In what order am I supposed to do the questlines?

[Tom2681]

Hello, fellow Elderscrollers.

 

So I've nearly finished the game. Pretty satisfied with how it went, except that I don't think I did it like I was "supposed to". :biggrin:

 

For example, I did the Dark Brotherhood questline after winning the civil war with the Stormcloaks.

So you've got the Emperor, his cousin and their special forces showing up in what is effectively "hostile territory".

That's pretty bad. That quest should have taken place while Solitude was still under imperial control.

 

Also I can't help but feel that I've obtained too much money and too much quality equipment early on, making the game incredibly easy.

 

Is there a correct order?

Should the civil war quests be done early or late?

Should the main quest be done all in one go, or one bit at a time?

How did you guys do it?

[fraquar]

I do them in the following order usually:

 

First: Faction(s) of choice

Second: Civil War

Third: Main Quest

 

Almost every character I make has a base faction he's gonna belong to, the only thing I'd add to that is whatever I play if it has a merchant foundation then I also do the Thieves Guild side-quests to establish the trade network I'll need to move my goods.

 

Personally, I've always found it hard to stop once you start on the main questline - since IMO ending the dragon issue is the paramount quest in the game. Once you've done that everything else seems like an anti-climax.

[Iv000]

You determine the correct order.

 

You don't have to touch the MQ, you can do it in pieces or you can do it all in one go.

Same for every other quest in the game. There's no wrong or right way of doing it.

 

I usually first do misc quests to develop my character, then I do faction quests (Usually one faction per playthrough), then the MQ (If I decide to play the MQ at all in that specific playthrough).

I still haven't done the Civil War quests, I probably will some time later though.

Edited February 5, 2012 by Iv000

[chanchan05]

Thing is, you determine how you play through, there is no "correct order".

 

However I did a pretty good playthrough in my 1st game in terms of order:

 

1. Did main quest to before going to HH

2. Companions

3. Went to Riften after HH and ended up joining TG

4. Lived as a Thief until I got to Windhelm and got the DB quest

5. Did the Jurgen Windcaller quest while at Solitude for TG

6. Got joined to DB

7. Finished TG

8. Did jobs for DB while finishing MQ

9. Finished DB

10. Finished MQ

11. Rebellion: Imperials

[Feanoro]

Obviously you decide the order. I'm on my 3rd playthrough atm though, and I'll just tell you what MY personal preference is (what I find most enjoyable).

 

I would start with the Riverwood quests, then do some Whiterun quests and try to save up for a house ASAP. After that I recommend you join the DB early on because that way you get to actuallly USE their armor when you're a low level, as opposed to later on when it becomes obsolete. I would also do as many side contracts from Nazir as possible to get some cash early on.

 

After that you've pretty much got a starting point and I would EXPLORE for ages. On my current playthrough I was lvl 55 before I did any of the longer quests and they seemed WAY more entertaining later on.

 

For roleplaying value I would avoid starting Thieves Guild till you're pretty high in Sneak/Lockpicking/Pickpocketing, and also I'd avoid the later quests until you're at least 46+ (can't beat that maxed Chillrend:P).

 

I recommend doing Daedric quests earlier if you can manage it, as the items you get usually become obsolete when you're 90+ smithing.

 

Again, for roleplaying value I wouldn't do Mages guild till I was somewhat decent at magic and I'd try to do it USING magic.

 

Finally, I would STRONGLY recommend leaving the Civil War and main quests untouched till you've exhausted pretty much everything else and have explored a high percentage of the map. I say this because if you do Civil War early on you'll lose the opportunity to clear quite a few fun forts (the initial npcs get replaced by either Stormcloaks or Imperial soldiers).

 

Doing the Main Quest early on also leaves everything else in a bit of anticlimax as someone else said.

 

Also if you learn your way around the game you'll find that by doing tons of quests early on you'll lose many fun things in the game (to give you a couple of examples, on my first playthrough I powered through quests and did the Hircine quest before I had explored that cave which made me not be able to get Bolar's Oathblade, I also got a Helm of Winterhold quest in Yngol Barrow which made me not be able to get Yngol's Helm, doing Civil War early on made me not able to explore the best forst the way they were meant to be explored, with large variations of monsters instead of a constant stream of low level soldiers, etc.)

[thesapien]

It always kind of feels like the wrong order or like I'm living double/triple lives while being unfaithful or not doing my duties properly. Any time I put off the main quest, I feel like I'm putting it off because I am. But if I do it first, then it I feel premature and the rest is sort of anti-climatic.

 

So I agree with others that there is no right order, however, disagree that this means any order is right.

[eltucu]

Do them as you please, almost no quest influences the others.

 

Do the stormcloacks scream like little girls cuz they have Alduin's slayer in their ranks if you do the MQ before the Civil War? Nope.

 

Do the Imperials shun you for beign part of the Dark Brotherhood, possibly linked with the murder of the emperor, while trying to join the ranks of the Legion? Not at all.

 

That said, town guards do know everything bout you. But, like everyone else, they dont give a sht bout what you are.