Werewolves, part beasts and part human, are one of the beloved characters in Skyrim. They can be described as feral creatures, wielding sharp claws as their primary weapon and having bestial canines to feed on their enemies.
These ferocious beasts run on all fours, making them agile in combat. However, their brute strength is also nothing to scoff at, as they can rip enemies to shreds. So, how do you become one of these ferocious beasts?
Unlike vampires, the process of becoming a werewolf isn’t as obvious. You can’t get bitten by werewolves, nor can you get infected by lycanthrope disease. It involves completing a quest that isn’t part of the main campaign.
Instead, it’s a side quest you can complete when you become a guild member. Read further to learn more about lycanthropy in Skyrim.
Complete the Silver Hand Quest
The only method to become a werewolf for the first time is by completing the Silver Hand questline. It’s a pretty fun questline where you’ll need to join forces with the werewolves and wreak havoc on their nemesis, the Silver Hand.
You can get this quest from a member of the Companions after earning their trust.
- The first thing you’ll need to do is join the Companions. You can find them at Jorrvaskr in Whiteun.
- Find and speak with Kodalk Whitemane, the leader of the Companion. Then, choose the “I would like to join the companions” dialogue option.
- Now, you’ll need to prove your worth to become a circle member. Start by completing a random quest from Farkas.
- After completing the quest, talk with Skjor. He is a companion member, and you can usually find him inside Jorrvaskr. He’ll send you out with Farkas to collect the fragment of Wuuthrad.
- Complete the dungeon and head back to Jorrvaskr. The companions will perform a ritual and accept you as a part of their guild.
- Complete a random quest again for any member of the guild to increase their favorability.
- Talk with Skjor again. Pick the “I’m looking for work” dialogue option. This will start the Silver Hand questline.
- Head to the underforge at night and drink from the Underforge Fountain to become a Werewolf.
From Console Command
A different way to become a werewolf is via the console command. However, we recommend using this method for only testing or debugging purposes as it may break other major quests with the companions.
- Press the tilde key{~} while you’re in-game.
- Type in
player.addspell 00092c48and press Enter. - Exit the console by pressing the tilde key again.
What Are the Abilities of a Warewolf?
Werewolves have three signature abilities. First, the Howl of Terror makes a shivering howling sound causing enemies up to level 30 to flee from fear. Next, the Scent of Blood gives you a large radar where you can detect your enemies for 60 seconds.
Finally, we have the Howl of the Pack. This ability summon two wolf spirits that will aid you in combat. If you have the Dawnguard DLC expansion, you can further enhance these abilities to increase their effectiveness.
Like Vampire Lords, Werewolves also have a unique skill tree. You can buy additional perks to make your beast even more deadly. Beastial strength grants you more damage in your beast form, whereas Animal Vigor gives you more health and Stamina.
The Totem of Terror perk enhances your howling ability to affect even high-level creatures. The Totem of Predator extends the radar’s range and gives insight into your enemies. The Totem of the Predator and Totem of the Moon summons a couple of wolf spirits with ice and howling abilities.
The most valuable perk in the skill tree is the Gorging which gives you twice the amount of health while feeding on enemies.
Combine it with Savage Feeding, which will let you feed on most dead creatures (except for automatons, the undead, and Daedra), and you have an endless supply of health, making you very hard to kill.
Perks of Being a Warewolf
Being a werewolf does have some significant advantages over other creatures. First, as a lycanthrope, you are entirely immune to all diseases, including the Sanguinare Vampiris.
This could be counteractive if you’re looking to become a Vampire. Secondly, werewolves have power attacks that can take down and ragdoll almost any enemy, including giants!
One of the unique advantages is that your total carry weight increases quite a bit while you’re in your beast form (1900 capacity), and it can be helpful when you’re encumbered.
Even though your beast form lasts only a few minutes, you can easily prolong it via the feeding perk from the skill tree. Savage Feeding gives you an additional half minute for each enemy you devour. So as long as you’re killing and feeding, you can be in your beast form indefinitely.
Is It Ok to Become a Werewolf in Skyrim?
Unlike vampires, the drawbacks of being a werewolf aren’t severe, and you can easily avoid most of them.
The only real downside is the cooldown which limits your beastly transformation to once a day. However, the Ring of Hircine artifact can negate this setback, which lets you transform additional times.
The game also managed to stay true to the lore. As a beast, you take 20 extra damage against silver weapons. But as there are only a handful of silver weapons, and they are entirely exclusive to the Silver Hand faction, I’d barely consider this a setback.
As a Werewolf, you won’t be able to get the Well Rested bonus from sleeping. But this hardly matters, as you’ll be spending most of your time adventuring through Skyrim.
How to Become a Werewolf After Being Cured?
Just like any other disease, lycanthropy is curable as well. You just need to complete the Glory of the Dead questline with the Companions. However, given how fun it can be to play as a werewolf with no real downsides, you might be more inclined to become a werewolf again.
The good news is that you can revert to the beastly form one more time with a bit of help from Aela, the huntress.
The method is pretty simple. First, find and speak with Aela, the huntress. Then, choose the “I wish to regain the gift of the beast blood” dialogue option. And there you go, you can again turn into a werewolf just like that.
