Talent trees are the skill sets of Hogwarts Legacy, allowing you to spend talent points to upgrade various aspects of your abilities.
In this guide, we’ll tell you all about when you’ll get the talents, what each one does, and how they work. We’ll also show you some sweet combos and other nice uses of them!
Very Minor Spoilers about Quest Names Ahead
Talents are unlocked after a specific story point. If you’ve reached this guide looking for how and when talents were unlocked, that means you’ve not yet reached that point of the story. The first part of this article will list the names of the story missions leading to unlocking talents, with no further spoilers.
The rest of the guide will contain spoilers for the early-to-mid game of Hogwarts Legacy. Nothing further than unlocking talents will be mentioned.
If you don’t want spoilers for anything story-related but want to read up on what all the talents do, skip to the third section of this article (The Talent Trees In Hogwarts Legacy). There will be no mention of any quests or story from that point on.
How To Unlock Talents In Hogwarts Legacy (Spoiler-Free Version)
Talents are automatically unlocked after completing a certain quest in the story. If you want to know how close or far you are from unlocking talents, here is the full list of main story quests that must be cleared before gaining access to them (none of these titles should give away any spoilers):
- The Path to Hogwarts
- Welcome to Hogwarts
- Defense against the Dark Arts class
- Charms class
- Weasley after class
- Welcome to Hogsmeade
- The locket’s secret
- Secrets of the restricted section
- Tomes and tribulations
- The girl from Uagadou
- Trials of Merlin
- Prisoner of Love
- Jackdaw’s Rest
Related: https://fpschampion.com/how-to-fix-the-trials-of-merlin-bug-in-hogwarts-legacy/
How to Unlock Talents in Hogwarts Legacy (Full Version)
This section is for if you don’t mind spoilers of the story leading up to that part. It won’t contain any screenshots, so if you’re looking to read up on how talents work and what abilities you can unlock without getting spoiled, you can safely skip to the next part without risking glancing over something you wouldn’t want to see.
After the discovery of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and the Restricted Section adventure, the next quest line in the main story takes some wild turns. We somehow end up visiting Azkaban to listen to a riddle from a prisoner and come back to be led by a ghost into a massive and beautiful cavern.
Note: If that’s where you are in the story, this quest makes you go through the Forbidden Forest. That place is home to a bunch of spider dens. They out-level you.
You can fight them if you want; it’s a pretty fun challenge to figure out at that stage of the game. But don’t get stuck on them for hours thinking that you have to; you’re not meant to need to get past them, and you can also just try going through the forest without fighting them.
Jackdaw’s cave contains a lot of chests with gear, so make sure to sell any extra item you carry to have enough room to collect everything without losing out on money.
At the end of that cave, you will find another mysterious portal that will lead you to a portrait of Percival Rackham. And upon talking to him, your talents will now be unlocked!
Related Article: How to Beat the Crossed Wands Duels Side Quest in Hogwarts Legacy
The Talent Skill Trees In Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacy’s talents are divided into five trees: Spells, Dark Arts, Core, Stealth, and the Room of Requirement.
Each skill tree contains many talents that enhance some of your abilities.
The Spells Talent Tree
The Spells talent tree in Hogwarts Legacy is very straightforward and not too creative. Each talent corresponds to one of the combat spells (excluding Flipendo, Arresto Momentum, and Expelliarmus) and gives that one spell an area of effect.
Most of them simply read, “This spell has the same effect on enemies around the target.” The others have slight variations but retain the same idea.
Incendio releases a blazing shockwave around you, Confringo propagates to other targets, Diffindo cuts through the enemy, Glacius gives an explosion upon thawing out the opponent. The Transformation spell causes the target to become an explosive object.
Bombarda, Descendo, and Glacius Mastery are the talents unlocked at level 16, while Transformation Mastery unlocks at level 22.
