The new wizarding game by the name of Hogwarts Legacy is an open-world action RPG that has been set in a world that had originally been brought to life by the Harry Potter books that so many people know and love. This game has been set in the 1800s, which is actually a period of time long before the book’s stories with Harry Potter and his friends, where you will play as a new student joining Hogwarts as a 5th year.
In Hogwarts Legacy you’re believed to hold the key to an ancient secret and you’ll need to embark on a thrilling journey in order to uncover the hidden truth of the wizarding world.
If you have read any reviews or watched videos of this game then you will know that there is a lot ot do as well as explore, so this article will work as a beginner’s guide for you and will give you information on things you need to know when you are beginning your Hogwarts Legacy adventure.
The Basics and Features Explained
Choosing Your House
Although the Sorting Hat does make an appearance in the Hogwarts Legacy game it is still up to you to decide which house you wanted to be sorted into. So, you could just ignore the Sorting Hats opinion and select the house that you prefer the most when this option presents itself.
If you want to instead immerse yourself even further into this sorting experience then you could also answer the Sorting Hats questions with the right house trait so that it will prompt him to suggest the one that you wanted anyways. These are the answers that you will need to hive in order to be sorted into a particular house:
- Bravery = Gryffindor
- Curiosity = Ravenclaw
- Loyalty = Hufflepuff
- Ambition = Slytherin
Even though a lot of the things that you will experience in the game after this experience will be the same, regardless of which house you are sorted into, there are still a few differences. These differences include: house colours being reflected in your gear that you’ll receive, dialogue lines that could be unique to your house, more socialising with specific 5th year students, exclusive common rooms as well as some special Floo Flame fast travel points that will lead to your house wing.
The biggest differences between the houses that you can choose between will be that there are going to be slight differences in the story after you complete the Trials of Merlin, which is a pretty early quest in the main storyline, since each of the houses will get their own exclusive quest that’ll be unique to their house.
Spells and Gear Explained
One thing about this game, which is probably the main reason that most people even consider purchasing this game in the first place, is the game’s spellcasting. When it comes to spellcasting, Hogwarts Legacy does not disappoint as there are over 29 unique spells and charms that you will be able to unlock and cast as you please. Some of the fan-favourite spells include Avada Kedavra, Levioso, Incendio and a lot more others.
As you work your way through the different quests and challenges that this game has to offer you will unlock more spells, here you’ll also notice that each of the spells that you unlock are colour coded to a specific type:
- Yellow = Control
- Purple = Force
- Red = Damage
- Light Blue = Utility
- Light Green = Transfiguration
- Bright Green = Unforgivable Curse
From these six different types of spells that you can unlock, it is recommended that you should have at least one Force, one Control and one Damage spell assigned to your Spell Set so that you will be best prepared for most combat situations that may arise.
Another tip, when it comes to spell casting, is that you should try and focus more on landing combos instead of just firing off spells individually. An in-game example of this would be using the three spells Incendio, Levioso and Accio together. This is a great combo because Incendio can only be casted onto an enemy in close range so you’ll want to first use your Leviosa spell to start a juggle with some of your normal spell shots and then use Accio to pull the enemy closer to you and then when the enemy is finally in close range you’ll be able to cast Incendio on them and set them alight.
Your magical abilities aren’t the only things that you should focus on in this game though as you’ll also want to make sure that your favourite spell set is paired up with high-quality pieces of gear. Although you will be able to purchase gear from Gladrags Wizardwear in Hogsmeade, you’ll mostly be finding gear pieces when you’re searching Collection Chests.
Once you have a piece of gear that you like and equip it you will see that each piece will give you both an Offence and Defense stat. While you are out and about you’ll be finding a lot of gear and it can get overwhelming at first but it is important to constantly check your inventory to make sure that you are wearing the best possible pieces that’ll provide you with the highest level stats.
It is also important and highly recommended that you actually avoid opening Legendary Chests as soon as you get them because newly found gear actually levels with your character level so it would be smarter to wait until you are at a higher level in order to take full advantage of the increased stats that these pieces could provide.
Once you get further into the game you’ll also gain the ability to make a Loom inside the Room of Requirements, which will then allow you to make upgrades to your gear. Later on in the game you will also unlock Traits, which don’t just increase your gear stats but will also give you some unique effects.
Talents
As you’re going through the main storyline in Hogwarts Legacy you’ll eventually come to a quest called The Map Chamber and once you manage to complete this quest you’ll unlock Talents, which are basically spell enhancements. In order to then unlock the different Talents you will need Talent Points, which you’ll get from each time you level up your character beyond the 5th level.
When you have saved up a few points you’ll finally be able to choose from five different categories of Talents, these categories include: Spells, Dark Arts, Core, Stealth and finally Room of Requirement.
Spells
The Talents that are in this category focus mostly on damage, and with these Talents your spells like Incendio, Levioso and Confringo will get a big increase in their damage.
Dark Arts
This category will be more focused on introducing Dark Magic to your normal spells like Stupefy, Flipendo and Expelliarmus.
Core
The Talents that are in the Core category strengthen your core abilities, this includes things like basic cast cooldowns, strengthening your protection with Protego, new spell sets as well as enhancing your dodging abilities.
Stealth
Next we have the Stealth category, which is just what it sounds like, basically enemies will have a reduced chance of spotting you.
Room of Requirement
This final category will focus on increasing the potency of your plants as well as your potions.
The sad thing about Talents is that there are more of them than there are levels, which means that you will need to make sure that you will be choosing the best Talents for your playstyle in order to avoid wasting any of your valuable Talent Points.
Challenges
After you manage to unlock your Field Guide in Hogwarts Legacy you’ll be able to start doing Challenges. Each Challenge tier will have a unique reward for you that could include cosmetic gear transmogs, critical upgrades, new recipes, additional inventory slots and a lot more.
