Hogwarts Legacy is now available via early access, with its global release also around the corner, which means millions are going to be diving into its offerings over the coming days. As a massive open world action RPG, there’s a lot going on in this game that players are going to be constantly juggling, and to start off, it can be a tad overwhelming. As such, to ease you into the game and help you get to grips with its basics a little quicker, here, we’ve compiled a few beginners tips and tricks that you should keep in mind as you start playing.
REVELIO
The spell Revelio is essentially Hogwarts Legacy’s take on detective vision- press left on the d-pad at any given time and objects of interest will instantly be highlighted. Not only is it useful to make sure you’re not missing any treasure chests, it can also be particularly useful when you’re stuck on a puzzle, since the objects that you need to interact with it tend to get highlighted, even through walls and ceilings. On top of that, casting Revelio is also how you find hidden Field Guide pages throughout the open world, each of which nets you with XP. Given how useful the spell is, it’s generally a good idea to cast it at least once any time you enter a new room or location.
WHICH HOUSE TO CHOOSE
Roughly an hour into Hogwarts Legacy, you’ll find yourself sitting on a stool in the Great Hall with the Sorting Hat on top of your head. It’ll ask you a couple of questions and suggest a House based on your answers, though if you wish, you will be able to choose a different House. But how does that choice impact the rest of the game? Well, not in any significant way, to be honest. Based on what House you choose, you’ll have extra opportunities to socialize with certain characters, have access to a different Common Room, and see some minor alterations here and there to things such as dialogue and cosmetics, but that’s pretty much the extent of it. What House you get sorted into won’t lock any quests or content or grant you exclusive benefits, so really, the decision can (and should) be made based entirely on personal preferences.
CHOOSING YOUR WAND
When Hogwarts Legacy kicks off, you’re equipped with a borrowed wand, which means even though you can cast the spells you need to for the time, you do have to eventually go and get your own personal wand. That happens in the early hours of the game, and once the moment comes, the game lets you customize your wand in a variety of ways, from what type of wood it is made out of to how long it is to what its core is. But what’s the best “wand build”, so to speak? There is no best build. Just like your House, what kind of a wand you choose has no real mechanical consequences. The choices are purely cosmetic, so pick whatever you think looks the best.
COMBOS IN COMBAT
Moving on to the game’s combat, while things start out fairly easy and straightforward in Hogwarts Legacy, it doesn’t take long for duels and skirmishes to begin piling on layers of options in the form of a variety of spells that you can use. Other than your basic attack and your defensive spells, Hogwarts Legacy allows you to equip four spells at a time, but as you might imagine, in the midst of a fight, these can be used in combos to deadly effect. For instance, you can make an enemy levitate to render them immobile for a short window, pull them toward you using Accio while they’re floating, and then blast them with a barrage of spells, and maybe an explosion of Incendio before they hit the ground again. Combos are a very effective tool, especially when you start chaining them for long air juggling sequences, so make sure to keep fiddling with them.
ENVIRONEMNTAL PUZZLES
Many of the spells you learn throughout the course of the game will also be tied to specific varieties of puzzles and object interactions that yield XP and other rewards- and there’s quite a bit of these scattered throughout the open world, many of which often get highlighted when you approach them. As you’d expect, the game doesn’t tell you which spell you have to use on these objects, so any time you come across a new type, it’s best to try out all of your available spells. Some are quite obvious – for instance, you use Incendio on unlit braziers and Reparo on broken objects – but the solutions for others are not so clear.
EYE CHESTS
Eye chests are one among several side activities available in Hogwarts Legacy. You’ll frequently find these big chests scattered throughout the open world with huge eyeballs on them that follow your every movement. And how exactly do you open them? A few hours into the game, you’ll learn the Disillusionment Charm, which allows you to become invisible. Use that, and the eyes on these chests will no longer be able to see you, allowing you to approach and open them.
KEEP CHECKING YOUR GEAR
Equipping better gear to improve your health, offence, and defence is one of the main progression mechanics in Hogwarts Legacy, and though the pace at which it hands out new gear isn’t similar to what you’d expect from, say, a looter shooter, it isn’t exactly glacial either. You’ll frequently acquire new pieces of gear to equip, and while some of them (like your wand handles) are purely cosmetic, quite a few bring stat buffs. As such, it’s a good idea to regularly keep checking your gear selection and ensuring that you have the best possible options equipped.
TRANSMOG
Hogwarts Legacy has a simple and effective transmog system in place right out the gate, so even if a new piece that yields stat bonuses doesn’t look great, you don’t have to worry. In the menu, while your cursor is hovering on a gear category, simple press square (or X on Xbox) to change its appearance, for which you’ll be presented with a number of options. Every gear piece you’ve collected automatically gets added to that list of options, even if you no longer have that piece with you.
Speaking of which…
SELL USELESS GEAR
Given the fact that you’re unlikely to stick with most of your gear pieces for too long, you will have to keep getting rid of older pieces that you no longer use quite frequently, especially since Hogwarts L:egacy places a limit on the size of your inventory (which, of course, you can upgrade). Destroying gear is one way to go, but you should ideally only be doing that when you’re locked into a story quest or can’t make your way to a vendor. Selling your useless gear for healthy sums of Galleons is far more preferable, especially because the purchases you need to make are often quite pricey, and the game isn’t too liberal with how much money it hands out to players.
CHALLENGES AND REWARDS
Hogwarts Legacy has a variety of different challenges that are constantly running and being tracked in the background, each tasking you with doing various activities certain numbers of time across multiple tiers, ranging from collecting Field Guide pages to completing story quests and much more. Completing each challenge unlocks awards (many of which are often cosmetic), but the game doesn’t do that automatically. You have to keep checking in on your challenges in the menu screen and claim any rewards that may have unlocked manually, so make sure you keep that in mind.
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