Harry Potter: Wizards Unite is the latest augmented reality game from Pokémon Go creator Niantic, and in a lot of ways it’s a much more mature title at release. It has more features and a more developed shop system, but the sheer amount of content can be overwhelming for new players.
Read also: Harry Potter: Wizards Unite out now — Here’s everything you need to know
To help, we’ve put together this list of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite tips and tricks. Put down your wand an pick up your notebook, because it’s time to study.
Choose your profession wisely
Once you hit level six, you will gain access to professions. They’re one of the most unique elements of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and you should take your time to select the one that’s right for you. If you plan on playing with friends, it’s also important that you plan ahead. Each profession is strong against a certain type of foe, so make sure your group has a good mix of the three!
Here’s a quick breakdown of the three choices:
- Auror — This is the highest damage dealing profession in the game, but you won’t have much in the way of defense or support spells. Aurors are most effective against dark-type enemies.
- Magizoologist — This is the defensive profession, with high HP and strong support spells. Magizoologists are strong against beast-type enemies.
- Professor — This is a hybrid class, falling somewhere in between the other two. Professors are best against curiosity-type enemies.
Regardless of which profession you choose, you will unlock new passive and active abilities by spending spell books, scrolls, and restricted books. You can change professions at any time, but in doing so you will have to collect many more resources to unlock new skills.
Save mobile data by downloading game assets
This Harry Potter: Wizards Unite tip isn’t so much about gameplay, and more so about your wallet. As you spend more time playing the game away from home, you’ll probably notice that it uses a lot of mobile data. This is because by default it loads in each high quality 3D model you encounter from Niantic’s servers, which quickly adds up.
Read also: 5 best data saver apps for Android!
Fortunately, it’s now possible to download all game assets to your phone, dramatically reducing data usage. It will take more than 2GB of space, but it’s worth it in the long run. Just make sure you’re on Wi-Fi when you do it.
How to download game assets in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite
- Tap the Suitcase icon.
- Tap Settings (top left).
- Tap Download All Assets.
- Confirm the download.
Keep those cauldrons bubbling
Crafting potions is a major part of the game, so to maximize efficiency make sure you have all available cauldrons brewing at all times. At first you will only have one, but try to keep the maximum four potions queued at all times. This is especially true before going to bed.
Once you queue up a potion, make sure you also interact with it to reduce its brewing time. These are called Master Notes, and each potion has a unique formula. You won’t know what combination of swipes, taps, or spins are required the first time you do it, so play around until you find what works. Once you get it right, the correct combination will be displayed at the top of the screen.
You might also be tempted to speed up your early brewing by paying to use the Golden Cauldron, but it’s better to save your gold. You’ll soon unlock more cauldrons, and gold has much better uses.
Expand your vault space with the bundle
At some point in your wizarding journey, the base vault space simply won’t be enough. It’s easy to increase this by buying more in Diagon Alley, but there are separate shop items for Potion and Ingredient vault capacity expansion.
To make the most of your purchase, get the vault extensions bundle in the featured section. It costs more than single upgrades at 475 gold, but it also boosts your spell energy capacity by 10, which will be critical when you want to start entering fortresses (see below). It’s worth saving the extra gold before pulling the trigger.
Beware common ingredients piling up
Even after you expand your ingredient vault space, you will naturally fill it up as your explore the Wizarding World around you. If your vault is full when you find a rare ingredient, you won’t be able to pick it up.
To avoid this, keep track of your vault space and actively use or dispose of common ingredients. They are more than plentiful in Wizards Unite, so don’t be shy about discarding them.
Complete your daily tasks
This Harry Potter: Wizards Unite tip is obvious, but it’s worth mentioning. Unlike Pokémon Go, Wizards Unite has a daily quest system with six different tasks, and completing them can give great rewards. They change every month, but here are a few past examples and their rewards.
- Brew 1 Potion – 4 Scrolls.
- Walk .75KM – 1 Abraxan Hair.
- Pick up 1 ingredient or Portmanteau – 5 spell energy.
- Collect from 2 inns – 250 exp.
- Return 10 Foundables – 1 Exstimulo Potion.
- Complete all tasks – 8 Gold.
Pop a Baruffio’s Brain Elixir before active sessions
Gaining experience and leveling up is one of the main ways to make your character stronger in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and there are a few ways to speed the process up. By far the most efficient are Baruffio’s Brain Elixirs, which increase experience gain for 30 minutes. If you’ve played Pokémon Go, they’re essentially Lucky Eggs.
You can buy Baruffio’s Brain Elixirs from Diagon Alley for 100 gold each, or brew your own with Leaping Toadstool, Frog Brain, Runespoor Eggs, and Powdered Dragon Claw (2 each). It takes 12 hours to brew without a Master’s Note reduction.
The best time to use a Barrufio’s Brain Elixir is right before entering a Fortress. If you don’t have a Fortress nearby, you can also use a Dark Detector in an Inn (it works like a Lure in Pokémon Go). You should also wait to open Portmanteaus until the timer is ticking to really get the most of your experience boost.
Never enter a Fortress unprepared
Fortresses are the most challenging part of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and going in without preparation will only result in wasted runestones. This is true if you’re going in solo or as part of a team.
Before starting a Fortress, stock up on healing potions and make sure you have at least 30 spell energy. The spell energy is critical because you will be fighting back to back enemies with no chance to recharge at a nearby inn. Even if you are stocked to the brim with health potions, you won’t be able to fight without energy.
Save your Silver Keys for better Portmanteaus
Portmanteaus are the Pokémon eggs of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, and just like in Niantic’s other hit AR game you should unlock them sparingly. There are 2KM, 5KM, and 10KM variants of Portmanteaus, and each will require a single key to open.
As a result, it’s best to spend your Silver Keys on 5KM and 10KM versions first. Your Golden Key has unlimited uses, so feel free to use it on 2KM Portmanteaus to clear up some space. You can only hold up to 8 Portmanteaus at once, so get out there and start walking!
More Harry Potter: Wizards Unite tips and tricks?
That’s it for our list of Harry Potter: Wizards Unite tips and tricks! Did we miss any hot tips for Niantic’s latest release? Let us know in the comments below!