You’ll Save Hours in Hogwarts Legacy If You Do These 10 Things First

Why Your First Few Hours in Hogwarts Legacy Matter

After sinking three full playthroughs and way too many “restart the save” experiments into Hogwarts Legacy on PC (controller + KB/M mix), I finally settled on a routine that makes the first 3-5 hours feel smooth instead of messy. My first run was a disaster: wrong settings, wasted quests, bad gear decisions, and I unlocked key systems way later than I should have.

This guide walks through the 10 things I now always do as soon as I start a new character. I’ll explain exactly what to do, where in the menus it is, why it matters, and the mistakes that cost me time on my early runs. Follow this order and you’ll level faster, get strong gear earlier, and avoid that “I should just restart” feeling.

1. Fix Your Settings Before You Leave the Dorm

I completely underestimated how much the settings matter. On my first run I left everything on default, started on Normal, and spent the first big goblin fight getting wrecked because the camera and input timings felt awful to me.

As soon as you gain control in the dorm:

• Open Pause → Settings → Gameplay and set your Difficulty. If you mainly want the story, start on Story or Easy. You can always bump it up later.
• Go to Settings → Controls and tweak Camera Sensitivity and Camera Acceleration. I turn acceleration way down; it makes aiming spells much easier.
• Under Settings → Accessibility, enable Subtitles and any colorblind options you need. The colored enemy shields are important in combat, so make them readable.
• If motion blur or film grain bothers you, disable them under Settings → Graphics/Display.

Why this matters: Once the combat and broom flying open up, bad camera and difficulty settings make everything feel clunky. Tuning these before you fight anything saves a lot of frustration.

Don’t make my mistake of stubbornly staying on Hard “for the challenge” while you’re still learning the combat timings. Get comfortable first, then crank it up.

2. Take Character Creation and House Choice Seriously (But Don’t Stress)

I restarted an entire 8-hour save once because I wasn’t happy with my character’s look. You can change hairstyle and some cosmetics later, but not everything, and your house is locked for the whole run.

On the Character Creation and Sorting sections:

• Spend time on your character’s face and hairstyle. You’ll see them in almost every cutscene.
• When the Sorting Hat questions pop up, you can either answer honestly or override and pick a house directly.
• Know that houses mostly affect your common room, some dialogue flavor, and one unique quest line. Core story and power level don’t change.

My rule now: pick the house whose common room vibe I like for that playthrough (Gryffindor adventure, Slytherin scheming, Ravenclaw scholar, Hufflepuff cozy explorer). The mechanical differences are small compared to how much time you’ll spend in that common room.

3. Push Main Story Until Hogsmeade Before Going Side-Quest Crazy

My first time, I tried to clear every icon I saw before finishing early main quests. That was a mistake. You’re missing key spells and shops, so everything takes longer.

From the moment you arrive at Hogwarts, follow the main quest string through:

• “The Sorting Ceremony” (intro & house)
• “Defence Against the Dark Arts Class” (Levioso)
• “Charms Class” (Accio)
• “Welcome to Hogsmeade” (shops, gear, first big fight)

These quests give you the basic combat toolkit (Levioso, Accio, basic cast) and unlock vendors for potions, gear, and broom later.

Why this order works: once you’ve cleared “Welcome to Hogsmeade,” almost every early quest becomes easier and more rewarding because you have better gear and a fuller spell bar.

4. Turn Revelio Into a Reflex (Field Guide Pages = Free XP)

The breakthrough moment for me was realizing how much XP Field Guide Pages give. I hit level milestones way earlier on later saves just by spamming Revelio everywhere.

Once you learn Revelio in the tutorial:

• Bind it somewhere comfortable (default is fine on controller; on KB/M I keep it near movement keys).
• Tap it every time you enter a new hallway, room, or courtyard. You’ll hear a little chime if there’s a page or hidden object nearby.
• Look for glowing book pages, statues with plaques, and odd-looking paintings-most tie into Field Guide challenges.

Each page is a chunk of XP and progress toward challenges that give you gear and cosmetics. On my “no Revelio spam” run, I was consistently 2-3 levels behind where I was on later runs at the same story point.

5. Unlock Castle Floo Flames As You Naturally Explore

Running across the castle is cool exactly twice. After that, the charm wears off. On my first save I didn’t realize you have to manually activate each Floo Flame you walk by.

Any time you see the green flame icon on the minimap:

• Walk right up to the Floo Flame.
• Face it until the name of the location pops and the “new fast travel point unlocked” message appears.

Do this especially in:

• The Grand Staircase
• Central Hall
• Clock Tower Courtyard
• Outside each classroom area you visit

Why it’s huge: once side quests start sending you across the castle, instant teleport saves minutes every time. It doesn’t sound like much, but over a long playthrough it’s the difference between “I’ll quickly do this quest” and “forget it, too far.”

6. Do These Specific Early Side Quests First

Not all side quests are equal. I wasted a bunch of early-game time on low-reward errands while ignoring quests that unlock powerful systems and combat training.

