. Also, only 3 totems are available. Should they choose a new howl by praying at a totem, the Howl of Terror is unavailable from then on, but there is a Howl of Fear which is identical.
• Inability to return to human form: There is no way to consciously deactivate Werewolf form following a transformation. The only way to revert is to physically wait for Beast form to end, or use the 'wait' function.
  • For Skyrim Special Edition, anything you had equipped while transforming is re-equipped by default, though you have to re-equip your equipment manually in the initial game version.
• Immediate hostility: Most characters will attack a werewolf on sight, even werebears. Exceptions include other werewolves, M'aiq the Liar, and members of factions that the Dragonborn has joined, the heroes of Sovngarde, currently-in-service followers, and one's spouse if they are a werewolf. Eorlund Gray-Mane will publicly defend the Dragonborn, if the transformation occurs in Whiterun.^{confirmation needed} Any other werewolf will aid the Dragonborn in combat if the Howl of Terror ability is used.
  • If someone sees the Dragonborn transforming, they will recognize them as a werewolf, even in human form, and may consider them an outsider or attack on sight, unless the person who witnessed this is non-hostile towards the Dragonborn.
  • If the Dragonborn is seen transforming, they will incur a 1000 bounty, and this warrants an assault from most characters.

Becoming a Werewolf[]

In Skyrim, the only way to become a Werewolf is to complete the quest line for the Companions of Jorrvaskr in Whiterun, up until the quest "The Silver Hand." Within the Companions exists the Circle, an inner sub-faction. After some time, Skjor will lead the Dragonborn to The Underforge. There he will offer the opportunity to drink the blood of Aela the Huntress when she is in Werewolf form, and become a Werewolf.

Note: With the addition of Dawnguard, characters who already have the Vampire Lord power will lose it at this point, and it will be replaced with Beast Form, and vice versa.

Beast Form lasts approximately two and a half minutes, with only one use per day. Unlike in Morrowind, one does not change into a Werewolf at a fixed time, as it is a power. To be able to stay in Werewolf mode for a prolonged period of time, one must "Feed" off fallen human characters, which adds 30 seconds to the current time per feeding, and also heal the Dragonborn. With Dawnguard installed, the Dragonborn can choose a perk that allows them to feed on almost any fallen opponent, although it only prolongs the duration for half of what feeding off of humanoid opponents gives. Once returned to normal form, all items will have been unequipped and the Dragonborn will have to wait twenty-four hours to be able to use Beast Form again.

If the Dragonborn has obtained the Ring of Hircine, equipping it will allow the use of a separate power, "Ring of Hircine," which is identical to Beast Form and offers all the same benefits. The only difference is that it is not limited to once-a-day use, it is made available any time the Dragonborn equips the ring. Followers will not react to the Dragonborn's transformation. Due to the restrictions placed on Werewolves interacting with objects and characters, one will not be able to interact with a follower while transformed (on Xbox 360, one can bypass this by using Kinect commands). A follower will become hostile if hit while the character is in Beast Form, even if they are a companion.

Eorlund Gray-Mane will defend the Dragonborn if they transform publicly in Whiterun.

Wild wolves become non-hostile when one is in Beast Form, but wild Werewolves, added on by Dawnguard, will still attack.

The Dragonborn can be killed while transforming, if facing a powerful enough foe.

Werewolf Powers[]

Skill tree[]

Werewolf[]

The Werewolf skill tree includes eight perks.^[1][2] (Dawnguard expansion only)

Known Werewolves[]

• Skjor (The Companions)
• Farkas (The Companions)
• Aela the Huntress (The Companions)
• Vilkas (The Companions)
• Kodlak Whitemane (Harbinger of The Companions)
• Sinding (met in the quest "Ill Met by Moonlight")
• Arnbjorn (The Dark Brotherhood)
• Farmer (random encounter in Wilds)
• Hunter (random encounter in Wilds)
• Majni (leader of the Frostmoon Pack)
• Akar (Frostmoon Pack)
• Rakel (Frostmoon Pack)
• Hjordis (Frostmoon Pack)
• Sebastian Lort's daughter (mentioned only)^[3]

Enemy werewolves[]

• Werewolf Beastmaster
• Werewolf Brute
• Werewolf Savage
• Werewolf Skinwalker
• Werewolf Vargr

Gallery[]

Werewolf male concept art.

Werewolf female concept art (not featured in-game).

A werewolf (top-right corner) as seen in concept art for Riverwood.

Trivia[]

• If the Dragonborn is a Werewolf, Hold Guards may comment saying, "Is that fur... coming out of your ears?" or "I find your wolfish grin... unsettling." even if the Dragonborn is a Khajiit. Guards will also comment on the odor of the Dragonborn, saying, "Ugh. Have you been tending to your hounds? You smell like a wet dog!"
• Pressing "square" for PS3 and PS4, "X" for 360, "Y" for Switch, or R for PC will skip most of the feeding animation. This can be useful when surrounded by enemies and the Dragonborn needs to recover their health immediately.
• The sound of the Howl of Terror is identical to the roar that Trolls make.
• If the main menu is accessed, under the "General Stats" tab, and in the magic menu, if one uses Howl of Terror often, it will be listed as the "Favorite Shout," even though Howl of Terror is not a Dragon Shout. This also applies to other Werewolf powers.
• If the Dragonborn goes up the 7000 steps as a Werewolf, the travelers will not become hostile.
• The Dragonborn's gender has no effect on the transformation; the Werewolf's appearance is always the same.

Bugs[]

Appearances[]

• The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall
• The Elder Scrolls III: Bloodmoon
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (mentioned only)^[4]
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
• The Elder Scrolls Online

Sources[]

• On Lycanthropy by Varnard Karessen
• Physicalities of Werewolves by Reman Crex
• Lycanthropic Legends of Skyrim by Lentulus Iventius

References[]