How to craft weapons and items in Fortnite Season 6

Fortnite finally has crafting. Fortnite already incorporates a lot of survival mechanics into its battle royale mode, but Chapter 2, Season 6 — titled “Primal” — introduces a crafting system. This system allows players to improve weapons and items they find around the map, which adds a layer of complexity to the experience. In other words, you don’t just have to rely on random loot drops anymore.

If you’re having some trouble wrapping your head around this new system, here’s a rundown of how crafting works in Fortnite. (Also consider Epic Games’ official blog post about the new feature.)

How to access Fortnite’s crafting system

Accessing the crafting menu isn’t complicated at all; It’s just a new submenu. You simply have to press up on your D-pad to access your Inventory menu. Next to that, you’ll now see a brand new Crafting submenu that you can get to by pressing R1 or L1 (or your platform’s equivalent).

This menu will show you the five items in your inventory, their potential upgrades, and the resources required to craft the better weapon or item. If you have the required materials, you should be able to craft it right from the submenu. When it comes to weapons, you’ll be able see improvements to damage, fire rate, magazine size, and reload time.

This menu allows you to upgrade weapons manually. When you find certain crafting materials scattered around Fortnite’s map, you can just choose to interact with them and upgrade your weapon automatically if there are enough resources. Either way, crafting fits seamlessly into Fortnite.

Most of the crafting options are related to weapon upgrades, but it’s also possible to craft a Hunter’s Cloak made from Meat and Bones that’ll prevent animals from attacking you on sight.

How to craft Primal weapons in Fortnite

The Primal in Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 6’s name also applies to a new type of weapon class. You can craft and upgrade your Makeshift weapons into Primal weapons by finding Animal Bones. The new season also introduces various kinds of wildlife to the map like chickens, boars, and wolves.

Killing them will get you Animal Bones. You can either directly interact with them to upgrade your weapon, or collect them so they will show up as a resource in your inventory. Once you’ve collected enough, you can simply go into the Crafting tab of your Inventory menu and upgrade your weapon into the Primal version to deal more damage.

How to craft Classic weapons in Fortnite

While Primal weapons are the season’s focus, it’s also possible to craft “Classic Weapons.” Epic Games classifies theses as more common and well-known Fortnite weapons geared towards “mechanical precision.” They’re talking about the Pump Shotgun, Revolver, and Assault Rifle. Instead of Animal Bones, these weapons require Mechanical Parts to craft.

You can get Mechanical Parts by breaking vehicles and other mechanical objects like forklifts and tractors. You can interact with or collect these just like Animal Bones and upgrade your weapons accordingly.

Fortnite crafting recipes

Primal and Classic categories are the two main crafting categories in Fortnite Chapter 2 Season 6, but some weapons like the Bow are already showing greater variation in how players can craft and upgrade them. Here’s a look at all of the current recipes found thus far:

• Hunter’s Cloak: Meat (1), Bones (2)
• Primal weapons: Weapon of choice, Bones (4)
• Mechanical weapons: Weapon of choice, Mechanical Parts (4)
• Primal Flame Bow: Primal Bow, Gas Canister (1) / Firefly Jar (1)
• Primal Stink Bow: Primal Bow, Stink Sac (1) / Stink Fish (3)
• Mechanical Explosive Bow: Mechanical Bow, Grenade (6)
• Mechanical Shockwave Weapons: Mechanical Bow, Shockwave Grenade (2)

It seems all but certain that we might see new animals and recipes emerge as the season progresses, so be on the lookout for new combos.

Fortnite is available now across all major gaming platforms.