Final Thoughts on Dawnguard

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I wanted to hold off on a personal review until I actually played through the whole thing. If I had to summarize it in a sentence or two, I'd say that it is definitely correctly described as DLC and not an expansion. There simply isn't enough new material there to qualify as an expansion. While it should be noted that given the expansiveness of the original game, it is setting unrealistically high expectations to think that any individual DLC or expansion is going to come close to what the original game had. But even once that high standard is removed, Dawnguard still comes up a little light on new content. So it's definitely NOT an expansion.

So here's the good and the bad from one gamer's perspective.

Good: New weapons, armor and creatures.

I liked all the new weapons. Nothing completely unbalancing or game changing, but I think the variety offered in the new weapons is enjoyable. While I can see no huge benefit in using a crossbow if you're already skilled in archery, the crossbow does offer some very nice benefits from someone who isn't skilled in archery. Crossbow bolts fly in a straight line, so you don't have to factor in drop regarding your distance from target, and that they give the same benefit of power shot without having to spend the perk is nice too. But after comparing a fully upgraded dragonbone bow to a fully upgraded enhanced dwarven crossbow (the best available), the final damage is just about identical. The dragonbone bow offers slightly more damage on the weapon itself, but if you craft exploding dwarven bolts of fire/frost/shock, the enhanced damage on the missile itself allows the crossbow to pull ahead. But we're talking a total damage difference of about 10 on weapons that are hitting for about 350.

I also liked the new armors. Heavy Falmer armor is available now as another viable choice (and it looks pretty cool). You also get another new set of heavy armor if you join the dawnguard (called appropirately enough Dawnguard armor/boots/helm/gauntlets). It looks like a type of banded leather armor but it's classed as heavy armor. On the vampire side, you get a light set of armor (called - surpirse - vampire armor). These look more like robes in the original game but are classified as light armor, and have defense. There are also gloves, helm, and boots as well.

I also liked the new creatures and new derivations of original creatures. You get the new falmer heavy armor from Falmer Warmongers, which are now the heavy class of Falmer warriors - and they now spawn in any area where Falmer spawn. (Probably level dependent - but they were in all the areas where I found Falmer. Since I was already close to level 30 before visiting these areas it's possible you wouldn't find them if you visited them earlier.)

The new dragons are great - definitely balancing the dragon disparity. Legendary dragons both take and deal out tremendous amounts of damage, and their new shout is nothing to be trifled with. I also like the new flying charus, and while fledgling vampires are walk-overs, the master vampires most certainly are not.

Oh, and you can purchase an armored battle troll as a pet from one of the NPCs you recruit at Fort Dawnguard. "Would you like to buy an armored battle troll?" You had me at hello.

The not so good:

The new areas. There are a few new areas in Dawnguard. All are expansive, but there's hardly anything in them. That was very frustrating. The Soul Cairn is absolutely huge - and there's one main quest element there. But there's just vast tracks of nothing in the area. I think explored the whole thing - it's hard to be sure because the whole thing looks pretty damn similar - and I was only able to find two side quests in the whole area - one of which gives you a summonable spirit horse - Arvak. The area around Dawnguard - that they require you to travel through upon your first visit - is also huge. And again, there is nothing there but the castle itself at the far end. I was unable to find a single side quest in the whole area, so why was the area so big, and why did I have to travel through it instead of fast-traveling directly to the castle.

The new quest material. The two quest lines start the same way, follow somewhat linear, although opposite paths, and converge again at the end. It's not unlike the Civil War quest in that the missions are essentially all the same regardless of which side you pick - it's just which side you're on that changes. It's not that it's that bad, it is just repetitive. The first several quests are simply recruiting allies to your cause, and then there's a whole bunch of radiant quests you can complete with these newfound allies. (Note: Crossobws can only be forged at Fort Dawnguard. So if you side with the vampires, you'll never have the oppotunity to make crossobws.)

The flat out bad:

The two new "classes" and "perks". Considering this was featured as a "big deal" for Dawnguard, it was really disappointing. I will say that the Vampire Lord is undeniably better. Upon transforming, you have a melee attack in your right hand and a missile attack in your left hand. Both hit pretty hard, and killing stuff either way levels the skill and gives you perks. The werewolf only has melee attacks, and you don't gain new perks just from killing stuff - you have to feed on the corpse, and go through the whole mauling animation every time.

But there are two significant problems with the both the vampire lord and werewolf. 1.) You can't interact with the environment much at all. You can open doors, but that's it. You can't pick up anything or interact with anything, which really limits it's utility. Especially for the werewolf, as you can only transform once per day. Vampires can swtich back and forth at will, but it's still a pain in the ass to have go back and forth after each battle.

2.) The skill trees themselves. They just aren't very good. They sound cool - like a vampire lord being able to turn into mist - zip across the battle and reform elsewhere. I mean, I guess it could be useful if you were about to die, but other than that, meh. Or the ability to reach out and grab opponents a drain their life force. Cool in concept - like sith powers - but not really great in application. The werewolf perks are rather dire. In addition to there not being very many - just 8 - there also isn't much variety. Most of them are just improved versions of the pre-existing powers in the vanilla game. Totem of Terror is an improved Howl. Totem of Ice Brothers allow you to summor ice wolves instead of werewolves, and is completely replaced if you get Totem of the Moon perk, which allows you to summon werewolves.

