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With an unbelievable more than 20 seasons to date, Fortnite battle royale is jam-packed with so much history, items, and skins. This is why it makes deciding the best Fortnite season out of all of them so hard for me to do. Nonetheless, a couple of seasons stick out to me even long after their completion. For me, one of the best seasons was Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 5. A large part of why I liked this one, in particular, so much was due to the character featured in this Lexa Fortnite skin guide.
Lexa is a phenomenal skin and one of the best releases in the battle royale game so far as the very first fully cel-shaded skin in this way. She captures the idea of what a Fortnite cosmetic should be perfectly. Rather than riff on the already existing models or represent a crossover, she is wholly unique. There is nothing else like her at all with that anime style that appeals to my otaku heart. But, as you will see in this Lexa Fortnite skin guide, she is beloved for even more than that. After all, she was the first skin to feature a brand new artstyle throughout her entire look and capture my heart in the process.
Bottom Line Up Front
Lexa is one-of-a-kind in Fortnite, representing the high quality that other new, original characters should aim for. She was first released in Chapter 2, debuting in one of my favorite seasons in the entire battle royale game’s history. She also played a massive role in that, offering a brand new artstyle that Epic Games had only tested out in the past with ones like TNTina.
She was the first full-skin to feature the cel-shaded style, which is now a godsend for some of the best skins in recent seasons. Lexa remains one of the best Fortnite-original skins, which is unlikely to change anytime soon. I hope that I am not alone in saying that she is one of the best skins in Fortnite’s history.
Fortnite Lexa Skin Overview
One of the concerns I always have for Fortnite battle royale in terms of cosmetics is running out of ideas. Epic Games has done a fantastic job so far in ensuring that Fortnite has plenty of interesting characters and ideas. But the reality is that the game can only do so much before starting to recycle characters and ideas way too much.
Look, I love Jonesy, and he is one of the best characters to happen to Fortnite, but even I am getting a little tired now of how many skins he has. Even the various crossovers constantly popping up in the game are starting to get a little old and less exciting than before.
That is why it is so refreshing and wonderful when Epic comes out with something new and exciting in the battle royale game. That is exactly what Lexa does for the game and a significant reason why I love her outfit so much. She debuted in the game in the 15th season, known as Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 5.
That is almost an eternity ago in Fortnite time with all of the seasons we have had since then, but even still, it sticks out quite prominently in my mind. Despite being with the game since the very first day it launched, Season 5 Zero Point remains one of the most iconic and memorable times of the game for me.
I would even possibly put it as my number one favorite season of all time, but I’d have to think on that some more. Besides the obvious reasons I love that season so much, like spending a lot of time playing the game with my nephew for the first time and Star Wars, Epic tried a lot of new stuff here.
This included the welcome new gimmicks and features that are now commonplace that Season 5 introduced like bounties and gold bars. But more importantly than all of those (yes, I said it), there was Lexa. She is a now-iconic Fortnite skin for a number of reasons. For one, she is not based on any other character or model in the game to date.
In fact, she is not a crossover character, either, both of which were the mantras for how Epic came out with new skins at the time. To make her even more unique, she was the launchpad for the new cel-shaded skins that would become quite common and beloved in the battle royale game these days.
Without a doubt, I have a lot to thank Lexa for. She remains one of my favorite skins of all time and one that I worked extraordinarily hard to unlock. This was a really busy time for me work and school-wise, but I used a lot of my free time to grind in this season for Lexa.
And for those like myself who like this character, there were plenty of customization options, most of which were fascinating and diverse. This makes an already phenomenal skin somehow even better.
Appearance
Looks-wise, it helps that Lexa is a brilliantly-designed skin. The default option for players looks pretty standard. It does nothing super special on its own, other than the style, but that is the point. After all, this is one of those skins you are meant to start basic with and then upgrade over time.
Starting out, Lexa has short maroon shorts that look like gym shorts. She has boots on her feet and insanely long socks that go up past her knees. She wears a gray crop top on top with a little black collar armor thing around her neck.
