Where to Find Serana in Skyrim & Get Her as a Follower?

When The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim was launched, it took the gaming community by storm. Many gamers still hail it as one of the best video games ever.

The game is played – and loved – to this date. Gamers love the interactive open-world setting, magical enchantments, storyline, and, most importantly – character development.

Skyrim’s Serana is one such interesting non-playing character that has captured the hearts of all the lovers of the game. She is the daughter of the powerful Vampire Lord Harkon, the leader of the Volkihar clan, and his wife, Valerica.

Serana is a pure-blood vampire and is one of the “Daughters of Coldharbour”. She is central to the main questline in Dawnguard (DLC of Skyrim). 

If you’re wondering where to find Serana in Skyrim, then you can find Serana in Dimhollow Crypt within Falkreath Hold.

But there’s a lot more to know about Skyrim’s Serana; her follower details, whether you can marry her or not, her strengths and weaknesses, a cure for her vampirism, and so much more! 

What if you have found Serana, but she has disappeared mid-way?

Don’t worry, I will help you there too. 

So, are you ready to ride off with Serana into the beautiful Skyrim sunset? 

Where to Find Serana in Skyrim?

In the Dawnguard storyline, when vampires attack the Hall of the Vigilant, you – the Dragonborn – are sent to Dimhollow Crypt to look into the matter. 

You will find Serana lying in one of the chambers in the Dimhollow Crypt. You can only set her free after you kill Lokil and all his thralls and vampires.

Meeting Serana is part of the main questline and thus unavoidable. So, if you haven’t found her yet, you will soon. Just keep playing.

Serana is one of the main characters in Dawnguard because she possesses one of the Elder Scrolls. Her mother, Valerica, hid her in a sarcophagus with the Elder Scroll and locked her away for centuries.

Valerica did this to save her daughter from her husband, the Vampire Lord Harkon, who intended to sacrifice Serana to fulfill the prophecy called the Tyranny of the Sun. This prophecy would block out the sun forever and allow vampires to rule the world in the dark.

When you find Serana in the Dimhollow Crypt, she will assess whether you’re a vampire or not. She will even ask you to take her to her home – Volkihar Castle.

Interesting storyline, isn’t it?

This is why I consider Skyrim to be one of the best games in the fantasy and mythical adventure genres.

Serana’s Equipment, Ability, and Stats

Serana is a little defensive when it comes to her vampirism. She prefers not to talk about the actual ceremony as it troubles her even to think about it. But she also does not deny the power vampirism has granted her; she sees it as a powerful gift.

Serana is a stealth mage with the following stats at level 50:

Skyrim’s Serana is a powerful necromancer. She can raise corpses of humanoids and creatures, even powerful creatures like Dremora Caitliffs. However, the bodies she raises will disintegrate into ash piles, preventing the Dragonborn from resurrecting them afterward.

Skyrim’s Serana likes to dual wield; she uses Ice Spike spells and Vampiric Drain when fighting at close range. At long range, she may use Lightning Bolt. Once she levels up, she will start using Chain Lightning. 

When her magicka runs dry, Serana switches to melee combat and uses her default weapon – the Elven Dagger. She can wield two-handed weapons and equip stronger daggers and swords too.

Serana, being a vampire, can resist any frost spells and can use Drain Life spells as well. According to the Dragonborn’s levels, Serana uses spells like:

Serana does not prefer bows. She can equip a shield or a staff if provided. However, she soon unequips it in combat so she can use spells in both hands. She has a high sneak skill – higher than other followers.

But… there’s a catch!

Serana’s aggressive behavior makes her unwilling to sneak effectively. Her level is capped at 50. She uses Vampire Royal Armor by default with a +125% Magicka Regen enchantment. She either prefers her own default armor that was improved by smithing or light armor with a high base armor value.

One of the most unique abilities of Serana is to create Bloodcursed Elven Arrows by dipping the arrow tips in her vampire blood. Shooting these arrows with the Auriel’s bow to shroud the Sun in darkness. This benefit makes the arrows useful for stealth.

However, remember that Serana can make these Bloodcursed Elven Arrows after completing the Touching Sky quest. 

How to Get Serana as a Follower?

Serana’s character has a different voice actor, affable personality, charming appearance, and unique world interaction possibilities. All these small enhancements brought the character to life.

When you unlock Serana at Dimhollow Crypt, you will have a small interaction with her. After the interaction, she will become your temporary follower.

As a temporary follower, Serana will follow you around and fight the enemies, but she will lack the commands and interaction of a proper follower.

When you complete the Bloodline quest, as a reward for rescuing Serana, her father, Lord Harkon, will offer you to become a Vampire Lord. You can either turn him down and stay loyal to the Dawnguards or turn into a vampire and inherit the powers of a vampire.

