Every new chapter of Fortnite is a massive event. While seasonal changes bring plenty of minor tweaks and additions, it’s almost always when a new chapter rolls around that major overhauls or new mechanics are introduced. Fortnite Chapter 4 was no exception, and aside from the extreme changes the island underwent, it brought one very important change to gameplay that makes a huge difference when going for that elusive victory royal (it isn’t easy to win Fortnite, after all).
Augments, well, augment the game. There are a few challenges that somewhat introduce what these are, but they leave out almost all the important details for you to find out on your own. Augments need to be considered, and deeply understood, not only for when you get them yourself but to know what new tricks your opponents could have up their sleeves. Before you get taken by surprise, here’s a complete breakdown of how to unlock augments and how they work in Fortnite.
What are augments in Fortnite?
Augments, or Reality Augments, are a new perk system introduced into Fortnite. There are currently 20 augments in the game, but there are 32 total that cycle in and out with each Season. You can get access to multiple augments during a single match, but augments do not carry over after a match is finished, whether you win or lose. These perks can range from modifying certain weapon types to granting buffs for performing actions, and much more. There are no bad augments, so you will want to get as many as possible. Augments also have their own tab in your menu where you can see which ones you’ve had so far to track your progress using them all.
How use Fortnite augments
Unlike guns, items, and most things in Fortnite, you won’t be finding or looting augments on the map itself. Instead, augments are dished out to all surviving players over the duration of a match. At around two and a half minutes into a game, you will be given the choice between two augments to place into one of four slots. After picking your first, so long as you survive and the game doesn’t end, you will get another pair to pick between every two and a half minutes or so. If you’re trying to complete the augment tab, pay attention to the augments with the word “new” beside it to indicate it is one you’ve never taken before and unlock it.
If neither of the two augments presented looks good, you can also hold the interact button at the bottom to reroll your options. You can reroll once for free, but if you have to do it again it will cost you 100 gold bars.
However, even if an augment is passive, you still need to activate it. To do this, press right on the D-pad (or your platform’s equivalent) to open the augment menu, highlight which one you want to use, and activate it with the right trigger.
Full list of Fortnite augments
Here are all the augments currently in Fortnite:
- Aquatic Warrior – Move faster and regenerate health and partial shield while swimming.
- Bloodhound – Enemies hit by your marksman rifle or bow shots are marked for a brief duration.
- Exotic Grab Bag – Recieve a Random Heisted Exotic Weapon.
- First Assault – The first bullet in the magazine of your Assault Rifle deals bonus damage.
- Keymaster – Grants two keys for opening holo-chests.
- Light Fingers – Makes your weapons using Light Ammo reload faster.
- Medium Ammo Acquired – Instantly gain medium ammo, then gain more when you open containers.
- Mythic Munition – Grants a Mythic Tactical Pistol.
- Pistol Amp – Pistols have greatly increased magazine size.
- Primal Companion – Gain thermal vision and regenerate Health while riding animals.
- Reckless Rifel Reload – Your Assault Rifles will reload significantly faster when the magazine is empty.
- SMG Sign Off – The last three bullets of your SMG magazine will deal bonus damage.
- Soaring Sprints – While sprinting, you’ll be able to jump much higher — and jump with lower gravity.
- Sprint Lines – Gain a Slap effect upon using grind vines, grind rails, zip lines, or Ascenders.
- Shell Slide – Gain Shotgun shells while sliding.
- Shotgun Striker – Shotguns give siphon on hits against players.
- Steady Hands – Marksman Rifles have reduced recoil.
- Swift Shotgun Reload – Your Shotguns will reload faster.
- Traversal Warrior – You regenerate health and partial shields while on grind rails, grind vines, zip lines, and Ascenders.
- Wildwasp Weaponry – Receive some Wildwasp Jars, and gain an additional one with every elimination.
