By Star Wars season has displayed a rather significant shift in dynamics for Fortnite‘s battle royale format, yet this week’s major update has brought an enormous surprise: an AI-powered Darth Vader NPC who will combat alongside your team and genuinely converse with you, imitating the voice of the late James Earl Jones.
It’s merely a fun little peculiarity that probably won’t alter your gameplay, but it’s surprisingly entertaining for such an addition, as this Darth Vader-themed chatbot’s performance is incredibly accurate. It’s not more intelligent than your average chatbot, as it struggles to maintain a dialogue effectively, but if you wish to hear Darth Vader utter a variety of phrases—including some not suitable for children—while playing Fortnite, he’s a delightful presence.
The key inquiry, naturally, is how to discover and interact with him? The AI Darth Vader NPC has taken the place of the Darth Vader Samurai boss NPC that was stationed at Vader Samurai’s Solitude, but that spot is just one of three potential spawn locations for Darth Vader in each match. Similar to when Darth Vader first appeared on the island three years ago, his whereabouts are randomized at the beginning of every match.
Where to locate the AI Darth Vader NPC on the Fortnite island
As previously mentioned, the AI Darth Vader appears randomly at one of three different spots in each game: at Vader Samurai’s Solitude in the southwestern corner, at the Imperial checkpoint south of the tunnel from Canyon Crossing, and at an Imperial checkpoint east of Foxy Floodgate, just beyond the nearby hill. Check out our map.
You can identify his position by looking for a parked Lambda-class shuttle—Darth Vader will always be located where the shuttle is. Although you won’t be able to view the shuttle landing from the battle bus like we could in Chapter 3 Season 3, the stationary shuttle is quite noticeable from distances and will never vanish from your view due to distance limitations.
How to interact with Fortnite’s AI Darth Vader chatbot
Once you determine the location to visit, you’ll need to defeat Darth Vader in battle, along with the four stormtroopers that accompany him—plus any other players who may be vying for Vader’s attention. After you’ve defeated him, he will generate a Force training portal where you’ll acquire a red lightsaber, the lightsaber throw ability, and Vader’s loyalty.
After completing these tasks, congratulations! You can now converse with the Darth Vader chatbot and inquire about any subject you choose. To speak to Darth Vader, hold down the chat button while you talk—by default, that’s right on the d-pad for controllers, and the Y key for mouse and keyboard users.
The Darth Vader chatbot has already stirred some controversy, after it repeated a curse word used by Loserfruit while she was streaming, but the official Fortnite Twitter account states that he’s been patched to prevent that from happening again.
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