In Fortnite Chapter 7 Season 3, the sprites are back! These lovable little spirits, which we first met back in Chapter 6 Season 1, have returned to the Battle Royale island following the cataclysmic confrontation between the Ice King and the Foundation in the Shattered live event. Now, there’s a lot more of them than there used to be, and they’re about to become a lot more pivotal to the Fortnite Battle Royale experience than ever before, because they’re Season 3’s central gameplay mechanic.
What do the sprites do?
These sprites can be found wandering around all over the island, and you can just run up to one and pick it up. Doing so will take up an inventory slot, show the sprite on your back, and give you some sort of ability. Sprites have rarities, and the more rare ones will, of course, be both harder to find and give better bonuses. Let’s take a look at Epic’s descriptions for what each sprite does, from least to most rare:
- Earth Sprite: You have a chance to find additional rare items when opening chests
- Fire Sprite:Creates a fiery burst when you deal enough damage to an enemy
- Water Sprite: Replenish shield while in water for you and your nearby Squad
- Duck Sprite: Emoting or Jamming replenishes shields
- Ghost Sprite: Grants cloak for a duration upon reloading
- Demon Sprite: Siphon some health and shields when you eliminate an opponent
- King Sprite: Your Pickaxe deals more damage
- Dream Sprite: Grants a random item at each level, exploding with legendary loot at Max Level
- Punk Sprite: Possibly nothing… or infinitely something
- Zero Point Sprite: Spawn a Shield Bubble Jr. when you use a healing item on yourself
What do you do with them?
These sprites aren’t just for usin’, though. In Chapter 6, players would bring them to a shrine, which would reward them with loot in return. It’s a similar situation in Chapter 7, but now you’ll bring the sprite to an extraction point, where you’ll store it and receive a new type of currency called sprite dust. Extracting the sprites, and defeating enemies with the sprite in your inventory, will also level up the type of sprite you’re using. The higher the level, the more powerful their abilities are. There are bonus rewards tied to mastering each sprite this way.
You won’t always have to go to a set point for the extraction, however, since new Gizmo consumables will allow players to summon an extraction point wherever they happen to be.
What’s the point of this?
There’s a pretty clear gameplay advantage to extraction. Extracting the sprites and earning sprite dust will make it so you can start a match with the sprite of your choosing. It’s not hard to see how any of these could turn the tide of an early match encounter and keep your squad alive.
But the sprites are generally going to be less useful later in the match than any good loot you might have found, so it’s a good strategy to invest in a future match when you probably already have better stuff anyway.
On top of the gameplay part of it, extracting a sprite will let battle pass owners use it as a customization option for The Guardian skin, which is a mech suit piloted by a sprite. Extracting a sprite allows you to choose it as the pilot for the suit.
