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The Fortnite v7.40 update is live and it comes with some huge gameplay and weapon changes.
Update v7.40 is one of the biggest updates in Fortnite history. We saw huge gameplay and weapon changes, along with several quality-of-life additions that address some of the key issues with the game.
Would we be getting this update without the pressure from Apex Legends? We can't know for sure, but the competition seems to have lit a cozy campfire under Epic Games.
Overtime Challenges
We've already heard a lot about the 13 Overtime challenges Fortnite has added for Valentine's Day. These will net you some free cosmetics and variants to a couple of Season 7 skins.
What we didn't know, though, was that completing all of the challenges will allow you to receive Season 8 for free! This is essentially a 950 V-Buck gift for completing the challenges.
I wanted to start things here because this is one of the bigger changes Fortnite can make in the face of the success of Apex Legends. They know they might be losing players and that people might not buy Season 8 of the Battle Pass.
Allowing us to access the Battle Pass for free will assure that we continue to play Fortnite to complete these challenges and will keep playing into the next season.
Huge Gameplay Changes
I wanted to cover the gameplay changes before the weapons and items since they're probably some of the biggest changes we've seen made to the base game in a long time. Also, Epic already told us about most of the weapon changes coming to Fortnite in this patch.
Epic has added the Pop-Up Cup rules to the base game as a "test." This means that you'll receive 50 HP or shield for each kill as well as 50/50/50 materials. The cap has lowered to 500/500/500 but the harvest rate has been increased to 40%.
This is a huge change and one that I think a lot of players will enjoy. It limits the amount of time you need to spend farming in each game and incentivizes us to go for kills.
Ziplines also saw a substantial change. You need to interact with them now, and they grant immunity to fall damage. This makes them far less of the death trap they once seemed to be.
The final circle now shrinks slower but moves a further distance. This will prevent some heal-offs and force players to fight in more situations.
The Stormwings don't break through structures anymore, making them more of a mobility item than an offensive tool.
You will now have to hold your interact button to switch your current item with a new one. This will help when sifting through piles of loot after a kill.
Turbo building got a slight buff, reducing the initial timer from 0.15 to 0.05.
The Aim Assist change was listed under "Bug Fixes," but it's something a lot of players will be affected by. Aim Assist will now have a compounding cool-down that will increase as you spam ADS. The initial effect will be the same, but any ADS presses after the first will trigger a cooldown.
Floor traps automatically build a floor piece if you have the resources, so you don't need to place a floor for campfires and launch pads, it would seem.
Weapons & Items: Bush Buff Baby!!
I'll start with one of the biggest changes Fortnite has ever seen: the bush is getting a buff. You can now tank one shot as a bush as well as see through it while you have it on. This is obviously a joke, but it does make the item a bit more viable.
The Infantry Rifle is here, and it's not what we thought it was going to be. Most people assumed that this gun would be the Heavy Sniper version of the Hunting Rifle. It's not, but it still looks to be useful.
The gun shoots fast-moving projectiles at a rapid clip. They do 41, 43, and 45 damage to the body depending on the rarity with a 2x headshot multiplier. These number might seem low, but you'll feel the power once you get one of these in your hands.
The Hand Cannon got the nerf that a lot of competitive players have been calling for. The environmental damage was reduced from 150/157 to 100/105. This means that Hand Cannons will still one-shot all newly placed structures that aren't metal, but can't one-shot fully-build wooden structures anymore.
Rocket launchers are no longer available from chests. You can only find them in supply drops and vending machines. The reload speed was also increased.
The clingers came out of the vault to replace normal grenades. I think most players prefer the clingers, but this isn't a massive change.
Cupid's Crossbow is also coming out of the vault for Valentine's Day. It does 1 environmental damage, 79 damage to the body, and 197 to the head. I don't know why they didn't make it 200 to the head, as head-shotting a 200HP target with one is going to be frustrating.
Other Changes
There were a ton of changes in this update, and you can view the full patch notes here. Some of the other noteworthy changes include:
- You can now crouch while in Edit Mode
- Sneaky Snowman item will be removed when falling from high distances
- Minigun overheating HUD removed
- Bottle Rocket sound indicator changed
- Auto-reload no longer cancels emotes
- Campfires don't block movement
- Auto pickup fixed when skydiving
- New Share The Love Tournament Dates
- Trios One Day Cup added on February 17
- Streamer mode available during tournaments
- Audio added when squadmates ready up
- Improved stat tracking
- Gifting is back until February 22
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