That being said, “simple” does not mean “weak.” Fighting against multiple opponents is tough, and this is what Hogwarts Legacy gives you the most. The ability to repeatedly hit several of them at once—and to crowd-control them—immediately makes these battles easier and faster.
If you have any two or three spells that you use in combat more than the others, putting talent points into the Mastery skill of said spells is an easy choice. It will make for a raw increase in power without changing anything.
The Dark Arts Talent Tree
The Dark Arts talent tree in Hogwarts Legacy is a combo grid. Individually, all talents there are small power increases, but the more points you slot in it, the exponentially stronger each of these effects becomes.
Fitting for the Dark Arts, too – you can’t merely try them out; you have to fully commit to them if you truly want to harness their power.
All talents in that tree have one of two effects: making it easier to apply Curses on targets or getting more from Curse effects.
Additionally, all combat spells that were missing from the Spell tree can be empowered in the Dark Arts one instead.
Level 5+ Talents
- Stunning Curse: Stupefy has the same effect as a curse on enemies. Cursed enemies take additional damage.
- Blood Curse: Dealing damage to a cursed target inflicts damage to all cursed targets.
- Disarming Curse: Expelliarmus has the same effect as a curse on enemies. Cursed enemies take additional damage.
- Knockback Curse: Flipendo has the same effect as a curse on enemies. Cursed enemies take additional damage.
Level 16+ Talents
- Slowing Curse: Arresto Momentum has the same effect as a curse on enemies. Cursed enemies take additional damage.
- Enduring Curse: A cursed effect remains on an enemy for a longer period of time.
- Crucio Mastery: Striking an enemy cursed by Crucio releases a projectile that curses a nearby enemy.
- Imperio Mastery: An enemy under your control with Imperio curses other targets with each successful strike.
Level 22+ Talents
- Avada Kedavra mastery: Killing an enemy with Avada Kedavra kills all cursed enemies.
- Curse Sapper: Defeating a cursed enemy restores some of your health.
The Core Talent Tree
The Core Talent skill tree in Hogwarts Legacy provides diverse effects, enhancing combat and overall gameplay abilities. Basic casts such as Protego, dodge rolls, Revelio, Ancient Magic, or healing; lots of aspects of the game are covered by the Core tree.
As such, there’s no way to summarize it, so here’s for all the talents in that category!
Level 5+ Talents
- Ancient Magic Throw Expertise: Ancient Magic Throw catches and throws disarmed enemy weapons.
- Spell Knowledge I: A new spell set is added.
- Basic Cast Mastery: Basic casts reduce spell cooldowns.
- Protego Absorption: Successful Protego blocks will contribute to the Ancient Magic Meter. Perfect Protego blocks contribute even more.
- Swift: Holding down Dodge allows you to vanish quickly and reappear nearby.
- Spell Knowledge II: A new spell set is added.
- Wiggenweld Potency I: Wiggenweld heals you to a greater effect.
Level 16+ Talents
- Revelio Mastery: Increases the range of Revelio.
- Spell Knowledge III: A new spell set is added.
- Basic Cast Airborne Absorption: Basic cast impacts on airborne enemies contribute more to the Ancient Magic Meter.
- Protego Expertise: Blocking a spell with Perfect Protego will send two projectile backs at enemies.
- Evasion Absorption: Successfully evading an unblockable attack with Dodge contributes to the Ancient Magic Meter.
- Stupefy Mastery: Enemies hit with Stupefy remain stunned for a longer period of time.
- Wiggenweld Potency II: Wiggenweld heals you to a greater effect.
Level 22+ Talents
- Protego Mastery: Perfect Protego releases a damaging blast that breaks enemy shields.
- Stupefy Expertise: Stupefy deals direct damage on impact.
Additional Notes and Explanations for the Core Talent Skill Tree in Hogwarts Legacy
Spell Knowledge: From the start of the game, your Spells tab had empty spell lines below the first that you couldn’t do anything with. These talents allowed you to use them.
