Epic Games has announced details on Fortnite update 1.8, which adds a number of Halloween-themed goodies for players.
The latest Fortnite patch will go live today following a period of scheduled maintenance. Chief among the new additions includes Fortnitemares, which replaces the Horde Bash event and introduces new characters, a new zone, and extra weapons.
In addition, Hexsylvania will feature 25 new story quests and a series of Halloween-themed heroes. New enemies will also be featured, which come with a suitably spooky aesthetic.
See below for the full Fortnite update 1.8 patch notes.
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PATCH NOTES – GENERAL
PERFORMANCE
- Greatly reduced input latency on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
- Controls overall should feel more responsive on consoles.
- We’ve re-enabled capped 30 FPS on PS4 and PS4 Pro to maintain a smooth experience.
- Controls overall should feel more responsive on consoles.
GAMEPLAY
- Added an option to toggle targeting.
- Players now have the option to press their “Target” button once to enter and leave the targeting state, and will no longer need to hold down if toggle targeting is enabled.
- Players now have the option to press their “Target” button once to enter and leave the targeting state, and will no longer need to hold down if toggle targeting is enabled.
PATCH NOTES – BATTLE ROYALE
HIGHLIGHTS
- Introducing “Slurp Juice,” a regeneration potion that grants 1 health and 1 shield per second for 25 seconds.
- You can now customize your character, banner, and equip any cosmetics in the new Locker menu.
- Voice chat comes to Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
- Players will now auto-pickup ammo, building resources, and traps.
- New graphics are visible to players who are caught outside the Storm safe zone, and the storm wall visuals have been updated.
- New Halloween skins are on sale in the newly implemented store, and will only be available until 11/4.
- Use V-bucks to purchase items from the store.
- Character Skins
- Skull Trooper
- Ghoul Trooper
- Skull Trooper
- Weapon Skins
- Reaper Skin – Pickaxe
- Reaper Skin – Pickaxe
- Use V-bucks to purchase items from the store.
- The new “Combat Pro” controller config is aimed at keeping the user’s thumbs on the sticks as much as possible so they can make fast weapon swaps and build quickly.
SLURP JUICE
Slurp Juice is a regeneration potion that grants one health and one shield per second for 25 seconds. Slurp Juice can heal players all the way up to 100 health. These can be found in the same locations as other consumables and you can stack up to two of them.
ITEM SHOP
- Players can now purchase a unique array of outfits, gliders and pickaxes in the new item shop.
- Offers will rotate on both a weekly and daily basis
- All items sold are cosmetic only and do not grant any competitive advantage
- Purchased items can be equipped in the new locker screen prior to starting a match
- Offers will rotate on both a weekly and daily basis
- NOTE: Purchases from the Battle Royale store do not carryover to the Save the World mode.
LOCKER
- Players can customize their character’s appearance in the new Locker menu with the following options:
- Set your banner image and color
- Equip any purchased outfits, gliders or pickaxes
- Set your banner image and color
LEADERBOARDS
- Rank up against other players and friends in the following categories:
- Total Wins
- Solo
- Top 10
- Top 25
- Top 10
- Duo
- Top 5
- Top 12
- Top 5
- Squads
- Top 3
- Top 6
- Top 3
- Total Wins
There are currently two types of leaderboards:
- Division leaderboard
- A division is a group of 50 active players competing against each other to see who will take top the spot.
- You are automatically assigned to a new division each week.
- Each match type (Solo, Duos and Squads) gets its own separate division.
- A division is a group of 50 active players competing against each other to see who will take top the spot.
- Friends leaderboard
- Compare yourself to your friends by turning on "Friends Only" on the leaderboard screen.
- Compare yourself to your friends by turning on "Friends Only" on the leaderboard screen.
All leaderboards reset weekly on Wednesdays. Only players on your platform are included in the rankings. Expect improvements in upcoming releases.
SEASON LEVELS
- Seasons will give the player a chance to level-up their character and earn unique seasonal rewards and banner flair.
- The first season will give players a chance to level up to 100, with player level displayed on their banner.
