Major Spoilers for Hogwarts Legacy AheadHogwarts Legacy’s three Unforgivable Curses have been a huge talking point of the action-RPG since they were revealed. This is unsurprising given the nature of past Harry Potter games, especially while Hogwarts Legacy has some inherently darker and somber tones in its narrative. The Cruciatus Curse, Imperius Curse, and Killing Curse are all formidable in the hands of any witch or wizard, and they are each learned gradually throughout Hogwarts Legacy if players are willing to accept them from Slytherin’s Sebastian Sallow.
Each curse has a unique function that makes them overwhelmingly powerful options for players to fall back on. Hogwarts Legacy’s Crucio curses a targeted enemy with damage-over-time, Imperio curses a targeted enemy and makes them temporarily attack fellow enemies, and Avada Kedavra instantly kills nearly any enemy. That is an important distinction to make—not literally any boss can be killed in a single Avada Kedavra hit. However, it is still ridiculously overpowered and faithful to the source material it originated from.
The Killing Curse Carries Heavy Significance in Hogwarts Legacy
Avada Kedavra is a highly intimidating curse because of its intent and function. Crucio and Imperio are sometimes considered to be worse because they are intended to be more malicious and manipulative, but Avada Kedavra is a curse that is only cast if the witch or wizard means to kill. Therefore, it is only with great severity that Avada Kedavra is ever seen or heard, unless a truly horrendous individual is the one wielding it.
Even in Hogwarts Legacy players will not see an enemy casting Avada Kedavra on them in regular encounters, though Hogwarts Legacy's Victor Rookwood in particular has a penchant for casting it. If Avada Kedavra was used regularly by enemies that would result in players dying instantly, which could have been tedious in elaborate encounters but a fun challenge in a higher difficulty setting if available.
Nonetheless, players are eventually able to wield this curse themselves and render potentially difficult fights into a one-shot kill; Trolls and Acromantula can be some of the most fearsome and tanky mini-bosses in Hogwarts Legacy, for example, but with Avada Kedavra slotted into the player’s available spells they can be trivial.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Killing Curse is as OP as Players Could Want
Hogwarts Legacy’s curses also have unique, connective traits if players choose to spend their Talent points in the Dark Arts skill tree. That said, the Killing Curse is severely overpowered in Hogwarts Legacy and may be the only curse players need, and that keeps it true to its canonical lethality.
Instead, the balance to Avada Kedavra comes in as a considerably long cooldown, though encounters with Ashwinders and Loyalists can sometimes stretch long enough for players to cast it twice. It is also important to consider that Ancient Magic special attacks and regular spells can deal triple damage with a Maxima potion consumed, meaning that Avada Kedavra is far from the only overpowered combat option players have access to.
However, players are unable to cast the Killing Curse on enemies who are not meant to actually die after that encounter, such as the Graphorn players fight before it becomes an available mount. Likewise, players cannot use Avada Kedavra on the Ranrok Dragon boss.
Therefore, it technically cannot be used on every boss, but is able to instantly wipe out many bosses players will come across and make late-game exploration much more lenient. Victor Rookwood and Theophilus Harlow, for example, are two late-game bosses whose health bars can be instantly depleted, transitioning players directly into the Priori Incantatem phase of each duel.
Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. PS4 and Xbox One ports are scheduled to release on April 4, and the Nintendo Switch version arrives July 25, 2023.
