Welcome back eager Witches and Wizards! By now you have hopefully had some time to explore Harry Potter: Wizards Unite's world, visit Inns, and procured ingredients from Greenhouses.
But in towering above everything, no doubt you've seen a Fortresses or two. What lies within is a series of dangerous encounters with some of the darkest magic in the Wizarding World, but also, some of the rarest items. So, how do we conquer these Fortresses? Slowly, and with planning! Here is a guide written by a friendly neighborhood Hufflepuff.
Preparing For The Fortress
To fight, you will need enough Spell Energy to last the entire encounter. So where do you get Spell Energy? As always, stock up at Inns and Greenhouses before going to take on a Fortress. Greenhouses provide ingredients, but often they also have bonus amounts of energy included as well.
As well, Healing potions are useful to have on hand should you take too many hits during the encounters. These are awarded while playing and can be made in your cauldron using one wormwood, three bubotuber pus, two dittany, and one dragon liver, but you have likely found some simply by playing the game so far.
Finally, professions make a big difference as time goes on. At least at the early levels, the Professor profession feels like a strong choice. The early training buffs both your Stamina and Spell Power, both of which are essential for dishing out damage and also to take it. However, in the early levels all three are likely to be useful in their own ways, depending on if you play alone or with friends.
Engaging With The Fortress
As the description says, you will have to engage in combat to emerge victorious, but as a player, you are actually given a surprising amount of control over exactly what happens in the Fortress.
First of all, once you are near enough a Fortress to access it, you will notice that there are about 20 different levels, but you are restricted to the first few depending on your level. At Level 7 for example, we only have access to the first two floors, and more open up as we become more powerful spell casters.
So, first you choose a level, often the easiest one if it is your first try in order to get a feel for the mechanics of combat. Then, you select a Runestone from your inventory. These are found everywhere while exploring, or rather, are rewarded to you in the Treasure Trunks that are given after advancing with sufficient Foundables. In effect, you will always be finding more and more if you are simply exploring and returning Foundables, and they are going to play a large role in how you engage with a Fortress.
The type of Runestone you select will determine the type of reward that you find. Defeating a chamber while using a "Wonders of the Wizarding World" rune will grant rewards from that area. The number represents how difficult the challenge will be. The higher the number, the more difficult and numerous the enemies will be, so choose carefully.
When using Runestones with friends, both the Runestones and the number of players will determine the Difficulty Rating, which ultimately determines the rewards you earn.
Now you are ready to begin. You will select and enemy in the chamber, and tap "Start". Notice the timer at the top of the screen, which indicates how long you have to defeat this enemy before the attempt is forfeited.
How To Fight
Combat is far different from exploring the world for Foundables. Now the creature, person, or item is going to fight back, and you need to protect yourself all the time.
An attack animation will begin, and then move into slow motion. At this point, the words "Protect Yourself" flash onto the screen, you and have only a brief window of time to trace the line before an attack comes in.
Doing so will cast the Protego spell onto yourself and limit the damage from the attack. Either way, your character will take Stamina damage, however the difference between blocking with a Protego spell and not blocking is substantial, so always make sure to defend yourself!
At some point after an attack, or two or three, it will be your turn to go on the offensive. As seen below, a circle will appear with a symbol in the middle. If you have the AR off, you will need to slide your finger from the top of the screen down until an outline of the circle appears, and then you need to match it into the circle on the opponent.
This matched circle needs to stay in place for a few moments, at which point you will be able to cast an attack spell.
This is one of the attack spell tracings that can come up, but there are a few, and it always changes to keep you on your toes. All of this must be done quickly before the enemy attacks again.
Note, that if you take too long to cast the spell, or on the step before to match up the circle, the enemy will go into their attack animation and you will need to start your own attack over again.
Keep this in mind, because the enemy will be shifting about while you try and match the circle, which can make it difficult to land an attack spell.
Luckily, our magical attacks are far stronger than this enemy, and soon it is defeated.
At this point you are given your rewards, which consist of Foundables, XP, and other items that seem to change depending on the encounter.
Here is another encounter, this time on the second level of the Fortress, using a higher level Runestone.
This time, the fight felt more difficult because the Werewolf would often attack two or three times in succession before I was given the opportunity to target it with a spell.
However, the mechanics for protecting ourselves remain the same.
It too finally went down without much difficulty.
Finally, the rewards were slightly better than the first time around, as this was one level higher in difficulty.
Conclusion
This essentially sums up how we will engage with Fortresses now and in the future. So keep exploring and leveling up those professions, and you'll be at the top in no time!