There are similar accessories on both of her arms and hands, hinting at the later utility that she has. Her face is different from what other Fortnite skins look like. She has large anime-style red eyes, tons of eye makeup, and a cheery smile with vibrant lipstick.
Her hair is a surprisingly tame gray color with a shortcut and some bangs that are a little messy. Overall, this is a pretty basic skin on its own. That is the point, as mentioned, as part of the idea is to upgrade her look over time.
That said, this default skin is excellent enough on its own with the cel-shaded style. This gives her an anime-like appearance. If you played something like Genshin Impact, she fits in quite nicely with those iconic characters. I am still astonished by the fact that Epic tried a new art style with her and remain grateful that the developer did to this day.
How to Unlock the Lexa Skin
Come on, look at Lexa, and you will probably be like me, wanting to unlock her. Don’t worry; I don’t blame you at all, which is why I am going to help you out by letting you know how she was unlocked initially in Chapter 2, Season 5.
She was part of the premium battle pass in Season 5, Zero Point. Lexa was one of the main characters that you could unlock that season. She was also one of the final skins in the pass, unlocking for players quite deep into the battle pass system.
The only way that players were able to unlock Lexa in the game was by reaching level 73 in the paid version of the battle pass. Of course, there was a time limit to this in that players had to complete this before the end of the season.
Lexa was relatively late in the battle pass, but for a good reason. Not only is she one of the best-looking skins in the game, but there were a lot of brilliant skin options for her. Players had to reach the higher levels in the battle pass if they wanted to unlock her suit and other outfit changes.
Thankfully since she was part of the battle pass, she technically costs a lot less than most of the other skins you will find in places like the item shop. The battle pass costs only 950 V-Bucks, which is less than $10 these days, so that is a pretty reasonable price for a skin, especially of this caliber.
Not to mention the fact that many players who are diligent in each season are likely able to earn enough V-Bucks to pay for the next battle pass. In this way, many players were able to unlock her for “free.” Of course, that is assuming that players put in enough time to reach level 73.
That was quite hard for some players, especially those without a lot of time on their hands. It required completing tons of missions that season, getting plenty of top 10s in matches, and performing exceptionally well. Or, they could have just cheated the system and unlocked Lexa by purchasing the tiers to reach her required level.
But there was no reason to do that. For the price of a couple of Starbucks coffees, you could own the battle pass. Fortnite is an immensely fun game so there is something out there to spend your time with to level up enough to unlock her during Season 5. I will admit I get bored with battle royale matches, too, which is why I usually switch it up with the Impostors mode, obstacle courses, and the like in Creative.
Can You Still Unlock Today?
Unfortunately, you probably know exactly what I’m going to say next. Sadly, you are unable to unlock Lexa in the current state of Fortnite. Though this season still feels like yesterday to me, it is an entire chapter ago at this point.
The reason why you cannot unlock Lexa today is due to the battle pass format. I have lamented this style in the past, mainly because Epic Games has almost no true solution implemented for this. If you missed out on Lexa during that season, you are sore out of luck now.
I will use this moment to present the solution Epic Games has teased and somewhat dived into in the past, but not enough. The gist is that Epic should release old battle pass skins frequently in the item shop for those who did not get them.
It can include new skin styles or items to warrant the re-release. Of course, those new items should be given for free to anyone who already owns it. Sadly, the other, more likely option is that we will see a remix of the Lexa skin in the future.
We saw this with characters like Jonesy and Peely, who received non-battle pass skins in the item shop. A new Lexa, perhaps like a black-and-white Toon Lexa, would be a welcome replacement in the item shop. And, no, that one particular replacement skin that I will talk about in a little bit does not count. He is just a horrible skin that is a waste of time and money.
Customizable Features: Lexa Skin Styles Explained
One of the best parts of the Lexa Fortnite skin is that she does not stop with her default option. This is standard for battle pass characters, though. There are four options in total that you equip Lexa with, besides the default option I mentioned above.