(I chose the Dawnguards faction, and you should too. I’ll tell you why later on! 😉)

Then comes the quest, Prophet. No matter which faction you have chosen, the objective of this quest is the same – find a Moth priest and decipher the Elder Scroll. In this quest, Serana will become your permanent follower.

Henceforth, Serana will follow all your commands like any other follower.

Most players love having Serana as a follower, as she can assist you in your quests by fighting the enemies and enhancing your strengths with her Bloodcursed Elven Arrows.

Due to the in-game interactions, most players are able to build a connection with her. No wonder many players consider her one of the game’s best followers.

Where to Find Serana if You Lost Her?

There will be instances where Serana is with you as a follower, and then she part ways or just disappears and never shows up again.

In such cases, you need to do the following:

• Fast-travel to your last destination
• Sleep in a bed
• Restart the game from your last save point

As mentioned, in the Bloodline quest, you will be tasked with an important decision: become a vampire or stay loyal to the Dawnguards. Based on this decision, you can find Serana again if she disappears.

Serana will return to Fort Dawnguard if you have sided with the Dawnguards. Or, she will return to Castle Volkihar if you side with the vampires.

Either way, Fort Dawnguard or Castle Volkihar are the two places where you can find Serana if you lose her in the game.

How to Cure Serana of her Vampirism?

Curing Serana of her vampirism can be a bit difficult subject to bring up. If you bring up this conversation during the Dawnguard quest, Serana will deny the conversation by saying, “I am not talking about this with you anymore”.

Also, you will lose the dialogue option forever.

If this happens, the console command SetPapyrusQuestVar DLC1NPCMentalModel ToldPlayerSheDidntWantCure_var False can reset the cure conversation

Once reset, the Dragonborn can resume the cure conversation with Serana. This time, you must choose “You could be your own person again.”

That’s why I suggest you wait till the completion of Kindred Judgement (the final Dawnguard quest) before you talk with Serana about curing her vampirism. You can only do so after you kill Lord Harkon in the final quest.

Regardless of whether you sided with the Vampire faction or the Dawnguard faction, you need to kill Lord Harkon to complete the quest. Thus, I think the Dawnguard faction is a superior faction in Skyrim.

(That’s why I chose to side with the Dawnguard!)

Another advantage of being a Dawnguard is that you can ask Serana about her vampire curing immediately after completing the Dawnguard quest.

When you start this dialogue, you will get four options – two successful and two unsuccessful options. Ask Serana, “Have you thought about getting cured of vampirism?”

She will say, “No, why?”

You have two options that will lead her to cure her vampirism:

• “Look what it did to your family.”
• “You could be your own person again.”

If you choose, “I think I’d feel more comfortable”, she will throw in a sarcastic jab with, “Huh, very supportive.” If this happens, you cannot cure her vampirism.

If you choose any of the first two successful options, you get two more choices:

• “If you want to cure yourself, I’ll support you.”
• “I don’t think I can help you with this.”

If you want to cure Serana, choose the first option.

If you are successful in convincing Serana to cure her vampirism, she will set off to find Falion in Morthal. 

For the next three days, she will stay with Falion. Once she’s cured, she will become human and return to Fort Dawnguard.

Go to Fort Dawnguard, and you will find her there waiting for you.

Even though you have cured Serana, she will still exhibit some of her vampire traits. Such as:

• She will still complain about the sun
• She will still wear a hood when she’s outdoor
• She can still use the Vampiric Drain spell
• You can still contract Sanguinare Vampiris from her during combat
• She still dislikes temples

However, there are some things that will change, such as since Serana is not a vampire anymore, she cannot bite you and turn you into a vampire lord. Also, she will lose her frost resistance and her power to create Bloodcursed Elven Arrows.

Serana, after curing, can be healed with regular healing spells and can be detected with Detect Life spell instead of Detect Dead spell.

Final Thoughts

One more thing that I’d like to address that Skyrim players keep asking, again and again, is, “Can you marry Serana in Skyrim?”

The straightforward answer is NO!

No matter how many times you ask Serana, she will not marry the Dragonborn. She will politely refuse the marriage proposal, citing her complicated history and dislike of temples – even after curing.

Skyrim, undoubtedly, is one of the best games of our generation when it comes to open-world adventures. Its storyline, characters, and playing experience are truly remarkable whether you’re playing it for the first or the hundredth time. 

Skyrim has aged like a fine wine, and thus it is played and beloved to this day.

In conclusion, I’d say that Serana is a practical, intelligent, and powerful stealth mage, making her a great ally throughout the game. Even though she is a vampire, players relate to her story, family conflicts, and her quest for freedom.

Whether you’re a Dawnguard or a Vampire Lord, Serana will have your back with Ice Spikes and draining your enemy’s life.

What next? Play some of the best story-driven games to be a part of some unforgettable tales.