Hogwarts Legacy Beginner’s Guide: Magical Tips & Tricks for New Wizards

by Mike Alexander / Game Guides, Hogwarts Legacy Guides, Tips & Tricks / 20 Feb 2023

Harry Potter and the Wizarding World have been a part of many people’s lives for over two decades now. In all that time, there was never an actual open world RPG set in that universe, even though games of that style were beginning to get popular as the film adaptations were released. As of February 2023 all of that changed…

Avalanche Software, the studio behind Disney Infinity, has spent the last several years working with Portkey Games to create Hogwarts Legacy, a massive open world Wizarding World adventure.

It’s been out for a few weeks now, and millions of players have attended classes, explored the magic school, and made friends with a diverse cast of students. However there are still some aspiring magic users who might like some guidance navigating this impossibly huge game. This Hogwarts Legacy Beginner’s Guide is designed to get you started in the right direction and it will be followed by a series of smaller guides that will cover many of the game’s mechanics and secrets in greater detail.

So pick up your wand, pack your trunk and get ready to set off for adventure in a world as you’ve never experienced before!

Catch the Floo!

After the thrilling intro sequence and being placed in your house, you will have (nearly) free rein of all of Hogwarts. There are doors & hidden areas that you will be able to access later on, but the major areas are open to you almost immediately.

It’s a good idea to explore the halls and rooms as much as you can because it will open up fast travel points at each of the Floo stations you pass by; These will be a great help later on when you need to get around the castle quickly… This same concept applies to exploration in the open world as there are plenty of Floo points out there as well.

Hold Off on Collecting Chests

While you’re zipping around to find those Floo points, you’ll also find tons of chests that can contain all kinds of equipment or money. It might be a good idea to make a note of where these chests are and return to them later, rather than collect them if you’re early in the game and low-level.

This is because the equipment you collect from all of these trunks will match the level at which you collect them, so going back to collect it at level 10 rather than level 3 will only be beneficial for you.

Take On Side Quests

You will also find students you can talk to around Hogwarts, many of which will give you side quests. Most of these aren’t too time-consuming, but can result in some good information about the standalone puzzles hidden around the grounds. They also grant you helpful experience points.

Even when on the way to a main quest, I find it beneficial to stop and complete side quests as I find them. They help level up and get stronger, and the characters that give them to you are usually funny or interesting. Rushing through main missions will open up more of the game to you faster, but mixing in those side quests will make you more prepared when you reach those points.

How Revelio-ing!

You learn the Revelio spell pretty early in the game, and it becomes one of the most useful spells in your arsenal as you explore Hogwarts. Using Revelio to uncover field guide pages and the locations of chests, secrets, and items through walls will take up the majority of your exploration time.

If you use Revelio and the spell finds something that is out of your field of vision, you’ll hear a dinging sound. If you’re like me, you’ll spend just as much time swinging your camera around trying to find the source of that damn dinging! Here’s a little tip to prevent that: go into your settings, go to accessibility, and turn on sound indicators. This will show you on your screen the direction the sound is coming from, and prevent the camera-swinging struggle!

The Golden Path

Just like the books and movies, Hogwarts is inexplicably complex in this game. If you had to rely on indicators to get from one objective to the next you might never get to where you need to go; Thankfully your minimap will usually get you there just fine.

For major missions, your minimap will highlight a dotted yellow path for you to follow that will lead you to the next objective. If it doesn’t, then you are either in the general vicinity of the objective, or the game wants you to look a little harder at your surroundings.

Mike Alexander

Mike has been playing video games since he was able to hold a controller, having been fascinated by Sonic 2 on his mom’s Sega Genesis. That fascination and passion for the art form has grown exponentially nearly 30 years later, and he doesn’t see that fading away anytime soon.
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