I understand that the main quest can be completed without taking sides in the civil war, but I'm at the point where I'm contemplating finishing the main story line. I'd like to go back and do the civil war afterwards. Has anyone done that successfully?
Join the legion and do the Civil War quest line AFTER completing the main story
the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim
Related Solutions
Quests can belong to one of several categories which give them unique "knotwork" in the journal. The main quest is one such category, and has knotwork depicting a dragon breathing fire:
Yes, it is possible. The main quest is not completely independent of the war, but it does not require your character to take any action to support or oppose either side in it. You won't need any advice or hints as to how to avoid taking a side; the game will tell you what you need to know when you get there. I hadn't realized it before, because I wasn't in this situation myself, but some thought seems to have gone into making this work out.
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Best Answer
Yes.
I've done this succesfully. The main questline was one of the first questlines that I finished (mainly to get the Dragon Shouts exclusive to it), and the Civil War questline (the Imperial Legion path) was one of the last questlines I finished (because I can't decide who to support, initially).
A word of warning, though: There are a few bugs associated with one of the main quests, coming from a variety of questlines, including the Civil War questline.
If you do not trigger these bugs, or have done a workaround, you should be able to complete the Civil War questline even after the main questline has been finished.
More info:
http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Main_Quest
http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Stormcloaks
http://uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Imperial_Legion