Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests are live in Fortnite Reload, with 12 challenges leading to six free Fortnitemares cosmetics. The rewards include two Sprays, two Emoticons, the Dungeon Dweller Wrap and the Driver of Darkness Pickaxe. To earn everything, you’ll need to make progress across Nitemare Island, Stranger Things and Surf City, rather than simply playing ordinary Battle Royale.
There’s quite a bit to work towards, but the quests have a helpful pattern: each map asks you to earn eliminations, reach the Top 5 and secure Victory Royales. The timing is worth paying attention to as well. Surf City is due to leave the map rotation when Squid Grounds returns for October 15 to 19, so players who want the final pickaxe should plan around the maps currently available.
All Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests rewards
The free rewards unlock at every two completed quests. You don’t have to buy a Battle Pass or reach Unreal rank to obtain these six items. The final Driver of Darkness Pickaxe comes from reaching all 12 completions, not from eliminating Kado Thorne or winning a tournament.
| Completed quests | Free cosmetic | Type |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Kado’s Ambush | Spray |
| 4 | Fanged Nitemare | Emoticon |
| 6 | Nitemare Elite | Spray |
| 8 | Batty Heart | Emoticon |
| 10 | Dungeon Dweller | Wrap |
| 12 | Driver of Darkness | Pickaxe |
Each reward follows the same quest counter, so the early emotes arrive as you make progress. If you’re only interested in the Pickaxe, you’ll still have to finish the challenges on all three maps. There isn’t a separate way to buy your way past the last few victories.
Where to find Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests
In Fortnite, open Quests and look for the current Reload Map Mastery section. Choose an official Ranked or Unranked Reload playlist, then work on the objectives shown for the island you load into. Eliminations and placements in Battle Royale or Zero Build Battle Royale will not progress the Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests track.
Map names are more important here than they first appear. Progress earned on Nitemare Island won’t fill the corresponding task on Stranger Things, because each map has a separate set. Check where the Battle Bus is taking you before planning which objective to tackle.
Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests on Nitemare Island
Nitemare Island’s four objectives each award 10,000 XP. You need 30 eliminations for the island-specific quest, ten Top 5 finishes, 50 eliminations for the second elimination quest and three Victory Royales. These are cumulative objectives, so they don’t all need to happen in a single match.
| Nitemare Island objective | Target | XP |
|---|---|---|
| Eliminate players on Nitemare Island | 30 eliminations | 10,000 |
| Place Top 5 | 10 times | 10,000 |
| Eliminate players | 50 eliminations | 10,000 |
| Get Victory Royales | 3 wins | 10,000 |
Kado himself is at Terror Turrets on this map, but speaking to him isn’t one of the four quests above. The Hunt modifier is separate as well: it can give you a Mark to track and a reward when the target is eliminated, but you don’t have to activate The Hunt to work on your placement and elimination totals.
Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests on Stranger Things
The Stranger Things island has another four objectives with the same numbers. These are tracked separately, even if you’ve already earned 50 eliminations somewhere else. Each completion pays 10,000 XP towards your account progress.
| Stranger Things objective | Target | XP |
|---|---|---|
| Eliminate players on Stranger Things | 30 eliminations | 10,000 |
| Place Top 5 | 10 times | 10,000 |
| Eliminate players | 50 eliminations | 10,000 |
| Get Victory Royales | 3 wins | 10,000 |
Stranger Things briefly rotated out because of a map issue, with Oasis taking its place, but Epic subsequently confirmed it had returned. If a match loads on another island, that doesn’t mean the Stranger Things quests are unavailable for good. Wait until the appropriate map comes up and carry on from your saved progress.
Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests on Surf City
Surf City also asks you to reach the same four milestones: 30 island-specific eliminations, ten Top 5 finishes, 50 eliminations and three Victory Royales. Complete each and it counts as one of the 12 quests needed for the Driver of Darkness Pickaxe.
| Surf City objective | Target | XP |
|---|---|---|
| Eliminate players on Surf City | 30 eliminations | 10,000 |
| Place Top 5 | 10 times | 10,000 |
| Eliminate players | 50 eliminations | 10,000 |
| Get Victory Royales | 3 wins | 10,000 |
There is one extra consideration for Surf City. Epic says Squid Grounds will replace it, with a featured event from October 15 to 19. Since Epic hasn’t confirmed an automatic quest conversion or progress transfer, it’s worth finishing Surf City’s objectives while you can still load into it.
Best way to finish Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests faster
The easiest progress comes from letting the challenges overlap. On each island, an elimination helps build both elimination totals. A Victory Royale also counts as a Top 5 finish. You can make meaningful progress in a single good game, rather than treating each objective as a separate task.
The three wins per island will probably take the most patience. Once you have plenty of eliminations, try to avoid unnecessary mid-game fights and concentrate on staying alive with your squad. Don’t lose a promising game chasing one opponent miles outside the next safe zone. Reload makes returning to the action easier, but you can still lose everything if your whole team goes down.
For the Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests, prioritise Surf City if it appears in the rotation before October 15. On other islands, focus on whichever challenge is closest to completion. Once you’ve finished the easier eliminations, a few steady Top 5 finishes can move the reward counter towards its next milestone.
Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests versus Ranked rewards
The quest reward track is separate from Reload Ranked. Ranked progression has Elite Kado Thorne-themed cosmetics, with an Axe of Unreal for reaching Unreal rank. Successful competitors in Reload Ranked Cups can also get the Elite Kado Thorne Outfit early. And a Victory Royale in Ranked or Unranked awards the Kado Thorne Victory Umbrella.
None of those rewards changes the 12-quest requirement for Driver of Darkness. If that Pickaxe is your main goal, follow the Map Mastery objectives and don’t worry about reaching Unreal. Likewise, earning Driver of Darkness doesn’t automatically unlock the Elite Kado Thorne Outfit.
Extra XP alongside Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests
There is another set of Reload challenges called Locked and Reloaded. These include dealing damage with Morphite weapons, cracking shields, searching containers outside named locations, making close-range hits and surviving Storm phases. Each pays 15,000 XP, with bonus XP checkpoints after three, six and nine completions.
They’re useful if you’re still levelling your Battle Pass, but they are not additional Driver of Darkness objectives. You can make progress on both systems during the same matches without confusing their rewards. Always check which quest set the in-game progress bar is showing.
When do Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests end?
Epic hasn’t announced a specific final claim date for this 12-quest set. The track arrived during Fortnitemares, but the wider Halloween event’s end date is not automatically the deadline for every Reload reward. Check the in-game quest countdown, and avoid leaving map-specific challenges until a required island has rotated away.
For now, the known date to watch is October 15, when Squid Grounds is scheduled to replace Surf City. If you’re planning to finish all the Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests, make use of Surf City while it’s available and keep the rest of your progress ticking along on the other islands.
Related Guides for Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests
- Fortnite Reload The Hunt
- Fortnite Nitemare Island Kado’s Curse
- Fortnite Reload Ranked Rewards
- Fortnite Reload Siphon Weapons
- Fortnite Squid Grounds October 15
- Fortnite Reload Nitemare Island
- Fortnite Nitemare Quests
- Fortnitemares 2026
The Fortnite Kado Thorne Quests are a proper challenge if you’re after all six cosmetics, but most of the requirements fit naturally into ordinary Reload games. Work on the island in front of you, make your eliminations count and give yourself time to earn the wins. That way the final Pickaxe feels like the end of a journey, rather than a reward you missed because a map changed.
Official source: Epic Games: Fortnitemares haunts Reload!.
