Fortnite Cosmic Chests: How to find and open Cosmic Chest locations explained

Cosmic Chests explained: How Cosmic Chests work in Fortnite

Unlike ordinary chests, Cosmic Chests have a strange appearance and are more elusive in nature.

If you see a floating rhombus-shaped object within matches, that means you're facing one. After completing a short sequence, the chest's 'case' will open and loot will drop from inside.

Cosmic Chests appear to work as follows:

• You need to be playing Duos, Trios or Squads, as Cosmic Chests won't appear in Solo matches.
• Once you're in a match with at least one teammate, some specific areas will have a chance of spawning one of the chests.

We're yet to confirm exactly how many can appear within a single match, or if there is a fixed pattern - but during matches we always stumbled upon at least one Cosmic Chest in one of several named locations.

How Cosmic Chest locations work in Fortnite

As for locations, there is a chance Cosmic Chests can appear in various named locations when playing duos and above:

Due to their random nature, you can expect for some of the spots to vary slightly on your end from what we describe below - they might be placed south instead of west, to give an example.

Thankfully, when you get close, they're hard to miss - as the game will create a waypoint once you're nearby, as well as appearing on the map.

Here's examples of locations we've found so far:

We found one on the side of the road west of Boney Burbs.

One was found southwest of the bridge that connects Misty Meadows with Catty Corner, right in between the mountains.

We discovered one west of the castle in Coral Castle, above water level.

Another was found on the western side of the rock mountain in Weeping Woods.

It's possible one can appear on the side of the road southwest of Steamy Stacks, close to the second intersection.

Another can spawn on the left side of the road that comes from Lazy Lake, just before the intersection with Retail Row.

Finally, we found one west of the centre of Pleasant Park, south of the western dirt road that leads to the beach.

How to open Cosmic Chests in Fortnite

This is where it gets tricky. For starters, Cosmic Chests won't 'activate' themselves until either you or a squadmate approaches it. Once you do a five-minute timer will commence, which is as long as the chest will stand in place before it disappears.

If everyone's ready, the chest will link itself (represented by a pink laser beam) to a squadmate, which means it's their turn to hit. Smacking the chest with the pickaxe at random will make the character bounce back - instead, you have to always hit the weak point.

From here it's fairly straightforward, as the chest will select another member of the group at random as it slowly begins to break. Keep at it a couple times following the turns and the Cosmic Chest will open.

Fortnite Chapter 5 Season 1 is here! It brings a free Lego Insider skin and redemption codes with it, along with a new Victory Umbrella. We've also got pages on new features like Medallions, Weapon Mods, and how to complete a Train Heist. Meanwhile, learn what the best weapons are in the current season, how to get XP fast, and what the best PC settings are to help earn a Victory Crown.

Fortnite Cosmic Chest rewards: What can you find inside Cosmic Chests?

You might be wondering what all the fuzz surrounding Cosmic Chests is about, and for good reason. Depending on where you land on the battle royale map there is a chance that you and your squad will have to make a slight detour to open them.

You can expect loot of varying rarity, from weapons to ammo and shield potions. There is no guarantee of rare or legendary loot, however, so if your squad is already carrying good equipment, it might not be a gamechanger to actively search for Cosmic Chests.

That being said, there is a chance to obtain Alien Artefacts, the season-specific currency.

Know there seems to be a cap in place limiting how much many artefacts you can gain from Cosmic Chests.

In a discussion started by SuspectIsDown on reddit, it appears there could be a weekly cap of 15 Alien Fragments - giving you an idea of how many you need to open ahead of each set of new weekly challenges arriving.