Fortnite Specialist Characters: how to give commands and where to hire them

One of Fortnite’s new Spring Breakout quests tasks players with giving a hired Specialist Character a command, but it’s not exactly clear on how to do that. Worry not, we have you covered.

Fortnite added the ability to hire NPC characters to join your cause throughout a match all the way back in Chapter 2 Season 5. However, Fortnite Update 24.10 took it one step further by adding Specialist Characters into the mix. What makes specialists so… special? Well they come in four unique classes, each with their own strengths over your typical hired NPC.

First off there's the Scout Specialist which uses its Sniper to pick off foes from afar, and also has the incredibly useful ability to ping nearby enemies and chests, so you can get the drop on approaching players. Heavy Specialists specialise in destruction and can take more damage than a typical NPC. Supply Specialists drop ammo and crafting components. Finally, there's the Medical Specialists which will heal you up with Chug Splashes to get you through those tight gunfights.

I personally like the Scout and Medical Specialists for Zero Build matches, but for this particular Fortnite Spring Breakout challenge it doesn’t matter which of these you hire.

Where to find Fortnite Specialist Characters

Fortnite Specialist Characters can be found in eight locations across the map, the majority of which are in the top half, so it may be worth going for one of those in case someone hires them before you get a chance to. That way you'll be able to quickly find another. Here are each of the Fortnite Specialist Character locations:

Here's where you can find the eight Specialist Characters in the Fortnite map (Fortnite.GG / Scott McCrae)

• Polar Patroller (Heavy Specialist) – Icy Islets

• Sludge (Heavy Specialist) – Western area of Steamy Springs

• Remedy (Medical Specialist) – Secluded Spire

• Triage Trooper (Medical Specialist) – Crusty Crates

• Insight (Scout Specialist) – Cold Cavern

• Longshot (Scout Specialist) – Royal Ruin

• Garrison (Supply Specialist) – Watery Watch

• Munitions Expert (Supply Specialist) – Western Area of Breakwater Bay

How to hire Fortnite Specialist Characters

Hiring a Fortnite Specialst Character is the easy part; simply walk up to them and press the action button – which for each platform using default controls is as follows:

• PlayStation: Square

• Xbox: X

• Nintendo Switch: Y

• PC: E

Hire a Specialist Character using using this menu option (Scott McCrae)

Then you select the hire option. You’ll need 250 Bars to hire one of these characters, which can be found in Chests, Safes and Cash Registers throughout the map.

How to give Fortnite Specialist Characters commands

Now for the Fortnite Spring Breakout mission itself! Once you’ve hired a Specialist Character simply hold in the ping button, which for each platform using default controls is as follows:

• Console: left on d-pad

• PC: middle mouse button

Hit a command and the 20k xp is yours (Scott McCrae)

With this a wheel of commands will appear on your screen. Just select one and that’s the quest completed. Good job! That's an easy 20K XP to go towards your Battle Pass level.

This challenge is the Spring Breakout Quest Day 8. But you can still complete it at any time during the event until it ends Tuesday, April 11, when the event is set to end.