Fortnite Mending Machine trick keeps players alive when down

Alec Mullins
Fortnite players standing in front of Mending Machine

Need help staying on your feet in Fortnite? The game’s newest Mending Machine trick lets players make a cheeky exchange to keep themselves alive after being knocked by an enemy squad. 

Fortnite has made tons of changes to enhance survivability over the years. From adding in a few seconds of thirst protection for downed players to implementing the carry and toss system so that teammates can carry each other to safety, Epic Games is always looking out for the ones who’ve been taken out of fights.

The devs have taken it a step further this time around though, allowing crafty players to extend the amount of time left on their ever-draining health bar when they go down.

Fortnite’s strange Mending Machine trick is keeping players alive

The Mending Machines can replenish your shields and health in exchange for those valuable Gold Bars.

Players can take advantage of this trick by approaching any of the map’s vending machines after they’ve been knocked down.

When crawling in front of the machine, the prompt to interact with it will appear and let any downed user exchange gold bars to replenish their health, extending the amount of time before they bleed out.

 

As u/peppers_ pointed out, this is all part of Fortnite’s new philosophy on what players should be able to do while they’re downed: “You can use ziplines and open doors too while knocked. Probably open chests too, but I haven’t confirmed that yet.”

Another commenter joked that this could make matches more enjoyable for all of the game’s less-skilled players: “Game changer. Considering I spend 90% of the game knocked, I can last a little longer haha.”

While this isn’t the biggest change in Chapter 3, it certainly seems to be a popular one amongst the community, with one fan suggesting that these kinds of updates will keep Fortnite on top of the battle royale mountain forever: “Little updates like this are what make FN more fun than other games. What a weird and delightful thing to add.”

About The Author

Alec Mullins is an FPS writer focusing on Call of Duty and Apex Legends and their respective esports scenes. He worked at TheGamer before joining Dexerto. On the weekends, you'll find him watching the CDL and jamming to The Mountain Goats. You can find Alec on Twitter @LifeAsAlec