When it comes to challenges, you’ll have five main categories which are: Combat, Quests, Exploration, Field Guide Pages, and Room of Requirement.
As you get further and further with your Challenges you’ll want to make sure that you are collecting the rewards from said Challenges from each of their respective menus. This is quite important because you won’t have access to rewards or the benefits that you could have earned automatically.
Side Quests and Activities
When it comes to the Side Quests in Hogwarts Legacy they play quite a crucial role in your whole experience because taking part in classes and doing Professor Assignments is one of the main ways that you’ll get to unlock new spells and charms for your character, which you will need so that you can complete the Merlin trials and other puzzles in the game.
Just like the Side Quests you may embark on, Side Activities are also very important. Activities like the Broom Racing Events and Crossed Wands Dueling Club are essential if you want to learn optimal spell combinations as well as unlocking broom upgrades. So, in conclusion it is highly recommended that you try to prioritise the activities and side quests as soon as they become available to you.
Collection Chests and Puzzle Door Solving
Whilst you’re playing the Hogwarts Legacy game you’ll be exploring the wizarding world a lot and by doing so you’ll find chests and containers of all types, although some of these finds may be more important than others. A Collection Chest is a chest that will contain a random wand handle cosmetic or conjuration recipes for your Room of Requirement, and if you want to look for these specifically you’ll be able to locate them all over the Hogwarts Castle, Hogsmeade and also the Highlands open world, so you’ll have your hands pretty full with these chests.
Then unlike the regular chests that you can find scattered all over the map you can find special chests called Eyeball Chests, which contain money. The Collection Chests are the only types of chests that you will be able to track both on your minimap as well as on your map list of collectibles, which means it’ll be a little more challenging to find the other types of chests. You can get an idea of what you will be getting from a chest by looking at the shape of it:
- Triangle-studded boxes = contain random Conjuration Recipe
- Cylindrical chests = contain random wand handle you can equip
It is pretty easy to tell whether or not you’ll find a Collection Chest because they usually follow a pattern, a lot of these types of chests, in Hogwarts, will be located behind locked Arithmancy Doors, or from unlocking Hogwarts Secrets. However, if you’re looking in the Hogsmeade area, they’ll most likely be hidden behind locked doors that require an unlocking spell, and then finally the Collection Chests that are found in the Highlands are found in enemy camps.
Field Guide Pages
In order to account for all the time you’ve spent in the Hogwarts Legacy game, you’ll have a Hogwarts Field Guide that will accumulate all the knowledge that you have gained. A lot of the knowledge that you will put into your Field Guide will be from finding Field Guide Pages, which have been hidden all over Hogwarts, Hogsmeade as well as the Highlands open world.
Below, you’ll find a table with all of the various types of Field Guide Pages you’ll be able to encounter in the game as well as the spell requirements that you’ll need in order to solve the puzzles.
| Field Guide Page Type | Spell Required | Description |
| Collection Page | Revelio | Artefacts, Works of Arts as well as Points of Interest that will need you to first get close in order to reveal the Field Guide Page. |
| Moth Frame Paintings | Lumos | Blank paintings that will show you where a moth is, which you’ll need to find and guide back to the frame for a Field Guide Page. |
| Flying Page | Accio | An enchanted Field Guide Page that flies around in circles that’ll need to be pulled down to you. |
| Orb Statues | Levioso | You’ll need to levitate the large orb that statues of wizards may be holding in order to reveal a Field Guide Page. |
| Dragon Braziers | Incendio | You’ll need to light an unlit brazier, bearing a small dragon, to then reveal a Field Guide Page. |
Apart from the various quests that you’ll be able to complete in the game, the only way you can earn experience is by collecting these Field Guide Pages and completing Challenges. This is pretty important because you will need to acquire said experience in order to increase your level, which will then lead to getting better gear, gaining more health as well as unlocking more quests and spells.
Shops and Vendors
Once you progress further into the Hogwarts Legacy game and start to explore areas outside of the Hogwarts Castle, such as Hogsmeade and The Highlands, you’ll notice that there are a lot of Shops and Vendors. Although you’ll mainly be using these stores to get rid of or sell your unwanted gear, they can also have valuable items and services that you may want to get sometime during your Hogwarts experience.
Below is a list of stores that you may want to utilise to your advantage in Hogsmeade:
- Olivanders
- This store is definitely going to be first on your priority list when you first visit Hogsmeade because it is here where you’ll pick out your wand.
- Tomes and Scrolls
- Although you may not be visiting this one so often in the beginning of your Hogwarts adventure, later in the game you’ll definitely want to visit it a lot more often because it is here where you will be able to purchase Conjuration Recipes for items that will be used in your Room of Requirement.
- Spintwitches Sporting Needs
- Not only will you be picking up your first broom from this store but you’ll also be coming back here a few times in order to unlock some vital upgrades for your broom at a later stage.
- Dogsweed and Deathcap
- This will definitely be an extremely useful vendor that you’ll want to get familiar with as soon as you start completing Side Quest assignments as they are the perfect shop for plants and seeds such as the Mandrake and Venomous Tentacula.
- The Magic Neep and J.Pippin’s Potions
- This store is the one-stop-shop when it comes to getting ingredients needed to craft specific potions, however you should be warned that these ingredients can get pretty expensive.
- Madam Snelling’s Tress Emporium
- If you’re looking to customise your character, whether that be by getting a new hairstyle or even changing your complexion, Madam Snelling is definitely the woman to talk to.
Final Words
So, there you have a complete beginners guide to all that you may need to know about the wizarding world in the amazing Hogwarts Legacy game. Hopefully this article was insightful and has taught you something new that you can utilise and at least make your overall gaming experience even just a little bit better.
