Hogwarts Legacy Talents Explained - Best Upgrades, Recommendations & More

Talents in Hogwarts Legacy are a set of skills and upgrades available to you in-game. Here is a run down of all the Talents in Hogwarts Legacy, and our recommendations for which to pick for the best builds.

Talents Hogwarts Legacy
These are all of the Talents in Hogwarts Legacy. | © Portkey Games

Hogwarts Legacy is more of a fully-fledged RPG than some fans were expecting. We have dozens of monsters to kill, tons of mounts to tame, and enough customization options to keep even the most insatiable completionist happy. Plus, the world map is huge.

One of the best RPG mechanics implemented into Hogwarts Legacy is the skill tree, in this case referred to as Talents. Here is an overview of how Talents work in Hogwarts Legacy, as well as a list of all the currently available ones, and our recommendation on which to prioritize unlocking first.

Talents In Hogwarts Legacy Explained

Talents refer to a range of different upgrades your character can unlock in Hogwarts Legacy. The important thing to note is that Talents are not spells, Talents are upgrades. They can do a number of things, including:

  • Improve the Room of Requirement (basically the home base)
  • Buff spells you can already cast
  • Improve your general ability to be stealthy

Every time you level up you get Talent points, which can then be spent to unlock the game's 48 Talents. The Talents are divided into various categories; Spells, Dark Arts, Core, Stealth, Room of Requirement.

It's stuff you've seen before if you've played any RPG, but it works well.

All Talents In Hogwarts Legacy

Here are all the Talents we know about so far, split into the different categories they come in:

Spells (10 Talents Available)

The "Spells" category will buff a lot of the most common attack spells.

NameDescriptionCharacter Level Required To Unlock
Incendio MasteryCasting Incendio unleashes a ring of flame around you.5
Accio MasteryEnemies near a target summoned by Accio are also pulled to you.5
Levioso MasteryEnemies near a target levitated by Levioso are also levitated.5
Confringo MasteryConfringo Impacts produce fiery bolts that seek enemy targets.5
Depulso MasteryCasting Depulso releases an additional blast directly around you.5
Diffindo MasteryDiffindo casts slice through impacted enemies to strike additional targets.5
Bombarda MasteryBombarda causes an explosive blast with a massive area of effect.16
Descendo MasteryA Descendo slam creates a damaging shockwave around you.16
Glacius MasteryStriking an enemy frozen by Glacius blasts damaging shards outward from the target.16
Transformation MasteryEnemies struck with the Transformation spell transform into explosive objects.22

The buffs that improve spells by creating some kind of additional effect centered on the character are underwhelming in our opinion. When you're playing at your best you ideally won't have enemies that close to you, and so these effects are useless outside of emergencies.

We rate Confringo Mastery particularly highly because the additional fiery bolts seek out enemies automatically, and are thus always having some effect even if they don't hit for that much damage. Bombarda Mastery is one of our favorites because it's such a great spells for clearing low-level mobs.

Dark Arts (10)

"Dark Arts" is a bit more complicated than "Spells" because it deals with Curses. Curses are basically evil spells that can synergize with each other.

Some of the Talents in this category turn normal spells into Curses, and other Talents upgrade spells which are curses by default (Avada Kedavra, Crucio & Imperio).

NameDescriptionCharacter Level Required To Unlock
Knockback CurseFlippenndo has the same effect as a curse on enemies. Cursed enemies take increased damage.5
Disarming CurseExpelliarmus has the same effect as a curse on enemies. Cursed enemies take increased damage.5
Stunning CurseStupify has the same effect as a curse on enemies. Cursed enemies take increased damage.5
Blood CurseDealing damage to a cursed target inflicts damage to all cursed targets.5
Imperio MasteryAn enemy under your control with Imperio curses other target with each successful strike.16
Crucio MasterStriking an enemy cursed by Crucio releases a projectile that curses a nearby enemy.16
Arresto MomentumArresto Momentum has the same effect as a curse on enemies. Cursed enemies take increased damage.16
Enduring CurseA cursed effect remains on an enemy for a longer period of time.16
Avada Kedavra MasteryKilling an enemy with Avada Kedavera kills all cursed enemies.22
Curse SapperDefeating a cursed enemy restores some of your health.22
You have to put respect on the OG Flipendo Spell, and the Dark Arts upgrade to Flipendo is fantastic. It allows Flipendo to be combo'd with other Curses, and it provides a flat damage buff. Hence, the Knockback Curse is a must-pick for us on any evil playthroughs. The other Talents like this are also good, but we don't like Expelliarmus as much because it's a more situational spell than Flipendo or Stupify.
Curse Sapper
Avada Kedavra becomes absurdly powerful with the level 22 Talent. | © Portkey Games

Enduring Curse is another standout for us. If you're going to use Curses and go down the path of evil, then it's all about having multiple enemies Cursed at once and combo'ing. Enduring Curse just allows the basic "Cursed" status effect to last longer on each enemy, so you can keep chaining them more easily. It makes the whole process of playing with Curses better.

Core (16 Talents Available)

With Core skills you upgrade how you cast and get a few general buffs. There are also Talents called "Spell Knowledge" Talents, and these just let you "equip" more spells for combat use.

