The patch notes for the v9.01 update for Fortnite Battle Royale are now live as the update rolls out to players on PC, Xbox One, PS4, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, including major changes such as the arrival of the Tactical Assault Rifle, brand new John Wick LTM, and more.
The v9.01 patch is the first update for the game since the launch of Season 9, which made some dramatic changes to the popular battle royale title.
While this latest update is not expected to be anywhere near as big the one that kicked off the ninth season, it is still set to add some new content and changes to the game.
You can read the v9.01 patch notes in full below.
Fortnite Battle Royale update v9.01 – Full patch notes
WHAT’S NEW?
Tactical Assault Rifle Tactics take the day! This robust and precise assault rifle is the ideal option for tight quarters.
The Tactical Rifle is a close quarters weapon according to Epic Games.
WEAPONS + ITEMS
- Tactical Assault Rifle
- Available in Rare, Epic, and Legendary variants.
- Available from Floor Loot, Chests, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines
- Fully Automatic
- 30 Round Magazine
- Deals 22/23/24 damage
- Headshot Multiplier of 1.75x
- This weapon has a tight spread in close quarters but is less effective at long range when compared to other Assault Rifles.
- Reduced Baller health from 200 to 150
- The primary goal of the Baller is to provide fun and exciting mobility. We feel that it still has a little too much defensive agency – this change should reduce the effectiveness there while not impacting its strengths.
- Drum Gun adjustments
- Reduced base damage from 26/27 to 22/23
- Since its unvaulting, the Drum Gun effectiveness has been slightly higher than we wanted. This change should reduce its combat effectiveness while still retaining its flavor.
- Reduced base damage from 26/27 to 22/23
- Vaulted Compact SMG
- Due to the recent addition of the Drum Gun and the brand new Tactical Assault Rifle, we wanted to reduce the availability of high rate-of-fire weapons.
LIMITED TIME MODE: WICK’S BOUNTY
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.
GAMEPLAY
- Slipstream adjustments
- Slipstreams no longer block building.
- Trying to build up to get into a Slipstream should be an easy & intuitive experience. We noticed some cases where players would build up to the Slipstream, but due to build restrictions would take a ‘leap of faith’ and not make the jump. This should make getting into a Slipstream easier.
- Players flying in a Slipstream will destroy player built objects when they collide.
- Slipstreams are now disabled after storm phase 5.
- We’ve seen a number of cases where Slipstreams caused issues during late game circles – primarily around getting pulled into the storm unexpectedly. Since the value of Slipstream mobility is limited in those scenarios, we felt it’s better to simply disable them.
- Slipstreams no longer block building.
PERFORMANCE
- Improvements made to level streaming performance on all platforms.
- This will reduce cases of buildings not loading in.
- Physics optimizations to improve performance in conduits
CREATIVE
WHAT’S NEW?
Ruined Tilted Create apocalyptic worlds using the new Ruined Tilted Themes!
Players can now use fragments of the destroyed version of Tilted Towers in Creative Mode.
WEAPONS + ITEMS
- Tactical Assault Rifle
- Available in Rare, Epic, and Legendary variants.
- Fully Automatic
- 30 Round Magazine
- Deals 22/23/24 damage
- Headshot Multiplier of 1.75x
- This weapon has a tight spread in close quarters but is less effective at long range when compared to other Assault Rifles.
- Available in Rare, Epic, and Legendary variants.
PREFABS
- 7 New Themes
- Ruined Shops
- Ruined Twin Apartments
- Ruined L Apartments
- Ruined Red Apartments
- Ruined Fish Apartments
- Ruined Basketball Court
- Ruined Clock Tower
- 3 New Galleries
- Ruined Floor Gallery
- Ruined Wall Gallery
- Scorched Gallery
When does v9.01 update go live?
Epic Games confirmed that the v9.01 update will be releasing Wednesday, May 15 at 1 AM PT / 4 AM ET / 9 AM BST.
Because it is a regular patch and not a Content Update, there will be downtime, so matchmaking will likely be disabled 20-25 minutes prior.
Get up close and personal when the v.9.01 update releases tomorrow, May 15.
Downtime begins at 4 AM ET(0800UTC).
— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) May 14, 2019
Tactical Assault Rifle
An update to the in-game announcement screen showed that the previously leaked Tactical Assault Rifle weapon would be added to the game in the v9.01 update for the possible battle royale title.
The official in-game description reads: “This robust and precise assault rifle is the idea option for tight quarters.”
According to the patch notes, the Tactical Assault Rifle is a fully automatic weapon available from Floor Loot, Chests, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines, and has a 30 round magazine with a tight spread in close quarters. The weapon’s base damage sits at 22/23/24, and has a headshot multiplier of 1.75x, meaning it should be deadly in close combat.
The Tactical Assault Rifle’s addition to the game was confirmed by the in-game news feed.
Changes to the Health and Shield bars
Epic have confirmed that they will be “tweaking” the Health and Shield bars that appear on players’ HUDs.
When Season 9 first launched, a change was implemented that caused both bats to use a red animation effect when taking damage.
This change caused a lot of confusion and frustration among players who had difficulty being able to tell the two bars apart during the heat of battle, and Epic have admitted that the change is “confusing” and will be adjusted.
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While they were not clear on what kinds of “tweaks” they were going to make, players should expect to see the changes as part of the v9.01 update.
Fortnite Battle Royale v9.01 update patch notes
The full patch notes for the v9.01 update will be added here once they are made available by Epic, which should be close to when the downtime for the update begins. Here’s what to expect:
Weapons
– Tactical Assault rifle: This robust and precise assault rifle is the ideal option for tight quarters
Health and Shield bar changes
– “Tweaks” made to how health and shield bars are displayed on players’ HUD.
Stability and Bug fixes
– Improvements to help mitigate the number of times players run into instances of buildings not properly loading in.
– Compensation for players who missed out on rewards for completing the Blackheart and Hybrid style challenges, plus a bonus!
Drum Gun nerf
One of the biggest changes to come in the v9.01 update is to one of the game’s most polarizing weapons, the Drum Gun.
Since it’s return as part of the Unvaulting event, the Drum Gun has once again become one of the game’s most lethal weapons, with many using it ahead of shotguns and even assault rifles due to it’s high rate of fire and high damage.
Popular streamers such as Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins have criticized the weapon on its return, and it appears that Epic Games have taken those complaints on board, reducing the Drum Gun’s base damage from 26/27 to 22/23, stating that they hope to “reduce the effectiveness while not impacting its strengths.”
The Drum Gun has received a major nerf in the v9.01 update,
Slipstream changes
Introduced at the start of Season 9, Slipstreams are large jets of air, located across the map, that give players new ways to rotate around the island without the use of a vehicle.
With the Slipstreams now in the game for a week, Epic Games have decided to make some adjustments, disabling them after the fifth stage of the storm in an attempt to stop players getting pulled into them and flung out of the circle.
Slipstreams will also no longer block building, which the developers believe should make it easier to access the large wind tunnels.
Last updated on May 16, 2019 at 10:00am (EST).
