How to fly a UFO in Fortnite

Fortnite Season 7 introduces a ton of new alien invasion tropes. You can customize your own character by collecting alien artifacts, craft new alien weapons, and most importantly, you can steal their UFOs and ride them.

Vehicles aren't new to Fortnite these days, but this is the first time in a while we've had an aerial vehicle. We've previously seen helicopters and airplanes duel it out in the sky, but the UFOs are a pretty significant evolution.

The alien invaders aren't just going to give them to you, though. So here's our guide on how to find and ride a UFO in Fortnite.

Fortnite UFOs: How to find them

When you first enter a match, check out the map for major locations. If you see the name of a location glowing purple, that means you'll find at least one UFO hovering over the area.

Once you get there, kit up for a decent fight. You don't want to go into a UFO hijacking with nothing to back you up.

Pick one UFO and don't bother with the rest. UFOs have about 600 health, so they go down in about the same amount of damage as a car. Bring it down with a mid or long range weapon.

Once you've shot the UFO to low health, it will start dropping out of the sky. Step aside and be ready for the Trespasser NPC to come out of the UFO and start attacking you. These NPCs typically have the high-powered alien weaponry introduced this season, so be careful and don't let them corner you.

Also note that it appears the UFOs need a second to repair after you've shot them down. A blue hologram will appear around the surface. I'm not sure if it's just a timed animation or if it requires you to destroy the Trespasser NPC. Either way, once that hologram is gone, you're all good to hop in.

Fortnite UFO: How to use it

The controls for UFOs aren't terribly elaborate, but they might be a bit difficult to get used to if you're used to other vehicles.

SHIFT: Boost in any direction. This can be used three times before it needs to recharge.

LEFT CLICK: Laser blast. This laser acts more like a slow-moving missile, so you'll want to lead your shots, especially if an enemy is using another vehicle or UFO.

RIGHT CLICK: Tractor beam. This classic abduction beam will grab players, items, or even cars and whip them up into the sky. It's a good way of either collecting items or rooting an enemy out of a fortified position, though it doesn't appear to cause fall damage.

ASCEND: Spacebar

It's possible that Epic will update how UFOs work, or give them other options for causing chaos, so we'll update this post if they do.

In the meantime, here's everything you need to know about Fortnite season 7, the new Rick and Morty skin, and where to find alien artifacts for Kymera customization.