After 10 weeks of Season 8 and hundreds of countless events and challenges, we’re finally moving on to the next big thing. The patch notes for Season 9 of Fortnite have just been released by Epic Games. The major update goes live tonight for all platforms and there is a lot to talk about. Season 8 was the season of pirates and treasure. However, after the Volcano got destroyed at the end of Season 8, the whole world turned upside down. The official Fortnite twitter account had been teasing the changes coming to Season 9 with cryptic tweets and now we finally know what’s coming. So, let’s look at everything that has been added to Season 9.

Map and Theme

The first thing that we notice is the change in theme. Season 9, from the looks of it, seems like it has a futuristic theme and vibe. The whole map has been made to look like something out of futuristic Japan or something with complex new structures rising up from the ashes after the eruption. The first one we see is the Neo Tilted, which is a modified version of tilted towers. Neo Tilted is a futuristic take on tilted towers with massive sci-fi styled skyscrapers dotted around the map. The sky has blimps flying around with billboards saying ‘The Future is Yours’. The buildings are also covered with neon signs and holograms really bringing that Jetsons vibe to the whole area. The Mega Mall is another new location which, again, is a futuristic super mall. There are also some additional new attractions like Peely’s Banana Stand and Nugget Hut.

Slipstreams

Other than the buildings, some new props have also been added to the map that can have a significant impact on how the games are played. One of these is the Slipstream wind transportation system. This allows players to fly around from one location to another using the power of wind. To use it, you just have to stand in front of it and it would propel you forward to a desired location. Slipstreams will increase the speed of general play a lot with players flying through big distances across the map. It would be interesting to see what new strategies players can come up with using the new Slipstream system. This could potentially open up opportunities for players to set up ambushes or to surprise enemy players by jumping into the action out of nowhere. The game is also expected to have a much faster pace thanks to Slipstreams.

Battle Pass

A new Season also means a new Battle Pass and we have one for Season 9 too. The Battle Pass for Season 9 costs the same as the previous one i.e. 950 V-bucks. As soon as you buy the Battle Pass, you’ll get a Sentinel Outfit and a Rox Progressive Outfit. The Battle Pass for Season 9 has over 100 exclusive new items for unlock. Progressing through and leveling up the Battle Pass will earn you some amazing new rewards like Dual Pickaxes, Flying Disc Toys and wait-for-it, A ROBO KITTY! Going through all the levels and reaching tier 100 will give you the Vendetta progressive outfit.

Another thing that has been added to the Battle Pass is a new form of collectible item called Fortbytes. These are exclusive to Battle Pass owners and allow players to ‘unlock’ the secrets of Season 9. Players can track different clues around the island and locate Fortbytes. There is a total of 100 Fortbytes in Season 9. As players collect Fortbytes, they’ll get images that they can decipher to get new rewards. 18 Fortbytes are available starting from today with a new one being added every day.
Other than these major changes, Season 9 has also brought many smaller improvements that fix balance issues and stability problems with the game. You can see the full Patch Notes for Season 9 down below.

Season 9 Patch Notes

Weapons + Items

• Added Combat Shotgun
  • Semi-Automatic
    • Holds 10 Shells.
    • Fires 9 pellets per shot for 73 / 77 / 81 base damage.
    • Tight spread and fast fire rate.
    • Headshot multiplier of 1.70x.
    • Reloads 2 shells at a time.
  • Available in Rare, Epic, and Legendary variants.
  • Available from Floor, Chests, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines
• Adjusted Tactical Shotgun damage
  • Base damage increased from 66/70/74 to 71/75/79
• Reduced Drum Gun availability from 16.732% to 7.155%
• Reduced Boom Bow availability from 1.292% to .755%
• Unvaulted Grenades
• Vaulted Clingers
• Vaulted Buried Treasure
• Vaulted Pump Shotgun
• Vaulted Poison Dart Trap
• Vaulted Scoped Revolver
• Vaulted Suppressed Assault Rifle
• Vaulted Thermal Assault Rifle
• Vaulted Balloons

Bug Fixes & Improvements

• Turbo building after gliding now works correctly.
• The stink bomb damage audio and effects were not playing if you damaged yourself.
• Fixed the Shadow bomb occasionally not making the player invisible on the Xbox One the first time it’s used.
• Misplacement of Launch Pads in mid-air has been resolved.
• Pirate Cannon camera issues due to network latency have been resolved.
• The Reboot Card deposit sound effects no longer play in replay mode while the Van is on Cooldown.
• The Reboot Van card sound effects will no longer be heard when a squadmate disconnects.

