The clans in Bloodlines 2

The clans in Bloodlines 2 Bloodlines 2 gives you six clans for Phyre: Brujah, Tremere, Banu Haqim, Ventrue, Toreador, and Lasombra. All six are in the base game. Older articles saying Toreador and Lasombra require an extra purchase are out of date. That changed before release. And you’re choosing a clan for Phyre, the same elder vampire. You aren’t picking between six unrelated characters with six separate campaigns. The choice affects your abilities and parts of the experience, but Phyre’s story is still the center of the game. Brujah Brujah are the direct, aggressive option. Feed, get close, and start knocking people around. Their feeding passive increases melee damage. Taunt makes someone angry and vulnerable, and armed enemies can drop their weapons. Charge lets you grab a target and drive them through other enemies. Lightning Strike hits multiple targets, while Earthshock launches nearby enemies into the air. Using Earthshock from higher up increases its blast. Their final perk lets kills trigger the passive without having to feed every time. A lot of the clan’s abilities are built around keeping a fight moving in your favor. Tremere Tremere are still the blood-sorcery option, but don’t assume their abilities work exactly like they did in the original. Cauldron of Blood makes a victim suffer loudly enough to draw attention. Blood Curse sets a target up to explode when damaged. Blood Salvo gives you blood projectiles. Recall lets you mark a location and return to it with an attack that damages nearby enemies. Their feeding passive dissolves bodies. Their final perk gives feeding a chance to restore extra blood to the last ability used. There’s a lot here for setting up an encounter instead of running straight into it. Mrs. Thorn’s quests are also restricted to Tremere on new playthroughs under the current updates. Banu Haqim Banu Haqim are built around stalking people and deciding when things get violent. Feeding temporarily silences your actions. Mute silences a target, and the updated ability also briefly quiets Phyre’s own actions and weapons. Split Second slows everything around you. Bladed Hand is a silent attack that can decapitate mortal enemies. Unseen Aura makes you invisible, but invisible and silent are separate things. That’s worth remembering before assuming nobody can detect you. Standing still extends its duration, and your feeding passive helps with the noise. Their final perk lets you sprint while crouched. Niko’s quests are exclusive to this clan on new playthroughs under the current updates. If you want to isolate someone and deal with them before everybody else notices, this is one to look at. Ventrue Ventrue give you ways to control a fight instead of relying entirely on damage. Cloud Memory makes a target forget your presence. Possession lets you control an opponent and turn them against somebody else. You can use Ventrue and Affect abilities while possessing them, too. Terminal Decree is a lethal command. Mass Manipulation suppresses enemies in front of you and lets Dominate abilities affect the group. Feeding gives you damage resistance, and the final perk increases the health restored by feeding. So you have control and durability together, with several ways to stop a group from fighting you on its own terms. Toreador Toreador combine movement with manipulation. Entrancing Kiss temporarily makes somebody an ally who protects you. Beckon draws a target toward the last place they saw you. Blink moves you immediately to another location and can knock down enemies you hit along the way. Blurred Momentum helps you avoid damage. Their feeding passive increases movement speed. Their final perk lets relocation abilities recharge over time. You can lure someone away, turn them against other people, reposition, and keep going. If you’d rather move around a fight than stand there trading hits, there’s plenty here to work with. Lasombra Lasombra use shadows to control an encounter and separate enemies. Arms of Ahriman holds targets in place until they take damage. Shadow Step takes you to someone through their shadow. Glimpse of Oblivion frightens a target into fleeing. Enter Oblivion is the especially unusual one. You create a shadow and temporarily pull yourself and the people caught in it into a separate dimension. That lets you isolate part of a group instead of dealing with everybody at once. Their feeding passive makes them harder to see, and their final perk prevents mortals from attacking during a feed. You aren’t restricted to one set of abilities Your starting clan matters, but you can learn abilities from other clans through Blood Resonance, contacts, and Ability Points. Resonant blood bags are another way to obtain that resource now. Be careful with older guides that describe an unlimited experience grind. The Spring Update removed experience from feeding on pedestrians. Experience is finite, although main-quest rewards were increased enough to support your clan’s abilities and at least one additional clan’s set. Combat has changed since launch as well. You can directly wield melee weapons and firearms now. That matters when you’re deciding how to combine your powers. What to expect from the choice Brujah for brawling. Tremere for blood sorcery. Banu Haqim for stalking. Ventrue for control and durability. Toreador for mobility and manipulation. Lasombra for shadows and isolation. Those are starting points, not rules telling you there’s only one way to play each clan. Phyre remains Phyre. You can change their appearance and shape parts of their past through conversations, but choosing a clan doesn’t replace the whole story. Fabien is a playable Malkavian in his own sections. That doesn’t make Malkavian a seventh clan you can select for Phyre. And the expansions’ separate character stories aren’t additional clan unlocks either.