There are more than 20 castable spells you can learn in Hogwarts Legacy. Each spell will unlock through either side quests or the main storyline.

The problem here is that you only have four spell slots available. If you are playing on consoles, there aren’t enough buttons on your controller to assign all the spells.

The design of the game forces you to swap through different sets of spells mid-combat instead. However, this swap mechanic won’t be available until later in the game.

You’ll have to learn a specific talent to get the spell swap mechanic and unlock more spell slots. The spell swap mechanics are also different for each platform.

We will discuss these mechanics on both platforms so you can use more than four spells in combat or while exploring.

The Spell Knowledge Talents

There are three Spell Knowledge talent tiers. Each talent tier gives you one additional spell slot set.

You can learn the Spell Knowledge I and Spell Knowledge II talents as early as level 5. Firstly, you need to progress as far as meeting Percival Rackham in the main story.

He will unlock the talent trees for you. I’ve reached this part of the story at level 12, but you can speedrun through the main story to unlock your talents.

Some side quests are mandatory as they teach you the spells needed for some main story quests.

The Spell Knowledge III talent unlocks after reaching level 16. This one gives you one more spell set, which is perfectly timed when you learn several new spells from levels 12 to 18.

Spell Sets

Consoles

Playing with a controller will have different mechanics from a keyboard & mouse.

To swap spell sets, you need to hold R2 or RT and use the corresponding D-pad button to swap sets.

If you have unlocked the final talent tier, you’ll have a spell set for left, right, down, and up buttons.

You have to change to a specific spell set before you can assign spells to it. After signing the spells, you can switch to another set and manually assign spells again.

To manually assign spells to a slot, hover over the spell and press the button to which you want to input it. Do this for each spell set.

PC

For keyboard & mouse users, you must press F1, F2, F3, and F4 to swap spell sets during combat.

Allocating spells to your spell sets is also done on one page. Hover over a spell and press the buttons you want to assign it to.

It is a lot easier setting up your spells on PC because you don’t have to switch sets to assign spells.

Managing your spells

Each spell set has four slots. You have to assign spells manually on each spell set and slot.

You can have the same spell on different spell sets, but that won’t be an efficient way of using your slots.

Mix up your spell sets with combinations like an upgraded Accio and Incendio combo.

An upgraded Accio will pull enemies all at once, and an upgraded Incendio will do a short-range AoE flamethrower to everyone pulled.

Tips & Tricks

Mix different spell types

Always have different types of spells in a single set. You want to avoid switching spell sets mid-combat when you want to make a combination.

Not only is it hard to keep track of all your spells, but you might also mess up the combination with all the buttons.

There are also enemies with shields that require a specific spell type to remove them.

If you are fighting enemies with different shield colors, you need different spell types in each of your spell sets.

Utility spells sets

Some utility spells aren’t used for combat in general. These spells are only used occasionally, but when you need them, you use them constantly.

For example, if you are trying to unlock the Room of Requirement, the area requires the spell Evanesco constantly.

You will most likely use that spell here, but in other areas, you won’t be using it at all.

The same goes for spells like Lumos when you are looking for moths to lead them to a mirror.

The tip is allocating one spell set for utility spells. If you still need to get the last talent point, you can ignore this tip until you get it.

If you only have two spell sets, you can set one utility spell on your main spell set and replace it afterward.

Set talent combinations

Here are a few talent combinations you can use in one spell set:

• Depulso, Diffindo, Expelliarmus, and Confringo
• Accio, Incendio, Glacius, Descendo
• control, force, damage, and fire damage

The first bullet is for long-range type builds.

The second bullet is for short-range type builds with more control.

The last one is a general spell set having each of the spell types.

Note: these are all upgraded versions

What to Do Next?

All the spells are hard to unlock—each spell paths through the main story or a side quest.

If you want to unlock more spells to put into your arsenal, handpick the quests that reward you with spells.

When you unlock these spells, you want to focus on only a few spells and upgrade their talents.

Talent points take a lot of work to come by. Use them wisely.

The next step is upgrading your gear. Some gear provides buffs to specific items and spells.

You want to keep some of these items depending on your build. Swap gear around until you find the best build suited for you.

If you keep a lot of gear in your inventory, you want to finish Merlin Trials to increase your gear capacity.