Battle Royale
All Fortnite v8.40 map changes
A slew of changes were implemented with Fortnite update v8.40 on April 17 including additions to Pleasant Park, Retail Row, and Snobby Shores.
Fortnite’s v8.40 update on April 17 added two new Infantry Rifle variants, the return of the X-4 Stormwing in it’s own special LTM, and the unearthing of the Gateway at Loot Lake.
Map changes were implemented too, as a
Loot Lake’s Gateway
There are a total of three excavation sites around Fortnite’s map – Loot Lake, Dusty Divot, and south east in the desert biome.
Construction at Loot Lake completed on April 17 to reveal a large metal door.
Theories around the Fortnite community are pointing to another large in-game event for the arrival of Season 9.
Retail Row Bunker
A new bunker has appeared in the house behind the Pizza shop at Retail Row.
Players can access the new bunker by destroying the black car in the garage in order to access the stairs.
Another subtle change to Retail Row is that the Pizza Pit and Durr Burger are now facing each other, creating the Fortnite fast-food mascot rivalry.
Pleasant Park Bunkers
Pleasant Park has two new bunkers in different houses around the town.
The new bunkers feature control panels, scientific equipment, and other items similar to previous bunkers.
Snobby Shores Viking Takeover
All of
The final house is currently under attack, but will the Vikings complete their territorial siege?
Telephones
Two new props have been added to the map in order to be used for Season 8’s Week 8 challenge which tasks players to locate them.
Uncle Pete’s Pizza Pit phone can be located to the east of The Block, pictured below.
The last telephone for the Durr Burger can be located to the west of Fatal Fields in the snow biome.
If you are interested in reading about all of the patch notes from Fortnite’s v8.40 patch on April 17, you can read our guide here.
What do you think is inside the giant metal plate at Loot Lake?
Guides
Stats reveal the deadliest locations in Fortnite Season 5
Fortnite data miner, Lucas7Yoshi, has created a map of the most deadly locations in Fortnite Season 5. Here’s where to land or avoid.
The Fortnite world is a deadly one. Take a look at some of the most dangerous locations on the entire map.
It’s no secret that Fortnite – and all battle royales, for that matter – have hot-spots for players to drop. If you want a fight, you’ll find one at Salty Towers in every game. If you want a more relaxed experience, Craggy Cliffs might be your speed.
Which are the deadliest places on the Fortnite map? Regular players know about some of them. It should be no secret that Salty Towers and Pleasant Park see a lot of action.
Data miner Lucas7Yoshi has been gathering all kinds of Fortnite data, lately. Most recently, he compiled a map of the most active locations in Season 5. As you can see, Salty Towers and Lazy Lake top the list.
The areas shrouded in blue aren’t completely inactive, but they show how much activity happens at the center of the map. If you want a safe drop, the northeast corner is probably your best bet.
From the map, you can see that the action isn’t isolated to the center. Sure, it’s the most active, but Holly Hedges, Sweaty Sands, Retail Row, and Slurpy Swamp almost always have a few deaths per match.
These locations are probably more bus path-dependent than Pleasant, Salty, and Lazy, but they still get a ton of attention. Stealthy Stronghold – likely bolstered by the addition of Predator – can also be seen on the map.
This map doesn’t give us too much new information, but it’s interesting to see how much activity takes place in different areas of the map. Even the no man’s land of the Zero Point has more deaths than places like Steamy Stacks – the safest named POI in Season 5.
We’re interested in learning more about Fortnite trends as Lucas7Yoshi continues his research. So far, he’s compiled data for the most popular cosmetics to go along with his new death map.
Events
Fortnite Winter Trials event & rewards leaked
Epic Games quickly added and removed a webpage that revealed a new Fortnite event: Winter Trials. Here’s everything we know so far.
Epic Games released a new website, announcing the Fortnite Winter Trials. They have since removed the site, leading fans to believe it was leaked early.
Most of the time, when we’re discussing Fortnite leaks, we’re talking about data miners finding files in the game that relate to certain events, skins, etc. In rare cases, Epic let something slip a bit early. That’s what we have here.
On January 25, Epic released the Fortnite Winter Trials webpage, showcasing free rewards, an influencer tournament, community voting on events, and more.
The website was quickly removed after it was added, but data miner Hypex was able to record some of the contents before it went down.
The details of the event are still limited, but it appears as though players will be earning badges for logging in, voting for challenges, and playing Fortnite.
Over the course of the rest of the season, your playtime and badges will reward you with free cosmetics. Most of them are hidden, but we know about a spray, emoticon, and weapon wrap from the images on the website.
We should see an official announcement of the event soon. Since Epic were the ones who jumped the gun, we expect to see them announce the event as soon as tomorrow – if not later tonight.
We’ll update this post when we learn more about the event, along with additional details on how to earn free cosmetics. Stay tuned.
Leak
Fortnite tease new Drift Crew skins
Epic Games are dropping some cryptic hints relating to the iconic Drift character in Fortnite, and speculation suggests it’s all leading to a new Drift Crew skin.
On January 24, Epic Games posted a series of mysterious tweets, to get the community guessing.
Their first post referenced Drift directly, saying: “Drift? Drift. Come in. Do you read me?” A series of messages followed, asking for help – presumably Drift’s help.
The Fortnite account has since deleted the tweets, but here’s a screenshot of all of them from iFireMonkey.
Data miner HYPEX was quick to highlight that these teasers are almost certainly connected to the upcoming new Drift Skin, which appears to be a female version of the fan-favorite skin.
Fortnite Crew is the monthly subscription service, and it’s expected that this new Drift skin will be included in the February edition of the subscription rewards.
The subscription grants players each new Battle Pass, plus 1,000 V-Bucks, in addition to the cosmetic rewards.
We’ll have to wait and see confirmation about the new Drift skin as we put January in the rearview mirror and move into February.