How To Use Dark Detectors in Harry Potter Wizards Unite

Functioning like Pokemon Go's Lures, you can use Dark Detectors to increase spawn rates at Inns while grabbing your daily energy with the help of this guide.
Functioning like Pokemon Go's Lures, you can use Dark Detectors to increase spawn rates at Inns while grabbing your daily energy with the help of this guide.

Looking for more traces to uncover and foes to battle while getting in your daily walking exercise with Harry Potter: Wizards Unite? Most likely, you already have your favorite nearby Inn for daily free spell energy. However, you can also maximize your efficiency by utilizing Dark Detectors to nab more Foundables.

Recommended Videos

Essentially acting like like Lures from Pokemon Go, the Dark Detector makes it much more likely that you’ll find new creatures, wizards, or items to add to your registry.

Where To Use Dark Detectors

Unfortunately, you can’t just set down Dark Detectors from your couch and wait for new traces and foes to show up on your doorstep.

Your current inventory of Dark Detectors shows up on the Utility screen of the Vault, underneath your scroll and key currencies. However, you can’t actually use one from that screen.

Instead, Dark Detectors are only available while you are physically close enough to an Inn to interact with the location and cast a spell to gain rewards.

While near an Inn, just tap the tab at the bottom and then decide how many Dark Detectors to place. Any given Inn can have up to three Detectors active at a time, and each lasts for 30 minutes.

During that 30 minute window, encounter spawn rates increase significantly. If you only have a limited amount of time to play during the day, using Detectors is the best way to ensure you find something new or earn extra fragments toward something you’ve already placed in the registry.

If you followed our energy gathering guide and found a loop of Inns, you can drop one or more Detectors at each Inn, then find new items and creatures as you follow your loop and wait for the Inn’s five-minute energy timer to reset.

Since you get a full half hour with each Dark Detector, this can be a lucrative way to find a bunch of creatures quickly.

Don’t worry if you forgot which Inn you used to drop your Detectors, either.  You can tell if an Inn has one or more Dark Detectors active without actually visiting it directly. It will have a ring of magic swirls around the top, with extra swirls appearing for each additional Detector currently active.

How To Get More Dark Detectors

So now for the big question: where do you actually get Dark Detectors?

Some players seem to have started off with one automatically, but that no longer appears to be offered as a new player reward; I never received one just for first loading up the game.

You do get a free one the very first time you try to open the Dark Detectors tab at an Inn, however, as a wizard dialog prompt will appear explaining how to use the item. 

If you have gold to spare, the easiest and most reliable way is to head over to the Wisacres shop in Diagon Alley and pick up one Detector for 120 gold or three for 325 gold.

Here’s the full list of possible ways to acquire Dark Detectors:

  • Get one free Detector the first time you open the Dark Detector tab at an Inn
  • Acquire them periodically through the daily login rewards screen
  • Buy them through daily featured bundles in Diagon Alley (availability varies day by day)
  • Buy them singly or in three packs from Wiseacres
  • Earn free Dark Detectors intermittently when leveling up
  • Check the Daily and Special Assignments screens, as they sometimes show up as rewards there as well

At the moment, spending gold is the most sure fire way to grab them, as they only show up as daily or event rewards rarely. 

Have you found any other ways to pick up Dark Detectors or have any other tips on using them to efficiently farm traces? Leave us a comment below, and be sure to check out our other Harry Potter Wizards Unite guides here.


GameSkinny is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article How to Get a Dehydrator in Stardew Valley 1.6 (& How to Use)
Dehydrator in mushroom cave with dried common mushrooms ready to collect
Read Article How to Increase Your Grand Company Rank in FFXIV
Miqo'te in the Squadron Barracks
Read Article Does it Matter Which Grand Company You Join in FFXIV?
Miqo'te looking at Maelstrom command
Read Article The Best Companions in Rise of the Ronin
A screenshot from Rise of the Ronin
Read Article How to Beat Drakes in Dragon’s Dogma 2
An archer fighting a drake in Dragon's Dogma 2
Related Content
Read Article How to Get a Dehydrator in Stardew Valley 1.6 (& How to Use)
Dehydrator in mushroom cave with dried common mushrooms ready to collect
Read Article How to Increase Your Grand Company Rank in FFXIV
Miqo'te in the Squadron Barracks
Read Article Does it Matter Which Grand Company You Join in FFXIV?
Miqo'te looking at Maelstrom command
Read Article The Best Companions in Rise of the Ronin
A screenshot from Rise of the Ronin
Read Article How to Beat Drakes in Dragon’s Dogma 2
An archer fighting a drake in Dragon's Dogma 2
Author
Ty Arthur
Ty splits his time between writing horror fiction and writing about video games. After 25 years of gaming, Ty can firmly say that gaming peaked with Planescape Torment, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have a soft spot for games like Baldur's Gate, Fallout: New Vegas, Bioshock Infinite, and Horizon: Zero Dawn. He has previously written for GamerU and MetalUnderground. He also writes for PortalMonkey covering gaming laptops and peripherals.