What are Bars for in Fortnite?
One of the most obvious new features of Fortnite Season 5 is the Gold Bars currency. You can accumulate Bars by finding them as floor loot, Eliminating other players or by completing quests or Bounties for other characters. Unlike most other items added to your inventory in a given Fortnite match, Bars transfer between games. If you amass a nice collection in one match, you can purchase rewards for that effort in another game. So far, we’ve seen Bars doled out in stacks of 13 as floor loot; 35 for completing quests or a half-finished Bounty; and 70 for a proper Bounty Elimination.
How to spend Bars in Fortnite
Once you’ve got around 50 Bars in your inventory, you’ll start having ample opportunities to spend them. Bars can be cashed in at any one of 40 different NPC characters scattered around the Battle Royale map. Each character has their own inventory with a unique benefit available for purchase. The Sleuth at Retail Row, for example, sells a map for 50 Bars that briefly shows the locations of other nearby characters.
The Reaper in a house west of Holly Hedges lets you upgrade your guns. Others allow you to recruit them as an AI bodyguard. Just look for the white chat bubble in any area to find a nearby character.
How to get more Bars - Quests and Bounties
Now that you know the basics of Bars and how to spend them, you probably want to get more. Beyond floor loot or Eliminating other players the old-fashioned way, the best way to do that is by taking on quests or Bounties from the aforementioned characters.
When speaking to a character, quests are marked by the ! icon. They can involve any number of tasks, such as accruing a certain number of Elims in a match, or something as simple as ringing a doorbell until it breaks. For finishing the objective you’ll typically receive 35 Bars.
Bounties can be picked up at characters by selecting the crosshairs icon instead. Once you do that and confirm it by pressing the thumbs-up button, you’ll be given the name of a specific target to Eliminate within the time limit displayed onscreen. Pull up your map, and you’ll see that a yellow circle denotes your target’s approximate location. If you manage to Eliminate your targeted player before time runs out, you’ll receive 70 Bars. If another player manages to knock out your target or you Eliminate someone else’s instead, you’ll get 35 Bars. No matter who deals the final blow, the Bounty registers as complete.
With Bars, Bounties and quests in mind, Fortnite Season 5 offers a different flavor than some Battle Royale fans may be used to. Regardless, all three features work together to create a system that’s fairly simple and rewarding once you understand how it works.
Fortnite is available now on PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Switch, PC and Android.
What do you think of Fortnite Season 5 so far? How many Bounties and Bars do you have under your belt? Tell us in the comments section!
