Fortnite Update Highlights Upcoming Big Gameplay Changes And New Items

Today, Epic Games released a new Fortnite “Dev Update” that provides insight into the upcoming changes being made to the game’s battle-royale mode.

Highlighting the update is perhaps the big late-game changes that will add the possibility of the storm randomly destroying player-made structures when the circle is really small and tight. As Epic Games notes in the video, only a handful of games — percentage wise — make it to the point where storm destruction will have an impact, so players won’t need to worry about losing a ton of games because of unlucky storm strikes. However, because super small circles are rare in the end-game, Epic Games wanted to add a different element to them.

This is also another step in a direction of deemphasizing building in the late game, as it will potentially punish players with elaborate, end-game forts.

Also highlighting the update is the news that the good ol’ revolver will be vaulted. However, this doesn’t mean it’s gone forever. As Epic Games points out, the Guided Missles were once vaulted, but returned. The same can’t be said for the Crossbow though. So let’s hope the Revolver meets a similar fate to that of the former.

This change isn’t very surprising when you consider the current META — and the META for awhile — has not included the Revolver in any shape or form.

In the place of the Revolver, Epic Games is planning to apparently add a brand-new mobility item with update 5.40, though it doesn’t provide any further details on what this item will be.

Lastly, there are some changes coming to items and item stacking. First off, the Remote Explosives will now be Epic (purple) rather than Rare (blue). This is being done to be more representative of their effectiveness. Secondly, Boogie Bombs will now drop in twos rather than in ones, and shields will stack up to three rather than two. Further, in the video it appears the silenced pistol has been downgraded from Legendary and Epic to Epic and Rare, though Epic Games hasn’t officially confirmed this.

Fortnite is available for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, and mobile devices. Be on the lookout for the above changes in a near-future update.