Goblins are generally looked down on by wizardkind, but Hogwarts Legacy players know to respect their formidable strength. Enhanced with corrupted Ancient Magic given to them by their leader, Ranrok's Loyalists are capable of going toe to toe with powerful witches and wizards, and players will need to deal with them frequently. Among their ranks, Loyalist Sentinels act as both support casters for their allies and a potent threat to the player, making it important for players to know how best to deal with them.
One might expect Loyalist Sentinels in Hogwarts Legacy to be mostly helpless when alone, but aside from buffing their allies, they are also able to wield corrupted Ancient Magic to surprising effect. Players would do well not to underestimate this enemy type, and since they are rather common in goblin encampments and certain story quests, it helps tremendously to know their weaknesses. The mechanic around how they buff their allies can also be difficult to understand at first.
What Are Loyalist Sentinels?
The Field Guide describes Loyalist Sentinels as "masters of both offensive and defensive magic," a fact that is proven by their ability to enhance their allies and still deal heavy damage to the player in a fight. Unfortunately, not much else is known about Loyalist Sentinels and what role they play in Ranrok's army. That said, the magic they have been granted by Ranrok is clearly a step above that which the Loyalist Soldiers wield, so it can be presumed that Ranrok trusts them to a degree. These foes can be identified by the hoods that they wear and the fact that they don't carry any weapons.
Loyalist Sentinel Defenses
Given that they are masters of defensive magic, it makes sense that Loyalist Sentinels have shields. Whenever they enter combat, Loyalist Sentinels will put up a red shield, meaning that players can only break it by using red damaging spells, Ancient Magic Throw, or an Unforgivable Curse. Spells like Incendio, Expelliarmus, Diffindo, Confringo, and Bombarda all work to remove the red shield. Since they aren't particularly heavy enemies, they are also vulnerable to both Force and Control spells, but only once their shield is down.
Loyalist Sentinel Attacks
Loyalist Sentinels have two primary attacks, a bolt of corrupted Ancient Magic and a powerful enhancement spell for their allies. The first of these attacks isn't too threatening on its own, and Hogwarts Legacy players can block it with Protego or even just dodge roll to avoid it. If it does hit, the spell does considerable damage, though, so it's important to watch out for it.
The main function of Loyalist Sentinels is to buff their allies. When the Loyalist Sentinel starts to glow red and wave his hands around in the air, he will provide a strength buff to all nearby goblins, increasing the damage they deal to the player with their weapons and spells. Because of this, these enemies are most dangerous when paired with others from the same faction.
Loyalist Sentinel Weaknesses
Most enemies in Hogwarts Legacy have a weakness, and the Loyalist Sentinel is no exception. If players can manage to hit the Loyalist Sentinel with Bombarda while they are charging up their buff, it will cause an eruption of magic that deals damage both to the Sentinel himself and to all of his nearby allies. Exploiting this can actually make having a Loyalist Sentinel on the battlefield advantageous to the player and is required to complete a certain Dueling Feat.
Unsurprisingly, using an Ancient Magic Finisher or even Petrificus Totalus is also incredibly effective against Loyalist Sentinels, as this will instantly kill this foe. If players are having trouble getting to the Sentinel and don't want to deal with him buffing other enemies, this can be a great way to remove this threat efficiently.
Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S; the Nintendo Switch version is arriving on July 25, 2023.