Just wondering. I would happily save a perk for dragon armor smithing now that dragon bone weapons are included.

Yes I assume Dragonbone smithing will be needed for the smithing of weapons.

Will it carry to the base game or is it a seperate game?

What do you mean? Dawnguard is an expansion of the main game. You will be able to use the new weapons in the vanilla game if that's what you're asking.

Dawnguard isn't a standalone expansion. It builds upon the main game instead.

Thanks for the answer.

So the DLC will add new locations in Skyrim?

I thought it would be like GTA 4's expansion packs which adds a different game but uses the same locations.

Yes. There are some new areas that aren't part of Skyrim but it looks like some areas already in Skyrim are getting expanded.

Eeyup. Just like the DLC loactions for Oblivion, Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas.

No, it will be very unlike and different then the DLC's from fallout. The DLC's for fallout added new map areas that loaded seperately and with few exceptions once the DLC began you couldn't leave until it was over. Dawnguards new areas with the exception of the Soul Carin are being seemlessly intergrated into the existing map. Castle Volkihar will be northeast of Winterhold while Fort Dawnguard will be somewhere in the Rift.

So they claim. A few stock Skyrim characters mention the Dawnguard and suddenly this 'expansion' of 10 hours 'builds upon the main game.'

You have no idea what their conversation was about do you?
The poster was thinking the DLC would be like the DLC for the GTAIV which was a standalone stories whose content wouldn't carry over into the main game. You'd be a different character with different weapons and abilities made available.

ChapTES was correcting his misinformation. Now I will correct your misinformation as well.

Typically DLC for bethesda games contained new map areas, you could only access them at a fixed point in the main map. Once the DLC's begain you normally couldn't leave the new area until completed.

Dawnguard adds new areas to the existing map, actually expanding its boundries, in addition to vampire lords, normal vampires are getting an overhaul. New options in weapons and powers are being added which can be used anywhere. How does that not build upon the main game?

The principle of it though, is similar. It doesn't force the player to create a new character but adds new locations. Only difference is not being able to leave till it's over. I'm sure the soul cairn will require a loading screen and the two castles could be compared to that of the old Home dlcs from Oblivion.

It's just nothing like TLAD or TBOGT is what I mean. Fallout DLCs, while not a perfect comparison, would suffice.

Elder Scrolls expansions always build upon the "main game."

I don't think its very comparable to the home DLC's either, The mages tower and battlehorn castle were dropped into existing areas of the map. The two castles in dawnguard are being dropped into locations beyond the current boundries of the map. I think the Fallout DLC comparison is to misleading it would make one believe you pass through a transition point somewhere in Skyrim and arrive in a different map area where both castles would be located.

The Soul Carin will likely be a seperate location in a similar fashtion to how Blackreach is a seperate location. It will be an expansive place to visit but not so expansive that it has its own map with fast travel markers. Basically a huge dungeon.

True. I know little other than speculation but I know it's not like the GTA DLCs.

It would be nice if the NEW map locations were in a unique color on the world map...it is hard to see where everything is even using the map color mod!

Not all of the Fallout DLC's took place outside of the barrier's, so the comparison could still be used as it's closer to truth than the GTA DLC. You will have to pass through a transition point to access both areas. For Dawnguard castle, as it's out of the typical map boundaries, you couldn't simply travel there on foot. For the soul Cairn, it's a plane of Oblivion, which you obviously couldn't reach while on foot. So to that, loading screens are needed, same as for the Fallout DLC's, other than Broken Steel.

Imagine Skyrim is a ball of clay that the size of a basketball. Now imagine that Dawnguard is a ball of clay the size of a orange. Throw the orange at the basketball and make in stick to the Skyrim. That was a terrible metaphor.

Yes, it adds on the content to the base game.