One of theFortnitecommunity’s favorite weapons is coming back for a short period of time. Today Epic Games announced that the iconic Star Wars lightsaber is being reintroduced to the battle royale, and players can drop intoFortniteright now and find themselves a lightsaber.
TheStar Warslightsabers were first added toFortniteon December 14 as part of a live event celebrating the upcoming release ofStar Wars Episode 9: Rise of the Skywalker. At the end of the event, where director JJ Abrams talked live to players and showed a brief clip of the upcoming movie, lightsabers were gifted to players. They were then added to the battle royale as weapons for a period of time.
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The lightsabers were a highly controversial addition toFortnite, though they were also enjoyed by a significant portion of the game’s player base.Lightsabersdo a significant amount of damage when in melee range, but, more importantly, they can be used to block all weapon fire for a lengthy amount of time. Some felt that finding a lightsaber was imbalanced compared to those who didn’t. Given that lightsabers were only available for a limited time, the controversy never really gained a foothold.
Fortnite’s new lightsabers are exactly the same as those available in December 2019. They come in four different colors,Kylo Ren’s Red, Rey’s Blue, Luke’s Green, and Mace Windu’s Purple. They still do 45 damage per swing and 150 for a slam, and the block can stop 30 bullets before going on a 3-second cooldown. Lightsabers can spawn on floors or in chests.
It’s unclear exactly how long lightsabers will remain inFortnite, but a week seems likely. The lightsabers are being added back toFortniteas part of theStar Warsquasi-holidayMay the Fourth, as in may the fourth be with you.
Alongside the return ofFortnite’s lightsabers, players will once again be able to purchase the Dark Side emote, which shows the player force choking. Both theStarfightersand the Order and Peace Bundles will also available for players to purchase from theFortniteshop. Finally, the Rey, Kylo Ren, and red Sith Trooper skins are available to purchase in the shop again, too. It may not be as exciting of an event as is usual for Disney, but it is a bit ofStar Warsfun that doesn’t require any extra work from either Disney or Epic.
Fortniteis available now on PC, PS4, Switch, Xbox One, and mobile devices.