Gameplay

• Slipstreams
  • These tunnels of wind passively carry players down the stream.
    • Players can move faster and change direction when actively trying to move down the Stream.
    • Use directional input to gain extra velocity. Experiment with bobbing up and down for higher speeds.
  • Players are launched when exiting the tube based on their movement speed and exit angle.
  • Projectiles and Vehicles can also enter the Slipstream.
• Air Vents
  • The powerful gusts of air from these environmental items can launch players short distances and grant immunity to fall damage.
• Fortbytes
  • Fortbytes are a series of 100 collectible computer chips available to Battle Pass owners. As you collect Fortbytes, you’ll decrypt a mysterious image. Collect them all to unlock rewards and uncover the secrets of Season 9.
  • On the first day of Season 9, there are 18 Fortbytes available to find. At least 1 new Fortbyte will be unlocked each day. Check the Challenges Tab for detailed information on which Fortbytes are currently available and when the others unlock.
  • Fortbytes cannot be collected after Season 9 ends.
• Disconnected players will stay in the world for 60 seconds. They still take damage and count for elimination points.

Bug Fixes & Improvements

• Resolved an issue with the UI showing health gains incorrectly if the player canceled the consumable close to completion time.
• PS4 controller lighting not always matching your pin color when in Squads.
• Players not able to use Hold to Swap if they previously picked an item up normally
• Adjusted turbo building to be more forgiving under poor network conditions
• Fixed cases of jittery movement under certain conditions.

Limited Time Mode Rotation:

• Trios: Classic Battle Royale with Three-Person Squads.
• Solid Gold: Fight to the finish using Legendary weapons!
• One Shot: Low Gravity. Every player has 50 health. Sniper weapons are the only weapon, Bandages are the only healing item. Jump high and aim well!

Events

• Players who have already qualified to be in the World Cup will be marked with a World Cup badge on the event leaderboards
• Leaderboards now have a button to sort games by the number of top leaderboard players in them. This will help identify the most critical active games from a leaderboard standing view.
• The in-game HUD now has different icons for points for Arena matches and weekend tournament matches.

Performance

• Improved frame rate on Nintendo Switch, particularly when large numbers of characters are onscreen.
• Addressed some cases of invisible characters after skydiving.

Audio

• Better tactical audio when inside player-built structures:
  • Enemy Pickaxe impact within ~one building tile radius has new, louder sound.
  • Wallbreak by enemy close/behind player much clearer/louder.
• Explosion audio improvements- shorter, higher dynamic range sounds that will make explosion audio clearer and punchier.

UI

Bug Fixes & Improvements

• “Swap” text appearing in the pickup UI will no longer appear when picking up more resources than the player can carry.
• The initial storm warning timer was incorrectly showing as 0.
• Spectators and replay watchers can now report users.
• Fixed party invites not showing up in the UI if the user logged out and back in again.

Spectating

• Spectating a player’s match will now automatically follow that player.

Mobile

• Auto fire will now trigger on vehicles.
• Added option for increasing elimination feed line count in the HUD Layout Tool.
• Dragging/Dropping from the quickbar is now allowed while jumping.
• The location of the boost button on Android for the X-Stormwing has been moved to avoid triggering the Home button.
• Squad formation is now accessible.

Bug Fixes & Improvements

• The delay with interacting when using the quickbar slots has been resolved.
• Weapon icons now correctly display icons on the quickbar.
• Fixed sliders that were broken in the Dead Zone tab of the Controller Options.
• Auto fire adjustments:
  • Semi-automatic weapons now fire correctly.
  • Increased acquisition delay for shotguns.
• Dynamite trajectory indicator is now correctly displayed during use.
• Ziplines can no longer be ridden past their endpoints.
• Autorun no longer takes more than two taps to initiate after jumping from Battle Bus.
• Cooldown Timer visual for boost buttons on vehicles is now displayed correctly.
• The camera no longer shakes when entering the X-Stormwing.
• Left virtual thumbstick no longer becomes invisible when holding left or right and pressing the fire button.
• The Harvest Tool UI button in HUD layout is no longer invisible.
• The stair railing in Pleasant Park no longer clips through the door.
• Variant numbers partially hidden in the preview screen by the “X” button.
• The Dream cosmetic is now correctly displaying:
  • The butterfly
  • Eye glow effect
• Widow’s Bite pickaxe visual effect issue has been resolved.
• The Cooldown ring timer showing briefly when switching seats in Cannon.
• Interact Icon is no longer missing with certain consumables.
• Input Blocked text will no longer appear when opening the inventory.
• The Item Shop arrows now display correctly on iPhone XS Max.