UEFN Sidekick NPC Damage: Which Weapons Work and How to Change Health

UEFN Sidekick NPC damage works differently from damage to an ordinary Fortnite player or guard. Sidekicks can fight and be hit by certain weapons, but many items do not affect them, and storm, fall and physics damage require additional Verse code.

This guide covers spawned Sidekick NPCs, not the ordinary Locker Sidekick cosmetics players wear. Locker companions do not take damage. If you are building a creature battler or arena, you can change your spawned NPC’s health, shield and vulnerability in its Character Definition.

How UEFN Sidekick NPC damage works

Epic documents direct hits, splash damage, knockback and other item effects on Sidekicks. Its compatibility list contains weapons that damage, move or otherwise affect the NPC. That wording matters: a Boogie Bomb reaction is not the same outcome as a projectile removing health, even though both can appear in the supported-item list.

For a battle game, check two things separately: does an item affect the Sidekick, and does the effect actually reduce its health or shield? Knockback from a Shockwave Grenade is different from a damaging hit.

UEFN Sidekick NPC damage: which weapons work?

Epic’s UEFN Sidekick NPC damage compatibility list includes explosives, launchers, melee weapons and items with movement effects. These are examples, not a claim that every listed item removes health.

• Explosives and area effects: Clinger, Dynamite, Proximity Mine, Stink Bomb and Plasma Cannon.
• Movement and crowd-control items: Impulse Grenade, Shockwave Grenade, Grappler and Boogie Bomb.
• Launchers and bows: Snowball Launcher, Egg Launcher, Mechanical Explosive Bow and Mechanical Shockwave Bow.
• Other weapons: Kymera Ray Gun, Zapotron, Chains of Hades and selected blaster rifles.
• Melee examples: Basic Hammer, Lightsaber and several listed crossover melee weapons.

Some listed items cause direct hits, others trigger splash effects or knockback. Test the weapon in your island before giving it to players. A gun that damages a regular Fortnite character is not automatically supported against Sidekick NPCs.

How to change Sidekick health and shields

Open the NPC Character Definition used by your Sidekick NPC. Inside the definition, find the Health Modifier. That is the editor setting Epic identifies for adjusting both health and shield amounts. Health is the character’s hit-point pool; shield provides a buffer before health is affected.

If your game uses scripted changes instead, Epic also documents the healthful and shieldable Verse interfaces. That gives developers a route for managing stats during gameplay, instead of relying only on the values chosen in the editor.

When tuning UEFN Sidekick NPC damage, begin with one known compatible item and a small number of repeated tests. If you change the health pool, repeat the same test before comparing another weapon so you can tell which setting produced the difference.

How to make a Sidekick invulnerable

The Is Vulnerable control in the Health Modifier manages UEFN Sidekick NPC damage and invulnerability. Protect companions in non-combat islands or enable damage for battles as appropriate. Epic’s creation page describes the checked state inconsistently with the option’s name, so verify the chosen state with a compatible weapon in a running session.

To check the result, launch a session with a compatible weapon, register a hit, then change Is Vulnerable and repeat. Test the shield as well as the health bar, because a shield can absorb a hit before health drops. Keep the option configured for the kind of game you are building, whether that is a peaceful pet island or a battle arena.

Why storms and falls do not damage Sidekicks

Epic states that environmental sources, including the storm, physics and falling, do not affect Sidekicks unless additional Verse code is added. Changing an island’s normal storm settings on its own is not a documented solution to UEFN Sidekick NPC damage from the environment.

That matters for survival islands. If you want a companion to lose health outside a safe zone, you must build and validate the relevant Verse logic. Conversely, a protected pet can remain unaffected by these hazards without implying that it is invulnerable to every supported weapon.

UEFN Sidekick NPC damage not working? Check these settings

• Confirm the character really is a Sidekick NPC created from a Custom NPC Character Definition and assigned to an NPC Spawner.
• Look at the Health Modifier and the current Is Vulnerable behaviour.
• Choose a weapon from Epic’s compatibility list instead of testing only a standard firearm.
• Check whether the item produces HP loss, shield loss, knockback or a different effect.
• Test direct hits separately from explosive splash, then check your island’s Verse code.
• If you’re testing the storm or a fall, remember that environmental damage needs custom Verse handling.

Change one thing at a time when testing: the weapon, the health or shield value, or the vulnerability setting. Check the result before moving on. This separates a weapon issue from a character configuration issue or missing environmental-damage script.

For a combat island, set a clear health pool, choose compatible weapons and test shield loss, health loss and knockback separately. For a pet-care island, protect the companion from combat damage and leave environmental damage scripts out of the experience.

Official source: Epic Games: Damaging Your Sidekick.