Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions – Seeker Guide

Seeker Guide for Beginners

By Eldritch_Moss.

Including some actually novel advice that you haven’t heard before!

This guide is meant to be comprehensive. It represents my experience thus far as a seeker and provides guidance both on stat & broom selection as well as actual gameplay. It is meant to provide insight and inspiration, not to promote dogma for a “one true build.”

What Settings are Best?

Personal preference. You might consider adjusting Vertical Camera Tilt, Field of View, and Zoom.

• A low Vertical Camera Tilt will keep the camera more level despite your movements, making your view of the pitch more encompassing and constant, while a high tilt will make the camera more responsive to your movements, allowing you to focus on the direction you are flying.
• A smaller Field of View will allow you to focus more on your position relative to the snitch, which can aid in getting a catch when the time is right, while a larger Field of View can help you to see and anticipate enemy seekers and bludgers.
• You can bind Zoom to a button in order to switch between observing your surroundings or focusing on the snitch with a hold or tap.

For what it’s worth, I use a low Vertical Camera Tilt and the default Field of View. I don’t mess around with Zoom much, but try it and see if you like it!

Which Broom is Best?

The three most important stats for a seeker are Maximum Speed, Acceleration, and Dodge Cooldown. Why?

• Speed – You want to be as close to the snitch as possible, and to be able to catch up if you fall behind. Speed is particularly important in the first moments when the snitch is released. The opposing seeker may get lucky and find the snitch before you, and you’ll need to close the distance fast in order to cut their lead short.
• Acceleration – Seekers do a LOT of quick turns, especially near the goalposts. These turns are the most efficient way to preempt the snitch as it circles around the goalposts, but without good acceleration a lot of the extra time you saved by drifting will be lost. Acceleration also helps you recover after tanking a bump by the enemy seeker.
• Dodge Cooldown – Less important against less-skilled beaters, but when you’re being targeted by a bludger every few seconds, having your dodge available a second sooner could be the difference between life and death. Plus, dodging can be a good way to avoid a bump by the enemy seeker. In my experience, this is the least useful of the three key stats, but I anticipate that once ranked mode drops it will become much more important.

Regarding the remaining stats: Maximum Health and Health Regeneration are good for staying alive. Stun Duration Multiplier helps you regain a lead after a bump or a bludger hit. However, since you should avoid getting hit in the first place, they are not the highest priority. Maneuver Speed isn’t particularly useful since drifting turns and dodges generally suffice. Boost Efficiency is not very useful since a seeker can refill their boost easily through snitch rings. Drift Distance has no utility at all.

Of the currently available brooms, the Firebolt has the best Maximum Speed (tied with Legacy) and the best Acceleration (tied with Shooting Star and Cleansweep). On the other hand, it has the worst Dodge Cooldown (tied with Swiftstick). The Cleansweep has a slightly worse Maximum Speed (5 to Firebolt’s 7), but in exchange it boasts significantly better Dodge Cooldown (5 to Firebolt’s 1). These are the brooms I recommend. In the current non-competitive format, I use the Firebolt. I find that usually enough time passes between bludgers for my dodge to cool down, making the Firebolt’s Maximum Speed more valuable than the added Dodge Cooldown of the Cleansweep. However, I expect that with the advent of ranked PvP, the Cleansweep will see a surge in popularity.

Which Build is Best?

There is significantly more room for preference here than with brooms. Your optimal stat allocation is determined largely by your playstyle and ability, and by the type of opponent you are against – sort of like rock, paper, scissors. My one solid bit of advice is not to invest points in the final skills for either Defense or Disruption. -1 Damage is not worth the tradeoff from other skills, and it’s still possible for an enemy seeker to pass through snitch rings even with a 1-second time limit.

For what it’s worth, I currently divide my points 6/0/4. My reasoning is that I should be keeping close to the snitch, making the distance skills in Defense mostly irrelevant. The speed boost on dodging bludgers sounds good in theory, but in practice doesn’t make a big difference in my opinion. Regarding the Disruption tree, while damage bonuses are nice, the focus should be on getting quicker Snitch Meter fills. You usually don’t KO the enemy seeker, so the higher-level Seeking skills give better bang for buck on average. That being said, the Disruption skills for homing bumps and meter-stealing bumps can be extremely valuable for filling that meter.

Which Cosmetics are Best?

The Electric Hufflepuff tail looks annoyingly like a snitch’s tail from a distance. It’s a slight distraction, but every distraction counts. Why not make the enemy seeker hesitate for a fraction of a second, or even go speeding after you instead of the snitch on a lucky day?

So now you have your setup figured out. What about the actual match?

How Do I Find the Snitch?

