How to mod weapons in Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 1

In the latest season of Fortnite, Epic Games has funneled a treasure trove of new features and content, some of which you’ll never find if you’re unprepared. One of these new features is the ability to add modifications to your acquired weapons, but being able to access the mod benches at all is a trial.

While on the Fortnite island, you might notice, however, that some weapons you acquire are modded already, but you can’t add or edit mods in the field without a bench. I can imagine the developers did this because they knew some folks would never ever survive long enough to reach a mod bench to mod the weapons themselves. In any case, here’s everything you need to know about modding weapons in Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 1.

How and where to find Mod Benches in Fortnite?

If you were wondering why you might not have encountered a Mod Bench on the Fortnite island yet, let’s just say there’s a reason for that. It’s because most of them are locked behind gigantic vaults, accessible only once you (or a teammate) has defeated a Society Boss — Oscar the Man-Tiger, Nisha, Montague, Valeria, and — I still can’t believe I’m typing this name — Peter Griffin, from Family Guy.

You’ll find these bosses in different areas of the map; for example, I defeated Oscar in Lavish Lair, as well as Nisha in Fencing Fields. I was shot down by a gold-plated Peter Griffin in Snooty Steppes, as well as a vengeful Montague in Grand Glacier. Valeria is located in Reckless Railways, though I have yet to personally encounter her — nor have I really looked for her, so I guess we’re even.

In any case, make sure you’re prepared for a tough encounter — stock up on high-DPS weapons and load up on ammo, because these bosses are bullet sponges. In fact, to make things easier, you’d might as well deploy as a squad, since if you deploy solo you have to worry not only about the boss, but about other players who will shoot on sight. As soon as you’ve defeated the boss, pick up the Society Medallion and navigate to the area’s vault, where you’ll find some valuable loot, and one of the six total Mod Benches.

You might notice I said six benches and only five bosses, and there’s a reason for that as well. You can find the sixth Mod Bench on the floating island that materializes in and out of the world at random. But, unless you’re willing to wait around for it to appear and hope you’re the only person who decided to do so, you’re probably best off targeting one of the bosses and hoping you’re lucky. 

How to use Mod Benches in Fortnite?

So, you’ve taken down one of the bosses and now you’re about to loot the corresponding vault. Inside the vault is an assortment of loot chests you can open, but our priority here is the Mod Bench. If I were you, I’d check — and check again — to make sure no stragglers are going to sneak up on you while you’re busy modding your weapon. That would be very annoying, and I wouldn’t want you to go through that.

To use the Mod Bench, press the button displayed on-screen (it varies based on the platform, though it should be the button you’d normally use to reload) and you’ll be brought into the mod menu. There are various mod options that fit into four categories: Optic, Magazine, Underbarrel, and Barrel. The best part? Each mod only costs 75 gold bars to equip! If you’re anything like me, I bet you’ve  accumulated quite the wealth, but aside from buying a shield from the vending machines, this might be one of the best uses of gold bars in the game. But, be warned: not all weapons can be modded!

Fortnite Chapter 5: Season 1 is currently ongoing, and there’s still plenty of fun to be had, even if you’re never able to reach a Mod Bench. To get a rundown of all the new rewards in this season’s Battle Pass, or to find a cavalcade of impressive weapons to take down bosses with, check out our coverage.