Fortnite Weapon Evolution: Everything You Need to Know

Everything You Need to Know About Weapon Evolution in Fortnite

The weapon evolution system in Fortnite is pretty far from feeling intuitive or user friendly. Trying to figure out how exactly to get the artillery of your dreams can feel like a daunting task but once you get used to Fortnite’s obsession with multiple menus and multiple upgrade requirements for one singular item, it will all start to make sense. This is not a promise or even a suggestion that you’ll like it but you will, at least, be used to it.

Your first step is to craft the base weapon of your choice in Fortnite. Throughout your journey you will receive a variety of different weapon schematics, which are important because weapons break in this game. Despite the fact that they break, you do not have the option to repair them in Fortnite, so you’ll have to keep recreating the same weapon if you’ve grown attached to it.

Once you have created the base weapon, you will want to select the schematics for it in your armory. At this point you will notice your weapon has both a level indicated by the LV that maxes out at 10 and then a collection of stars as well that maxes out at 5 depending on the weapon. Some weapons will have fewer stars than this. The stars and the number indicated for your level are really all a part of the same thing to be honest. You basically earn a star every time you max out the LV up to 10. It’s just a more complicated way to count how far your weapon has been leveled up.

For example, instead of simply allowing the LV count to surpass 10 to indicate your weapon is at level 15, a level 15 weapon would instead be represented by one star and a LV 5. This is a particularly confusing way to count up a weapon’s levels since even the unlocked perks for each weapon simply count up using higher LV numbers. So while you’re determining your weapon’s level by calculating 10 points per star and then adding the additional points listed as LV, even the perks chart simply lets you know what will be improved when your weapon reaches “LV 15” — not level “one star, 5 LV.”

In the bottom right corner of your screen you’ll see the option to level up your weapon if you have enough XP for that particular schematic. Once you have maxed out how many times you can level the weapon up, it will be time to evolve the weapon. Evolving your weapon is what actually adds another star to the weapon’s stats and these are when you’ll see the most significant improvements being made to your stats. This is also when you’ll be able to unlock a new perk for your weapon. Unlike simply leveling your weapon up, however, you’ll have to do a little more than just gain enough Schematic XP to allow your weapon to evolve. When you select to evolve your weapon, you will see a list of requirements that must be met first. This will contain the usual requirements of maxing out the weapon’s level and building up a certain amount of XP but it will also ask you to obtain a certain amount of a particular material and a certain number of weapon designs.

Both the materials you need and the weapon designs can be picked up through mission rewards but they are pretty rare there. You’re best bet to obtain weapon designs is to collect them by recycling rare weapons. However, there is another method for collecting everything you need to evolve your weapons. Ironically enough, it’s by utilizing the game’s Collection Book system. Instead of tossing weapons out the window when your backpack is full, add them to the Collection Book and you’ll have more than enough materials and weapon designs to evolve your weapons throughout the game.

Keep in mind, however, that evolving a weapon will require higher level materials to craft that weapon. So it’s best not to rush the evolution process. If you aren’t at a level in the game where higher grade materials like silver are readily available you may want to hold off on upgrading certain weapons that would otherwise require materials you don’t really have access to.

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