Fortnite will roll out Reboot Vans, much like Apex Legends’ Respawn Beacons

By Aaron Mamiit Updated May 5, 2019

Epic Games will soon add a new feature to the Battle Royale mode of Fortnite that will allow players to bring back their fallen teammates, similar to the Respawn Beacons of Apex Legends.

Fortnite‘s Reboot Vans, which were highlighted in the latest developer update for the game, will give eliminated players a way to return to the action. Squadmates will have to pick up the Reboot Cards that their teammates will drop and then bring them to a Reboot Van, which will be placed in certain locations on the map, to give them a second chance.

There will be some limitations and risks to Reboot Vans though. They can only be used to respawn a player once, after which they will stop functioning. There will also be a limited number of Reboot Vans, with the chance that some of them will fall outside the safe zone as the circle shrinks. In addition, when a squad attempts to bring back a teammate, the Reboot Van will make a loud honking sound and shoot light into the sky, which will alert nearby enemies.

The footage in the developer update hints that the Reboot Cards will have timers, similar to the player banners in Apex Legends. The video also advises players to give some items to their respawned teammates, which suggests that revived players will return to the game without any items, also as in Apex Legends. With the ruckus that Reboot Vans will make, squadmates will need to protect their returning allies as they will be easy targets for opponents looking for a quick kill.

Fortnite players started speculating that Epic Games would introduce a respawn mechanic to the game at the start of season 8, when mysterious vans started showing up in Replay Mode. Dataminers discovered files that referred to what were then known as Second Chance Vans and Second Chance Cards, marking the pending arrival of the feature to Fortnite.

This is the second major feature that Fortnite will copy from Apex Legends. With the launch of season 8, Epic Games updated the World Marker tool to allow players to mark certain locations, signal danger, and point out particular items, similar to the ping tool in Respawn Entertainment’s hero-based Battle Royale shooter.

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