Current state of play of Lunar Cycles and Werewolf / Vampire spawning.

carljokl

Posts exist on this topic but they are too old to reuse without necroing.

I am trying to find out the current state of play with the Lunar Cycles and the spawning of Werewolves / Vampires in the game. I have been reading everything I can find on this subject on the internet. It seems some articles are a couple of years old from the early days of the game or in other cases the author doesn't know everything for sure and there is a lot of speculation.

It is generally implied that Werewolves spawn at the full moon and Vampires spawn at new moons. Some sources debate over whether this is actually the case.
I got a Werewolf infection once when looking for a Vampire bite. It was not perfectly either the full or new moon.

A person in zone chat implied that one of the updates made a change so that any Bloodfiends or Werewolves could cause you to get infected if you are attacked by them at night (possibly in the right lunar phase).

I was not able to get infected fighting bloodfiends in Rivenspire under a new moon (or as close as I could get to one). Someone else implied it was possible to get infected from any Bloodfiend but the probability of infection is very low.

I read on the forums that the lunar cycles have an effect on the tides that can be observed by the level of the water on the steps of the dock in Riften. Yet others say there are no tides in the game (I hadn't noticed them but then I wasn't looking for them).

Some guides show spawn locations for Vampires and Werewolves in the last zone of each alliance, where they are supposed to spawn. Different guides can show spawns in locations other than these. This raises the question of whether there are any specific spawn location of if Werewolves / Bloodfiends can spawn randomly in a wide area over the zone.

I am really trying to find out how this mechanic works in the current latest version of the game and be able to sift of the truth from the myths and misinformation.

I know I can get a bite by asking for one but I am quite determined to try accomplish this through the in game mechanic for the satisfaction of having accomplished it. I have had two alts have Werewolf bites from wild Werewolves when I wasn't trying to get one (I paid to have them cured). For that reason I know first hand it can be done. Sad if it seems to only happen for me when I don't want it.

Glaiceana

As far as I understand, you can only be infected by the ones that spawn in the zones that have the werewolf and vampire shrines. It doesn't necessarily have to be a full moon, as the werewolves can spawn any night, it's just more likely on a full moon. And I believe this goes for vampires too.
It's also possible that in the whole zone, only one of the spawn points will be fruitful. And you just have to find the right one at the right time and hope no one killed them before they were found >.>
Sorry if this doesn't help much, you are right that this subject is filled with speculation but also misconception. I have seen some ridiculous "facts" claimed in my time regarding this

davey1107

I have both vamp and wolf and help guildies get it. My observation is that the mechanism works the way it has for the two years I've played. Wolves spawn at night in specific locations in zone five (reapers, etc) around a full moon, and blood fiends spawn at night in specific locations in zone five...probably more likely during a new moon, but hard to tell.

It's unlikely that the mechanics have changed because 1. Zos hasn't mentioned them in patch notes, 2. Theyve been generally lazy with game updates, and it's unlikely they've focused on something as small as this.

Getting a bite follows the same pattern for all my guildies:

1. Desire bite, decide it will be cool to go look for spawning infection sources.
2. Realize that's boring and will waste hours for no reason.
3. Look in crown store. Realize that $15 is a ridiculous price for a bite.
4. Put text chat up in fifth area zone chat. "Hey, can anyone..." get bite in five minutes for free.

Soella

While I was looking for vampires, I saw werewolves in the middle of the moon cycle. Got Vampire bite under the full moon.

Took me about a week - I went daily close to midnight through all 3 zones, used addon with spawn locations. Altogether took about 3 hours, I had fast horse (~+ 50%) and used rapid maneuvers so checking all 3 zones took about 20 minutes/round. Twice saw werewolves before finally got fiends.