In the new role-playing game of the Harry Potter universe, you quickly reach a full inventory. The large open world in and around the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry invites you to explore and offers plenty of clothing to loot. However, the inventory in Hogwarts Legacy has limited room for new items. The result: the space for equipment fills up quickly. Especially at the beginning of the game you only have 20 slots free and should therefore budget well. As soon as your inventory can no longer hold new clothes, you sell items in Hogsmeade or destroy them. But there is one way to expand your inventory: find and solve Merlin’s puzzles. These are small tests that you use to activate Merlin’s shrines. With these tips, we’ll tell you where to find Merlin’s shrines and how to tackle the little puzzles if you want to expand the capacity of your inventory.
Find Merlin’s riddle
To unlock the puzzles in the world, you first get to a certain point in the main story. After the first Herbology and Potions lesson (about three to four hours into the story) you will receive owl mail from Natsai Onai, who wants to meet you in Lower Hogsfield in the main quest “The Girl from Uagadou”. If you talk to her in the village south of Hogwarts, you will hear a woman screaming for help nearby. By the way: In our Hogwarts Legacy Beginner’s Guide you will find tips for a successful start to the game.
The next main quest “The Trials of Merlin” starts automatically. In it you have to defend the archaeologist Nora Treadwell against a couple of black magicians in order to then solve the first of Merlin’s riddles. Treadwell will give you a mallow, which you need to activate the puzzle. Simply stand on the round stone slab on the ground. Afterwards you have to light three fire bowls in a short time. Use the spell Incendio that you get in Professor Hecat’s first quest. You complete this after you have spoken to Professor Weasley after the first two lessons.
Hogwarts Legacy gear full? – Solve Merlin’s puzzles and expand inventory (1)
Source: Avalanche Software
Solve Merlin’s riddle – tips for the tasks
After that, various more of the puzzles marked with a feather in a circle on the map will open up to you around the world. To start one of the tasks you always need exactly one mallow herb. You buy it in Hogsmeade, collect it in the game world or plant it in the Room of Requirement at a later date. Check out our Seeds, Plants and Potions Guide for more tips.
The puzzles themselves are not all the same. There are seven different variants, for which you always need different spells, which you unlock at different times in the game.
- Light three braziers in a short time | Required spell: e.g. Incendio (automatic in “Professor Hecat’s Quest 1” during “The Mystery of the Medallion”)
- Jump onto different stone fragments one after another without falling down | Required Spell: none
- Destroy Nine Small Balls | Required Spell: Basic Spell (automatic in “The Road to Hogwarts”)
- Lure swarms of fireflies into three crystal stone pillars | Spell Required: Lumos (automatic in “The Road to Hogwarts”)
- Roll a stone ball into a target | Spell Required: Accio (automatic in Charms Lesson) or Depulso (in Professor Sharp’s Quest 1 after Jackdaw’s Final Resting Place)
- Place five small balls in three jigs | Spell Required: Accio (automatic in Charms Lesson) or Depulso (in Professor Sharp’s Quest 1 after Jackdaw’s Final Resting Place)
- Repair three broken stone statues | Spell Required: Reparo (in “Professor Ronen’s Task” after “Weasley After Class”)
Once you have solved the respective puzzle, a stone pavilion overgrown with plants will rise from the round stone slab on the ground and you will receive 80 XP. That way you know you did everything right.
Using Merlin’s Riddle – Tips on the bonuses
There are 95 of these puzzles in total, spread over all areas of the world. However, the southern area of the open world can only be entered at a later point in time in the main story – de facto you have ‘only’ 66 puzzles available at the beginning. You have to solve 52 of them if you want to reach the maximum capacity of your inventory: a doubling of the available slots from 20 to 40.
- Solve 2 puzzles, for a total of 2 -> 4 more equipment slots, for a total of 24
- Solve 6 more puzzles, for a total of 8 -> 4 more equipment slots, for a total of 28
- Solve 10 more puzzles, for a total of 18 -> 4 more equipment slots, for a total of 32
- 14 more puzzles, for a total of 32 -> 4 more gear slots, for a total of 36
- 20 more puzzles, for a total of 52 -> 4 more gear slots, for a total of 40
Once you have solved the respective number of puzzles, you can unlock the additional slots in the challenges. If you solve all 95 tasks, you get the achievement “Merlin’s beard!”. Unfortunately, there is no other way to store more items. If you wished that there was an equipment chest in the Room of Requirement, for example, you will unfortunately be disappointed. In our Hogwarts Legacy test, you will find a summary of all the strengths and weaknesses of the open-world role-playing game.
