Fortnite Augments: What are they and how to activate them

New Fortnite Augments have arrived with Chapter 5, providing useful abilities and small boosts for you and even your weapon mods. The 13 Augments for all players are currently not available in matches, though they can still be viewed in the Collections of the Quests tab. There's a Milestones quest that requires you to activate Augments that currently lists them as "coming soon", so while we don't know exactly when Augments will reappear in Fortnite, expect it to be in the next few weeks once Season 1 is well underway.

Ordinarily, Augments are hugely useful in Fortnite since they provide useful resources or unlock special abilities to give you a tactical edge over your rivals. These can include extra Mini Shields, super sprints, or even faster movement while healing. Since Chapter 5 has also introduced weapon mods, Augments have also been appropriately shaken up to accommodate those too, with Combat Augments offering things like boosted damage to particular things based on the mods on your weapon. 

How useful these offerings are does come down to luck, as you'll be given a choice between two randomly selected augments at a time – with the option to reroll if you don't like the selection you were originally offered. To help you learn all there is to know about the current selection, here's a breakdown of all of the Augments in Fortnite and how to activate them.

New augments in Fortnite

The launch of Chapter 5 with Season 1 has completely shaken up the Augments available in Fortnite. There are now 13 to get, 12 of which are new. You'll also find that the Combat Augments tie in with the new Fortnite weapon mods system, granting you more benefits for using particular attachments.

As mentioned before, all 13 Augments are currently not available in Fortnite matches but will be "soon". Here's a quick list of all the new Fortnite Augments, but you can learn about each one further down:

• Combat – Laser Precision, Barrier Breaker, Shield Suppressor
• Game Changer – Jump Time, Shield Breakaway, Swift Combatant
• Mobility & Scouting – Agile Mending, Soothing Slap, Aquatic Warrior
• Looting – Cluster Collector, Water Rifter, Mini Reward

Unlike in some previous seasons, you no longer need to keep playing the game and activating augments for a chance to unlock these new buffs, as they are immediately available to all players – though you need to start at least one match for any newly added augments to appear in the menu.

How to activate augments in Fortnite

Your first choice of Fortnite Augments will appear around two and a half minutes into a match, then a new pair will be added every further two and a half minutes until all four slots are available. This is represented by a 'Ready!' notification at the side of the screen, at which point you can press right on the d-pad to open the menu and activate augments in Fortnite. You can open your inventory then switch to the Augments tab to see how long is left until your next choice is available.

For each of the four available slots you'll be presented with two Fortnite Augments to choose between, from the selection you currently have available. You can also reroll by following the prompt at the bottom to get two new choices – this is free the first time in a match, but subsequent rerolls will cost you 100 bars each. To activate augments in Fortnite, simply highlight the one you want to use then press the right trigger to select it and start reaping the benefits.

What Fortnite Augments are available

You now begin with a full selection of Fortnite Augments available, so you no longer have to keep playing matches and activating existing perks in order to add more to your collection. Here are all 31 of the augment options (despite the display stating 38 augments discovered), along with details of the buffs they provide if selected. Some of the augments will provide you with the Fortnite Siphon effect when triggered, which you can read about at the link provided.

Fortnite Augments: Combat

1. Laser Precision
   Weapons with a Laser mod deal slightly increased headshot damage. Gain a Rare weapon with a Laser mod.
   
2. Barrier Braker
   Weapons with a Muzzle Brake mod deal increased structure damage. Gain a Rare weapon with a Muzzle Brake mod.
   
3. Shield Suppressor
   Weapons with Suppressors deal increased damage to shields

Fortnite Augments: Game Changer

1. Jump Time
   Gain a super sprint jump every 20 seconds.
   
2. Shield Breakaway
   Gain the Slap effect when your shield breaks (overshield excluded).
   
3. Swift Combatant
   Gain increased movement speed while aiming down sights, reloading, and after downing enemies. 

Fortnite Augments: Mobility & Scouting

1. Agile Mending
   Reduce the movement speed penalty while channeling healing items.
   
2. Soothing Slap
   Gain Slap energy regen after using any healing consumable.
   
3. Storm Chaser
   Reduce the amount of stamina drained while tactical sprinting. Reduced further while in the storm.
   
4. Aquatic Warrior
   You move faster and regenerate health and partial shield while in a body of water, except while in the storm.

Fortnite Augments: Looting

1. Cluster Collector
   Gain two Cluster Clingers. Eliminations grant additional Cluster Clingers.
   
   
2. Water Rifter
   Get rifted into the air when you swim into a fishing spot or if you stay in the water for 15 seconds.
   
3. Mini Reward
   Instantly gain Mini Shields and gain additional Mini Shields when opening containers

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