Dawnguard Vampire Attacks = Game Killer?

[Sky999]

I wasn't sure whether this counted as a spoiler or not, so I thought I'd put it in the spoliers section to be safe.

 

For those who don't know, Dawnguard introduces the chance, apparently a very high chance, of random vampire attacks in towns and cities. These attacks will cause 'Mysterious Travellers' to spawn inside towns and villages, when you are fairly near them, and these vampires will stealthily kill NPCs, and from what others are saying, these NPCs can be anyone, crucial or not, shopkeepers can die, quest givers can die, it apparently doesn't matter. What's more, is that these attacks are scripted so that, one the vampire has entered a house, the game automatically kills an inhabitant inside it. The player does not even need to be inside the village in the case of those villages with walls, such as Falkreath, he/she only needs to be near it, picking flowers or whatever they're doing, for these Mysterious Travellers to spawn and start killing off NPCs. :down:

 

Here is a link to a thread on GameFAQs discussing the problem...

 

http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/615803-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/63241192

 

Frankly I'm amazed Bethesda implemented such a game killer. I'm excited to eventually play Dawnguard, but not at the expense of having entire villages and NPCs killed off periodically. I'm hoping Bethesda bring out a patch or something to address this, because it sounds like a terrible idea that they've implemented.

[Malkiot]

Hint: When a NPC dies, and you don't want them to be dead use the resurrect command.

 

Otherwise, I agree... it shouldn't be THAT bad. But then again that thread is full of people with differing experiences.

Edited August 4, 2012 by Malkiot

[Sky999]

Hint: When a NPC dies, and you don't want them to be dead use the resurrect command.

 

Otherwise, I agree... it shouldn't be THAT bad. But then again that thread is full of people with differing experiences.

 

That can't always work though, the body of the NPC might disappear over time without the player noticing and being able to resurrect it.

More to the point though, there shouldn't be a part of the game where the console is needed in order to fix it.

[Dovahkiin069]

There is a mod that might help you with that: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/21615

[sajuukkhar9000]

I can say out of the 3 times I've had vampire attacks in the 10 hours of gameplay I've played, having restarted my game since Dawnguard came, ALL of them were EASILY stopped by the guards, and myself, with no non-gaurd deaths.

 

Vampire attacks on towns are less frequent then Dragon attacks on towns, and are some incredibly easy fights that ANY half-decently equipped character can stop with a flick on his hand.

 

This "VAMPIRES ARE KILLING EVERYONE, THE GAME IS UNPLAYABLE" thing some like to throw around is 100% pure myth caused by the exaggerative nature of some people.

 

My reaction to vampire attacks has been "that's is?" because they are frankly nothing.

Edited August 4, 2012 by sajuukkhar9000

[Stemin]

I can say out of the 3 times I've had vampire attacks in the 10 hours of gameplay I've played, having restarted my game since Dawnguard came, ALL of them were EASILY stopped by the guards, and myself, with no non-gaurd deaths.

 

Vampire attacks on towns are less frequent then Dragon attacks on towns, and are some incredibly easy fights that ANY half-decently equipped character can stop with a flick on his hand.

 

This "VAMPIRES ARE KILLING EVERYONE, THE GAME IS UNPLAYABLE" thing some like to throw around is 100% pure myth caused by the exaggerative nature of some people.

 

My reaction to vampire attacks has been "that's is?" because they are frankly nothing.

 

It's possible that this was the case during the beta phase on 360, because that's where I originally heard about it. It's possible they toned it down. So far I'm 3-4 hours into it and despite traveling in and out of towns, I've had one vampire attack. The annoying part is, it took place in whiterun while I was inside Breezehome and I wouldn't have known about it until after I was done. Instead I got a message that I couldn't use my alchemy station "while in battle".

 

That's when I noticed the very faint red dots on my radar and left breezehome. It was a little disorienting. It was night time and the vampires are basically dressed in street clothes (vampire robes) and their thralls just look like any other mercenary. It took a minute to sort out who to hit.

 

One of the two redguards that stand at the gate was down to one knee, but not dead and a whiterun guard was involved as well as Avienda. I didn't lose anyone.

 

I've always been annoyed by dragons in open towns, so I suspect this will just be one more thing. It's irritating that I could potentially lose NPC's. In Solitude I never saw the Fletcher on this play through, or one of the two women from Radiant Rainment. They were apparently killed before I reached Solitude.

Edited August 4, 2012 by Stemin

[sajuukkhar9000]

It is 100% impossible for NPCs inside of towns to die before you get to the town for the same reason as its impossible for you to be in Eastmarch and have a named NPC in the Reach die.

 

NPCs cannot be killed unless you are in the same cell as them because there not loaded and the game does nothing with them until you are in the same cell.

 

a Khajiit Caravan in Dawnstar cannot be killed while you are in Whiterun hold, a NPC in Riften cannot be killed if you're in Solitude, NPCs cannot die unless you are in the same cell as them.

Edited August 4, 2012 by sajuukkhar9000

[gsmanners]

I've been thinking about this, and there are any number of ways you can keep NPCs you like alive without disabling anything. You could go to console, click on an NPC and:

 

modav health 5000

 

I doubt getting into a fist fight with a giant would kill them at that point.

[Stemin]

It is 100% impossible for NPCs inside of towns to die before you get to the town for the same reason as its impossible for you to be in Eastmarch and have a named NPC in the Reach die.

 

NPCs cannot be killed unless you are in the same cell as them because there not loaded and the game does nothing with them until you are in the same cell.

 

a Khajiit Caravan in Dawnstar cannot be killed while you are in Whiterun hold, a NPC in Riften cannot be killed if you're in Solitude, NPCs cannot die unless you are in the same cell as them.

 

Then how do you explain the multitude of times when we've arrived in cells and found a body lying dead? It's happened across multiple play throughs on multiple platforms.

[harvestr555]

Yeah the attacks seem kinda ridiculous (on my game atleast, ive heard its pretty random). I'm only lvl 8 and 3 npcs in whiterun are already dead. I cant even start the dawnguard quest line until lvl 10. The attacks really shouldnt start to happen until you start the questline.

 

Edit* I just found two more dead just outside whiterun, one was the stable master. Guess I'm not buying any horses from whiterun now. *

Edited August 4, 2012 by harvestr555