So I am planning out a new progression route for my new save. I have still not yet completed either the main quest or the civil war quest on any of my other toons. My last save was looking good to be my main, however, because of a stupid bug I have to create an entirely new save.

So I was wondering, which one should I complete first? Should I get the main quest before I finish the entirety of the civil war quests? Or should I leave the main quest for the very last until I complete the majority of everything including guild quests, side quests, etc?

I know I can have seperate characters for each part of the game, however I was planning on basically RP my ranger and having some kind of realistic progression in the world.

Thank you.,

When I did the civil war/main quest I mixed them up. I would do a bit of one for awhile, then a bit of the other. I think I ended up finishing the civil war quests slightly ahead of the main quest. I really enjoyed doing it that way. If I ever do the main quest a second time I'll probably do it that way again.

The story told by the main quest has more dire consequences for Skyrim so I think it's more appropriate to save that ending for the big finale. Finishing the main quest and then finishing the civil war quests would seem pretty anti-climactic to me.

I guess you're anticipating spoilers in this thread, and if not brace yourself, but the way I like to do it is to do the Civil War halfway and then start/finish the MQ. During the MQ, if the CW isn't resolved, you'll have truce negotiations which is a cool scene. By advancing the war partially I feel like it gives more weight to the need for the negotiations. And by waiting until the MQ is done to finish the CW you leave yourself something major to do. Basically, I think the story works best this way; at least for my character.

Yeah, wrong section bud. There is a spoiler section, y'know?

Well I ain't asking for specifics, just a simple this one is better done first or kept for the last. Something along those lines.

Honestly? You'll get more out of them both (depending on your character's roleplay I suppose), if you only partially complete the civil war quest, then finish the main quest.

That's all going to depend on the story you want to tell. You talked about realistic progression so I think the way I described would work for you. It's pretty silly that the war doesn't advance at all while you're off doing the MQ.

I hope you don't plan on doing the civil war quest with the intention that you will not be forced to do the main quest (as I did when I first bought the game).

Unfortunately, the game forces you to be dragonborn if you want to be a normal grunt in the civil war. One of the most disappointing aspects of the game, imo.

That's the truth. I came very close to uninstalling the game when I found that out. It still galls me.

I've always on my play throughs completed the civil war first until my latest character Salessi. I ended up concentrating on the MQ first. Eventually you are required to talk to both sides in order to proceed with the MQ but that in itself is very entertaining. Lets just say having both sides including the blades and the thalmor under one roof...exciting. I believe from now on I'm going to play it out this way and then start the civil war after.