Hogwarts Legacy: How to Use Petrificus Totalus stealth kill

Hogwarts Legacy has a nifty stealth mechanic, one that allows you to completely incapacitate a foe. This involves the Petrificus Totalus spell, which gets unlocked fairly early in the campaign.

I found out that if you use the Petrificus Totalus spell correctly, you make the game a lot easier. Here’s our Hogwarts Legacy Petrificus Totalus spell guide to help you use this ability to get stealth kills.

Hogwarts Legacy Petrificus Totalus and stealth kills guide

The Hogwarts Legacy Petrificus Totalus spell or stealth kill mechanic is obtained upon completion of the Secrets of the Restricted Section main quest. It’s also when you unlock talents for your character (we’ll talk more about these later).

Now, the ability itself doesn’t function the same way as other spells (i.e., trace a pattern and equip them via your spell wheel). Instead, it’s a fully integrated combat mechanic, meaning you never need to equip or unequip it. Petrificus Totalus is always on and ready to go.

To use Petrificus Totalus in Hogwarts Legacy, you’ll first need to activate stealth mode. This is done via the Disillusionment spell (also acquired from the aforementioned quest). While Petrificus Totalus doesn’t need to be equipped, Disillusionment does.

While it’s active, sneak up behind an unsuspecting enemy, then press the “F” key if you’re on PC or whatever button prompt appears on screen. Your character will cast the Full-Body Bind Curse, incapacitating the target and practically killing them. (Well, lore-wise, the target should still be alive, but this counts as a kill in-game).

Here are a few extra tips that will help you know exactly how Petrificus Totalus works in Hogwarts Legacy:

• Most small and normal-sized enemies (i.e., goblins and wizards) will get taken out immediately. If two or more hostiles are close to each other, you can quickly press “F” once more so you can petrify the other foe.
• A successful sneak attack does not break stealth (just make sure no one else is staring directly at you).
• Larger enemies or those at a higher level will not die instantly. They’ll simply take a lot of damage.

As for talents that help improve the Hogwarts Legacy Petrificus Totalus or stealth kill mechanic, you’ll want to check the Stealth tab in the Talents section.

I find that as I level up in Hogwarts Legacy, unlocking these stealth masteries and bonuses helps me be a stealthier wizard. The great thing is that they unlock naturally as you level up.

Related: All Demiguise Moon Statues locations in Hogwarts Legacy

• Sense of Secrecy I and II – Both talents make you harder to detect.
• Human Demiguise – Allows you to sprint while under the effects of Disillusionment.
• Petrificus Totalus Mastery – Successfully afflicting a target causes an AoE shockwave that also petrifies nearby foes. This causes a stealth multi-kill.

Are you going to use Petrificus Totalus or do you think it’s too overpowered? Personally, I think the Disillusionment spell would’ve come in handy in many situations in the Harry Potter series. Also, doesn’t that spell kind of negate The Invisibility Cloak? I know, I know, don’t think too hard about it. Either way, I hope you enjoy using (or not using) Petrificus Totalus in Hogwarts Legacy.

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