Fortnite Season 9 Is Live With Some Huge Changes

Today, Fortnite Season 9 launched on PC, PlayStation 4, mobile, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One [...]

By Tyler Fischer

Today, Fortnite Season 9 launched on PC, PlayStation 4, mobile, Nintendo Switch, and Xbox One accompanied by an update that made some serious changes to the world's most popular game. There's new map changes, new features, a new battle pass, new weapons vaulted and unvaulted, and much more.

"The volcano has erupted and forever changed some long lasting locations - from the ashes, Neo Tilted rises," writes Epic Games of the update. "Grab the squad to explore the bright lights of new attractions like Peely's Banana Stand and Nugget Hut. Catch a ride and quickly traverse areas by flying in and out of the new Slipstream wind transportation system. Use the new Air Vents to quickly navigate from building to building. Take a glide over to the new Mega Mall to do some shopping before the storm hits. The future is yours in Season 9!"

With the start of Season 9 comes a brand-new Battle Pass with over 100 new and exclusive rewards. As always, it costs 950 V-Bucks, and when purchased, players will automatically be given the Sentinel Outfit and Rox progressive Outfit. New to this season's Battle Pass are "Fortbytes," which are clues to earn and locate hidden pickups around the island that help you unlock rewards and uncover the secrets of Season 9.

Below, you can find the most relevant patch notes for the Battle Royale update. Meanwhile, if you're looking for the patch notes for Save the world or Creative, click here (the full patch notes for Battle Royale are included in the same link).

SLIPSTREAMS:
Get around locations quickly with the new Slipstream wind transportation system.

NEW LOCATIONS:
Explore new points of interest that emerged from the destruction of the Volcano like Neo Tilted and Mega Mall.

WEAPONS AND ITEMS:

  • Added Combat Shotgun

    • Semi-Automatic

      • Holds 10 Shells.

      • Fires 9 pellets per shot for 73 / 77 / 81 base damage.

      • Tight spread and fast fire rate.

      • Headshot multiplier of 1.70x.

      • Reloads 2 shells at a time.

    • Available in Rare, Epic, and Legendary variants.

    • Available from Floor, Chests, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines

  • Adjusted Tactical Shotgun damage

    • Base damage increased from 66/70/74 to 71/75/79

  • Reduced Drum Gun availability from 16.732% to 7.155%

  • Reduced Boom Bow availability from 1.292% to .755%

  • Unvaulted Grenades

  • Vaulted Clingers

  • Vaulted Buried Treasure

  • Vaulted Pump Shotgun

  • Vaulted Poison Dart Trap

  • Vaulted Scoped Revolver

  • Vaulted Suppressed Assault Rifle

  • Vaulted Thermal Assault Rifle

  • Vaulted Balloons

Bug Fixes and Improvements

  • Turbo building after gliding now works correctly.

  • The stink bomb damage audio and effects were not playing if you damaged yourself.

  • Fixed the Shadow bomb occasionally not making the player invisible on the Xbox One the first time it's used.

  • Misplacement of Launch Pads in mid-air has been resolved.

  • Pirate Cannon camera issues due to network latency have been resolved.

  • The Reboot Card deposit sound effects no longer play in replay mode while the Van is on Cooldown.

  • The Reboot Van card sound effects will no longer be heard when a squadmate disconnects.

GAMEPLAY:

  • Slipstreams
    • These tunnels of wind passively carry players down the stream.
      • Players can move faster and change direction when actively trying to move down the Stream.
      • Use directional input to gain extra velocity. Experiment with bobbing up and down for higher speeds.
    • Players are launched when exiting the tube based on their movement speed and exit angle.
    • Projectiles and Vehicles can also enter the Slipstream.
  • Air Vents
    • The powerful gusts of air from these environmental items can launch players short distances and grant immunity to fall damage.
  • Fortbytes
    • Fortbytes are a series of 100 collectible computer chips available to Battle Pass owners. As you collect Fortbytes, you'll decrypt a mysterious image. Collect them all to unlock rewards and uncover the secrets of Season 9.
    • On the first day of Season 9, there are 18 Fortbytes available to find. At least 1 new Fortbyte will be unlocked each day. Check the Challenges Tab for detailed information on which Fortbytes are currently available and when the others unlock.
    • Fortbytes cannot be collected after Season 9 ends.
  • Disconnected players will stay in the world for 60 seconds. They still take damage and count for elimination points.

Bug Fixes & Improvements

  • Resolved an issue with the UI showing health gains incorrectly if the player canceled the consumable close to completion time.
  • PS4 controller lighting not always matching your pin color when in Squads.
  • Players not able to use Hold to Swap if they previously picked an item up normally
  • Adjusted turbo building to be more forgiving under poor network conditions
  • Fixed cases of jittery movement under certain conditions.

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