- Banner flair is awarded in levels 2-49, giving players an additional way to show off their mastery.
- There are 2 unique rewards that will be provided in the first season. These will only be earned by seasonal progress and cannot be obtained by other methods at this time:
- Level 10 – Unique seasonal banner
- Level 25 – Unique seasonal glider
- Level 10 – Unique seasonal banner
- The first season will give players a chance to level up to 100, with player level displayed on their banner.
- Players can boost their seasonal levels by participating in Daily Challenges.
- A new challenge will be provided each day with the ability to have up to 3 active challenges in total
- Completing Daily Challenges will provide the player with seasonal level XP
- A new challenge will be provided each day with the ability to have up to 3 active challenges in total
TEAM VOICE CHAT – PLAYSTATION 4 AND XBOX ONE
If you have a microphone, you can now chat with your squad mates on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
- PC players have push to talk enabled by default. Bound to the Y key.
- PlayStation 4 and Xbox One player’s mics are voice activated by default.
- Voice chat is enabled by default, but you can turn it off in the Audio Options menu.
- Note that PC players also have the ability to team voice chat, which we added in the previous update.
SEASONAL ROCKET LAUNCHER!
Tis’ the season to be scary! The Rocket Launcher now has a creepy cosmetic variant to celebrate Halloween.
NEW STORM EFFECTS
Players caught inside the Storm zone may be in for a fright! New effects and visuals make for a much more intense experience. The Storm wall has been updated as well. Run to safety!
“COMBAT PRO” CONTROLLER CONFIGURATION
The new “Combat Pro” controller config is aimed at keeping the user’s thumbs on the sticks as much as possible so they can make fast weapon swaps and build quickly. We’re trying to add a familiar feel for shooter players, placing the map as a button in the middle of the gamepad and taking crouch off a bumper button.
- Access the new controller config from the “Controller” tab in the settings menu.
- Be sure to select the “Apply” button to save the change.
GAMEPLAY
- Added auto-pickup for ammo, building resources, and traps.
- Your player will loot these items automatically when walking over them.
- Note that dropped items will not be automatically picked up, but you can still manually pick them up.
- Your player will loot these items automatically when walking over them.
- Reduced Supply Drop balloon health from 2000 to 1250.
- Items which are spawned from treasure chests or ammo boxes are now less likely to be clustered together.
- Reduced the chance of Storm safe zones appearing at the edges of the island.
- Fixed supply drops not falling from structures in various cases.
- Fixed a bug which caused stacked items not to automatically add to the quick bar when picked up.
WEAPONS
- Adjusted Submachine Gun characteristics. (Does not affect the Tactical variant.)
- Common/Uncommon damage increased from 11 to 12.
- Rare damage increased from 12 to 13.
- Decreased reload time by 15%.
- Common/Uncommon damage increased from 11 to 12.
- Sniper Rifle projectiles now leave a visual trail behind.
- Assault Rifle
- Reduced accuracy penalty while moving.
- Does not affect Burst or Scoped variants.
- Reduced accuracy penalty while moving.
- Scoped Assault Rifle
- Updated visuals while zoomed in.
- Tracer effects and smoke now match the weapon’s behavior.
- Updated visuals while zoomed in.
- Fixed an issue which caused the transition from the hip fire position to targeting to rotate the player cam downwards.
- Fixed an issue which caused recoiled weapons not to recover if you began reloading while recoiled.
CONTROLS
- Aiming sensitivity on controllers now scales with your weapon’s zoom, similar to how it does with the mouse.
- This change replaces the previous sensitivity adjustment we made to scoped weapons.
- This change replaces the previous sensitivity adjustment we made to scoped weapons.
- Changed some default keyboard bindings for quick slots.
- The 4th quick slot has changed from the Z key to 5.
- The 5th quick slot has changed from the X key to 6.
- The 4th quick slot has changed from the Z key to 5.
- Improved analog stick responsiveness when rotating the camera.
- It should now be easier to make fine adjustments to your aim on controllers.
- It should now be easier to make fine adjustments to your aim on controllers.
