It's a new season in Fortnite, and once again, things have changed dramatically. Each season keeps things fresh and exciting with wildly different content, especially with the whacky theme of an alien invasion in Season 7. It's also a chance for all players to start fresh on an even playing field as everyone learns the new gameplay together in Fortnite. One thing that's changed from last season is the method for upgrading weapons. This guide will explain how to upgrade weapons at upgrade benches, which is also a quest objective in week 1 of the season.
In Season 6 before this, players were expected to scavenge for materials and craft primal weapons on the go. This fit well with the "Primal" theme of survival that the season was known for. Season 7 follows a very different "Alien Invasion" theme, and the crafting system returns to one more typical of Fortnite seasons of the past. To upgrade weapons found throughout the map, players have to make their way to specific locations where one of only 10 upgrade benches can be found on the island.
How to Upgrade Weapons at Upgrade Benches in Fortnite
Players will want to become familiar with all the locations that upgrade benches can be found if they want to secure victory. Upgrading weapons at upgrade benches is also a challenge objective in Season 7 Week 1, so it's good to know where to go to quickly get some XP and earn Battle Stars for the battle pass. The map below shows all the upgrade bench locations across the island. Over the course of the season, finding these spots will surely become muscle memory for active players.
Upon interacting with an upgrade bench, it's possible to upgrade the weapons currently in the inventory. White common weapons can be upgraded to their green uncommon version, and so on. The only catch is that it costs gold bars to perform the upgrade. Gold bars are a currency that is collected by completing side quests during a match, defeating other players, or looting them from treasure chests.
Gold bars do carry over across matches, so players can hoard huge amounts of them until they're needed. Higher tier weapon upgrades cost more gold bars, beginning at 200 bars for a common to uncommon upgrade and increasing from there.
One important thing to note is that while gold bars carry over between matches, they do not carry over between seasons. Players who had thousands of gold bars at the end of Season 6 will find that they are back to zero now that Season 7 has begun. It's better to use this currency than to lose it. And since gold bars are actually quite easy to obtain, fans should feel free to cut loose and have fun upgrading weapons. It will often be the difference between victory and defeat in the battle royale.
Fortnite is now available on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.