The Recon Scanner was a part of a few weekly challenges in Fortnite’s previous season—and it continues to be a part of the game in Chapter Two, season eight.
Although the Recon Scanner looks and feels like a grenade launcher, the gun’s primary purpose is to track enemy movement. While it may look gimmicky at first, being able to see how your enemies are moving in box fights can give you the edge over them.
Most rare weapons are relatively easy to find around the map, but the Recon Scanner may require you to do some searching. Recon Scanners mainly drop from large and rectangle chests that can mostly be found in hot spots that AI opponents guard. Using the Recon Scanner to spot enemies is simple since you don’t need to hit them.
Firing the Recon Scanner will shoot a grenade-like projectile that will release a pulse once it hits the ground or a wall. The spotter will mark enemies who are in the range of the pulse and you’ll be able to see their movements for a brief period. The distance between you and your opponent will be the key factor behind hitting successful Recon Scanner shots since they may try to get out of the pulse range until the projectile makes its way to them. Try to use the Recon Scanner in situations where your enemies aren’t that far from you for guaranteed hits.
Considering you’ll only be able to see them for a limited time, you may want to rush your enemies after marking them. The weapon shines more in squad matches since the rest of your team can immediately start the action after you mark close-by enemies with the Reckon Scanner.
If you’re trying to complete a quest that requires you to mark enemies with a Reckon Scanner, the progess bar should appear automatically after you mark them with the weapon.