Harry Potter Wizards Unite - Fortresses: Wizarding Challenges, Rewards and Runestones explained

What are Fortresses and Wizarding Challenges in Harry Potter Wizards Unite?

Fortresses are the large, red roofed, castles that can be found scattered across the map. Inside each Fortress you will find a number of Chambers where you can complete Wizarding Challenges. You will only have access to one Chamber when you first visit a Fortress, but, by defeating challenges, you will unlock new, tougher, Chambers and far greater rewards.

Wizarding Challenges are a series of battles all set to a ticking clock. Both the number of enemies you have to defeat and the timer can be found at the top of the Arena screen. Defeat your foes before the timer runs out and you'll be rewarded. If you fail, then you will be leaving empty handed and without some of your precious Spell Energy.

You can either tackle Fortresses as part of a team of wizards or you can fly solo. Unlike Potions and Professions, there is currently no level requirement for Fortresses (though later Chambers do require higher levels) just make sure you have enough Spell Energy, especially if you're going in alone.

You may occasionally come across a Fortress surrounded by a swirling green aura on your travels. Fortresses with this green glow have active Wizarding Challenges taking place in them. Joining in will allow you to fight alongside other players and receive an Experience bonus for fighting as part of a team.

Whether playing as a team or alone, you'll want to try and complete a Wizarding Challenge every day, as it's one of the Daily Assignment tasks - which, then all completed, earns you free Gold, Wizard Unite's in-game currency.

What are Runestones in Harry Potter Wizards Unite?

Before you can master those Wizarding Challenges, however, you must collect some Runestones.

Runestones are found by leveling up the Rank for a specific Family in the Registry or your Challenge Rank. The Family and level of the Runestone you receive depends on the Rank you level up. If you were to level up the Rank of the Ministry of Magic Family, for example, you would receive a Ministry of Magic Runestone.

The higher the level the Runestone, the more Fragments you could potentially receive for that Family (thanks to PAndras96 for clarifying).

Runestones in hand, it's time to visit the nearest Fortress. Once you've picked the Chamber you wish to challenge, you'll have to pick which Runestone you want to use.

The Runestones level will help determine the difficulty level of the foes you will be facing, while the Family may determine the reward you receive. This means that a level 4 Runestone from the Mysterious Artefacts Family will not only provide you with a greater challenge than a level 1 Runestone, but you could also receive a reward from the Mysterious Artefacts Family.

So, if you're looking for a specific Foundable for the Registry, then it might be time to visit a Fortress.

Fortress requirements and how to start a Wizarding Challenge inside a Fortress, Fortress rating explained

Once you have arrived at your Fortress, you then need to choose a Chamber and a Runestone. Provided every player has unlocked that Chamber - and are the right requirement level - then can enter together.

You'll then find yourself in the Lobby. Up to four other players can join your team, but they have to do so before the timer runs out.

As players join your team, you will be able to see their chosen Profession and the Runestone they have decided to use. Ideally you want to have a mixture of Professions in your team, so that you can tackle a range of different creatures.

Next to the timer you will find the difficulty rating for your upcoming Challenge. This rating is decided by your choice of both Runestone and Chamber, and increases when new players join your Lobby. By and large, the higher the Chamber, the higher the base rating, but also the more time you have.

Additionally, higher level Chambers are gated by your player level:

• Player level 1: Chambers 1-2
• Player level 2: Chamber 3-4
• Player level 3: Chamber 5-6
• Player level 4: Chamber 7-8
• Player level 5: Chamber 9-10
• Player level 6: Chamber 11-12
• Player level 7: Chamber 13-14
• Player level 8: Chamber 15-16
• Player level 9: Chamber 17-18
• Player level 10: Chamber 19-20

The current highest Chamber you can reach is level 20 and you must be at least Wizarding level 10, with all the previous Chambers unlocked, to access it.

Elsewhere, the time limit for completing Wizarding Challenges increases as you unlock new Chambers. For every three Chamber ranks you climb, the time limit will increase by 60 seconds - capped at 10 minutes (600 seconds) when you reach Chamber 16.

Finally, the knockout timer also increases as you climb the Chamber ranks. Knockout occurs when an enemy defeats you in a Wizarding Challenge and you have to wait till you can re-enter the challenge. With every new rank you unlock, the knockout time you could experience will increase by 2 seconds - this isn't capped, meaning at Chamber Level 20, you will have to wait 68 seconds before you can fight again.

Thanks to the datamining efforts of PAndreas96 on Reddit for uncovering the above.

If you have a sudden change of heart about your choice of Runestone, then leave the Lobby before the timer runs out and it will return to your Vault. Be warned - if you decide to leave during a Wizarding Challenge, however, the Runestone will be lost forever.

Once the Wizarding Challenge begins, you'll then engage in combat with a variety of foes. Our how to fight in Harry Potter Wizards Unite page explains the basics of the basics of combat.

Before beginning your wizarding adventure, you’ll want to join a Hogwarts House in Harry Potter Wizards Unite. After that you’ll need to learn how to battle, so you can compete in Wizarding Challenges at Fortresses or how to use Greenhouses, so that you can perform Potion Master Notes. You can also unlock Portkey Portmanteaus and choose a profession from Auror, Magizoologist or Professor. Don’t forget to take part in the monthly Community Day event either!

Wizarding Challenges and Fortress Rewards Explained

Once the Fortress and Wizarding Challenge is complete, you'll earn various rewards. These include:

• Challenge Fragments (according to early indications, these are 4x Book Fragments)
• Chance of another Registry Fragment (If you chose an Oddity Runestone, for example, then you may receive an Oddity Runestone.)
• Wizard Level XP (250 XP for the base and 10 XP per additional floor)
• Challenge XP (which increases by 10% per player in the lobby, according to PAndreas96 on Reddit) and Registry-specific XP (If you chose an Odditie Runestone, for example, then you will receive Oddities Experience.)

Thanks to kitsune_tsuki on Reddit for helping flesh out the above.

Here are all the Foundables that you could currently receive from completing Wizarding Challenges:

Thank you to orangewizard2019 from Instagram for creating this infographic.