Henchmen & Vaults
The most notable new addition in Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 2, and the one that really shakes things up the most is the introduction of Henchmen.
While it remains to be seen whether Henchmen will stick around for the duration of the season (we’re not sure how we feel about them yet), their presence on the island is certainly felt.
At the five new named locations — The Yacht, The Shark, The Oil Rig, The Grotto and The Agency — and some existing ones like Pleasant Park, players will find AI-controlled Henchmen walking around. They’re powerful, have shields, and drop weapons. Imagine the Fortnitemares zombies, but stronger.
Shoot one enough to down them, and you’ll be able to pick them up and Shakedown to get the locations of all other enemies, chests, and so on in the surrounding area. It’s a neat little way to tie into the ‘spy’ theme of the season.
You can also drag one over to a new sort of chest that only unlocks for certain types of Henchmen. Carry one over to it or use a Phone Box disguise to get the goodies inside.
These aren’t the exciting part, though. At each of these named locations is an Agency Boss. They’ve got even more health and pack a serious punch. If you can defeat one, they’ll drop a keycard for that location.
Follow the dotted line and you’ll be guided to the vault. There’s one vault in each of the new named locations, and opening them up nets you a ton of loot. Numerous chests await you, as well as a supply drop.
In placing these lucrative vaults at the heart of well-defended, new named locations, Epic Games has created a perfect storm. Henchmen put up a fairly solid fight, especially the Agency Bosses we named before.
On top of that, just about every Fortnite player right now wants to check out the new named locations. They’re a bloodbath, but the rewards are most definitely worth it if you can make it to the vault alive.
Introducing a PvPvE element that not only dominates these new named locations, but also seems to be permeating throughout the rest of the island feels like a big risk for Epic. It throws the traditional Fortnite Battle Royale experience out of the window, and I personally don’t know if it’s got the legs to make it through an entire 10-week season.
