'Fortnite' Salvaged Brute Mech Location: Where to Find the New Vehicles on the Island

Brute mechs have made a comeback in Fortnite, after a prolonged absence of nearly two years.

These metallic titans were first introduced back in Chapter 1, Season X, and were widely criticized by the Fortnite community for being absurdly overpowered. Their armored shells could withstand heavy amounts of damage, they were equipped with both missiles and shotguns, and they could even perform rocket jumps to escape from dicey situations.

There was a general sense of relief when these mechs were finally removed from the battle royale at the start of Chapter 2, as they lead to severely unbalanced matches. Yet oddly enough, they are now back by popular demand. The audience is obviously just rather fickle.

With the recent v18.40 update for Fortnite, players are now able to crowdfund mech stations around the island (for the entire community to use), by spending the gold bars that they earn from opening chests and completing punchcards.

To contribute to the effort, you just need to find a donation board on the map and then give however much you can. Once the funding goal is reached, the corresponding location will then become a Brute spawn point for all future matches.

It is worth pointing out that these vehicles are now called "Salvaged" Brute Mechs (stylized as B.R.U.T.E.), to reflect the fact that they are a little worse for wear. This is because Epic Games has listened to feedback about the older models being too formidable and elected to nerf them.

According to the official patch notes, their overshield has been totally removed and the hull has been stripped down so that it's easier to dismantle than it was before.

'Fortnite' Salvaged Brute Mech Location

You will likely see conflicting reports about where you can find Salvaged Brute Mechs in Fortnite Season 8.

Some will tell you that they can be found in specific locations, while others will claim that they drop out of the sky in seemingly random spots. Indeed, that was how it used to work in Chapter 1, Season X.

However, for Chapter 2, Season 8 the Salvaged Brute Mechs will instead spawn in fixed locations, specifically where the donation boards have reached their crowdfunding goals.

At the time of writing, there is only one board that has been fully funded and that is the one just on the outskirts of Pleasant Park. If you don't know where that is, it's at the far north of the island, ever so slightly to the west.

At the start of every battle royale match, you will be able to find a Brute Mech stationed here, nestled within a sandbag fortification. It is marked on the map with its own dedicated symbol, as you can see in the picture below.

Obviously, a lot of people will drop in this location right away at the start of the game, so you will need to beat them to it unless you want to get utterly pulverized.

Other mech stations will start to go online as soon as their corresponding donation boards have been funded, but for now this is the only one you will be find.

In other Fortnite news, Jinx from Arcane has recently been added to the item shop with her own cosmetic bundle. You can find out more about this here.