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Wand customizing is one of many magical and immersive personalization options in Hogwarts Legacy. Players can become the witch or wizard they want to be with their character's appearance, clothing, and even type of wand in the expansive open-world RPG open-world. On the first day at Hogwarts, players must choose a wand, which has a vast range of customization options, including wand core, length, style, flexibility, and even wood type.
However, when choosing a wand, Hogwarts Legacy doesn't give players any in-game guidance or information about which wand to choose or whether this choice has any impact, suggesting that wand customization is purely cosmetic with no effect on gameplay. It's entirely up to players to design their own wand in Ollivander's shop, and some players might feel overwhelmed by the volume of wand choices available. Fortunately, there are some suggestions and strategies that can help make the choices easier.
How To Choose A Wand Core
Players can choose between three wand cores: dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, or phoenix feather, known in the Harry Potter universe as elements of magical creatures. Hogwarts Legacy gives wand cores the following descriptive features:
- Dragon heartstring - known for producing powerful magic.
- Unicorn hair - known for producing consistent magic.
- Phoenix feather - capable of producing a great range of magic.
Power, reliability, or versatility are three possible considerations players might want to prioritize when selecting a wand core. Some players might consider the explanations behind wand cores and their components, with each representing different qualities about their owners. Similarly, some fans might look to specific characters from the Harry Potter movies and books for inspiration about their choice of wand core. For instance, the phoenix feather is the rarest wand core and features in Harry and Lord Voldemort's wands.
Which Wand Wood Type To Choose
The type of wood is another cosmetic wand feature, and players can choose between a vast 38 wood types. Players could look to the Harry Potter books and movies for inspiration on the choice of wood for their wand, such as those on a dark wizard path, maybe choosing elder wood if seeking a powerful-inspired design similar to the Elder wand. Alternatively, players could look to wand style options to determine what wood might suit them best. A cherry wood could suit a knotted dusty pink style, reflective of the many pink blossom trees found throughout the game and a potentially fitting choice for fans of Herbology.
The 38 wood types to select from are: acacia, alder, apple, ash, aspen, beech, blackthorn, black walnut, cedar, cherry, chestnut, cypress, dogwood, ebony, elder, elm, English oak, fir, hawthorn, Hazel, Holly, hornbeam, larch, laurel, maple, pear, pine, poplar, red oak, redwood, rowan, silver lime, spruce, sycamore, vine, walnut, willow, and yew.
Does Wand Length Matter?
Players can choose between a range of 9.5 inches to 14.5 inches for their wand length. The official Wizarding World website tells fans more about how significant wand length is, along with other information about wand cores and wood.
However, in Hogwarts Legacy, wand length is essentially another cosmetic option that players can adjust according to their individual preferences, as far as it's known. If players could change character height in character customization, choosing a longer wand would probably make more sense. However, as that's not currently possible, wand length is just another cosmetic preference, and it's up to players how important they consider it.
How To Choose Wand Flexibility
Wand flexibility means how rigid or supple a wand is, and there are 19 options to choose from. Player wondering what type of flexibility to choose could look to their character creation and house choice for inspiration. Witches or wizards looking to firmly follow the path to dark magic and get all three unforgivable curses, like Crucio, could choose an unbending or unyielding wand, reflective of their strong ambitions.
However, those looking to learn and perform a variety of spells could select something like 'supple' or 'slightly springy.' Alternatively, others might just like how 'swishy' or 'surprisingly swishy' sounds, which seems reminiscent of the Harry Potter heroes learning the Leviosa spell for the first time in Professor Flitwick's class in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. The wand flexibility options are as follows:
- Quite bendy
- Fairly bendy
- Very flexible
- Quite flexible
- Surprisingly swishy
- Swishy
- Slightly springy
- Supple
- Reasonably supple
- Whippy
- Pliant
- Brittle
- Hard
- Solid
- Stiff
- Rigid
- Unbending
- Slightly yielding
- Unyielding
How To Choose Wand Style
Perhaps one of the most significant choices for wand customization is its style and appearance, as players will see it often during cut scenes and during gameplay. There are eight wand styles to choose from, ranging from classic styles like plain black with similar styles held by Death Eater characters like Lucius Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies or a plain brown classic wand like Harry Potter himself. Some wand styles are more ornate or colorful, with a green-gray knotted spiral or even a dusky pink notched design. The wand styles to choose from are:
- Natural - gray, honey brown, or warm brown.
- Crooked spiral - dark gray, warm brown, or pale brown.
- Ringed - dark brown, pale brown, or buff.
- Stalk - honey brown, dark brown, or warm brown.
- Spiral - ash brown, green-gray, or dark brown.
- Soft spiral - light brown, warm brown, or black.
- Classic - gray, black, or gray-brown.
- Notched - warm brown, light brown, or dusky pink.
Once players are happy with their wand selection, they must select the purchase option in the wand finalization menu to buy their wand using in-game gold.
What Wand Handles Are There?
Although players can't customize their wand handle at Ollivanders, they can discover wand handles hidden in the world to further customize their wand in addition to character customization, most commonly inside chests. In the wand handle collections menu in the player's wizard field guide, there are 42 wand handles to discover in total, like the gorgeous Basketweave - Blue.
It's also worth remembering that if players are really stuck on what wand to choose, they can choose to import their wand as well as their Hogwarts house if they link their Potter Fan Club and WB Games Accounts to Hogwarts Legacy after taking the Wizarding World house and wand quizzes.
Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PS5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC. PS4, Xbox One, and Switch versions are currently in development.