Tomorrow is finally the official premiere of Hogwarts Legacy, even if those who bought the Deluxe Edition got a jumpstart on their adventures. Later this year it will also come to Playstation 4 and Xbox One (in April) as well as Switch (in July).
Many new students are thus on their way to Hogwarts and the adventure created by Avalanche Software, which we praised in our review. To keep you from running around like a headless chicken (which Nearly Headless Nick would love), we’ve put together this guide with smart tips to help you make the most of every second of Hogwarts Legacy and breeze through the game.
It’s a spoiler-free guide by the way, so you can read it even if you haven’t started playing yet – let the magic flow!
This is an ad:
1. There’s only one first day at Hogwarts, so make the most of it
Professor Weasley’s quote (yes, that Weasley family) is the first piece of advice we will give you on how to play the game, and that is to explore every corner of the school within the first few minutes of the adventure. As soon as you arrive at the school, Deputy Head Weasley will give you the Hogwarts Field Guide, a handbook for keeping track of the locations, locations, equipment, skills, and inventory you’ve collected in the Hogwarts Legacy. In order to progress, you need to gain experience, and the easiest, fastest and most fun way to get it in the beginning is to pick up the Field Guide pages that are hidden all over the school, Hogsmeade and other surroundings.
Most of the pages are obtained using the spell Reveliobut for others required Action, Confringo or Levioso. These spells are unlocked in the story, so stop every now and then and interact with the items highlighted in blue when using Revelio. If you hear the sound of a bell when you use this magic, there is always a secret nearby.
2. Follow Merlin’s path
There’s a reason he was the most famous wizard in history. Merlin was also a student at Hogwarts and he left his legacy around the surroundings in the form of puzzles where we have to destroy objects, carry fireflies to marked stones or throw large boulders into stone holes. Whatever it is, the price is worth the effort because you’ll be able to carry more items. These are very important because they are limited and because they are also the biggest source of income in the game.
Therefore: As soon as you can get Mallowsweet seeds from The Magic Neep in Hogsmeade, as they are the key to activating Merlin’s Trials.
This is an ad:
3. Don’t spend pennies unnecessarily, you will need them
It may sound like silly advice, but trust us. Money in Hogwarts Legacy is (at least until the last third) a scarce commodity and absolutely necessary to progress. The vast majority of merchants have prices that can only be considered monopoly fashions, but there are some tricks you can use like buying planting seeds and spells. All of this serves to make the Room of Requirement a self-sufficient factory for adventuring equipment, such as potions and plants for battle.
The easiest way to raise money is to sell equipment that you no longer use. Prioritize those marked (in this order) green, blue, purple and finally orange. Each will be more valuable than the other, and if you run out of space to carry more on a mission (see why doing Merlin’s trials is important?) you’ll have to destroy the less valuable ones – something we often got do to our chagrin.
The good thing about seeds and spells is that you only need to buy them once, after which you can generate them endlessly (using opals) in the Room of Requirement.
Another quick cash trick is those chests with an eye on them that open when they see you. You just need the invisibility spell Disillusionment Charm to sneak up on them and grab the 500 coins found in each chest. And if you don’t have the spell yet, you can also use invisibility potion.
4. Magic battles are a colorful dance
For those who want to, combat is possible in Hogwarts Legacy, and while it doesn’t require much skill or complexity at first, the enemies will soon become more demanding and better prepared for your attacks. Some of them will use a permanent magic shield that deflects your spells unless you counter it with a spell of the same “color family” as the shield. For example, if an enemy wizard has a purple shield, an enchantment that Action or Depulso to break the barrier, while you get to Levioso or Arrest Momentum if the shield is yellow. Our favorite, however, is the Tranform spell, which turns an enemy into an exploding barrel that can be cast on others. Two defeated for the price of one.
There are enemies that are particularly weak to certain spells. For example, you will see a lot of spiders in the game (a lot), and the best way to take them down quickly is to alternate basic throws with fire spells like Fire or Confringo. Trolls are pretty tough, but you can use Flipendo to use their own club against them and thus cause a lot of damage.
Also, don’t forget the use of herbalist classes when fighting. Chinese Chomping Cabbages, Mandrakes and Venomous Tentacula are very useful tools that can help you out of trouble with large groups of enemies, or stronger enemies like Acromantulas or trolls. Always carry a good supply of them with you.
5. Teach your enemies to fly
Hogwarts Legacy has an unexpectedly sophisticated combat system, where every 10 hits you land on an enemy without taking damage yourself (or doing something that interrupts your combo) earns you blue glowing items that fill a two-part meter. When one of these two segments is filled, you can fire Ancient Magic, simply an attack that kills most things instantly and is also very fun to watch because the attack comes in an incredible number of designs that capture the Harry Potter world well. Always making sure you have a square filled before boss fighters is the A and O.
The easiest way to complete combos is by standing still and firing magic at enemies, who will thus be hit many times before they reach you. Another trick is to teach the enemy to fly by casting Levioso and Accio which causes the enemy to levitate and helplessly fly back and forth while you attack them and fill your Ancient Magic gauges.
6. Your best friends? The Broom and the Lock Enchantment
The broomstick is the primary magical means of transportation in the Hogwarts Legacy world. Although Floo Powder is good (it’s the equivalent of Fast Travel) you have to unlock destinations first, and they’re often quite far away. Luckily we have brooms. The store in Hogsmeade has several models for 400 pennies each. It’s just a matter of getting your hands on one and the game speeds up considerably for you in the form of reduced transport distances. With it, you can travel as the crow flies and even enter the forbidden forest or mountains safely. Of course, flying brooms is forbidden in Hogsmeade, as well as inside the castle, so we have to find another way to reach certain places… Did someone say Alohomora?
Alohomora is the spell to open magical locks and we get it by doing a side quest for the Hogwarts warden, Mr Moon. Carrying a certain amount of an item boosts the enchantment so you can also open level two and three locks, so when you see a statue of a Demiguise, make sure it’s night (you can change the time of day in the map menu) and take grab the statue.
With these tips, you will be able to start your Hogwarts Legacy adventure in the best possible way. If you have a really good suggestion yourself, we will of course be happy to update the article (remember that it must be completely spoiler-free!). Have a great start to the new school year at Hogwarts!
