The Alien Nanites in 'Fortnite' Are a Fun New Addition to the Game's Extraterrestrial Theme

Throughout the course of Fortnite Season 7, players have encountered plenty of new elements within the game that have been extraterrestrial, to say the least. Whether it be artifacts, strange flying saucers, or new in-game perks, the alien invasion of the Fortnite island is almost absolute at this point.

One of the latest additions to the game comes in the form of a new item called alien nanites. When deployed, these can have a significant impact on gameplay. So, how exactly does one go about acquiring and deploying the nanites in-game? Here's a breakdown.

Unlike a lot of the other recent additions to the game that are alien-related and require players to traverse the entirety of the map, alien nanites actually spawn randomly. This makes the likelihood of a player unintentionally running into a nanite much higher than past additions.

So, where do they spawn? Well, the nanites can often be found in a handful of locations: in basic loot chests, among floor loot, in alien mothership chests (which actually afford players the best odds of finding one), and sometimes in abductors' chests as well. Since finding an alien nanite is seemingly the easy part of the task, what's to be done once you have one? Well, it's pretty simple.

Once a player finds a nanite, there are a few things that can be done with it. First, it does function as a throwable item, much like the more common grenade. Instead of a damage-inflicting boom, however, the alien nanite throw creates a temporary anti-gravity field around the point it impacts, giving players the ability to alter the dynamics of a fight.

If a player enters the temporary anti-gravity field, they will, well, float. The player's first jump will just be an exaggerated motion, but a second jump while in the air is also allowed, and players can actually control the direction in which their jump goes, alluding back to previous launch pads and bounce pads that have been added to and removed from the game.

Using the nanites comes with some risks, however, as the anti-gravity field dissipates after just 30 seconds and if a player is in the air at that time, they will fall at normal speed and inflict damage on themselves. For players who consider the addition of a portable anti-gravity field to the game to be overpowered, this serves to nerf the extent of possible damage done.

The keys to using nanites effectively are to either throw them at opponents behind walls to get a clear shot or to use them to propel yourself up structures or in different directions (remembering that the anti-gravity is limited and damage can be taken if not done properly).