For Warstrike, this is one of the most standard options that you will find. All it does is change the color of the top she is wearing from gray to black. It does not have much else, so there is nothing too special here. This is the equivalent of adding new options just for the sake of doing so as I think it is a pretty useless skin style.
Infiltrator, on the other hand, is a brilliant version that I love. It changes the color of her shorts to blue, but the real star is her hair. She has a hombre look now with the central gray on top and some beautiful pink tips at the bottom. She is so stunning in this look, giving me those hardcore waifu vibes.
For many players, the actual customization options for Lexa will be the two mech suit versions.
That’s right, Lexa is not your ordinary hero but a mech suit space warrior. Mechafusion sees her don her black armor. It is spiky and futuristic, just black and dark gray from top to bottom. The main point is her face, which is now hidden behind a helmet. On it, she has a gray mask that gives her menacing eyes.
You can mix Mechafusion with the other skin styles, like having a pink mech suit with Mechafusion and Infiltrator. If you mix Warstrike and Mechafusion, you have a lava-like version of her. It is all black, red, and orange from top to bottom.
In the end, though, my pick will always be the Infiltrator variant. I will mix it up sometimes with equipping her armor mid-match but there is nothing like that gorgeous hair that she has. If I were to rank the skins with the best hair in Fortnite, Infiltrator Lexa would be right at the tip top.
Lexa Mini-Review: Worth It?
The options for Lexa are pretty nice, which is one of the selling points of the character. You can go for the standard anime girl vibes with the basic Lexa, or you can have your mech girl suit, too. Personally, I will always go for the Lexa variant of the character. Unless my team is gearing up in full armor, Lexa is the way to go in Fortnite.
I adore the cel-shaded look that she pioneered for the Fortnite community. Without her, we would not have such fantastic Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata skins in the same vein. What is incredible about her is that she holds up quite nicely, even today.
Though I agree that some of the later cel-shaded, anime-style characters in Fortnite have improved over what she originally offered, Lexa is still a favorite of mine. I regularly use her in battle; she is almost always my go-to when I want to use a female character.
She is one of my favorite skins of all time, and she is a fantastic reminder of why I loved Chapter 2, Season 5. She was not only one of the best parts of that season, but she always had such nostalgia wrapped up in her outfit. I remember playing with my nephew regularly for the first time, going to some of the best points of interest in Fortnite history (Hunter’s Haven is still sorely missed), and upgrading Mando.
Speaking of Mando, it is worth mentioning one of the few negatives with the otherwise terrific Lexa. I find it rather strange that her and The Mandalorian are the only two to not have extra skin styles past level 100 in the battle pass, like the other battle pass skins do. They are the only ones from that season to be like that, which undercuts their value some.
I will admit that this was likely done due to The Mandalorian being a licensed character and Lexa being cel-shaded, but still a knock against her. While I love this character, I also can’t ignore the few negatives that exist. This also includes the fact that I think some of the later skins took what Lexa did, likely with the experience and expertise that Epic’s artists now had.
Nonetheless, I think that Lexa is 100% worth it. Not only is she worth the price of admission for the paid battle pass, but she was well worth the intense grind to reach level 73 to unlock her. And she was also worth the grind after that to unlock her other skin styles. If she ever returns in a remix skin in the item shop, don’t miss out because I know I won’t!
Lexa Accessories and Other Skins Explained
Lexa has a couple of accessories and other cosmetic items that go along with her set. These were also unlocked in the battle pass during Season 5. What’s great is that she even has her own emote in Hunter Protocol. With this one, you can transform her into her mech suit version.
This is similar to how some of the other skins work. I often use this, starting as Lexa and then going Super Saiyan mode as the match reaches its crescendo. She has a glider in the Hyperboard that strangely unlocked before her base skin even did.
For those looking to add some pickaxes to their character, there are the Null Claws. These are dual-wielded axes, which are always welcome. Other items included a themed weapon wrap, contrail for when you are gliding through the air, and an emoticon.
Overall, the accessories for Lexa are fine. They are nothing too special but they get the job done in matching her look. I would have appreciated a better glider or a cooler back bling, but I will gladly take the dual-wielding pickaxes that she has at least.
