Hogwarts Legacy transports players into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter to fulfill their fantasy and become one of the eponymous school's most proficient witches or wizards. Arriving at the school later than most, the player will have to catch up with their fellow students quickly to stand any hope of making it as a fully-fledged spellcaster.
With a large open world to explore and a whole host of spells to learn, classes to attend, quests to undertake, and evil schemes to thwart, players will have their work cut out for them. As such, here are some common mistakes made by novice witches and wizards that are best avoided in Hogwarts Legacy.
9 Not Upgrading Inventory Space
When players start out, they’ll have a very limited amount of inventory space and won’t be able to carry a lot of gear. This is a problem, as loot items such as robes, goggles, and gloves cannot be scavenged for parts and must instead be sold to get value from them. Leaving loot behind will force players to miss out on free galleons, so it’s imperative to maximize inventory capacity as soon as possible.
Fortunately, the player can complete Merlin Trials, small puzzles dotted around the map, which will help boost inventory space and allow for more loot to be hauled back to the stores.
8 Not Upgrading Gear
The player’s gear can be upgraded by taking it to the Loom, which can be unlocked and found in the Room of Requirement. Most clothing items have three levels, which can be upgraded using resources obtained from the Vivarium, that increase the magical offense and defense stats of that piece of gear.
Players can also add a trait to select items, giving a unique buff to certain spell types or damage outputs. And fear not, if players decide they don’t like the look of a particular cosmetic, they can always set their appearance to whatever they want, without losing the stats of any equipped gear.
7 Ignoring Powerful Utility Spells
With such a wide variety of spells to cast, it can be easy to focus on damage dealing and overlook the power of some other, utility spells. This is a major mistake, as these spells can turn the tide of battle in a magical duel, or allow players to more effectively take down dangerous creatures.
Spells like Expelliarmus and Stupefy disarm and stun enemies, whereas Crucio causes immense pain and Petrificus Totalus weakens them. It’s a valuable strategy to cast these spells first to essentially immobilize enemies before piling damage on them, without having to worry too much about defense.
6 Only Using Plants For Potions
As players progress through the game, they’ll unlock the ability to grow plants in the Room of Requirement and subsequently mix and brew them together to create powerful potions. What players might not know is that some plants can instead be carried around and used in combat.
Players can deploy chomping cabbages to attack their opponents, or use a Mandrake Root’s screech to incapacitate nearby foes. Either way, the usefulness of plants in combat is easy to underestimate.
5 Ignoring Owl Post
Owl Post is Hogwarts Legacy's in-game mailing system that allows NPCs to send letters and notes to the player. It can be easy to pass off this mechanic as just offering some character development and backstory for the various students that players will meet across Hogwarts.
However, sometimes opening and reading these notes will result in new quests being added to the quest log, some of which will reward the player with new cosmetics and abilities. It’s best to open everything that is received to avoid missing out.
4 Ignoring Room Of Requirement Quests
Several hours into the game, players will gain access to the Room of Requirement, which serves as a base of operations from which the player can grow plants, brew potions, upgrade gear, and breed beasts.
Most of these must be unlocked by completing various quests associated with the Room of Requirement, which can be started by speaking to the house elf Deek. Many require that the player progress further into the story, obtain rare ingredients, or purchase expensive recipes, which can be off-putting in the early game. If players stick with it, however, they can eventually turn the Room of Requirement into a highly convenient producer of potions and resources.
3 Not Adapting Tactics
The various opponents found across Hogwarts and its grounds will have different abilities and strengths, requiring the player to adapt their spellcasting to the situation at hand. Some foes will have colored magical shields which will allow them to shrug off most forms of damage. To break this shield, players will have to hit them with a spell of the corresponding color.
Because of this, it’s useful for players to keep several different color spells in their spell sets, preferably more than one of each type. This allows them to deal with multiple shielded enemies at once.
2 Not Spending Talents Wisely
After earning the ability to spend talents, it can be tempting to spend them in some of the more alluring talent trees like Dark Arts or Room of Requirement. While these will come into their own later on in the game, it might be more beneficial to invest these early talent points in more crucial areas such as the Core talent tree.
This tree has vital perks like Spell Knowledge, which gives the player access to more spell sets and allows them to switch sets in the midst of combat. This allows them to find and then cast the right spell for the right moment, making combat against different enemies far easier.
1 Ignoring Side And Companion Quests
There are tons of quests that players can embark on, but some give better rewards than others. For example, the lock-picking Alohamora spell can only be acquired by helping Gladwin Moon, the caretaker. Each Hogwarts house also has a companion, and by doing quests for them, players can unlock unique rewards which will help them in future missions.
Natsai allows players to fly magical creatures, whereas Amit is able to translate Gobbledygook, and Sebastian can teach them the unforgivable curses. All of these rewards will have their uses during the campaign, making it usually worthwhile for players to seek out and complete side quests that they might have otherwise skipped.
Hogwarts Legacy releases for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and Windows on February 10th 2023. It releases for PS4 and Xbox One on April 4th and for Nintendo Switch on July 25th.