Vampire Lord form is way too clunky to actually use in combat

[RiftenWanderer]

I just started a Dawnguard playthrough and grabbed the Vampire Lord power because it looked cool, but holy plops it's awful to actually fight with. The controls feel completely different from your normal character, the camera is a mess, and by the time you've gotten used to it the fight is basically over anyway. I end up just reverting back to my normal build within like two minutes.

Does anyone actually use it beyond the novelty factor? Or am I just bad at it? I feel like it should be way more viable given how much work you have to put into the Dawnguard questline to get it unlocked properly.

 

[ScrollsOfTamriel]

Yeah, the camera lock is brutal. I think a lot of people use it for like thirty seconds to feel powerful and then immediately shift back to whatever actually works. The flight is clunky too - you're basically a sitting duck while airborne and can't really control where you're going.

That said, if you spec into the Vampire Lord perks specifically (the ones that boost your melee damage, life drain effectiveness, that kind of thing), it becomes less of a gimmick and more of an actual option. But you have to commit to it, which most players don't want to do when they've already got a working build. On my Dawnguard playthrough I found it was more useful as an oh-crap button or for specific fights rather than your main damage dealer.

The real issue is that your normal character - whether that's a sword-and-board tank or a destruction mage or whatever - is just mechanically tighter. You've spent levels optimizing that. Vampire Lord form asks you to relearn positioning and timing for something that doesn't hit harder or faster than what you already have. Unless you're specifically building around it from the start, it's gonna feel worse.