All 3 DLCs mid game

[dermainz]

Hi again,

I just got hold of Dawnguard, Heartfires and Dragonborn.
ATM I'm a level 41 mage and just finished the College questline and am looking for the Scrolls.
Since I don't know what exactly the DLCs are going to change I wonder if I should start over or if it's fine continuing from where I am.
Will I miss quests and content? What would you guys do?

[VirtualWeasel]

As far as I'm concerned, the DLC are made to be played midway through the game—especially Dragonborn. You'll get the same experience out of the DLCs as a lower level player would, Bethesda made them to level with the player.

[Lord Timster]

Just continue from where you are now. You won't miss any actual quests and the random encounters will all turn up eventually anyway so go for it.

Only minor problem I can think of is that all three DLCs could trigger themselves next time you go into a settlement so things might get unpredictable. If new NPCs get killed without giving you a message/quest you might want to think about reloading, otherwise you're good to go.

iirc I loaded all three DLCs in at level 50 or so the first time and it worked fine.

[dermainz]

Thank you, that is what I hoped for. As you said, things got confused the moment I got to Whiterun, but I managed.

One more thing though. From a story point of view, is the Dragonborn questline supposed to be before or after the main questline?
Or are they separate?

[Lord Timster]

Either really. The dialogue in Dragonborn will change slightly depending on progression through / finishing the Main Quest. No need to worry about it fitting in with the story!

So you can finish either Dragonborn / Main Quest first, whatever makes sense for your character, and Dragonborn will change itself slightly to fit what you've done.

- I don't remember the game imposing any 'story timeline' restrictions at all.
(Except: Dragonborn won't start until you've been to the Greybeards.)

[Pilaf The Defiler]

Thank you, that is what I hoped for. As you said, things got confused the moment I got to Whiterun, but I managed.

One more thing though. From a story point of view, is the Dragonborn questline supposed to be before or after the main questline?
Or are they separate?

Before, during or After. People in the game will have slightly different dialogue depending on what stage of Skyrim's vanilla questline you're on, from beginner to Big Damn Hero and everything in between.