I'm sorry guys, I really wasn't sure where to put this thread since it didn't have to do with Skyrim or Oblivion specifically. And I was worried that their might be slight spoilers, I'm really not sure. Please move it if there's a better place for it.

Anyway, been playing Elder Scrolls games on consoles since 2002 but the only one I bothered to get the "Game of the Year" version for was Morrowind. And oh man did I loved those expansions and what they brought to the game. I've heard similar praise for Oblivions and Skyrims expansions but something or another and I just never got around to picking them up, UNTIL NOW. I've recently built a gaming PC and finally got around to buying the GOTY versions of both Oblivion/Skyrim. The thing is though is that I've really already played the base games to death with several different characters on my console versions and I kinda wanna just jump straight into the expansions. I know that Oblivion levels its enemies with you and I'm pretty sure Skyrims sotra does as well.

My question being is there anything I can do to prepare myself for these expansions? I know with Skyrim I think the final boss is

so I may want to get a good amount of shouts under my belt before heading there. I might always wanna try to get some good weapons and armor too. But I really don't know since I don't know what to expect.

Is my information wrong? Am I just going to get to these expansions and get destroyed because of my low level? If that's the case are there any mods maybe to help the grind through the base games slightly more enjoyable for someone that pretty much knows all the nooks and crannies? But I guess that last question probably opened up a whole different can of worms that might be best in the mods section. Hmm, maybe the console commands might be helpful but I never really used them in ES games other than Morrowind for fear of how the leveling system works.

Thanks for the time if anyone bothers to read this! <3

If you don't want to replay the old content, I recommend just writing down the stats/skills of your favorite old character, use console commands to shape your new character to the way the old one was and continue where you left off (kinda). For the equipment, give your character some gold, just enough to buy some basic gear and work your way from there. A quick google search should show you the lists of commands for Oblivion and Skyrim. That's my suggestion, good luck to you!

Edit: Like Boxman said, if you go take that route, be sure to also transfer the old character's level too, as the game needs it to adjust to your character.

I would recommend against using console commands to rebuild your character, in part because it might cause a ton of weirdness in a game that entirely doesn't want you to do that, and because it just svcks the life out of that playthrough. Well, it kills the vibe for me at least. If you were going to do it, I'd recommend setting your level to something appropriate with where you set your skills/attributes, leaving some headroom for more character growth instead of setting everything to the max, waiting in an isolated room for the game to reset itself (3 days for Oblivion and 10 days for Skyrim), and finally leveling up once "naturally" after you've done all of this for the calculations to kick in.

Personally, I like building my characters completely around going through the expansions and main quest. It creates a long, well-rounded playthrough that takes me through a lot. If you don't want to do that, Knights of the Nine will make for a pretty epic-feeling playthrough in Cyrodiil, and once you get all of the awesome toys from that DLC you can head straight for the Shivering Isles and probably be fine. Be aware that KotN is tailored for goody-two-shoes type characters; my go-to character for Oblivion GotY is a noble , heroic, (and Don Quixote inspired) knight that literally descends into madness; chivalry and insanity just make the best couple, and it can justify being a bit more morally gray. The only mod I would really recommend off the bat for you is http://www.nexusmods.com/oblivion/mods/39635/? - that way, gear will keep scaling with you as you advance levels instead of staying at the same low-level quality for the entire game if you got it at a low level.

It's a lot easier in Skyrim to focus more on the expansions from the start. Regardless, I suggest going through the main quest at least to the point where you can learn shouts and collect dragon souls. You'll need to at least meet up with the Greybeards before you can start Dragonborn's main quest (although you can take a boat to Solstheim at any time), but there's different dialogue if you do the Dragonborn questline after completing the main questline. Dawnguard is a really fleshed out questline on the mainland of Skyrim, with tons of side-quests (for real, read the Aetherium Wars and do that quest) and new equipment. I'd go for Dragonborn after Dawnguard; Dragonborn's main quest is actually really short compared to other questlines, but that DLC still adds an entirely new worldspace and a metric f'ton of side-quests and new toys, plus a really cool final showdown.

The DLCs for Oblivion and Skyrim aren't designed for endgame characters like the expansions for Morrowind - they're appropriate for all kinds of characters, for the most part, so feel free to start them at a low-ish level. In general, I'd start with the "mainland" expansions first (Knights of the Nine, Dawnguard), and then going to the new landmasses in Shivering Isles and Dragonborn.

Other mods I would recommend are the Unofficial Patches for the main game and the DLCs, which are well-done for each game and relatively easy to install. I don't know about Oblivion, but Bethesda didn't/couldn't release any patches for any of Skyrim's DLC, which means there are a few blatant (but not gamebreaking) issues with them. I think it has to do with how the digital marketplaces for the consoles are structured.

In Skyrim, you need to be level 10 for Dawnguard to start, and you need to be partway into the MainQuest to trigger Dragonborn.

In Oblivion, there's no level requirement for SI or KoTN, and, in fact, KoTN is designed to be started at low level, since the Crusader Gear will level with your character. I would suggest getting a few levels (and a bit of Marksman skill) before doing SI, since there's a challenging fight that occurs soon after you enter the Isles.

Actually you can start Dawnguard at any level by going to Fort Dawnguard. It is only at level 10 that you start getting told about it.

Yeah, what I meant was that when you hit level 10, the game tells your character about it. Until then, you have no in-game reason to know about it.

By contrast, the Oblivion DLC are present at the beginning of a new game.

I am not that familiar with Skyrim mods but Oblivion mods can turn it into a whole new game. So, no matter how familiar you are with the console version, you might have a whole new adventure with the PC version. I too played many many hours of Oblivion on console.

Mods I now run on my PC version of Oblivion include Maskars Oblivion Overhaul, Better Cities, Unique Landscapes, Enhanced Economy, Supreme Magicka, Better Dungeons, Snus Dungeons, Midas Magic, All Natural, Guild Advancement, Fighters Guild Quests, Mages Guild Quests, Universitas Arcaneaum, Elsweyr Deserts of Anaquina and many many others. It's a whole new game.

how to prepare for oblivion and skyrim

simple

pay for a 4 week vacation for your spouse , send your kids to their grandparents , get a doctor note for your work for atleast 4 weeks , stock up an micowave meals and

enjoy

4 weeks is not enough, 4 years for each game is the bare minimum.