The bottom line is after trying out the vampire and the werwolf, I'm not sure you'd actually want to play as a vampire or a werewolf. The vampire perks are better, but there are also negatives to being a vampire. The werewolf is less powerful, but other than not being able to receive resting bonuses, there really are no penalties either.

 

I'd imagine having vampires and dragons attacking towns and killing NPCs left and right being downright aggravating as well.

 

The dragons aren't a big deal. I experienced exactly one dragon attack within a town the entire playthough, and it just so happened to be during the Civil War campaign in the battle for Solitude. So there were no people around. The addition of Revered and Legendary Dragons doesn't mean you get MORE dragons than before, just different types.

And it appears that due to the leveling of enemies, you won't see a Revered or Legendary Dragon if your character is level 20 or 30. While I do not recall exactly when I encountered my first Legendary Dragon, I know I was in excess of level 40. But the new dragons are tough - even with upgraded weapons they take a freaking beating on Master difficulty, and considering they can kill a character - even one with a lot of health - in just two hits, you have to be careful. If they hit you with their drain life, stamina and magicka shout, it forces an immediate retreat. There's nothing you can do at that point to stay in melee. It drains everything so quickly, that their next hit will most likely kill you unless you want to chug a full healing potion every few seconds. Even letting your health bar drop to half isn't an option, because now you in one hit kill territory.

Vampires, on the other hand, are really annoying. By the end of the game, there was no one left in the Riften marketplace. All had been killed by vampires. The problem is that they show up sometimes even when you're not there. They just go in, and start killing. Sometimes you'll be back from clearing a dungeon, only to find Grelka lying dead in the middle of the marketplace.

That said, the vampire attacks are not completely random. They do seem to target cities you frequent more than those you don't spend much time in. For example, I didn't see any vampire casaulties in Markarth, but I also didn't spend a lot of time there.

There are also a few "rules" for vampires when they attack a town. They won't ever go inside a building. So any merchant who sells stuff inside their shop is relatively safe. The only way they get killed is if they happen to get caught on their way to or from the tavern at night. People that never leave their indoor area - so all the merchants associated with the thieves guild and your spouse for example, are not subject to an attack.

It should also be noted that the vampire attacks only take place if you side with the Dawnguard, or if you haven't sided with anyone yet. If you side with the vampires, instead of getting random vampire attacks, there will be Dawnguard that randomly show up in the cities. However, they are only after vampires, and while they WILL attack you on sight, they won't randomly slaughter the people of the town. The only time someone dies because of the Dawnguard is if they are collateral damage (because many of the townspeople will attack whomever starts the fight). So that's another reason you may want to side with the vampires.

There is one thing I failed to mention as a good point in the review - the one new NPC follower available throughout much of the expansion, Serena, is excellent. They developed her character extremely well, and the dialog is actually pretty good - which might be the first time that's happened in Skyrim.

But I also alluded to something in the bad part that I really think is a bummer - there's only one way to finish the Dawnguard quest. After playing through both as a vampire and with the Dawnguard, the final mission in the quest is identical. There's no way for the vampires to "win" in the end. I won't include any spoilers, but there's no real need to play through both ways - you don't get any additional content.

And the werewolf perk tree really seems like it was included simply as an after thought. It's actually a chore to try and level up as a werewolf, because you are still limited to one transformation per day. Vampire Lords can switch back and forth as much as they like, so there's no big deal. Just switch when you're fighting weanie bandits or other such trivial encounters and have at it. Also unlike the werewolf, when you switch back, you don't have to re-equip all of your gear. Of course, there's no requirement to be a werewolf when you join the Dawnguard - AFAIK, none of them are werewolves, so it's fine just to have your character go through the missions.

The bottom line is the DLC is just another extensive quest, of the approximate length of the thieves guild, including the availability of a bunch of optional side quests. Anyone who likes Skyrim will find something they like about Dawnguard. That said, I would recommend siding with the vampires when you play it. The only thing you miss out on is the upgraded crossbows. You will get a steel crossbow either way though - you must visit Dawnguard castle to start the expansion (you don't pick a side until the end of the first big mission), and the first guy you run into in the castle courtyard is practicing with a crossbow, and he hands you 40 bolts and tells you to take a crossbow from the weapon rack. You'll also find innumerable dwarven bolts as random loot in every dwemer ruin you visit - I literally had hundreds of them, most of which I eventually upgraded into exploding versions.

 

Thanx for taking the time and writing this.
It was interesting reading this from a gamers perspective!

I hoped after such a successful start of Skyrim, that they would put out DLC's on a scale of Tribumal or Bloodmoon for Morrowind.

 

I think that they will eventually get around to doing just that. When you look at past Morrowind expansions, the typical cost was around $30 for the download. This one was $20. So I think Bethesda pretty much acknowledged without stating it that this isn't a full expansion.

Also - it's possible to have a veritable army in Dawnguard, especially if you are conjuror. You can have a follower, a battle troll, and potentially two summons. If you want to count Shadowmere in outdoor areas, that's a ton of stuff you can throw at people.