Epic Games is no stranger to adding gimmicks to an AI version of Darth Vader, using the replicated voice of James Earl Jones. While Darth Vader has been featured in Fortnite multiple times, either as a skin or NPC, in the most recent Star Wars-themed season, he's entering the arena with an AI component. You'll need to compete with the plethora of other players trying to interact with him.

Because only one Darth Vader NPC is on the map in Fortnite, you only have one chance to recruit him to enable conversational AI voice chat. This is on top of ensuring that you have the setting enabled in the first place and your voice chat volume is turned up. It's a lot of work, but conversing with the Dark Lord of the Sith is possible.

To Talk To Darth Vader In Fortnite, You Need To Enable A Setting First

Look For The Conversational AI Setting And Turn Up Voice Chat

To speak to Darth Vader, you'll need to enable the "conversational AI" hotkey/setting so that the mechanic even works. This is set as a default to "Y" on a keyboard (the right d-pad button is the controller default), but you can bind it to whatever other button you wish. Find this setting in the keyboard controls menu in settings before you drop in. You'll also want to ensure your voice chat sound setting is above 0%, so you can hear Darth Vader speak.

The service is possible because of Google's Gemini 2.0 Flash model and ElvenLabs' Flash 2.5v model, and this strange gimmick for their cabined s.

Once You're Good To Go, Find Darth Vader In Fortnite

You Need To Beat Him, Then Recruit Him

You'll find Darth Vader as an NPC opponent at several named locations, appearing on the map with an icon and an Imperial Shuttle ship. One of the most common locations where Darth Vader can be found is Samurai Solitude. You'll find the Samurai Solitude locale at the southwest corner of the map. After you defeat and interact with him, he'll be able to speak to you directly through the AI mechanic, provided you set everything up.

This whole process can be extremely difficult to complete, as many other players are racing to speak to an AI-enabled Darth Vader NPC. As such, we recommend going to a nearby named location, loading up your shields and arsenal, and then going to Darth Vader's location to clean up the errant players, then Vader himself. I dropped into Samurai Solitude directly from the Battle Bus and saw more than 10 players fighting Darth Vader at once before I could even hit the ground.

This event is competitive, so keep that in mind if you don't get the chance to interact with him. Once you've completed everything you need to, Vader will follow you around in your Fortnite match until you win or lose, and can converse with you freely. He can suggest locations to visit and strategies to use, and he will even taunt you occasionally or question your statements. While his views on real-world topics are limited (he usually defaults to saying Sith need no such things), he has a lot of opinions on the Star Wars universe as a whole.