What is Nitro in Fortnite Chapter 5, season 3?

Unlock explosive powers.

A Nitro Barrel and Nitro Splash representing Nitro in Fortnite.
Image via Epic Games

In Chapter Five, season three of Fortnite, there’s a vast Wasteland region with some unique characters commanding chaos throughout the area. These characters also introduced a mysterious substance known as Nitro that you can find all around the map.

Recommended Videos

When you gain the Nitro effect, everything becomes pretty fast and furious, which means there’s a good chance you don’t know all of the effects this special buff activates. Here’s what you need to know about Nitro in Fortnite.

What does Nitro do in Fortnite?

Punching using Nitro Fists in Fortnite.
Nitro helps you become pretty unstoppable. Screenshot by Dot Esports

Nitro grants both players and vehicles various special buffs that last for a short period of time. It basically enhances many different areas of gameplay ranging from smaller boosts like slowing your stamina consumption to bigger ones like making you immune to fall damage.

Depending on how you get Nitro, you may either experience this buff for a short period of time or have it permanently for the entire round. There are both temporary and permanent forms of the Nitro buff.

Temporary forms of the Nitro buff that last a short period of time before expiring include:

Permanent forms of the Nitro buff that last as long as you retain the associated items are:

Whenever the Nitro buff is active, your player icon in the top left corner has a special glowing Nitro ring around it. There’s also a Nitro bar in the bottom left corner, which means you have multiple ways to see how long is left before the effect runs out or if it’s permanent.

Driving Megalo Don's car in Fortnite.
Vehicles are a lot stronger while infused with Nitro. Screenshot by Dot Esports

All Nitro effects in Fortnite

Nitro grants slightly different effects depending on whether it’s applied to players or vehicles. Overall, this item is essentially a helpful buff that boosts just about all aspects of gameplay in Fortnite, but here are all of the exact effects that are activated when you enter the Nitro state.

For vehicles that have the Nitro buff, you experience:

  • Increased driving speed
  • Buffed power for attached vehicle mods
  • Explosive ramming power
  • Decreased fuel consumption

For players with the Nitro buff, you experience:

  • Increased reloading speed
  • Enhanced movement speed
  • Immunity to fall damage
  • Buffed ramming power that allows you to tear through buildings
  • Decreased stamina consumption usage

You need to gain the Nitro effect to complete many different quests, like those in the Jumpstart quest series and the Welcome to the Wasteland quest series. Even outside of quests, this effect can be immensely helpful, so make sure you’re on the hunt for Nitro whenever you’re playing.

Author
Image of Kacee Fay
Kacee Fay
Staff Writer at Dot Esports covering new releases and a wide array of topics including Minecraft, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Phasmophobia, general gaming, streaming, and more. She has been avidly writing and gaming her whole life and now spends her time combining the two. Kacee graduated from San Diego State University in 2021 with a Bachelor’s Degree in English and a Certificate in Creative Editing and Publishing. She then joined Dot Esports as a Freelance Writer in 2022 before transitioning to a Staff Writer in 2023. In her spare time, she enjoys buying more books than she can read, gaming alone or with friends, drinking too much tea, attending concerts, fangirling over movies and television, listening to music, and spending time with her family, friends, and pets, who are the most important parts of her world.