Hogwarts Legacy Merlin Trials Guide: All 9 Puzzle Solutions

There are 95 Merlin Trials scattered across the Highlands, but they all fall into one of nine distinct puzzle types. Once you know the trick and the correct spell for each type, clearing them becomes incredibly fast. This Hogwarts Legacy Merlin Trials guide covers the exact solution and required spell for every puzzle type you will encounter.

How to Start Merlin Trials & Upgrade Inventory

Before you can attempt any puzzle, you must unlock the feature by completing the main story quest “Trials of Merlin”. Once unlocked, you must have Mallowsweet Leaves in your inventory to activate individual trials. Approaching the circular stone altar of a Merlin Trial will prompt you to sprinkle the leaves, initiating the puzzle mechanism nearby. Mallowsweet can be purchased directly from The Magic Neep in Hogsmeade, or you can purchase the seeds and grow it yourself in any sized planter (such as those in the Room of Requirement).

Unlocking Gear Slots: There are 95 Merlin Trials total, but you do not need to complete all of them to maximize your inventory. The Exploration Challenge milestones require a total of 52 completed trials to reach the maximum capacity of 40 gear slots. Completing all 95 trials is required for the “Merlin’s Beard!” trophy / achievement.

Crucially, your inventory does not expand automatically. As you complete trials, open your Field Guide and navigate to the Challenges tab, then select Exploration. You must manually claim your rewards here to unlock the extra gear slots.

If you are also working through another open-world collectible checklist, our Elden Ring Map guide covers all 24 map fragment locations.

Fast-Reference Merlin Trial Puzzle Table

All 9 Merlin Trial Puzzle Solutions in Detail

1. Timed Torches (Braziers)

• Visual Identifier: Three stone pillars topped with unlit braziers.
• Required Spell: Confringo (or Incendio if you are very close).
• Solution: You must light all three braziers in quick succession before the first one you lit sinks into the ground. Start with the tallest brazier, as it takes the longest to sink, and finish with the shortest one.

2. Small Orbs on Pillars

• Visual Identifier: Three sets of three small spherical orbs sitting atop small stone pillars (9 orbs total).
• Required Spell: Basic Cast.
• Solution: Simply aim and fire your standard Basic Cast at all nine orbs until they shatter. Use Revelio if you are having trouble spotting the remaining orbs hidden behind trees or rocks.

3. Symbol Cubes (Dice)

• Visual Identifier: Three stone pillars, each with a large stone cube resting on top. The cubes and pillars have distinct runes/symbols on their faces.
• Required Spell: Flipendo.
• Solution: You must rotate the top block using Flipendo so that the symbol on the face of the top block matches the symbol on the pillar below it, and the orientation of the symbol must match exactly. You must hit the block from the correct side to flip it in the desired direction.

4. Large Stone Sphere

• Visual Identifier: A massive, singular stone ball resting on the ground, with a large, bowl-like depression located somewhere nearby (usually downhill).
• Required Spell: Depulso (to push) or Accio / Wingardium Leviosa (to pull/carry).
• Solution: Force the large stone ball into the bowl. If the bowl is covered in vines, you must first clear them using Incendio or Confringo.

5. Moth Moonstone Pillars

• Visual Identifier: Three hollow stone blocks containing moonstones, and groups of glowing blue moths nearby.
• Required Spell: Lumos.
• Solution: Cast Lumos and walk near a cluster of moths; they will follow the light on your wand. Walk the moths over to one of the hollow stone blocks to deposit them inside. Repeat this for all three blocks.

6. Small Stone Balls

• Visual Identifier: Three circular stone platforms with several small divots, and piles of five small stone balls resting nearby.
• Required Spell: Accio (or Wingardium Leviosa).
• Solution: Target the pile of small stone balls and pull them over to the circular platform. When they get close enough, they will automatically snap into the divots. Repeat for all three platforms.

7. Broken Statues

• Visual Identifier: Three destroyed statues scattered around the immediate area of the trial.
• Required Spell: Reparo.
• Solution: Cast Reparo on the broken pieces of all three statues to instantly rebuild them. They can sometimes be hidden slightly out of sight, so cast Revelio to highlight the broken rubble in blue.

8. Cracked Standing Stones

• Visual Identifier: Five standing stone pillars with deep green cracks glowing through them.
• Required Spell: Confringo (or Bombarda).
• Solution: Hit all five pillars with a powerful damage spell like Confringo to instantly blast them apart. While Basic Cast can also destroy these pillars with repeated hits, using a high-damage spell is much faster.

9. Stone Jumping Platforms

• Visual Identifier: A series of stone pillars arranged like stepping stones leading away from the altar.
• Required Spell: None (Platforming).
• Solution: Climb onto the first stone pillar and jump across the rest of the pillars in sequence without touching the ground. If you fall, you must start over from the first pillar.