A new patch to Fortnite was released today. We will see some improved gameplay and some balance adjustments. Movement is still being tweaked, and with this patch crouched running will be faster. Some changes around sprinting focus on reducing camera movement for a better feel. Also, they reset “Custom Diagonal Movement” for everyone, so if you tweaked that in the past, you may need to do so again. They also rebalanced some weapons and gear, with a sizeable buff to tool durability. For a full list of patch notes, see below:
FORTNITE GAMEPLAY IMPROVEMENTS SINCE THE BIG BANG (12.18.2023)
From the patch notes:
Since The Big Bang, we’ve cooked up some improvements to Fortnite Battle Royale, LEGO Fortnite, Rocket Racing, and Fortnite Festival. Today’s update hits key areas that we want to address before our next update planned for early 2024.
FORTNITE BATTLE ROYALE
MOVEMENT IMPROVEMENTS
Movement speed has been increased when crouching, and running. We also reduced camera movement and adjusted the change in view while sprinting to encourage a smoother experience. Plus, we updated the movement animations to better match the adjustments in speed.
To help you get adjusted to these updates, we’ve reset everyone’s “Custom Diagonal Movement” settings, so please log in and reconfigure your settings to what feels best.
MEDALLIONS READABILITY
Society Medallion icons now stand out more on the map and should be easier to spot at a glance. We also reduced the visual noise present in the minimap when several Medallion zones are near one another, especially in the later Storm circles.
NIGHT VISIBILITY
We’ve brightened certain areas of the map where it was a little too dark during night.
STORM VISIBILITY
The visibility of the Storm’s edge has been improved so it’s more apparent how close it is, as we heard from the community it could be difficult to see.
WEAPON ICONS
We’re aware of feedback that the Frenzy Auto Shotgun and the Thunder Burst SMG weapon icons were too similar, making it hard to differentiate them. These icons have been updated to be more visually unique and legible.
RECENT BALANCE CHANGES
Last week, we also released a lot of balance changes to Battle Royale. Here’s a recap!
- Flowberries now grant more Shield.
- Increased damage for the Ranger Pistol, Shield Breaker EMP, and Ballistic Shield’s pistol.
- Snowball Launcher mag size reduced.
- Thunder Burst SMG mag size increased.
- Reduced the drop rate of the Reaper Sniper Rifle.
- Striker AR deals less damage.
- The circle indicating a Society Medallion holder is smaller.
- Society Medallions now have a brief delay before Shield regen begins. They also have slightly reduced regen rates and no longer refill 100% Shield (unless you have all five).
LEGO FORTNITE
HUNGRY? MORE FILLING SNACKS!
We heard feedback that food in LEGO Fortnite wasn’t reducing hunger very much, so we made adjustments to make your snacks more filling!
ELIMINATION WHILE CAVIN’
We fixed a bug that might have made you lose your items after being eliminated in the transition between aboveground and belowground. Thanks for your patience as this was being worked on — we understand it was frustrating to lose your items (we were losing our items too!).
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
ICYMI, last week we made the following changes before today’s update:
Durability
- The durability of non-Rare/non-Epic tools and weapons has increased by 30%. For Rare/Epic tools and weapons, the durability has increased by 60%!
Damage
- Reduced damage of the Brute’s Poison area for all three Brutes.
- Reduced damage of the Frost Scorpion explosion.
Critter Changes
- Sand Scorpions, Scorpions found in caves, regular Scorpions, Crabs on the shoreline, Sand Spiders, and Alpine Frost Spiders are slightly easier to defeat.
- Rams now give Heavy Wool.
Other Tweaks and Improvements
- Grapplers now hold 30 charges.
- Spiders won’t jumpscare you as often when turning over rocks.
ROCKET RACING
LONG QUEUE TIMES
We heard feedback that high-ranked racers have been experiencing long queue times in Rocket Racing, and our team is working on incremental improvements to help you get into your races faster. We’ll continue to monitor queue times and make adjustments if necessary.
CAR COLLISIONS
Car-on-car collisions have been a major topic among players, especially when a bump from behind spins your car 180 degrees. Today’s update will make those collisions a bit less punishing, and should help keep your car facing the finish line. We’ll continue to work on collision improvements for future updates too.
JACKIE OUTFIT QUEST
The Reach Gold rank in Rocket Racing Quest to unlock the Jackie Outfit was rewarding players for reaching Gold II instead of Gold I. We’ve patched this so that racers who have hit Gold I now just need to complete one full race to complete the Quest and receive the Jackie Outfit.
FORTNITE FESTIVAL
MISSING SONG LIBRARY
We fixed an error that caused players to see an empty song library in the Main Stage after suspending Fortnite on their device. This should also improve the pauses some players were encountering before a song starts.
FALL DAMAGE DISABLED
Fall damage has been disabled in the Main Stage’s Backstage. Jump off all the balconies you’d like, rockstars!
RESTART SONG
We’ve disabled the “Restart Song” functionality (available to Solo players) temporarily while we fix an error that was causing the game to become unresponsive.
INCORRECT POSTING TO LEADERBOARDS
We fixed an issue where some scores may have been posted to the wrong leaderboard. We will continue to monitor (and potentially audit) leaderboards moving forward to ensure their accuracy.
This is just the beginning of the future of Fortnite, and we’re excited to continue improvements where possible. Thank you for sharing your feedback — we appreciate your passion!
Source: Epic
