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Fortnite challenge guide: Go for a swim with an alien parasite

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Many of the challenges during Fortnite season 7, week 11 focus on aliens or alien parasites, which are semi-deadly beings scattered around the map. One challenge in particular requires you to go for a swim with an alien parasite, and if you aren’t familiar with how they work, this objective may seem a little misleading or confusing, especially if you’ve never encountered one before.

The thing about alien parasites is that you have to get them to latch onto your head for the challenge to count — instead of simply swimming alongside them. In this guide, we’ll show you everything you’ll need to know about this challenge, including details on finding the creatures and tips for making it as easy as possible. Here’s how to go for a swim with an alien parasite in Fortnite.

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Where to find an alien parasite

Map of alien artifacts in Fortnite.
Fortnite.gg

Above is a map (courtesy of Fortnite.gg) of all the alien parasite locations. However, each of these locations is home to alien parasite eggs, and you must strike them to get them to hatch. If you simply approach these eggs, nothing will happen until you attack them. Your goal here is to get one of the alien parasites to latch onto your head, which is easy to do if you get close after the egg hatches. The parasites will begin coming for you, so just let them jump onto your head.

After this happens, you’ll notice the parasites will drain your health constantly in exchange for a speed boost. Keep in mind, your health only drains to a certain point — once it reaches 20% or so, it’ll stop draining, so make sure you’ve got some health kits with you or foraged food. For the purposes of the challenge, we advise landing at one of the spots close to water. The entire map has little rivers scattered around, so it shouldn’t be too difficult to find a spot.

How to go for a swim with an alien parasite

Jumping into the water with a parasite in Fortnite.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

After the parasite has latched onto your head, all you have to do is jump into a body of water to complete the challenge. That’s why we advise landing at a location close to water so you don’t have to make a long trip. The other important point is that the parasites don’t like water, so once you jump in, they’ll immediately unlatch themselves from your head. This is a good thing to keep in mind as you play regularly, just in case a parasite grabs you outside of the context of this challenge.

As soon as you jump into the water, the parasite will detach and you’ll earn credit for completing the challenge, along with 30,000 XP.

Joseph Yaden
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Joseph Yaden is a freelance journalist who covers Nintendo, shooters, and horror games. He mostly covers game guides for…
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