One of the more complicated challenges in Fortnite during season 4, week 4 is the one for destroying 20 Gatherers. The actual act of defeating the Gatherers isn’t tough, but locating them is. There are few steps to completing this challenge, but we’ll detail everything you need to know in this guide, from finding the Gatherers to the best way to take them out efficiently.
Here’s how to complete the challenge for destroying Gatherers in Fortnite.
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Where to find Gatherers
As we mentioned above, finding the Gatherers is actually harder than the act of taking them out. But we’ll give you everything you’ll need to know about locating them with ease. Start up a solo, duos, or squads match to begin your hunt. The first thing you need to do is locate a helicopter because it will make finding the Gatherers much easier. There are many locations that feature a helicopter, but we chose to land on the island to the north of Misty Meadows. Here, you’ll want to focus on gathering loot and gear to help you take out the Gatherers. You don’t have to land in this specific spot — any location with a helicopter will do.
The thing you want to watch out for is the timer in the upper right below the map. At around the two-minute mark of the first circle, you’ll want to be up in the air in your helicopter, with your eyes peeled for a large red beam that will shoot up into the sky. In our run, it was a bit past the two-minute mark, at around 1:45, so don’t be alarmed if you haven’t spotted the beam right away. This red beam represents a Gorger, which will spawn the Gatherers you need to destroy. The Gorgers spawn randomly across the map, but seem to spawn in multiple locations — so you’ll have more than one opportunity to locate one.
Essentially, the Gorgers are extraterrestrial drones that shoot red lasers at you. They also spawn little minions called Gatherers, which are your targets for this challenge. Once the red beam goes up, indicating the location of the Gorger, fly your helicopter to it and land nearby.
How to destroy Gatherers
In the video above, you can see the entire process of finding a Gorger while in the helicopter. Again, pay attention to the timer in the top right as a reference point for when the laser shoots up into the sky.
Try not to land right next to the Gorger, as it will likely be in the process of firing up its lasers. Land nearby and survey the area to make sure you know where cover is and to check to see if there are items close to you. At this point, watch out for the Gorger, and you’ll likely notice that little smaller drones will begin spawning from it. These are the Gatherers, and they are your targets. You have to take out 20 of them, which is a lot, considering the Gorger only spawns two at a time every 20 seconds or so.
The nice thing is that the Gorger will continuously spawn the Gatherers, so you can definitely take out all 20 in one match. It will just take a little while, and depending on how the storm is forming, you may be cutting it close. The main thing you’ll want to focus on while taking out the Gatherers is to avoid the Gorgrer’s laser beam.
Luckily, the Gorger telegraphs this move, so just make sure you’re jumping and strafing around the area to avoid being hit. If you do manage to get hit, you can heal up with the health packs that are dropped from defeating the Gatherers. In our attempt, the entire area was littered with health and ammo from all the Gatherers we had defeated. Keep taking out the Gatherers while paying attention to the Gorger, and you’ll get all 20 in less than 10 minutes.
It’s very important that you don’t take out the Gorger before you take out 20 Gatherers, because it will ruin your chances of completing the challenge in one match. Considering how long it takes to set this up, you’ll absolutely want to do your best to finish it in the same match. If you do get killed before taking out all 20, your progress will save, so simply boot up another match, and you’ll be able to pick up where you left off.
The other thing to remember is that you’ll want to try to start the battle with a couple of weapon types to ensure you’ve got enough ammo to take out the Gatherers. We started the fight with a shotgun and assault rifle — luckily, the Gatherers kept dropping shotgun ammo. Interestingly, they did not drop one piece of assault rifle ammo, so it helps to come with a few different weapon types, just in case. It’s unclear if they always drop shotgun ammo or if their drops are random each match.
If you need to heal while taking out the Gatherers, try to start healing immediately after the Gorger shoots its laser. That way, you’ll have as much time as possible in between shots. In our run, the Gorger destroyed all the cover around us, so we had to rely on jumping around to avoid its laser. For this reason, it’s a good idea to come with a friend so they can watch your back and potentially revive you if you go down.
The Gatherers won’t pose much of a threat, and while the Gorger’s laser beam is relatively easy to avoid, it does deal high amounts of damage if it hits you, so be careful. Once you actually land by the Gorger, you should be golden, assuming you arrived at its location right away. If you can get your hands on ammo for a long-range weapon like an assault rifle, you’ll be in better shape because you’ll be able to take out the Gatherers from afar, giving you much more time to avoid the Gorger’s beams.