Hogwarts Legacy best talents and character builds

Hogwarts Legacy is a game that incentivizes exploration and experimentation. As such, there are several builds that players have already crafted within the first week of the game’s launch. These builds follow a combination of spells and talents that go well together to make an ideal witch or wizard. Knowing what talents complement the spells you’re going for is a must.

Best talents in Hogwarts Legacy

There are a total of 48 talents to choose from in Hogwarts Legacy and not all of them will be useful for every build. Some universally great talents can be picked up by any build, so there’s no harm in choosing them at any point. Specific Mastery talents are only useful if you use them often or if those spells are used in builds you would like to follow.

Talents like Basic Cast Mastery and different Potions Masteries are no-brainers. They work in every build because they are simply that effective in every situation. Lowering the cooldowns of your spells while maximizing the potency of your potions provides the ultimate magical experience. No talents are objectively bad and any of them can be picked up depending on your build.

Some of the easier builds to pick up and follow are listed below. The faster you level up, the faster you will get to try out these builds.

Character builds in Hogwarts Legacy

The builds listed here each follow a different play style and you can choose one based on how you enjoy playing the game. None of these builds fall short and they will help you clear through the game in a grand fashion once mastered.

1) Assassin

This build focuses on playing a stealthier character that prefers to take down their enemies through quick assassinations while being unseen for as long as possible.

• Spells:
  • Disillusionment charm
  • Petrificus Totalus
  • Glacius
• Talents:
  • Petrificus Totalus Mastery
  • Invisibility Potion Mastery
  • Human Demiguise
  • Sense of Secrecy I
  • Sense of Secrecy II
• Potions:
  • Invisibility Potion

The play style for this build emphasizes a methodical approach that defeats enemies before they have a chance to react to your assault. This would require you to be unseen at all times so that you can sneak up on them undetected to work your magic. Due to this, the most important setup skill is the Disillusionment charm that renders you invisible.

As a follow-up, the Invisibility Potion extends your invisibility even further with talents to accentuate that. With Invisibility Potion Mastery and Human Demiguise letting you sprint when invisible, you can catch up to your targets quickly. Having both Sense of Secrecy talents helps you avoid detection even further.

Related: How many spells are in Hogwarts Legacy?

Once you catch up to your target, use Petrificus Totalus for a backstab-type instant kill. Petrificus Totalus Mastery allows you to freeze multiple targets together as long as they are clumped to each other, making it even more effective. And finally, in a one-on-one situation, you can use Glacius to freeze the enemy in place, allowing you to finish them off with Petrificus Totalus.

2) Dark Mage

This build emphasizes using Dark Arts to make short work of your foes by way of curses, all of which are considered unforgivable. Learning these curses can only be done via side quests, so make sure to complete those companion quests when you can.

• Spells:
  • Avada Kedavra
  • Crucio
  • Imperio
• Talents:
  • Avada Kedavra Mastery
  • Crucio Mastery
  • Imperio Mastery
  • Curse Sapper
  • Enduring Curse
  • Blood Curse
• Potions:
  • Maxima Potion
  • Focus Potion

The playstyle focuses on cursing enemies and spreading the curse effect to all enemies at once. Crucio and Imperio are perfect setup spells for this to happen. Crucio deals strong damage over time while leaving the enemy unable to retaliate for that period. Imperio allows you to control other enemies to make them fight for you, turning them against their allies.

These spells are enhanced with their relevant Mastery talents. Crucio Mastery spreads the curse effect to a nearby enemy when you cast Crucio while Imperio Mastery allows the cursed target to spread the curse effect to every target it hits. These two spells set up a powerful finisher that comes in the form of the killing curse, Avada Kedavra.

Avada Kedavra instantly kills any enemy, regardless of their shields. Avada Kedavra Mastery allows the killing curse to kill every cursed target at once which is why the setup with Crucio and Imperio was necessary. The rest of the talents accentuate this build even further. Curse Sapper allows you to gain health when you defeat a cursed enemy. Enduring Curse makes sure your curse effects last longer. Blood Curse links every cursed target together, making them share all damage between them.