Watch the clock. The snitch is usually released at the 5-minute and 2-minute marks, respectively. If a team scores just prior to these moments, there will be an additional few-second delay. Try to hand off possession of the quaffle prior to the on-screen snitch release countdown, and be ready to immediately switch to seeker when the countdown hits 0.

Midfield is your friend. When you first switch to seeker, stay mostly put and look left, right, up, down (LRUD). Flying off in the wrong direction wastes time, so look first. If you can’t see the snitch, proceed towards one end of the pitch, looking LRUD, until you are about halfway towards the goal posts. Then, turn around and continue looking as you head towards the opposite end of the pitch. The main idea is not to speed all the way to the ends of the pitch, wasting valuable time. If the enemy seeker finds the snitch first, quickly tap your camera focus to locate the snitch and speed towards where it is heading.

What Do I Do Once I’ve Found the Snitch?

• Stick by it! You need to fill the Snitch Meter in order to catch the snitch. The meter fills faster the closer you are to the snitch. Try to be proactive, guessing where the snitch is going to be, not chasing where it’s been. As the snitch approaches either set of goal posts, repeatedly tap or slam the breaks as appropriate, performing a staggered or 180 degree turn, and meet the snitch as it exits the area behind the goals. If you ever lose track of the snitch, use your focus cam and the black arrow indicator with the snitch symbol at the edge of the screen to find it again.
• Fly through snitch rings to replenish your boost. The snitch rings have no impact on the Snitch Meter, but be sure to fly through them often enough to keep your boost going so that you can stick close to the snitch. Remember, the snitch, not the rings, are your top priority.

What’s With These Bludgers?

• When a bludger is headed your way, wait until the red bars reach the center of the bludger indicator before tapping the dodge button in order to perform a timely dodge. When in doubt, dodge UP, or down if you are very close to the ceiling. If you sense which direction the bludger is coming from, dodge perpendicular to that direction (for instance, if the bludger is coming from the right and behind, dodge forward and to the right). If possible, exit the dodge in a way that keeps you close to the snitch.
• It is possible to deflect a bludger back to a beater by bumping it, if one has invested the requisite points in the Defense skill tree. However, I do not advise this technique in most situations because bumps are better used against enemy seekers. That being said, the technique can be useful if you’re simultaneously bumping the enemy seeker while being targeted by a bludger.

Help! There’s Another Seeker Here!

• Listen! You will hear a hiss as the enemy seeker approaches from behind, which is the sound of friction between their speeding broom and the air. The hiss will get louder the closer they are to you.
• Watch! When the enemy seeker gets close, an eye-shaped indicator will appear along with a red arrow at the edge of the screen in the direction of the enemy seeker.
• Make a decision with your gut. If you feel they are in bumping range, bump them! It hurts them, knocks them off course, and can leech their Snitch Meter if you’ve invested four points into Disruption. If you’re unsure whether they’re in range, keep progressing towards the snitch but veer away from the direction you sense them coming from. Then, veer back in their direction and give them a good bump. Landing a bump from a bit farther away will knock the enemy seeker back a greater distance, so they say.
• Remember that the enemy seeker will always be looking to bump you, so don’t make it easy for them. Conserve your dodges for bludgers, but also don’t be afraid to expend a dodge if you feel the enemy seeker closing in, especially if you don’t have a clear shot to them. Often it’s best to fly off to the side or above/below the snitch for a bit, still trailing it, while your bump is on cooldown in order to prevent an enemy seeker from finding and bumping you from behind. You can dive back in to grab the edge of a snitch ring to refill your boost, then immediately dart back.
• When approaching an enemy seeker who is in front of you, veer a little away from them just before the bump in order to sneak up and bump them the maximum distance. If you’re lucky, when they see you, they’ll be baited into expending their bump as you maneuver just out of reach.

Okay, the Snitch Meter is Nearly Full. Now What?

• Get ready to catch it! Begin tapping the catch button in anticipation of the Snitch Meter reaching 100%. The ring around the snitch will turn blue when the Snitch Meter is full. Ideally you’ll catch it as soon as (or even before) that happens.
• Be wary of the enemy seeker and beater. You’re at the home stretch, but don’t relax yet!
• Predict where the snitch will go. It’s possible to trap the snitch, for instance as it circles around the goal posts. Fly where you sense the snitch is going to be in order to cut it off or pin it against the wall.

Alright! I Caught the Snitch!

• Pat yourself on the back! That was quite a battle…
• If the game isn’t over, then get ready to dive upwards for the quaffle that’s about to be released.

Okay, Got It. Any Additional Pointers?

Communicate with your beater. Communicate with your team. Let them know what’s giving you trouble. Encourage them to tell you where the snitch is if they spot it before you. Agree on terms for different parts of the pitch, ex. Blue Side, Midfield, etc. so that there’s no confusion.