Avalanche Software's incredible attention to detail is apparent in Hogwarts Legacy. This is as true about its interior and exterior open-world exploration as it is about combat, though the latter has not been discussed as much. Combat was formally debuted in Hogwarts Legacy’s State of Play gameplay presentation, where the player stepped onto a narrow stage to duel their classmate in a Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Combat was prefaced as having players encounter creatures, goblins, witches, and wizards with offensive and defensive spells exchanged.
This showcase gave fans a firm foundation for what they can expect from combat, and it was not until Hogwarts Legacy’s most recent gameplay showcase that combat was assessed a little further. Using an amicable dueling club as an introduction to combat, Game Director Alan Tew described its basic formula with how players will approach different encounters. It seems as though players will have a more diverse strategy to consider in combat once more spells are acquired since there are reportedly over 20 to unlock.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Wand Duel Combat Encourages Rhythmic Combinations
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Because combat is oriented entirely around wand duels in Hogwarts Legacy, spells are cast at mid- to long-range. The character's animations flourish with stylish wand flicks and spins as attacks can be chained together consecutively.
The recent gameplay showcase offered a fantastic look at combat with actual explanations for how players will want to approach it. In the clock tower’s Crossed Wands dueling club, players can practice in a tutorial against a dummy. This teaches players how to cast Accio and follow that up with successive basic strikes, suggesting that Accio will be one of the first spells that players learn.
Once one of these slotted spells is cast, there is a short cooldown before it can be cast again. Thankfully, players will be able to slot up to four spells in each diamond on Hogwarts Legacy’s HUD UI, and there are up to four spell diamonds that can be slotted when unlocked.
It is then up to players’ discretion which spells they slot in which diamond for ease of accessibility and convenience in any duel. Like Accio, Levioso also suspends enemies midair and opens them up to basic attacks, meaning that players could potentially continue a juggle string for a while if they have certain spells that allow them to do so.
Combat against characters who can fight back is where it becomes more strategic with what spells and maneuvers players will want to consider. Only certain spells will be able to break an opponent’s shield, for instance, where violet shields must be broken with a Force spell such as Accio.
The player also has defensive options, where a halo prompt will appear around their character’s head warning them of an incoming attack. These attacks can be deflected with a face button input independent of a slotted spell. This showcase was demonstrated on PS5, and as such the Protego deflect parry is mapped to the triangle button. This Protego deflect can also apparently be followed up with a Stupefy counter.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Wand Duels Can Become Chaotic with Multiple Opponents
Tew describes wand duels from the Harry Potter franchise as “fencing from a very great distance,” which is true of how eloquent and thoughtful Hogwarts Legacy’s spell-based duels are. The State of Play presentation shared glimpses at many encounters with the player dueling multiple enemies at once, which seems to be a staple in combat.
This may be the result of one-on-one duels being dominated by the player, especially if they are able to Accio or Levioso them into the air and juggle them for a period of time. It only makes sense, then, to have this combat be more dynamic with multiple enemies who could interrupt the player’s combination string.
That is where environmental interaction seems to come into play, where players can lift and hurl barrels, crates, or other objects at enemies while another spell may be on cooldown or if it is fortuitous to do so for more damage. Many of the combative spells players have in Hogwarts Legacy have yet to be shared, but this breakdown of combat from both showcases gives fans plenty to be excited about.
Hogwarts Legacy releases February 10 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. A Switch version is also in development.