I’m finally sitting down to writing about this DLC. I delayed it for a long time but promised I would after writing about Skyrim’s main storyline. How could I forget the time when Dawnguard was first announced, some of my friends were counting the days and the HOURS until its release!
I feel like this DLC is a bit more lore-like despite this game in general not being very deep in the lore. We usually have to come up with our own things to fill in the gaps and many gamers may accomplish this with mods.
So, I’m going to talk here about what I think about Dawnguard.
The one thing I noticed first, was I overheard the guards talking about a faction of the same name, and vampires were starting to attack the villages. That became a pain in the neck because sometimes, they would end up killing someone I relied on.
In my most recent play through, two vampires attacked Whiterun and ended up killing Belethor. The pile of ash containing his remains, has been left at the foot of my Breezehome ever since. It sucks because like most players: Whiterun was always my home base until I built my own house. It was the first place I’d go to craft new armor/weapons, sell goods, and with Belethor dead; that knocked the home base thing out of proportion.
Eventually, I went to join the Dawnguard, and was stoked to hunt vampires.
Fair warning: my opinion on this DLC is based on choosing to join the Dawnguard, I know anyone who wanted to become a vampire lord may have a different opinion.
Basically, we have this cult of vampires which desire to perform a ritual told from an Elder Scroll that will destroy the sun, so that vampires no longer have to fear it and refrain from going outside when it rises. It sounds so typical right? The stories in these quests aren’t very deep as I have said, and I wish there were. But, this DLC also introduces me to my favourite follower.
Serana is the daughter of Lord Harkon who was locked away in Dimhollow Crypt with an Elder Scroll. She is clearly estranged from her father and has a different view of things, being a vampire and all. Both she, and her mother were kept away from Harkon to prevent him from getting what he required to complete the ritual. I would take her back to her home but refuse Harkon’s offer, and Isran would keep a close watch on her.
It’s silly, once I made a commitment to this DLC, I would take her with me everywhere because I was afraid that if I made her part ways with me, she would go back to Castle Volkihar, and I wouldn’t be able to get inside!
She would help me retrieve her mother from the Soul Cairn, and I also got to meet the dragon Durnehviir.
So, this is what you get out of becoming a vampire lord. To be honest, I didn’t think that transformation was cool enough for me to accept. Therefore, I stuck to being a werewolf. However, I have heard of some of the unique perks and abilities you can have a vampire lord, so maybe I’ll reconsider.
It took me two tries to defeat Harkon once I reached him. Not because I died, but because I didn’t understand the importance Auriel’s bow played in the battle at first. I’m not really the type of gamer that likes to play on super high difficulties and shit because I’m more into the story regardless of how much depth it has. It felt so good to defeat him in the end and even after that, I still kept Serana with me.
Dawnguard is a pretty interesting DLC, but I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as Dragonborn. If you love vampires then yeah, I can see why you’d love this one the most!
👽Emily
Monsterlady's Diary 