Fortnite Season 9 Patch Notes: Slipstreams, Fortbytes, Weapon Changes And More

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Fortnite season nine began on May 9, bringing with it a brand-new Battle Pass and more weekly challenges. Players who own the Battle Pass will try to collect Battle Stars and unlock new cosmetic items that were added to the game in season nine. There's also only one round left of the Duos finals on June 20 and 21. These finals will all be held before the World Cup Grand Finals. The World Cup Grand Finals will be held in New York on July 26 through 28 and there are four Oceanic Solos players and four Duos teams who qualified. Then Fortnite season 10 will start Aug. 1. 

What's new at Fortnite season 9?

As prominently shown in the Fortnite season 9 trailer, there are two new areas to explore: Neo Tiled Towers and Mega Mall. Players who are very familiar with the island will have to spend some time exploring, finding out where to rob and ambush others, because these two places will be popular early in the new season.

The dynamics of the battle royale have completely changed forever, with the more daring players no longer being able to drop at Tilted Towers Season 9 is going to be interesting. As old-school Fortnite fans well know – the approach of a new season hails events that affect weapons, game modes and most importantly the battle royale map itself.

Another futuristic addition: the Slipstreams. What are Slipstreams? Basically a new form of movement you can use to zip around the map. Jump into a Slipstream and the wind will you move across the map. You can change channels and experiment with bobbing up and down to gain and slow your speed. You'll be launched out the end of a stream. The Slipstreams Located around Neo Tilted Towers, Mega Mall and a large portion of the inner island, these new towers will propel players once they enter the wind stream. Players should use these Slipstreams as both a mode of transportation and a way to get out of trouble. Air vents were another mobility addition to propel players into the air and make them immune to fall damage.

Epic added only one new weapon at the start of season 9: the combat shotgun. If you're a regular gamer of Fortnite, you know just how important the Pump Shotgun was to the game. If you weren't lucky enough to pick up the Legendary or Epic Heavy Shotgun then you likely settled on Uncommon or Rare Pump Shotgun. Either way, the Pump Shotgun was a huge part of the game and it's now been vaulted with the arrival of Season 9. The semi-automatic weapon takes the place of the pump shotgun, which was vaulted -- aka removed from the game. Several other weapons, items and throwables were also vaulted, including buried treasure, poison dart trap, clingers, suppressed assault rifle, scoped revolver, thermal assault rifle and balloons.

Epic also made changes to the Battle Pass for Season 9. As in previous seasons, those who purchased the pass for 950 Fortnite Top Up V Bucks, or just shy of $10, will have 100 levels to work their way through to unlock new emotes, pickaxes and skins such as the Sentinel, Rox progressive and for those who make it to tier 100, the Vendetta skin. If you want to reach Battle Pass tier 100 without spending any additional Fortnite Top Up V Bucks, though, you'll need to complete nearly all of the weekly challenges in season nine.

Something new with this Fortnite season 9 Battle Pass are the Fortbytes. Fortbytes are 100 computer chips that will appear across the map for those that own the Battle Pass. These collectible computer chips are hidden across the island with a new one unlocked each day of the season. Collecting these items will piece together an image that hints at what's in store for Fortnite season 10.

With these new additions, Epic made various changes to the gameplay and improvement. The company also added new Limited Time Modes such as Trios, where players can make three-person squads, the Legendary-focused Solid Gold mode and One Shot, which has players with 50 health and can only access sniper weapons, meaning one hit is all it takes to eliminate players.

Summary
Every player begins with several gold tokens. Eliminating an enemy player pays out all of the tokens the target was carrying. The first squad to reach the specified gold token count wins the match.

Mode Details
Limited respawning: Each player has three lives.
The more tokens a player is carrying, the more visible on the map they will be when moving or shooting.
The top 3 token leaders will have their location shown on the map & compass at all times.
Fortnite Season 9 is chock full of things to do, challenges to complete and games to win. 

Stay tuned for more Fortnite news.

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