The pickaxe in Fortnite may be its most basic weapon, but it also undoubtedly plays an integral role in the game’s experience. Besides coming in handy for combat when you don’t have a gun equipped yet, it is primarily useful for dismantling objects and extracting vital resources from them, such as wood and metal. These are the commodities are key for building structures, which make a big part of the gameplay in certain Fortnite game modes.
Moving on from functionality, the pickaxe also has another noticeable role—doubling up as your style statement. There are tons of cosmetics available on Fortnite, which include a growing pool of pickaxe skins. So, you can equip one that matches your aesthetic preferences at any point before a match. The following list looks back on some of the rarest pickaxes that have appeared in Fortnite to date.
Top 10 rarest Fortnite pickaxes ever
1. Crowbar
Crowbar is a “rare”-type cosmetic from the early years of Fortnite. First made available in September 2018 (Season 5), it was up for grabs as a reward for completing all three quests in the High Stakes Challenges. It was also part of the Getaway Gang Set, which went live for 6,400 V-Bucks. Based on its high difficulty to unlock, it is not just considered very rare but also as among the toughest pickaxes to obtain.
2. AC/DC
This ‘Epic’ pickaxe is, as you might have guessed, an unofficial homage to the rock band known as AC/DC. It has only ever been available in Fortnite during Season 2 (December 2017–February 2018), as part of its Battle Pass rewards. More specifically, it was unlocked only by those who reached Tier 63 that season. Given its single-season availability from back during the game’s early years, it’s undoubtedly among the rarest Fortnite cosmetics today.
3. Diamond Jack
This is an Icon Series pickaxe that surfaced in Fortnite in April 2020, during the course of Chapter 2 Season 2. Regardless of what Diamond Jack’s jewel-studded look may suggest, it was actually available for relatively cheap at just 800 V-Bucks. After its original run, this pickaxe never returned to the fast-paced shooter game.
4. Merry Mint Axe
The Merry Mint Axe is an ‘Epic’-tier pickaxe that was made available in October 2019, during Chapter 2 Season 1. It was redeemable through a code that was tied to eligible Fortnite-licensed product purchases made at participating retailers, such as GameStop. With only a small portion of the current Fortnite player-base being able to lay claim, it is very rare to spot this pickaxe during matches.
5. Leviathan Axe
Leviathan Axe is the melee weapon used by Kratos in God Of War, a PlayStation console exclusive game. The namesake pickaxe in Fortnite is inspired by the same and debuted as part of the Gaming Legends Series line of in-game cosmetics.
Its first appearance was in December 2020, during Chapter 2 Season 5, and was selling in the Item Shop for 1000 V-Bucks. It could also be obtained, along with the Kratos skin, Mimir back bling, Guardian Shield glider, and Freezing Burst emote, from the Kratos bundle priced at 2200 V-Bucks. Since being phased out around the end of the season, Leviathan Axe hasn’t returned yet.
6. Pinpoint
Another pickaxe bundled with a licensed purchase, the Pinpoint is part of Epic Games’s partnership with Nintendo in late 2018. It was available for free for those who purchased a limited-time Fortnite edition of the Switch console, priced at $299.99. Other bundled items, besides the Pinpoint pickaxe, were the Double Helix skin, the Telemetry back bling, and the Rotor glider. It’s reasonable to say that being tied to a significant purchase made this pickaxe rank high in the rarity charts.
7. Stellar Axe
Nintendo wasn’t the only major company Epic Games did a sales promotion with in 2018; there was Samsung as well. And, Stellar Axe was an outcome of that very collaboration. It was available as part of a free cosmetics bundle for buyers of eligible high-end Samsung products, starting from $649.99. Apart from this pickaxe, the Galaxy skin, the Galactic Disk back bling, and the Discovery glider were also included. Today, Stellar Axe and the other bundled freebies are quite rare to spot online in Fortnite.
8. Throwback Axe
The Throwback Axe takes inspiration from a pickaxe that appeared in Fortnite’s first season. It was released in the Item Shop as a free-to-claim cosmetic in November 2020 (Chapter 2 Season 4). Around the middle of the successive season, this pickaxe promotion ended, and the Throwback Axe hasn’t gone up for sale again since.
9. Pointer
A big reason why Pointer is among the rarest pickaxes in Fortnite has to do with its China exclusivity. This pickaxe was only available to players of Fortnite China, a separate Chinese version of the game that Epic Games supported from 2018 to 2021. Since its discontinuation, Pointer has not been available in the market again.
10. Raider’s Revenge (Black & Gold edition)
Coming all the way from Season 1, Raider’s Revenge is among the oldest pickaxes in Fortnite. It was originally only available to level-35 players for 1,500 V-Bucks in the now-defunct Season Shop. Because this item of ‘Epic’ rarity returned in the OG Season Shop section in early 2026, Epic Games gave its existing owners an exclusive black-and-gold variant, which has since replaced the original as one of the rarest pickaxes in the game.
Variety of pickaxes in Fortnite
The different kinds of pickaxes mentioned in the list above are a reflection of their sheer variety in Fortnite. Thanks to the innumerable collabs and tie-ups Epic Games does for the game, this variety only keeps growing as years pass.
From Marvel to Star Wars to The Simpsons, a plethora of pop culture mainstays have rolled out themed content in the game. Moreover, real-life celebrities like Ariana Grande and John Cena have also been featured. Such team-ups have not only brought plenty of eye-catching pickaxes but also flooded Fortnite with special skins, gliders, back blings, among other things.
Given the frequency of such partnerships and the limited-time nature of some of them, players can expect more existing and future in-game items to become “rare” over time. Hence, if you want to own something like that, keeping tabs on Epic Games’s latest Fortnite collaborations emerges as imperative.
