Hogwarts Legacy Merlin Trials are small spell-based challenges scattered throughout the game's magical open world. Once you start exploring, you'll find it's hard to take three steps without tripping over yet another Merlin Trial. That said, these puzzles are important as they grant you extra gear inventory slots so you can carry more stuff to sell or wear.
You unlock the first Merlin Trial during the "Trials of Merlin" quest shortly after you meet Natty near Lower Hogsfield, and Nora Treadwell will talk you through the basic concept of placing down Mallowsweet on the altar, and solving the ensuing challenge. However, there are lots of different types of Merlin Trials throughout the world and each of them requires a specific spell to solve. Here's how to complete every Merlin Trial type I've found, and how to get enough Mallowsweet to start them.
Merlin trial locations
There are dozens of Merlin trials in Hogwarts Legacy, so we won't detail every single location here. They're quite easy to spot on your map though. Just look for that white feather symbol. Don't forget to bring along your mallowsweet offerings if you're planning to take on a few challenges in a row. We have tips on how to stock up down below.
Merlin Trial solutions
While travelling around the world of Hogwarts Legacy, I found nine different Merlin Trial types with repeated variations across the map. It's worth noting that most of these trials do require certain spells, making them impossible to complete if you haven't learned them yet.
Here's how to solve each Merlin Trial type:
Merlin Trial: Lighting torches
Required spell: Incendio or Confringo
Light the torches around the trial using Incendio or Confringo. They'll start sinking into the ground when you do, and you have to light them all before that happens. With that in mind, find their positions first and light the tallest first as well. Confringo is better if possible as you can light from a distance.
Merlin Trial: Smashing orbs
Required spell: Accio
A simple one where you have to destroy the orbs on top of the pillars using Accio. There are usually a lot of orbs to smash in each of these.
Merlin Trial: Standing stones
Required spell: None
This one is a good ol' fashioned wizard parkour obstacle course. Climb onto one end of the nearby standing stones and move across them via running and jumping without touching the ground to reach the other end.
Merlin Trial: Exploding stones
Required spell: Confringo
One of the simplest ones; use Confringo to blow up the cracked green-ish rocks around the trial area. Repulso might theoretically also work, but Confringo is probably easier range-wise.
Merlin Trial: Symbol cubes
Required spell: Flipendo
A little trickier to complete, this one requires you to use Flipendo on the cubes with the symbols in order to line up each side with the plinth that the cube rests on. These cubes usually have arrows on some of the faces that help guide you as to which direction they should line up.
Merlin Trial: Gathering moths
Required spell: Lumos
This challenge features hollow cubes with crystals inside. Use Lumos to attract the nearby floating moths, and bring them back to each of the cube crystals in turn to light them up.
Merlin Trial: Stone spheres
Required spell: Accio
Use movement spells like Accio to transfer sets of five small stone balls into nearby plates with ball-shaped openings in them. Do them all to complete the challenge.
Merlin Trial: Repairing statues
Required spell: Reparo
When you start this trial, a load of statues collapse around the area. Use Reparo to fix them up and complete the challenge.
Merlin Trial: Magical football
Required spell: Accio, Levioso, Depulso, or Wingardium Leviosa
Essentially magic football: use yellow and purple movement spells to get the ball into the nearby bowl-shaped goal set into the ground. Of course, you can just use Wingardium Leviosa to cheat and take it there manually.
If you're doing this for the gear slots, make sure you claim them in challenges when you complete enough of the Merlin Trials.
How to get mallowsweet
While you can buy Mallowsweet from the Magic Neep in Hogsmeade, you'll run out pretty quickly, so I suggest buying the seeds instead and growing it in the Greenhouse planter at first. Either that or just wait until the Room of Requirement unlocks so you can start your very own Mallowsweet farm with plant tables and basically never run out. You'll get five each time you harvest Mallowsweet from a plant table in the Room of Requirement—considering you can have seven plant tables at first, that should be plenty to go on with.