You can switch between spell sets with just one button press, giving you access to eight or more spells in your spell bar instead of just four. This is great for both combat abilities and overall convenience, as you no longer have to go into menus to change your spells when you come across a collectible or puzzle that requires Lumos instead of Accio. Then, you can easily switch back.
These talents in Hogwarts Legacy also allow you to initiate combat with stealth kills without having to go into menus before each battle or without fighting with only three combat spells.
Swift: Swift is a really fun talent that is a lot more efficient than it might appear. It is an extremely simple repositioning tool without cooldown, making you much safer in fights, and it can also be used to travel faster in the overworld. Swift also allows you to clear one of Merlin’s trials that was meant to require Arresto Momentum.
Wiggenweld Potency: By default, Wiggenweld potions heal you for one-third of your life. The Wiggenweld potions each increase that amount by another one-third.
Protego Expertise / Protego Mastery: On the contrary, these two are worse than they seem, especially in hard mode. Only activating on perfect blocks can be a rough requirement against enemies with fast attacks and opponents who give you little time to react to whether their attack is blockable.
Related Guide: How to Solve All Door Puzzles in Hogwarts Legacy
The Stealth Talent Tree
The Stealth talent tree is as small as it is simple. Three talents enhance your stealth, and the last one makes Petrificus Totalus an AoE.
Given the nature of stealth, these talents in Hogwarts Legacy do not really make one stronger. They make it easier and more conveniently achievable to reach the same goals. However, the limit of what can be accomplished remains the same.
Level 5+ Talents
- Sense of Secrecy I: Enemies’ ability to detect you is reduced.
- Human Demiguise: Allows you to Sprint while using Disillusionment.
Level 16+ Talent
- Sense of Secrecy II: Enemies’ ability to detect you is reduced.
Level 22+ Talent
- Petrificus Totalus Mastery: Petrificus Totalus emanates an area of effect that can affect nearby enemies.
For clarification, Sense of Secrecy reduces the radius within which an enemy detects your presence by approximately one-fourth for each point.
The Room Of Requirement Talent Tree
The Room of Requirement talent tree enhances the effects of everything that can come out of that room – that is, the plants and potions which you can use during fights.
Considering that they all upgrade the effects of consumables that have to be spent to be used, rather than providing something fully passive like in every other tree, these skills are all tuned to be powerful when implemented.
Level 5+ Talents
- Edurus Potion Potency: Edurus Potion makes you invulnerable and deflects projectiles back at enemies.
- Invisibility Potion Potency: The Invisibility Potion’s undetectable effect lasts for a longer period of time.
- Fertiliser: For each Chinese Chomping Cabbage thrown, a second Chomping Cabbage is generated and released at no cost.
Level 16+ Talents
- Maxima Potion Potency: Maxima Potion causes attacks to have additional increased damage and break shields.
- Headache: The damage and duration of the incapacitating effect of Mandrakes are increased.
Level 22+ Talents
- Thunderbrew Potency: The range and damage of the potion’s effect are greatly increased.
- Focus Potion Potency: The duration of the Focus Potion’s effect will be increased when any spell from the Spell Set is cast during its use.
- Noxious: Venomous Tentacula attacks deal additional damage and break shields.
Noxious also makes Venomous Tentacula shoot lasers instead of just poisoning nearby enemies, and that alone is worth the talent point and the price of the Tentacula.
How The Talent Skill Trees Work in Hogwarts Legacy
Each level you get from level 5 onward awards you one talent point, to be spent on any skill that these trees contain. This is retroactive, so you’ll start off with one talent point for each level you’ve reached (past level 4) upon unlocking that feature.
Any talent is unlocked with exactly one point, there isn’t one costing more than another.
Warning: There are no takebacks. A point that is spent is spent. While there is no risk of misclicking (you have to hold down the button to unlock a talent in Hogwarts Legacy, such as when buying or selling), you cannot simply rearrange your talents because you want to try something else.
