Additional question: There are some sources, dated like a year out, that said that vamps and werewolves only spawned during certain in-game moon phases. I haven't seen this mentioned on several vampire guides.

Is this still a thing?

Ryelis wrote: »

Additional question: There are some sources, dated like a year out, that said that vamps and werewolves only spawned during certain in-game moon phases. I haven't seen this mentioned on several vampire guides.

Is this still a thing?

Sort of, kinda, not completely.

Back at launch there were players who would camp the spawns and obliterate them, in an effort to corner the bite market. (Seriously, back at launch, a bite could pull down up to 50k.) As a result, ZOS randomized the spawns slightly. They seem to weight toward the new moon (for vampires) and the full moon (for werewolves), but they can spawn on any night now.

Last time I intentionally looked for a bite, they did seem to still have their original intentional spawn patterns (so on the new moon you get Vampires at midnight, and on the full moon you get Werewolves), but they can also pop up on other days without warning.

Thing is, the game has a full 28 day lunar cycle, which chews up, roughly, one ingame week. So, one of them spawns on the weekend, one spawns midweek. I don't remember which is which, sorry.

Something that will help. The lunar phases do not affect moonrise and moonfall in ESO (those are always dusk and dawn), so you can use your compass to tell the time by comparing it to the moon's location. When the larger moon passes the meridian, it's midnight. At that point you have until dawn (about 90 minutes) to get bitten or the spawns will disappear.

Ryelis wrote: »

Additional question: There are some sources, dated like a year out, that said that vamps and werewolves only spawned during certain in-game moon phases. I haven't seen this mentioned on several vampire guides.

Is this still a thing?

It is. Best bet is to zip over to the Bankorai shrine and head up towards the cemetary area around the corner when you see it's dark on any character. With a 6 hour day and 2 hour night, you'll eventually grab it. If you find them, just run up and get thumped on a few times, check your character sheet for the gift, and depart until they reset.

You can quickly log onto other characters and repeat, just don't kill the spawns for the next guy. (If you don't yet have the wayshrine unlocked, you can generally find a friend of guild member (check the roster by location) for someone in Bankorai, and odds are they'll be at that shrine. Plus, I believe the first time you port into a new zone at any wayshrine, it also unlocks the 'primary' wayshrine as well, which is the one you want.

The other option is just to request a free bit in zone chat. Often people will oblige. No need to pay, ever.

EDIT: This is for vamp, obviously. For those wolf types, I believe their spot was NE across the river area, but same spawn check applies. *If you don't play that character as often, you can simply log out while in that area for an even easier check when it becomes dark later