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Learn how to pop balloons, Dodge Roll, and many other useful tips in this Hogwarts Legacy guideline.
14. How to Pop Balloons
Hogwarts Legacy players will get rewarded for doing all sorts of things in the open world. There are rewards for defeating enemies, finding Field Guide Pages, completing side quests, and even popping balloons that hover in the sky. By going into the menu and checking out the Challenges tab, players can unlock cosmetic items and other stuff for completing said activities.
When players leave Hogwarts for the first time to explore, they might notice huge balloons floating in the sky –these can be popped to unlock four types of different cosmetic appearances for players’ broomsticks. The thing is, these balloons cannot be interacted with until players get their first flying broom. Let’s go over how to get a broom and pop balloons.
How to Get a Broom
There’s no way to get a broomstick in Hogwarts Legacy until players have completed their first flying class. This is part of the story, so there’s really no way to miss out on it unless players get obsessed with doing side activities instead of the main story. Once players finish class, they will be able to purchase a broom for 600 Gold from the Spintwitches Sporting store in Hogsmeade.
To actually mount your broom, make sure you’re not in a no-fly zone, and then hit the left bumper, and then press Circle (PlayStation) or B (Xbox).
How to Pop Balloons in Hogwarts Legacy
Once players have their broom in hand, all they need to do to pop balloons is simply fly straight into them –it’s as simple as that. There’s no need to use a particular spell or item.
Players will need to explore the wide wizarding world to pop every balloon in the game, and once players do that, they will eventually unlock the following broom appearances:
- Night Dancer Broom – Pop 2 sets of balloons
- Lickety Swift Broom – Pop 5 sets of balloons
- Wild Fire Broom – Pop 10 sets of balloons
- Bright Spark Broom – Pop 15 sets of balloons
These cosmetic items can be equipped to the broom in the Gear tab of the main menu. It’s worth noting that these will only change the look of the broom and will not increase the speed or handling. Players must upgrade their broom by speaking to the shopkeeper at Spintwiches’ Sporting Needs. He’ll eventually give players quests that involve broom races, and once completed, he’ll offer upgrades.
15. How to Dodge Roll
Hogwarts Legacy focuses on the life of a new student at Hogwarts beginning in their fifth year, but the game is more than just attending classes and exploring the school. Inevitably, players will come across various enemies that mean to harm them, and when this happens, it’s important to know how to protect oneself.
Although the player starts with knowledge of Protego, the shielding charm, dodge rolling is another method of avoiding damage from attacks. This is particularly useful when enemies launch attacks that are too powerful to be blocked with Protego, as it is the only way to avoid damage from unblockable attacks.
When players think of dodge rolling, they probably conjure up thoughts of hardcore games like Dark Souls or bullet hell-style games like Enter the Gungeon, but dodge rolling is an integral feature in Hogwarts Legacy. This ability is available to the player at the start and will be used nonstop throughout the rest of the game.
How to Dodge Roll in Hogwarts Legacy
Hogwarts Legacy is currently available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, with Switch, PS4, and Xbox One versions on the way. The control for dodge rolling is different on each system but equally important.
- To dodge roll on PS5, press circle.
- To dodge roll on Xbox, press B.
- To dodge roll on PC, press CTRL
Players can change the direction of their dodge roll by moving the analog stick or using WASD on PC. The controls for Hogwarts Legacy on Switch are not yet known, but dodge roll will most likely be the A button.
Getting the Most out of Dodge Rolling in Hogwarts Legacy
Whenever the player is targeted with an attack, a ring will appear above the character’s head. Yellow rings indicate attacks that can be blocked by using Protego, but red rings indicate unblockable attacks that must be dodged.
When dodge rolling, the player is invincible, making it useful when stuck in a corner or to dive through attacks like the swing of a troll’s club. After progressing far enough in the story, Hogwarts Legacy players will unlock Talent Points. Two of these talents improve the effectiveness of dodge rolling.
The level 5 Core Talent, Swift, allows players to hold down the dodge roll button to teleport a short distance, increasing the range and invulnerability time of the dodge roll. At level 16, players can purchase the Core Talent Evasion Absorption, which makes successfully evading unblockable attacks fill the Ancient Magic meter.
16. How to Break Shields
Though Hogwarts Legacy is very beginner friendly, its combat system can actually be quite complex. The first step to truly understanding the game’s combat is knowing how enemy shields work and, particularly, how to break them. As players gallivant around the Scottish Highlands, they’re bound to come across all manner of enemies. While Spiders and Trolls may not be capable of protecting themselves from the player’s spells, the many Dark Wizards that players will inevitably encounter are capable of using Protego in unique ways.
Though the player can cast Protego to shield themselves from damage, the spell works a bit differently for enemies in Hogwarts Legacy. Rather than being cast as a reaction, some Witches and Wizards the player crosses wands with will have permanent shields up that prevent incoming damage of all types until they are broken. There are three types of shields in Hogwarts Legacy: Yellow, Purple, and Red.
How to Break Yellow Shields
Yellow shields are common throughout Hogwarts Legacy and are typically wielded by weaker enemies such as Ashwinder Soldiers. In order to break through these shields, players will need to cast any Control type spell, identifiable by the yellow background behind the spell symbol. The following spells are considered Control spells and can break yellow shields.
- Levioso – Learned in the very first Charms class at the beginning of the game.
- Glacius – Learned after completing Madam Kogawa’s first assignment.
- Arresto Momentum – Learned after completing Madam Kogawa’s second assignment.
- Transformation – Learned after completing Professor Weasley’s assignment.
How to Break Purple Shields
Purple shields are less common than yellow shields, but players will still run into them frequently. Players will want to know how to break these shields if they want to beat enemies like Ashwinder Assassins.
Breaking purple shields requires players to cast any Force spell, denoted by the purple background behind the spell symbol. The following spells are considered Force spells that can break purple shields.
- Accio – Learned in the first Defence Against the Dark Arts class at the beginning of the game.
- Depulso – Learned after completing Professor Sharp’s first assignment.
- Descendo – Learned after completing Professor Onai’s assignment.
- Flipendo – Learned after completing Professor Garlick’s second assignment.
How to Break Red Shields
Red shields are rare, but they aren’t necessarily any harder to break so long as players have the right spells equipped to their spell sets. Enemies like the deadly Poacher and Ashwinder Duelists wield red shields in combat. Red shields can be destroyed by any Damage spell, which are easily identified by their red background. The following spells are considered Damage spells and can break red shields.
- Incendio – Learned after completing Professor Hecat’s first assignment.
- Confringo – Learned after completing “In the Shadow of the Undercroft” with Sebastian.
- Expelliarmus – Learned after completing Professor Hecat’s second assignment.
- Diffindo – Learned after completing Professor Sharp’s second assignment.
- Bombarda – Learned after completing Professor Howin’s assignment.
Source: Game Rant