- Improved how interactions such as teammate revives, pickups, and opening doors are prioritized when there are multiple possible options.
- Smoothed out the camera transition between riding the Battle Bus and beginning to skydive.
WORLD
- Added more loot to the area with containers south of Tomato Town and shifted the containers to better align with the building grid.
- Fixed issues where grass could be hidden on certain types of terrain.
- Various fixes for terrain seams and floating objects.
- Fixed some objects that were previously indestructible.
AUDIO
- Voice Chat now works while spectating teammates and after the match ends.
- Decreased the distance players can hear ceiling and wall trap audio.
- Added ambient “zap” audio to placed wall traps.
- Fixed issue which caused footstep audio to be drowned out while other sounds were playing.
- Fixed an issue which could cause footstep sounds to trigger multiple times per step.
UI
- Added several new ways to access the Item Shop, Locker and other new features.
- Added a “Season Shop” tab.
- This is a preview of a feature still in development, that will be implemented in a later update.
- This is a preview of a feature still in development, that will be implemented in a later update.
- Changed how the “Message of the Day” news is displayed.
- This message now pops up before you enter the matchmaking lobby, but only if there is new information added since the last time you saw it.
- This message now pops up before you enter the matchmaking lobby, but only if there is new information added since the last time you saw it.
- Improved the look and feel of the “Stats” interface.
- Adjusted rarity color for consumable items. The chances of finding these items in chests or in the world remains unchanged.
- Med Kit is now green (Uncommon).
- Shield Potion is now blue (Rare).
- Med Kit is now green (Uncommon).
- Added a highlight background behind the currently active building resource.
- The menu can now be opened while spectating.
- Resources can now be dropped while using a controller.
- Removed “Show Grass” from the Options menu in Battle Royale. Grass and foliage is always intended to be visible.
- Fixed an issue which caused your weapon to continue firing after opening the fullscreen map.
- Fixed an issue which caused the final damage done to an enemy not to display hit effects.
- Fixed an issue which caused the reticle to remain faded out after reloading or when out of ammo.
PERFORMANCE
- Trees and foliage will no longer cause very low frame rates when Material Quality is set to anything lower than High.
- Implemented profile guided optimization to help overall CPU performance on consoles.
- Improved thread affinities on console to help overall CPU performance.
- Improved animation system performance.
- Reduced hitching issues on all platforms.
- Fixed grainy visual artifacts on trees with certain graphics configurations.
KNOWN ISSUES
- Selecting a party member in the lobby will display an incorrect banner.
- Other player’s gliders may appear lopsided if a glider cosmetic is equipped.
SAVE THE WORLD
FORTNITEMARES – VLAD MOON RISING
- Explore our spookiest stormscape yet! Gothic castles, grim mansions, creepy catacombs, and more await you in the mists of Hexsylvania.
- Trap the Storm! This new mission focuses on reinforcing and defending existing buildings. Fortify your castle, and prepare for a close combat husk brawl.
- Dig into Hexsylvania’s cryptic history with bone chilling story quests! 36 new quests in all.
- Adventure into the mists of Hexslyvania after completing Storm Shield Defense 3.
- Trap the Storm! This new mission focuses on reinforcing and defending existing buildings. Fortify your castle, and prepare for a close combat husk brawl.
- Halloween Creatures
- Beware the Pumpkin Head Husk, a nightmarish creature guaranteed to scare you out of your gourd.
- Protect ya neck! The Vampire Taker is out for blood. His attacks heal him, and some say he can’t be seen on the mini-map.
- Beware the Pumpkin Head Husk, a nightmarish creature guaranteed to scare you out of your gourd.
- Treat Yourself
- Spend the candy you earned by completing quests and mission alerts on Halloween llamas for extra Fortnitemares fun.
- Slot Fortnitemares Cosplay Survivors into your Collection Book and receive event rewards!
- Spend the candy you earned by completing quests and mission alerts on Halloween llamas for extra Fortnitemares fun.
- Witness the Lobby of Doom!
- Behold the crawling terror of the updated Fortnitemares themed lobby.