Leveling up in Hogwarts Legacy is radically different from most other open-world RPGs. Around level 35, you’ll notice that the usual sources of experience (XP) suddenly stop working. Defeated enemies no longer grant XP, and the level bar seems to freeze.

Reaching level 40 (the game’s maximum level and the requirement for unlocking the achievement/trophy) requires a clear understanding of the game’s hidden mechanics. In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how the experience system works and what you need to do to level up as quickly as possible.

The main secret: Experience is tied to the “Guide”

The most important rule of the game: you only gain experience for completing challenges in your Field Guide. This means that experience is awarded not for simply killing a mob, but for progress in a specific challenge (for example, “Kill 10 spiders”). Once you complete the final stage of the spider-killing challenge, you will receive 0 XP for all subsequent spiders.

The same applies to collecting pages from the Guide—once the trial gauge is full, the remaining pages will no longer grant experience (even though there are more of them in the world than needed to reach 100%).

To reach Level 40, you’ll need to complete the Trials section of the Guide exactly 100%. There’s no extra experience in the game—the math is calculated down to the last detail.

Quick Start: Guide Pages

Collecting pages is the easiest way to level up in the early stages of the game. For every page you find, you get 80 XP without having to fight at all.

Always use Revelio near the attractions in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade.

Catch the flying pages with the Axio spell.

Activate the statues with the orb using Levioso.

Light the dragon braziers with the Incendio or Conflingo spells.

In the Scottish Highlands, all pages are marked with icons on the map, which makes searching much easier.

A Clever Trick: Experience for Upgrading Gear

The game features a challenge to upgrade your gear (30 times). Doing this with legendary items is time-consuming and expensive. Life hack:

Use the Loom in the Rescue Room to upgrade the cheapest armor (blue or purple quality). They require a minimal amount of basic resources. Just upgrade an unwanted blue item by one level, get your 25 XP, and then go ahead and sell it. Make this a habit before visiting the merchant.

Battle Arenas: Farming Experience and Dueling Techniques

There are three battle arenas in the game world (one of them is the Dark Arts Arena, available in the Deluxe Edition). They are perfect for completing combat challenges. The main value of the arenas is that they make it easiest to complete Dueling Feats—those mini-quests that appear in the lower-right corner of the screen during combat. Completing Dueling Feats grants a massive amount of experience.

Beginner’s Mistake: Incorrect Order of Indentation

Never deliberately farm combat trials in the open world until you’ve completed all the side quests. Side quests will inevitably pit you against hordes of enemies. If you’ve already completed combat trials beforehand, you won’t gain a single point of experience from these enemies. Complete side quests first—that way, you’ll kill two birds with one stone.

Among the side quests, there are two that are particularly difficult to find:

Quest “Well, Well, Well”:

It’s located in the wilderness, far from any villages. This is a treasure hunt involving a talking well. To get the chest, you need to cast Levioso on a specific tree.

Quest “The End of Selwyn” (Sacking Selwyn):

Requires defeating an Infamous Foe. Infamous Foes are also required to reach Level 40—some are tied to quests, while others are scattered across the map (marked with a skull icon).

Merlin’s Trials (Time Saving)

There are 95 Merlin Trials in the game, but you only need to complete 52 of them to earn the maximum amount of XP. After that, they stop granting XP and only expand your inventory slots.

Before heading out on a cleanup mission, grow a supply of Mallowsweet in the Rescue Room (seeds are sold at “Magic Turnip”). For each trial, you’ll earn 80 XP in about two minutes.

To solve Merlin’s puzzles, you will need: Basic Attack, Reparo, Lumos, Flippendo, Depulso (or Wingardium Leviosa), and Confundo.

Hidden Sources of Experience

If you’re just a few points shy of level 40, check out these activities by zooming out the world map to see the stats for each region:

Landing Pads and Balls: You need to pop them and land on them while flying on a broom.

Astronomical Tables and Foci of Ancient Magic: Icons appear when you get close.

Secrets of Hogwarts: There are three challenging secret puzzles in the castle. Solving them will earn you separate experience points in the trials menu. Important: To access them, you’ll need to upgrade the Alohomora spell to level 3 (to do this, you’ll have to collect the Demimask figurines for Mr. Moon).

Tests of the Rescue Room (Breeding Creatures)

In addition to rescuing animals, you need to breed 10 different species.

Complete Elf Deek’s quests to unlock the breeding mechanic. Place a male and a female of the same species in a pen. There are only 12 animal species available for breeding in the game; you only need to choose 10. Tip: To quickly catch animals in the open world without a tedious mini-game, temporarily switch the game difficulty to “Story.”