If you're interested in spicing up your Skyrim experience and are curious about becoming a strong beast, head on over to the Companions in Whiterun. By beginning your quest with this faction of fighters, you'll set yourself on a path towards discovering the true nature of your new friends and also deciding whether you'd like to join them in their fate. But be warned: with great power comes great responsibility. We leave your choice on whether or not to drink Aela's blood up to you, but before you make your final decision, hear us out on these ten things you probably didn't know about werewolves in Skyrim ‒ but definitely should.
10 No Sleeping Bonus
That's right. As a creature of the night it only makes sense, but it's crucial to be aware of this. Sleeping bonuses can be extremely useful in Skyrim, as they give a small boost to your experience gain for the following day. However, if you decide to become a werewolf, bonuses like Rested, Well Rested and Lover's Comfort will not have an effect on you. That being said, small experience bonuses don't make or break a game, and you won't be missing out on too much even without these bonuses.
9 Silver Is Your Enemy
Anyone familiar with werewolves knows this old belief. Just as vampires dislike sunlight, werewolves cannot stand silver. This also applies to your human form, which will not be weakened to all silver weapons.
While most enemies in Skyrim won't be found wielding silver swords, you should be particularly careful of a group of wandering men and women known as the Vigil of Stendarr. These priests will not hesitate to attack you if you show proof of your wolf blood to them, so tread carefully.
8 Friends Are Still Friends
This might sound obvious to you, but yes, your friends will not react to you transforming to your beast form. No matter who your companion in Skyrim is, as long as you don't harm them in your beast form they will accept you as their friend. This also goes for any other factions such as the College of Winterhold, Stormcloaks, Legionnaires or the Thieves' Guild. As long as you are part of the faction, all members of the group are automatically aware of your beast blood and will never turn on you even if you transform.
7 No Racial Bonuses
In Skyrim each playable species has some type of racial bonus that can aid them on their journey. They also have special skills only available to members of their own species. As a werewolf, once in your beast form you cannot make use of these bonuses and skills, since the game considers that your species has been momentarily altered. However, to bypass this you can cast any race specific spells before transforming and they should still be in effect once you've completed your shift.
6 Wolves Are Friends
The wild wolves of Skyrim will continue to attack you if you're in your human form, however as soon as you turn into your beast form they will consider you an ally and leave you alone.
This is a small quality of life improvement if you enjoy traveling the lands by foot and don't wish to be interrupted every five minutes by a hostile wolf pack. However, keep in mind that wild werewolves found all around Skyrim in various dungeons and the like will still attack you regardless of what form you're in.
5 Increased Carrying Weight
Although so far it might seem like becoming a werewolf is a whole lot of hard work and cons, there are some serious benefits, too, and they're not all related to combat. In your beast form, you'll gain an extra 1900 points worth of carrying capacity on top of your base capacity. This is incredibly useful if you find yourself adventuring through big dungeons and large cave systems and suddenly realize you've encumbered yourself. Although beast form is temporary, it can be the life saving solution to getting to a place where you can finally sell all your loot or deposit it into a chest.
4 Limited Actions
When in beast form, there are obvious human things that just aren't realistic for you to do. For instance, it's impossible as a werewolf for you to pick up things and loot corpses. Moreover, don't even think about being able to pick locks or open any kind of other door mechanism that involves a lever or dragon claw of sorts.
Next time you choose to transform yourself into a werewolf, make sure you're aware of this so that you don't find yourself in an awkward position, waiting for your beast mode to run out.
3 Feeding
Much like vampires, werewolves, too, can feed on the innocent. This isn't a necessity, which makes game play a lot easier for those who might want to focus on having a morally pure character. However, if you wish to stay in your werewolf form for a longer time period, you need to feed on the corpses of dead enemies. Each time you feed your form will be extended by thirty more seconds, giving you a bit of extra time to do whatever it is you need to while in your wolf form.
2 Trusted Friend
This is more of an interesting detail, but it's worth knowing if you ever find yourself in a bit of a pinch in the city of Whiterun. If for some reason you choose to transform in front of everyone in Whiterun, you'll be receiving mostly negative reactions from all other citizens expect Eorlund Gray-Mane. In fact, Eorlund will come for your aid at that moment and fight along your side while you're in beast mode, making him your most trusted ally in the city.
1 A Bounty
The most important part about being a werewolf in Skyrim is knowing the consequences of transforming in front of different people. While we already covered friendly factions and companions, transforming in front of just about anyone else, especially in big cities will put a bounty of 1000 gold on your head. It will obviously also make everyone around you hostile towards you, so always try to be mindful of where to use your powers and who's most likely to see you.