3) Elementalist

This build uses the power of the elements to deal damage and blast away your foes. While the core of this build focuses on using powerful elemental spells, it is also worthwhile to note that having a few Force or Control spells in your arsenal would be great to make sure enemies take consistent damage.

• Spells:
  • Incendio
  • Confringo
  • Bombarda
  • Glacius
  • Accio / Depulso / Flipendo
• Talents:
  • Incendio Mastery
  • Confringo Mastery
  • Bombarda Mastery
  • Glacius Mastery
  • Basic Cast Mastery
• Potions:
  • Maxima Potion
  • Focus Potion

The play style for this build revolves around using the two elements of fire and ice to deal heavy amounts of damage. Although there is only one ice spell available in the game, it is a very powerful one. Despite not being a primary damage spell, with Glacius Mastery, the splinters that are produced upon impact on a frozen target can deal a lot of damage when used right.

The fire portion of this build is a lot more devastating, however. With three tiers of fire spells, this build excels at sustained battles and especially against Inferi enemies. Incendio sets an enemy on fire and with Incendio Mastery, the spell releases a ring of fire around the caster, setting multiple enemies ablaze. Incendio is just the first tier of fire spells, with the rest being even stronger.

Related: The best spells to use in Hogwarts Legacy

Confringo allows you to set a target on fire from a longer range than Incendio while dealing more damage. Confringo Mastery improves this skill by creating a blast that releases homing projectiles, lighting nearby enemies on fire as well.

Finally, the most superior skill in the Elementalist’s arsenal would be Bombarda. The explosion upon impact from this spell can damage all nearby targets within a huge radius. Bombarda Mastery further strengthens this skill by increasing the area of effect of the explosions even more.

Basic Cast Mastery is thrown in as well to be spammed between skills, ensuring a low cooldown of all skills. Mix them in with either Accio, Depulso, or Flipendo to have ultimate control over your targets.

4) Harry Potter

This build is a roleplay build that we will be demonstrating. The name says it all because this build revolves around roleplaying as The Boy Who Lived. While not as powerful as the other builds, it is a fun one to play if you enjoy playing as the namesake wizard. For best results, making him look like Harry Potter is ideal.

• Spells:
  • Disillusionment charm
  • Expelliarmus
  • Stupefy
  • Petrificus Totalus (optional)
• Talents:
  • Human Demiguise
  • Sense of Secrecy I
  • Sense of Secrecy II
  • Blood Curse
  • Disarming Curse
  • Stunning Curse
  • Stupefy Mastery
  • Stupefy Expertise
• Potions:
  • Focus Potion
  • Invisibility Potion (optional)

The play style for this build works around using the signature spells that Harry Potter used in his time at Hogwarts. Although Expecto Patronum isn’t a usable spell in this game, given the lack of Dementors anyway, it makes sense not to include it. Harry’s other signature spells in the game are, however, definitely included, Stupefy and Expelliarmus.

The stunning spell Stupefy is taught to players during their first run-in with Ranrok in the prologue section of the game. Holding down Protego will instantly fire a Stupefy in retaliation. This gets further buffed by Stunning Curse which curses enemies hit by Stupefy, making them take increased damage from all sources.

This combination works amazingly well with Stupefy Expertise which makes the spell deal damage as well. For more utility, Stupefy Mastery increases the duration a target remains stunned whenever they are hit by Stupefy.

Related: How to create a Harry Potter character in Hogwarts Legacy

Expelliarmus is the other spell that makes this build work. The disarming spell knocks out the enemies’ weapons or wands from their hands on a perfect cast. You can then fire the weapon back at them with your Ancient Magic Throw or follow up with Basic Casts. Expelliarmus also breaks red shields.

The spell is buffed with Disarming Curse that applies a curse effect when casting Expelliarmus. Blood Curse goes well with the two spells allowing all cursed targets to take damage whenever one cursed target is attacked.

And finally, the Disillusionment charm. This allows you to sneak up on enemies and cast Petrificus Totalus on them if necessary. If you’re opting to go down the stealth route, make sure to pick up the Human Demiguise and Sense of Secrecy talents as well. Since there is no invisibility cloak in this game, your Harry Potter will have to make do with the Disillusionment charm or an Invisibility Potion if need be.