Right after “Welcome to Hogsmeade,” prioritize:

• Crossed Wands (Round 1 & 2) – This is your combat tutorial on steroids. You’ll learn shield breaking, combos, and crowd control in a safe environment. I do every Crossed Wands round as soon as it appears.
• Assignment-style quests from Professors – These often unlock new spells (e.g., Incendio, Expelliarmus). Check your Quests → Assignments tab and knock these out early.
• Any quest that mentions the Room of Requirement or Beasts – These lead to long-term systems (crafting, potions, plants, beast care).

What I avoid early: long fetch quests that send you far off-campus for basic loot. I save those for when I have a broom and more spells.

7. Unlock Your Broom ASAP and Actually Practice Flying

I completely underestimated how important the broom is. I put off the flying class on my first run and spent ages jogging across the countryside like a medieval mailman.

Here’s the sequence I follow now:

• Progress the main story until you’re given the quest for Flying Class.
• Complete Flying Class to unlock broom usage.
• Head back to Hogsmeade and buy a broom from the broom shop as soon as you can afford one.

Then, spend 5–10 minutes just flying around the castle area. Tweaking sensitivity again here can help: go to Settings → Controls → Broom Flight and adjust until turning feels natural.

Why it matters early: being able to fly makes resource runs, exploration, and side quests dramatically faster. It also lets you safely scout enemy camps before committing to fights.

8. Learn One Reliable Combat Loop Instead of Button-Mashing

In my first hours, I treated combat like an action game and just spammed basic cast. That works on low-level enemies, then completely falls apart once shielded enemies and big groups show up.

Early on, build muscle memory around a simple loop like:

• Protego (hold) / Stupefy (counter) whenever you see the danger indicator above your head.
• Use Levioso to lift enemies with yellow shields.
• Pull isolated enemies with Accio into the air, then juggle with basic casts.
• Weave in your damage spell (usually Incendio or later options) when they’re close or airborne.

Spend a few minutes in any early fight deliberately practicing this instead of just trying to kill things quickly. Once this rhythm clicks, later talents and spells slot in naturally.

Common mistake I made: ignoring the shield colors. If an enemy has a colored shield, break it with a matching spell type (yellow control, red damage, purple force) instead of wasting time chipping it with basic casts.

9. Manage Gear Early: Sell Aggressively, Transmog Your Look

For several hours on my first save, I hoarded low-level green gear “just in case” and constantly hit the inventory cap. I also ran around looking ridiculous because I didn’t realize appearance can be customized separately.

Once gear starts dropping:

• Open Gear and always equip the higher-stat item, regardless of how ugly it looks at first.
• Then hover that piece and choose the Change Appearance option to apply any look you’ve collected. Your stats stay, your outfit looks how you want.
• When your gear slots fill up, sell everything you’re not wearing at Hogsmeade vendors. Early on, gold (Galleons) is more valuable than a stash of outdated items.

Why this is important first: gold gates early broom purchases and some recipes. By selling aggressively instead of hoarding, I was able to buy my favorite broom and key potion/plant recipes much earlier on later runs.

10. Rush the Room of Requirement and Set Up Self-Sufficiency

The Room of Requirement is the point where Hogwarts Legacy “clicks” as an RPG instead of just an action-adventure game. On my first playthrough, I stumbled into it pretty late; on my later runs, I push main quests until it unlocks as soon as possible.

Once you get the main quest that introduces the Room:

• Follow it immediately and complete the tutorial for Conjuration and decorating.
• Place at least:
  • One or two Potting Tables (for Dittany and other plants)
  • One or two Potions Stations (Wiggenweld and damage/defense potions)
• Start a loop where every time you visit Hogwarts between quests, you:
  • Harvest plants
  • Queue new potions
  • Re-plant anything on cooldown

This turns you from “always broke and out of potions” into a self-sufficient witch or wizard. By the time mid-game combat ramps up, you’ll have a healthy stockpile of Wiggenweld, Focus potions, and combat plants without spending tons of Galleons at shops.

Wrapping It Up: Your Ideal First 3–5 Hours

If I condense my best runs into a loose order, it looks like this:

• Fix settings and difficulty before you fight anything.
• Take your time in character creation and house choice.
• Follow the main story through “Welcome to Hogsmeade.”
• Spam Revelio and grab every Field Guide Page and Floo Flame you pass.
• Prioritize Crossed Wands and Professor assignments for core spells.
• Unlock Flying Class and buy a broom as soon as you can afford it.
• Practice one solid combat loop instead of mashing buttons.
• Sell extra gear often and use appearance customization early.
• Push main quests until the Room of Requirement unlocks, then build a basic potion/plant setup.

If you follow this flow, the rest of the game opens up beautifully: you’ll be slightly over-leveled, swimming in potions and plants, and traveling quickly instead of trudging. I learned most of this the hard way so you don’t have to-treat this as your “do this first” checklist, then shape the rest of your Hogwarts story however you like.