Hogwarts Legacy is a massive open world adventure set in the Wizarding World, placing you in the role of a fifth year student with a rare magical ability. The game allows you to explore Hogwarts, cast powerful spells, brew potions, tame magical creatures, solve mysteries, fly across the open world, and face dangerous enemies. With so much to do, many new players quickly feel overwhelmed or unsure about the right direction to take.
This how to guide is designed to give you a complete, structured approach to mastering Hogwarts Legacy. Each major section follows a progression that mirrors the natural flow of the game, helping you build a strong foundation, develop advanced combat skills, solve puzzles, manage your resources, and fully uncover everything the Wizarding World has to offer.
How to Begin Your Journey and Build a Strong Foundation

The early game establishes the groundwork for your entire adventure. Even though the game introduces basic mechanics, not everything is explained clearly. You should explore every room, hallway, and classroom to familiarize yourself with the environment and collect useful resources. Understanding the map, quest system, and character menus early will save you time later.
You start with only a few spells, but these early spells play an important role throughout the whole game. Learning to chain them together smoothly will give you a major advantage in tough battles or puzzle solving. Make sure to loot everything in your path, since crafting materials and gear upgrades become essential later on.
How to Learn Spells Efficiently and Create Powerful Loadouts
Spells form the core of your character progression. You learn new spells from professors through classes, assignments, and story quests. Each spell has a specific role, such as mobility, control, damage, stealth, or puzzle interaction. For this reason, building balanced spell loadouts is crucial.
In the early stages, you should always combine a shield breaking spell, a control spell, and at least one high damage spell. Practice the rhythm of casting instead of spamming blindly. As you progress, experiment with multiple loadouts, such as stealth loadouts, fire based combos, air juggling combos, or exploration focused setups.
How to Explore Hogwarts and Unlock Hidden Secrets
Hogwarts is a massive maze filled with rooms, passages, hidden walls, puzzles, and collectibles. The most important step when exploring is unlocking Floo Flames, which act as fast travel points. This will greatly reduce backtracking later. Use Revelio frequently to detect hidden items, chests, pages, and interactable objects.
As you explore, you will come across various puzzles that require specific spells. Some puzzles require fire, some require levitation, and others demand clever movement. Not every room can be unlocked immediately, so take notes or remember the locations you cannot access yet. Returning with new spells often rewards you with rare loot or cosmetic collectibles.
How to Travel the Open World and Fly Your Broom Efficiently
The open world becomes much more manageable once you unlock the broom. Flying correctly is important if you want to save time. Fly at higher altitudes to maintain speed and conserve boost energy. Flying too close to the ground drains your boost much faster.
The open world contains many optional activities, including caves, enemy camps, hamlets, beast dens, and treasure spots. When exploring a new region, fly in wide circles around the area to reveal points of interest and avoid missing important loot. The broom is also your fastest escape method if you get surrounded by strong enemies.
How to Improve Combat Skills and Defeat Difficult Enemies

Combat in Hogwarts Legacy is deeper than many players expect. Blocking with Protego at the correct moment stuns enemies and opens opportunities for counterattacks. Dodging is essential for avoiding unblockable attacks. Pay attention to enemy shield colors and use the correct type of magic to break them.
To defeat strong opponents, observe their attack patterns. Some enemies are vulnerable to being pulled with Accio, while others can be launched into the air with Levioso. Use the environment to your advantage by throwing explosive barrels, dropping objects, or activating traps. If a fight becomes too dangerous, retreat temporarily to heal and reengage strategically.
How to Brew Potions and Use Them to Gain Advantage
Potions are one of the most useful systems in the game, yet often underused by players. In the Room of Requirement, you can craft potions using ingredients gathered from plants, shops, or the open world. Even though potions take time to brew, they provide major combat advantages.
Some essential potions include
Edurus Potion for increased defense
Maxima Potion for increased damage
Invisibility Potion for stealth encounters
Wiggenweld Potion for healing
Planting your own ingredients ensures a steady supply and prevents wasting gold on expensive materials. In difficult battles, combining potions creates a significant power boost that can turn the tide instantly.
How to Upgrade Gear and Manage Your Inventory
Gear determines your offensive and defensive strength. You will collect a large amount of equipment, so managing your inventory properly is important. Instead of selling low tier gear for small amounts of gold, dismantle it to obtain upgrade materials. These become essential once you unlock the Loom in the Room of Requirement.
Each gear piece can hold special traits. Choose traits that match your playstyle, such as increased spell damage or enhanced stealth. Always prioritize upgrading rare and legendary gear, as they offer the highest potential. Even though gear drops frequently, a strong upgraded set will last you through many missions.
How to Capture and Care for Magical Beasts
Magical beasts are vital for crafting and upgrading your gear. Using the Nab Sack, you can capture beasts in the wild and bring them to your Vivarium. Each beast species provides different crafting materials used for improving your equipment.
Inside the Vivarium, you must brush and feed your beasts to produce high quality materials. As you progress, you unlock expanded Vivarium spaces where more creatures can be kept. Some beasts can also reproduce, allowing you to create a sustainable source of crafting resources without needing to recapture them from the wild.
How to Progress the Main Story and Make Important Choices
The main storyline guides you through major story events, challenging combat scenarios, and key character interactions. Many quests introduce new spells, making them essential to progression. Choices you make in dialogue can influence character relationships and unlock or prevent access to certain spells.
To progress effectively
Complete professor assignments regularly
Balance main quests with side quests
Level up before entering high level regions
Return to previously locked areas when you obtain new spells
Moving too quickly through the main story may leave you underpowered, while moving too slowly may interrupt narrative flow. Maintaining balance keeps the game engaging and rewarding.
Conclusion
Hogwarts Legacy offers one of the richest magical experiences in modern gaming. By mastering exploration, spellcasting, combat, potion brewing, gear upgrading, beast taming, and story progression, you can fully experience everything the Wizarding World has to offer. This how to guide ensures you have the tools, knowledge, and strategies needed to become a powerful wizard capable of overcoming any challenge.
Let curiosity guide your steps, experiment with every type of magic, and embrace the journey of becoming the witch or wizard you were meant to be.
Summary
Complete how to guide for exploring, fighting, crafting, upgrading, taming beasts, and progressing the story efficiently in Hogwarts Legacy.