What Runestones do in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite

Harry Potter Wizards Unite Runestones
Harry Potter Wizards Unite Runestones (Image credit: iMore)

If you're playing Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, chances are you've come across these items known as Runestones. Still, the game doesn't exactly do a great job explaining their importance. Runestones are your ticket into Wizarding Challenges and will determine just how hard the Challenges inside a Fortress will be, as well as what rewards you can earn. Here's what you need to know about Runestones in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite.

Where to find Runestones in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite

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How to find Formidable Pixies in Harry Potter: Wizards Unite (Image credit: iMore)

You find Runestones primarily in Treasure Trunks, which you earn by returning Founadbles. Each time you return a Foundable or add a sticker to your Registry, your rank will increase in that particular area of expertise, which the game refers to as a "Family." When you return enough Foundables, your rank will go up and reward you a Runestone in that area of expertise. You can also receive Runestones in Gifts from friends or even, rarely, by using Port Keys. If you aren't finding enough Runestones that way or just have a little extra to spend, you can also buy a bag of ten Runestones in Diagon Alley for 40 Gold.

What kind of Runestones are there?

There are 11 Families in the game right now, and they are as follows:

  • Care of Magical Creatures
  • Dark Arts
  • Hogwarts School
  • Legends of Hogwarts
  • Ministry of Magic
  • Magizoology
  • Magical Games and Sports
  • Mysterious Artefacts
  • Wonders of the Wizarding World
  • Oddities
  • Brilliant

Each of these corresponds to a different area of your Registry, as well as the Brilliant Event pages. Each variety of Runestone comes in ten different ranks, with ten being the rarest and most difficult.

What do Runestones actually do?

Harry Potter Wizards Unite Brilliant Runestone 10

Harry Potter Wizards Unite Brilliant Runestone 10 (Image credit: Niantic)

Runestones are used to enter Wizarding Challenges at the Fortresses you find on the map. To enter a Fortress Chamber and start a Wizarding Challenge, you'll need to pay one Runestone. It can be any Runestone you have, but the Runestone you choose makes a big difference.

The level of the Runestone you use to enter a Chamber determines the difficulty of the enemies you face — the higher the level of Runestone, the harder the enemies will be. While your level also determines the difficulty, the Chamber you choose, and the levels of other players you take on the Fortress with, your Runestones make an appreciable difference as well, so make sure you don't choose too high a level Runestone!

Upon completing Challenges, you will be rewarded with XP and Fragments. The family of the Runestone determines the type of Fragments you can earn, so if you used a Magical Games and Sports Runestone to enter a Chamber, you would earn fragments for Magical Games and Sports pages. Of course, with greater risk comes greater rewards, meaning when you use higher-level Runestones, you'll earn more XP and better fragments.

The amount of XP you will earn multiplies based on the Fortress Level and the Runestone Level you choose:

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Fortress LevelBase XPLevel 1Level 2Level 3Level 4Level 5
Ruins 151020304050
Ruins 251224364860
Ruins 351530456075
Ruins 451836547290
Ruins 5520406080100
Tower 115255075100125
Tower 215306090120150
Tower 3153570105140175
Tower 4154080120160200
Tower 51550100150200250

And the XP only multiplies higher for higher Fortress and Runestone Levels!

Other great Harry Potter: Wizards Unite tips!

Harry Potter: Wizards Unite has a lot of tips and tricks that you may not even realize upon playing the game, that's why iMore has created the perfect guide to help you get the most out of your experience with the game!

Harry Potter accessories we love

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.

RavPower Ace

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

Hogwarts House PopSocket ($15 at Amazon)

Represent your house with a secure way to grip your phone while walking on your magical adventure casting spells and securing Foundables.

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.

Luke Filipowicz
Staff Writer

Luke Filipowicz has been a writer at iMore, covering Apple for nearly a decade now. He writes a lot about Apple Watch and iPad but covers the iPhone and Mac as well. He often describes himself as an "Apple user on a budget" and firmly believes that great technology can be affordable if you know where to look. Luke also heads up the iMore Show — a weekly podcast focusing on Apple news, rumors, and products but likes to have some fun along the way. 

Luke knows he spends more time on Twitter than he probably should, so feel free to follow him or give him a shout on social media @LukeFilipowicz.