MeinMMO author Johanna Heuck long resisted trying a special ability in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. After 14 long years, she finally did it and is disappointed with the result.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is one of my absolute favorite games. With each new playthrough, there are countless options for how to create your character. Even though I’ve had so many playthroughs, there is one thing I never tried: werewolves.
If you join the Companions in Whiterun, you can eventually become one yourself. You gain the ability lycanthropy and can, whenever you want, use the beast form and transform into a werewolf.
I always joined the Companions until the quest came where you were supposed to join the Companions through blood and become a werewolf. I never wanted to do that because I was afraid of having to transform uncontrollably. I imagined how much havoc I would wreak in the cities.
That’s not the case, but in the 2010s, when I only knew how to help myself with strategy guides for a game I didn’t have for Skyrim, I believed for a long time in my own figment. I eventually found out that I was wrong and wanted to finally become a werewolf in my new playthrough.
Werewolves almost didn’t make it into Skyrim due to an earlier ugly concept:
The Idea and Reality of the Werewolf
This is how I imagined the werewolf: I always thought werewolves were really cool and pictured them as powerful in combat. As a warrior, you’re actually in trouble during battles, and enemies think they’re about to deal the final blow, but then you use the beast form and slaughter the horde of enemies.
Full of anticipation, I complete the first two tasks of the Companions, and during the quest “The Silver Hand,” I drink Aela’s blood to become a werewolf.
Then my worst nightmare comes true: I transform uncontrollably, it’s nighttime, and I’m running through Whiterun as a werewolf. Because I’m so afraid of hurting someone and getting a bounty again, I hide behind the Companions’ headquarters and wait.
Shortly after, the screen goes black, and the transformation is over.
Then I am disappointed: In my first mission after my transformation, I have to take down members of the Silver Hand, the enemy group of the Companions. Here I also experience my first disappointment: they are quite strong, and I, as a fresh werewolf, am pretty weak.
When I have only a few hit points left and my opponent could kill me with a single blow, I want to open my inventory to take potions. But instead of my inventory, I only get a… skill tree?
In this, there are various skills that I can unlock. So wait… I have to unlock the “good” stuff first?
After I get thrown back into the heat of battle from my brief skill tree pause, it only takes a shove, and I’m dead. Perfect. So back to the checkpoint.
When I enter battle as a werewolf for the second time, it becomes clear to me that I am “naked” as a werewolf, and thus all my armor bonuses are gone.
By some miracle, I manage to fight my way through the horde of enemies. I want to open a door that is secured with a lock, but I can’t even select it. I mean, okay, it makes sense that a werewolf with its huge claws can’t handle a lockpick and a knife to pick locks.
While I don’t transform uncontrollably, I still have no control over my transformation back to human. So again, I have to wait until it’s over.
Overall, this first experience as a werewolf leaves me somewhat disappointed. No bloody slaughtering of hordes of enemies, but instead, I am being slaughtered.
Werewolf – Yes or No?
Of course, not everything is bad about the werewolf. Lycanthropes are immune to all diseases without having to transform into a werewolf even once. And one of the biggest advantages: The carrying capacity increases by 1,900 points when transforming, allowing you to cover long distances during overloading without having to move at a snail’s pace.
I understand that they couldn’t make the werewolves overpowered. There have to be some weaknesses to keep the gaming experience balanced.
Moreover, the weaknesses, such as not healing through potions, can be compensated by eating corpses to restore health. Additionally, with the Ring of Hircine, you can transform back at any time.
Still, I imagined being a werewolf quite differently, somehow more epic. In this way, the concept doesn’t really convince me, because at the very beginning, you are quite weak.
You first have to unlock a strong werewolf through the skill tree. Once that’s done, you can create quite a powerful creature.
I would have preferred a less complicated werewolf. The beast form could have been stronger overall, but the time spent in werewolf form could have been much shorter. This way, the beast form would have felt like something truly powerful to me without making me as a player too strong compared to others.
For my current playthrough, I keep lycanthropy. Not being able to be infected by blood is indeed a great advantage.
And better than vampires, werewolves are probably all the better in Skyrim. They can’t even stand in the sunlight.
What were your first experiences in Skyrim? Write it in the comments!
If you would excuse me now, I need to practice being a good werewolf so I can really carve my way through any armies. If you want to read more about my first experiences with video games, you can do so here on MeinMMO: Space Marine 2 got me excited about Warhammer 40,000, even though I’m really bad at it