But easily the most interesting related item to Lexa is her twin brother, Orin. Yes, there is a “remix” skin of sorts for the character in Orin. He is effectively the male variant of Lexa and was offered in the item shop for only 1200 V-Bucks.
If you missed out on Lexa when she first came out, Orin is a sad imitation but a possible replacement. I don’t consider him a replacement, personally, because his overall design pales in comparison. But if you have no other option, I guess this will do. Not really but ya know.
Worse, he only has the basic version and not any skin styles or anything else that could make his character at least look somewhat better. He doesn’t even have a mech suit, which is a huge part of what makes Lexa in the first place. He is honestly a waste of a skin and I think he is nothing but a cash grab at best.
But he is very similar to Lexa’s default style, so there is that. Plus, he shows up in the item shop, unlike his sister, so there is that, too. I would still prefer a more acceptable replacement for Lexa someday. Here’s hoping that we get one, rather than seeing the useless Orin show up again in the shop.
Alternative Skin Recommendations
Since Orin is not a suitable replacement at all, you need better skin alternatives. After all, there is no guarantee that you will ever be able to unlock Lexa. Here are some skins that I recommend:
- Naruto: Basically Naruto, Sasuke, Kakashi, Sakura, and any of the other Naruto characters will do. They have the similar cel-shaded look while even improving over what Lexa first did.
- Erisa: Erisa is pretty much Lexa 2.0. Instead of sci-fi, though, she goes for the fantasy aesthetic that is totally ripping off of League of Legends, in my opinion. But would you believe that she was also a battle pass skin? Yep, so good luck trying to get this GOAT of a skin if you like her.
- Lynx: This girl is not a cel-shaded character but she pioneered some of the ideas that Lexa went for. She is also my other main female skin. She is a gorgeous human girl who just so happens to have a full armor suit, just like Lexa does. They couldn’t be more different, though, as Lynx is more of the Catwoman character. Still, she appeals to my waifu tastes in the same way that Lexa does.
FAQs
Question: What is the Lexa Fortnite skin from?
Answer: If you mean like what game, anime, or other IP, Lexa is not from anything at all. Though she looks like she could be from an anime or cel-shaded game like Genshin Impact, that is not the case. She is a wholly original character from Fortnite Chapter 2, Season 5, that Epic Games created.
Question: Can I buy the Lexa skin Fortnite?
Answer: No, you cannot buy the Lexa skin in Fortnite anymore. She was only part of the Season 5 battle pass that you could purchase. But you cannot buy that pass or her outfit anymore.
Question: Is there a boy version of Lexa in Fortnite?
Answer: Yes, there is! While you cannot purchase Lexa anymore, her twin brother, Orin, is an item shop skin that looks very similar to her. He returns to the item shop occasionally, so keep an eye out. Or don’t because he is honestly a waste of your precious V-Bucks.
Question: Is Lexa an anime skin?
Answer: You could say that Lexa is an anime-inspired skin. She is not from an anime, but I think it is pretty clear that Epic Games was going for an anime-style character when it created her. The cel-shaded style certainly seems to be anime-inspired, especially with the later skins it was used for.
Conclusion
Lexa remains an example of the best that Fortnite has to offer. In terms of the ultimate skin list, she checks every box for me nicely. She is an original character, not based on any previous skin or crossover, which is something I’m always asking Epic to do. Lexa is well-designed with meaningful outfits and skin options to make her your own. And she goes above and beyond by having a stunning artstyle unlike anything else that I had seen at the time in Fortnite.
While Lexa is one of my favorite skins in the game and the first to use this cel-shaded style fully, she would not be the last at all. Lexa paved the way for so many other unique skins that would release in the later seasons and would also be among my top favorites. In fact, without her, we would not likely have the Naruto anime skins that we have in the game now. Her outfit was probably a test run for creating anime-style characters like her in the future, and it paid off swimmingly, allowing for even more fantastic cosmetics to arrive in battle royale. Here’s hoping that Epic stops, though, before I spend any more money.
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