Not sure if this should go here or in the general forum, but since I don't mind spoilers, etc, I thought this was most appropriate.

I've only played thru the game once, really, and that was over a year, close to a year and a half ago and have decided to run thru the DLC content now. I've been surfing a bit reading up on the game and everything sounds familiar but I'm super fuzzy about everything and thought I would ask if any of you guys have any advice for easing back in.

When I last played, I played a Breton (I think) stealth/archer type and made it to level 61 playing all of the base game questlines as with maxing skills for that archetype as well as max smithing and enchanting, but no alchemy. He is in full crafted dragon armor (made while wearing a custom set of crafting armor, but no crazy boosting beyond that) and I played at whatever the default difficulty is. All major quest lines from the orignal game are done and there are just a handful of sidequests left in his list. I play on a 360 so, at this point, I have 1000 gamerscore with full achievements in the original game and an additional, which, I think, is 50 from the original done and 25 to go from the DLCs. Worth mentioning that cheevos are a priority, I guess.

So that's where I'm at but not sure how to proceed. I was thinking I would start a new playthru just to get a feel for the controls, feel of the game and getting around again, but would love to pick up where I left off with my old archer since I have 200+ hours in him. Or, just do the new content with the new char? All of the DLC content is "after my time" so to speak so I have no idea what would be smoother or just work better.

Any help or advice anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

For the achievements I have no idea about them since I am on PC and do not even know what they are on the PC since I play Offline most of the time.

It is up to you if you want to play with your Breton or start a new character. Since you stated about Achievements there might be one that can only be done with a level 81 character. So it would be easier to get there with your old character.

You sound a lot like me. I once had a high level sneak-archer too.

Let me tell you right now that starting over after such a long break will make for a much more engaging experience especially with the new content. I know it did for me.

And don't be afraid to mix things up just a bit. The whole game will feel like new content, and there's so much to explore post-vanilla. I actually morphed into more of a combat archer with a splash of Illusion.

If your an achievement junky, what I would do is: under another user name ( I have 6 so I don't often have more than one character per name) play for awhile to get used to the mechanics again. then go back and do the DLC's with your lvl 61 character.

Since I am not an achievement junky and could care less about them, I would create a new character for Dawnguard and another for Dragonborn... that are both different from the other character. Maybe even two characters for DG one on the DG side the other on the vampire side. As I don't have Dragonborn I don't know if there are two "sides".

For my style it just suite me better to do new content with a new character, it's the way I have done each new questline. That all said, have fun and do it your way.