NameDescriptionCharacter Level Required To Unlock
Ancient Magic Throw ExpertiseAncient Magic Throw catches and throws disarmed enemy weapons.5
Spell Knowledge IA new Spell Set is added. Hold R2/RT and tap one of your directional keys/arrows to swap to an unlocked Spell Set.5
Basic Cast MasteryBasic Cast impacts reduce spell cooldowns.5
Protego AbsorptionSuccessful Protego blocks will contribute to the Ancient Magic Meter. Perfect Protego blocks contribute even more.5
SwiftHolding down dodge allows you to vanish quickly and reappear nearby.5
Spell Knowledge IIA new Spell Set is added. Hold R2/RT and tap one of your directional keys/arrows to swap to an unlocked Spell Set.5
Wiggenweld Potency IWiggenweld heals you to a greater effect.5
Revelio MasteryIncreases the range of Revelio.16
Spell Knowledge IIIA new Spell Set is added. Hold R2/RT and tap one of your directional keys/arrows to swap to an unlocked Spell Set.16
Basic Cast Airborne AbsorptionBasic Cast impacts on airborne enemies contributes more to the Ancient Magic Meter.16
Protego ExpertiseBlocking a spell with Perfect Protego will send two projectiles back at enemies.16
Evasion AbsorptionSuccessfully evading an unblockable attack with Dodge contributes to the Ancient Magic Meter.16
Stupefy MasteryEnemies struck with Stupefy remain stunned for a longer period of time.16
Wiggenweld Potency IIWiggenweld heals you to a greater effect.16
Protego MasteryPerfect Protego releases a damaging blast that breaks enemy shields.22
Stupefy ExpertiseStupefy deals direct damage on impact.22

There are simply a lot of Talents here that are must-picks, and will always be an efficient pick no matter what character you're building. You'll always want the game's basic health potions to be more effective, you'll always want a great array of magic, and you'll always want to improve Revelio, which can be used constantly in combat.

Hogwarts Legacy Core Talent
Upgrading your Core Talents is always worth it. | © Portkey Games

Stealth (4 Talents Available)

Stealth Talents are exactly what you would expect. They make you sneak better.

NameDescriptionCharacter Level Required To Unlock
Sense of Secrecy IEnemies' ability to detect you is reduced.5
Human DemiguiseAllows you to Sprint while using Disillusionment.5
Sense of Secrecy IIEnemies' ability to detect you is reduced.16
Petrificus Totalus MasteryPetrificus Totalus emanates an area of effect that can impact nearby enemies.22

*Sense of Secrecy is a must-pick if you want a stealth build, but if you're min-maxing and only care about raw combat ability you don't need stealth. Hence, it's either 1 or 5 depending on what you're trying to do.

We don't really rate the other Stealth Talents that highly.

Room of Requirement (8 Talents Available)

The Room of Requirement is basically your home base, and in that base you can make plants and potions to use in combat. These Talents improve those plants and potions.

NameDescriptionCharacter Level Required To Unlock
Edurus Potion PotencyEdurus Potion makes you invulnerable and deflects projectile attacks back to enemies.5
FertilizerFor each Chinese Chomping Cabbage thrown, a second Chomping Cabbage is generated and released at no cost.5
Invisibility Potion PotencyThe Invisibility Potion's undetectable effect lasts for a longer period of time.5
HeadacheThe damage and duration of the incapacitating effect of Mandrakes are increased.16
Maxima Potion PotencyMaxima Potion causes attacks to have additional increased damage and break enemy shields.16
Thunderbrew PotencyThe range and damage of the potion effect are greatly increased.22
NoxiousVenomous Tentacula attacks deal additional damage and break shields.22
Focus Potion PotencyThe duration of the Focus Potion's effect will be extended when any spell from the Spell Set is cast during it's use.22

It's really hard to objectively rate these Talents because they're all specific to quite unique builds that rely on a lot of Herbology. We do like the Edurus Potion Potency Talent though, because with invulnerability you can cheese your way through a lot of different scenarios.

The Best Talents In Hogwarts Legacy

At Level 5

If you want to go down the Curses and Dark Magic route then Knockback Curse is a must-pick at level 5, but apart from that, Confringo Mastery is also a really solid low-level buff to a good attacking spell.

You should also take Basic Cast Mastery to reduce cooldowns, a Spell Knowledge Talent to have more variety in combat, and if you're leaning into stealth, Sense of Secrecy I.

At Level 16

Bombarda Mastery absolutely slaps, and it's just great fun, so we recommend it to all. But for our Slytherin students, the first priority should be unlocking Enduring Curse if you're evil.

You should also pick up more Spell Knowledge Talents and the second Sense of Secrecy. And we also recommend Evasion Absorption if you've come from Dark Souls and your instinct is to dodge as much as you can in combat.

Harry Potter Hogwarts Legacy
Even the basic combat can get major upgrades with the right talents. | © Portkey Games

At Level 22

This will depend on if you've learned Avada Kedavra yet. If you have learned the spell then consider Avada Kedavra Mastery, but if you haven't unlocked it just grab Curse Sapper for vampirism.

Protego Mastery is also very strong at level 22, but whether you should take this Talent depends on whether you've really incorporated Protego into your combat style.

That was our guide to Talents in Hogwarts Legacy. Head over to our Wand guide if you're looking for more deep-dives in the latest Harry Potter RPG.

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Jon Ramuz

Jon has a BA and an MA in English Literature, and as Content Lead for EarlyGame has written over 1,500 articles. He focuses on shooters, but also writes about entertainment and gaming in general....