That also means that there is no convenient way to try out a talent before unlocking it. The only option to get a feel for one is to save your game, unlock it, and then try it; if you dislike it, you can then reload your save.
The first row of talents in all trees is available as soon as you access the feature (if you aren’t level 5, you don’t have any talent point to begin with). The next two are unlocked upon reaching player level 16 and 22, respectively.
That one aside, there is no prerequisite for any talent. Unlike the disposition of the Core grid could make you think (… that’s what it made me wonder, at least), Spell Knowledge I being under Spell Knowledge II and Spell Knowledge III doesn’t mean that you have to unlock them in that order.
… Although that’s irrelevant in this particular example since all three talents have the exact same effect.
With all that said, as soon as you level up, you get one more point to unlock one further talent in the wizard fantasy of your dreams. Or, if you’re like me and have choice anxiety, you might be an eternal hoarder with ten unspent points at all times because you’re afraid of missing out on another option that you could end up wanting.
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Great Combos and Strategies for Unlocking Talents In Hogwarts Legacy
There are 48 choices in total, meaning lots of options, but some of them have synergies with each other. In this part of the guide, we will share a few talent combinations in Hogwarts Legacy that are greater than the sum of their parts.
The Entire Dark Arts Tree
Starting with the obvious, as stated earlier, the entirety of the Dark Arts tree is meant to create combos.
Not all of the “Add Curse to this Spell” effects are necessary, but you can get them for the spells you like most. Add Blood Curse, Enduring Curse, Curse Sapper, and Avada Kedavra mastery to that, and everything comes together.
Easily apply Curses to all targets, hold them for longer, leading to basic attacks affecting all opponents, and then heal on all kills. The dream of killing every single enemy on the field with one single Avada Kedavra is hard to resist.
Bonus points if you can make your character resemble Darth Sidious.
Incendio Mastery + Accio Mastery / Swift
Two variations of a really satisfying combo exist. The first one is an improvement of the training dummy tutorial. If the game states that Accio into Incendio is a good combo, then it is even better when it can be used on multiple people at once.
Instead of pulling enemies to you, the second version takes you to them. You can blink into a group of enemies, making everyone around explode, and then dash back out.
All Protego And Stupefy Talents in Hogwarts Legacy
Putting a lot of eggs in one basket is an efficient strategy, especially when it comes to blocking. If your Protego and Stupefy effects are really strong, you can focus on simply being defensive and let the power of the resulting effects handle the fight for you.
And it just so happens that there are a number of talents enhancing Protego in Hogwarts Legacy.
Protego Absorption, Protego Expertise, and Protego Mastery give you three separate effects for a perfect Protego. Additionally, Stupefy Mastery, Stupefy Expertise, and the Stunning Curse also triple-dip on Stupefy.
Ancient Magic Throw Expertise + Disarming Curse
All paths lead to the dark side, and here, once again, two talents empower Expelliarmus. With this combination, you can increase the damage dealt against your Expelliarmus target and amplify the already significant burst of damage from the resulting Ancient Magic Throw.
Blood Curse + Maxima Potion Potency + Basic Cast Mastery
Make your basic attacks stronger, allowing yourself to kick back and not having to think about which enemy to target with which spells, and making these basic casts hit several targets. Basic Cast Mastery is there to reduce the cooldown of spells that will apply the curses on more enemies, especially if they come in waves.
Of course, you can always give in to the call of the Dark Side and enhance it with more Dark Arts talents.
Wrapping Up Our Complete Hogwarts Legacy Talents and Skills Tree Guide
That should be all for the talents in Hogwarts! We hope this guide was a good resource to clarify how to handle talents or just read up on what they do. In particular, consider the powerful combos we’ve shown here, or invent your own. It’s a great way to increase your power quickly!
What are your favorite talents, and what do your picks look like? Let us know in the comments below!
