Hogwarts Legacy has dropped, and its terrific characters and open-world gameplay are a must-have for all Potter’s heads. It’s filled with the Lore of the wizarding world, and its immersive RPG-styled gameplay makes for an exciting playing experience. However, there are a few essentials you need to know before embarking on your wizarding adventure.
Fast Travel & Waypoints
Set up waypoints to Fast-travel locations
In this open-world Hogwarts, players must travel between different places in the Hogwarts castle. There are Fast-Travel locations that you have to unlock by exploring and entering the radius of a fast-travel location. Protip: You can find these fast-travel locations using waypoints on the map. Once unlocked, you can fast-travel between locations to help you get to places quickly and eliminate travel time. You should also pay attention to where these are on the mini-map, using waypoints to discover them, and then fast-traveling can be utilized. Be sure to spend a lot of time exploring and discovering Fast-travel locations. Trust me, and it’ll make your wizarding life much easier.
Choosing your House
At the beginning of the game, you have to choose your House (Gryffindor, ftw!). Each house has its unique common room, and they all have different styles. Throughout the game, you’ll interact with characters from different houses from yours, but characters from your house can usually be found in your common room. Also, you’ll wake up in your house dormitory during quests and at different intervals. It’s a bit confusing at the start, but as you progress in the game and start unlocking Fast-Travel locations, you’ll be able to roam effortlessly anywhere you want. The house you choose will open unique dialogue from characters from your own house. The storyline and narrative remain the same, irrespective of your house, but you might view things differently.
Exploration
Exploring is a major part of Hogwarts Legacy, and tons of interesting stuff is hiding all over the castle. Hogwarts Legacy is meant to be explored, and you can spend days on days finding clues, puzzles, collectibles, and equipment. It keeps the gaming experience more fun and helps discover the clues and secrets nesting in Hogwarts. Be sure to explore as much as possible and use different spells (Revelio) to seek the most difficult puzzles and clues, usually hiding in plain sight.
Revelio
One of the most common spells you’ll be using is Revelio. It’s a charm used to reveal concealed objects, and in Hogwarts Legacy, the Revelio spell helps players find objectives, discover clues, and trace objectives. The Revelio spell sends out a pulsating aura, and the “ping” sound indicates how close/far it’s from you. You also have to notice where the sound is coming from; it could be from up, down, or even left or right, so check your surroundings thoroughly. Remember, the louder the sound is, the closer it’s to you.
Puzzles
Hogwarts Legacy has an insane amount of puzzles for you to crack. Some of them are relatively easy, but some of these puzzles are incredibly hard. Word to the wise, don’t spend inordinate amounts of time on these tough-to-crack puzzles. If you run into these puzzles, don’t stress and carry on with the game. One way or another, the game offers clues and dialogues from characters nearby, offering crucial hints to solve the tricky puzzle. Just carry on with your game, and you’ll get around to figuring it out.
Gear and Equipment
Hogwarts Legacy boasts an insane amount of equipment and gear to customize your Wizarding hero. I recommend you prioritize your style over stats in the first 5-8 hours of gameplay. Customize your hero according to your fashion sense for a role-playing, open-world game, as there are numerous outfits to choose from. I’d suggest you hang on to items that have good stats. The game isn’t difficult enough for you to min/max your gear, and you can easily get through the game without stressing over higher stats. Dress the way you feel like and customize your hero according to whatever personality you desire; it’ll make the game experience much more lively and customized.
Selling your Equipment
Yes, you can sell your equipment. You’ll notice that your inventory can only fit as much gear, but soon you won’t be able to gather new gear and equipment because your inventory is full. Either you’ll have to destroy existing gear, or you can sell it in Hogsmeade. Go to Hogsmeade and visit Gladrag’s Wizardware and talk to Augustus Hill. You can also sell your existing equipment to him for valuable gold and legendary gear available there, so win-win. Once you discover Hogsmeade, you’ll be able to fast-travel there anytime, so keep this tip handy. This option is better than destroying your equipment to make a place for new inventory. Remember to sell your old gear regularly to free up your inventory.
Makeover/Appearance
Once you’ve unlocked Hogsmeade, you can change your appearance, i.e., character creation. This useful option allows you to change your hairstyle and facial hair and add scars, freckles, and moles to your face. You can’t change your gender and your face, but there are so many things you can change. A handy tip; don’t get too hung up on character creation; the bulk of your appearance stays the same, so get important details right, and you can customize other specifics later in the game.
Customizing your Wand
The wand chooses the wizard. In Hogwarts Legacy, you’ll be asked to choose a wand that’ll be yours for the entirety of the game. So choose wisely. Each wand is unique to each wizard, so you won’t pick up or exchange wands as they go against the wizarding world’s lore. You can tailor your wand’s length, color, wood type, and flexibility. You will also be asked to select the core of your wand from three different options; dragon heartstring, unicorn hair, or phoenix feather. This wand will be with you for the game, so dedicate some time to customize the perfect one for your hero.