Alright guys thanks for all the help, if you want to keep posting please do so I'll be sure to read them. I'm going to buy dawnguard and dragonborn and skip hearthfire. Thanks again!

Is any of your characters a vampire or a werewolf? If yes, then the DLC is for you.
If like me you aren't interested in vampires in the slightest, you can still enjoy Dawnguard - the Forgotten Vale is a real treat, one of the most beautiful places in Skyrim. Add that one memorable sidequest, the old friend you can meet, very nice new armors and crossbows, a follower with fleshed out personality and backstory...


They're stronger, yes. Slower to reload, but it's not much of an issue, especially if you're sniping - my archer keeps using bows simply because I like them, but crossbows go extremely well with my warrior.

@MerchantMudCrab
You do realize he said "no spoilers", right?

Yes I have my warrior as a werewolf I was thinking he should join the dawnguard side and my mage join the vampires.

No, good thing I didn't spoil anything.

Except the name and location of a certain artifact, which I wouldn't want to know if I was just starting the DLC. But mages>all doesn't mind, so all's good

Eh, it still didn't spoil anything... but yeah, glad he doesn't mind.

Anyways back on point: Get Dawnguard and Dragonborn because they completely add to the ways you can play the game