Fortnite’s latest limited-time event ‘High Stakes’ is now live. The event features a new Outfit and other cosmetics as well as a new limited-time mode called ‘The Getaway’ and new challenges and rewards.
Epic Games has released several new challenges for the High Stakes event and these are free for all players. We’ll take a look at those challenges and discuss strategies for both winning The Getaway and solving the challenges.
Once you’ve completed the challenges you’ll earn free cosmetic rewards and once each challenge is complete you’ll earn the special Crowbar pickaxe. The Wild Card skin is available for purchase and not as a reward.
Here are the challenges:
- Challenge 1: Play 10 matches of The Getaway. Reward: 5,000 XP
- Challenge 2: Deal 500 damage to jewel-carrying opponents. Reward: New High Stakes spray.
- Challenge 3: Pick up a jewel in 5 different matches of The Getaway. Reward: High Stakes contrail.
- Complete all three to earn the Crowbar.
Challenge 1 is simple: Just play ten matches. You don’t have to do well at all to earn that XP. Things get decidedly trickier once you reach the second two challenges.
The Getaway
First of all, here’s how The Getaway works (you can read the full patch notes with the nitty-gritty details below.)
As per usual, 100 players will descend on the map, this time in squads of up to 4 players each. You can attempt this solo but you’ll be playing against teams of four, so it’s probably not a wise choice.
Unlike the battle royale modes, however, this is not a mode about last-man-standing. Rather, four teams will win each match and they’ll do so by stealing a jewel and then getting away on a floating getaway van. It’s a heist mode, and I hope we see lots more iterations like this in Fortnite in the future.
When the match starts you’ll already see the very first circle. The four safes that have the jewels in them will appear as you float above in the Battle Bus. I highly recommend you land in the first circle or very near it as the storm will move in very quickly after you make landfall.
Now you have some options. In my experience, each safe and the area around it will be swarmed by players resulting in crazy gunfights and quick deaths. My squad has, on numerous occasions, taken out another squad only to be taken out shortly thereafter by yet another squad. I’ve watched (after being knocked down) as this happened five or six times in a row.
Strategy #1: The Vulture
So one viable strategy here is to let other teams pick each other off and, when the moment is ripe, descend on the victors as they lick their wounds, wipe the squad and steal the jewel. Going in fast before other teams have a chance to get to the safe might work, but you’re basing success on equal parts luck and skill. Even really good players are going to have a hard time in such a busy, chaotic maelstrom of death.
So loot up, hang back, and coordinate with your squad. Pick off your enemies after they’ve weakened one another, then grab the jewel and high-tail it to one of the three escape vans. (A fourth van appears later in the match, but only four total.)
Strategy #2: The Leopard
A second viable strategy is to ambush the team that made it out with the jewel as they get to the floating getaway van. The key here is that the vans are always way up in the air, meaning players will need to build to reach them.
Yesterday I won several matches of this, but my favorite win was achieved by hanging out between two floating escape vans with my squad (comprised, at the time, of my 8 and 11 year-olds.) We built a small fort between the two vans with a good, clean view of each of them and then just waited. Eventually we saw two players, one carrying the jewel, approach the eastern van.
Sure enough, they built a ramp up to the van and once they reached the top, I simply shot out the bottom piece of the ramp which, in turn, destroyed the entire ramp and platform hurtling both enemy players to their deaths below. Then we ran over, grabbed the jewel, zipped around to a high ledge that was more protected, and built a ramp over to the van and won. This is a heist mode, after all, and the key is to play smart. We let the other squad do all the dirty work of fighting other teams, then ambushed them and stole their loot.
The kids were roaring with laughter, too, so that was fun. This is definitely my favorite strategy both because it’s a little bit safer and because it’s just so dastardly.
Both these strategies will result in you slowly chipping away at Challenge #2 and #3. The second challenge tasks you with doing damage to opponents carrying the jewel, so you’ll want to always let the other teams get it first, whether you take them on at the safe or at the van. Meanwhile, the third challenge merely asks that you carry the jewel 5 times. This is tricky since you’re working with teammates, all of whom will need to do this individually, but so long as you can take out the other team and grab it from them, you’re at least killing two birds with one stone.
- Further Reading: See the Season 5, Week 9 challenges and how to solve them here.
In any case, there’s no sure way to complete these challenges other than playing and you’ll likely need to play quite a bit to complete all of them, especially since you’re never guaranteed to carry the jewel since you’re playing with three other people in your squad. Maybe you can work it out with other players.
Check out the patch notes below for more details on the new Getaway mode which, I must say, is the best thing that’s happened to Fortnite in a long time. Thanks for reading, and hit me up on Twitter or Facebook with any questions! Patch notes below.
PATCH NOTES
Limited Time Mode: The Getaway
- Jewels can be found in special supply drop safes, located along the edge of the first storm circle. The safes take a long time to open, so make sure the area is clear before attempting to claim a Jewel!
- Four Jewels will be in play on the map AT ALL TIMES. If a player escapes with a Jewel or one is lost in the storm, a new supply drop will bring a replacement.
- When a Jewel is picked up, it will be visible on the map to everyone for 30 seconds.
- Carrying a Jewel will give players health & shields over time, but also slow them down by 10%.
Getaway Vans
- Four TOTAL Getaway Vans will be in the map, three that arrive early in the match and one more that shows up near the end.
- Getaway Vans float in mid-air, Jewel carriers must build up and then interact with them in order to complete a Getaway.
- The goal is to find or steal a Jewel and take it to one of the vans in order to secure a Victory Royale.
- Once they arrive, safe drops and Getaway Vans will be visible on the map at all times.
Other Details
- 12 red “Pursuit” Supply Drops land at the very beginning of the match. These carry a variety of longer-range weapons and other items, and are the only way to obtain the new Grappler in this mode.
- Resource harvesting amounts increased by 50%.
- Only Rare weapons or higher will be found in this mode.
- Rifts, Rift-To-Go and Launchpads have been removed to reduce mobility for Getaway Van engagements.
- Profile Stats (K/D & Wins) are tracked in this mode, but Umbrellas are not awarded for wins.
