There are a lot of new terms in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. Even if you are a seasoned Potterverse fan, you may not know what a lot of the words mean in these new games.
We aim to lift the Confundus charm that clouds your understanding and bring clarity from the Confoundable chaos. This is an ever-evolving list of the game terms in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.
Points of interest
Points of interest (POI) are the foundation of AR games like Harry Potter: Wizards Unite. They consist of all the different things out in the world that are static. You can go and visit these places to accomplish goals. The three standard POI in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite are:
Fortresses
Fortresses are large POI out in the world used for the Wizards Unite version of raids. You get to join forces with other people out in the world to defeat a group of enemies. You will need to think about your profession if you want to work together to defeat the dark forces that dwell within!
Greenhouses
Greenhouses are scattered around the green areas of the map — parks and sporting arenas seem to have a good amount of them — and they provide you with the ingredients you need to brew potions. This isn't the only way to get ingredients but is the easiest.
Inns
Inns are the main POI of the wizarding world and come in several shapes and colors. Those shapes don't really mean much, though each one has slightly different food in. Each inn gives you food which converts into Spell energy.
More: How does the real world impact gameplay in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite?
Spell energy
Spell energy, or just Energy, is the fuel you use when you cast spells. You can use Inns to replenish that energy so you can continue playing. If you play Pokémon Go, think of energy as Pokéballs, you need to build up a supply to be able to play.
Spells
Spells are the Mechanism by which you defeat bad guys, collect food and buff allies. There are plenty of different spells, all based on those mentioned in the books and movies.
To activate a spell you have to draw its glyph on your phone screen. The faster, and more accurately you draw the spell will determine how well the spell works and what special bonuses you may get. The simplest spell, Accio, is used to get your food from Inns and is a curved swipe from left to right.
Focus
Focus is a different type of spell energy used in Fortresses. You can use your focus to cast the active spells your profession gives you to help yourself, and your teammates in the battles. You can also train your skills to allow you to boost the amount of focus you have per battle.
Traces
Traces are the symbols that appear on the map as you walk around in the real world. They signify when a Foundable has been captured by a Confoundable.
Each Trace has an icon inside that denotes which category of Confoundable you will be fighting, Dark Forces, Magical Beasts, or Curiosities.
Foundable
Foundables are the things that hide in Traces that you must rescue. Foundables can be anything from Hagrid to Buck Beak, and they are always caught in some bad magic that you have to save them from.
Once you have saved the Foundable it appears in your registry. The Foundables also come in sets, which you can collect. Once you've saved the Foundable, you will normally receive XP and possibly items like spell scrolls or ingredients.
Confoundable
Confoundables are the spells that trap Foundables. Using your spells, you attack the Confoundable until it is defeated. Confoundables can appear as any of the three enemy types, Dark forces, Magical Beasts, and Curiosities.
Portmanteaus
In Harry Potter: Wizards Unite a Portmanteau is the equivalent of an egg in Pokémon Go. You have to walk a certain distance with the locked object and once it is ready, you unlock it with a key. You have one infinite key and the rest you have to collect or buy from Diagon Alley. Once you unlock a Portmanteau, you gain access to the Portkey inside. Portmanteaus come in three walking distances, 2KM, 5KM, and 10KM.
Portkeys
Portkeys are special items that appear from Portmanteaus once they have been walked. When you activate them, they create a portal in the air in front of you. Once you walk through you have to complete the task inside to be given Foundables, XP, or ingredients. The amount of each reward is random but you'll likely get more stuff with the larger Portmanteaus.
Diagon Alley
Diagon Alley is the name of the in-store market in Wizards Unite. While there you can buy items to help you in the game like keys for Portkeys, extra potions, and extra energy to let you cast more spells.
Calling the in-game store "Diagon Alley" was a stroke of genius, and makes me want to go there and buy stuff. Great call Niantic.
Professions
Professions are the classes in Wizards Unite. Each one helps you and your team defeat Fortresses. You'll need to have a good selection of professions in each fortress to defeat them.
The three Professions are Aurors, Magizoologists, and Professors. You can find out lots more about them by checking out our Guide to Professions for more information and deeper details.
Potions
Potions are usable items in the game that impart special properties onto your characters. They can do standard things like healing you, filling your spell energy, and increasing your XP gains, but they can also help in other ways, too. You can use them to affect your enemies as well as yourself.
You can buy potions in Diagon Alley, mix them yourself by using the ingredients you find in the world, or by visit Greenhouses around the map. There are some rare ingredients for potions around the world so keep an eye out for them.
Ingredients
Ingredients are used to craft potions, which help in your battles. They can be found by winning battles, defeating Confoundables, and visiting the Greenhouses in green zones around the world. You will want to collect as many ingredients as possible to give you as many Potions as possible. especially if you are playing solo.
Registry
Think of your registry as your Pokédex for Wizards Unite. Every Foundable in the game gets added to the registry and you earn ranks in each of the Registry Families as you place Foundables. It's a helpful central location for you to see everything you have completed.
Registry Families
Registry families are the sections in the registry, denoted by the different colors and symbols along the top. Each one has several frames filled with placeholders. These placeholders get filled up as you find Foundables and collect the required amount of them to fill the book.
Frames
Frames are the pages of your registry where you place your Foundables. Each frame requires a certain amount of Faoundables to fill, and once filled you can Prestige the frame to start over.
Prestige
Prestiging allows you to upgrade your frame to accept more fragments of Foundables. Once your frame is filled with Foundables you can click the prestige icon in the top corner. This will reset the frame, and clear the Foundables, but increase the number of Fragments needed to collect the Foundable.
Find out more about prestiging here.
Fragments
Fragments are the number of times you have to collect a Foundable to complete it in the registry. This number increases as you prestige frames.
Oddities
Oddities are unique in the registry families as they appear only rarely at certain times of the day, and they are not caught using the normal spell method. Oddities are like mini Fortress battles, where you have to target them and keep your health bar from being depleted.
Find out how to find oddities here.
Runestones
Runestones are used to activate the Fortresses in the Wizards Unite. The runestone you use, and the floor you use it on, can change the difficulty of that floor by a large amount. Higher numbers are always harder but they also give you a lot more rewards.
We delve deeply into what runestones do in this article.
Wizarding Challenges
Wizard Challenges are what you face in the Fortresses when you add your runestone to the floor and begin a battle. Essentially Fortress floors and Wizarding Challenges are interchangeable terms and can mean the same thing.
Check out our guide to completing wizards challenges for some helpful hints and tips.
Add your suggestions
Are there any terms we've missed that you would like us to add? There is a lot to go through and if you don't understand any of the terms you are hearing, let us know and we will add them here.
Other things to get you ready for Wizards Unite
Harry Potter Over The Ear Headphones ($25 at Amazon)
Show your love of Harry Potter to the whole world, while shutting that same world out with these funky headphones from iHome. Designed with phones in mind it comes with a mic to make calls even easier.
Hogwarts phone case ($10 at Amazon)
Show your love of the Potterverse, and protect your phone with this beautiful faux-leather case. The Hogwarts crest burns bright on the front with plenty of room inside for some cash and cards too.
Hogwarts house PopSocket ($15 at Amazon)
While not everyone likes to use PopSockets, there are advantages to them. If you don't want to use a case you can rep your house, and have a secure way to grip your phone while walking.
RAVPower Ace ($40 at Amazon)
You don't want to run out of juice while battling baddies in Fortresses, now do you? Make sure you've got backup power with this quality but inexpensive power bank.
