Fortnite’s patch 8.20 is live

Epic Games has just released patch 8.20 for Fortnite, making several changes and tweaks to gameplay as well as introducing additional new content. The new limited time mode, The Floor is Lava, is the most notable addition, which I’m informed is a rather popular game in school playgrounds. The Fortnite version will unsurprisingly see players avoiding the floor and rising lava, which will raise from the lowest parts of the map, making it more difficult to loot and take on other players.

A new Trap will also be added to your arsenal of unsavory ways to kill people. The Poison Dart Trap fires darts at people (believe it or not), and can be placed on walls, floors, and ceilings. The darts can trigger from three grid cells away and do damage over time to health, with the poison part of the trap bypassing a players shield.

Three new forged items have also been added. Eating a banana will grant five health, consuming a coconut five heath/shield over time, and munching a pepper gives five health and a speed increase for a short time.

The other major change is to the Baller Vehicle, which Epic has stated dissatisfaction about the late game use of it. The Baller will now no longer damage players on collision, and in the next patch players will be able to shoot through the vehicles glass. The knockback/bounce effects will remain unchanged.

Fortnite v8.20 is live and available now on PC, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS and Android. I’m looking forward to trying out the new Floor is Lava game mode; if the popularity of the game among children in general is anything to go by we can expect it to be winner, even if it’s just for a short time.  

Check out all of the gameplay changes in patch 8.20 below, or check out everything included here.

LIMITED TIME MODE: FLOOR IS LAVA

Summary
Lava gradually rises from the lowest parts of the map, and it’s hot! Drop in and quickly loot and gather materials so you can be the first to reach the high ground.

Mode Details

• A few minutes into the match, the lava will begin to rise.
• The lava moves at a steady speed until the entire map is covered.
• Touching the lava will apply damage directly to your health and bounce you up in the air.
• You can build on the lava.
• Players will be given a small number of materials every second, to help out in those “entire map is on fire” situations.

WEAPONS + ITEMS

• The Baller no longer applies damage to players on collision.
  • The knockback/bounce effect will remain unchanged.
• Future Baller Iterations
  • We’ve noticed a lot of discussion around the Baller, so here’s an update!
  • We’re not satisfied with the current use of Ballers, specifically in the late game. With the v8.30 update, we will release a change that will allow players to shoot through the glass of The Baller.
    • Non-glass parts will still have collision and block damage from bullets.
• Siphon/Material Changes
  • In v7.40 we implemented a few Pop-up Cup settings as a test in core modes. After monitoring a combination of gameplay, data, and feedback, we’ve gathered necessary info to conclude this initial test. We feel it has resulted in an unhealthy level of aggressive play, diminishing other viable strategies. The following changes have been reverted in all core modes:
    • 50 Health (or Shield) based on your health when the Elimination occurs.
    • 50/50/50 materials dropped on Elimination.
    • 500/500/500 Cap on materials.
    • Harvest rate increased by 40%
    • That said, these mechanics have proven to be positive in our competitive playlists. All changes above remain enabled in the new Arena Game Mode.
• Infantry Rifle
  • Converted to hitscan, meaning this weapon no longer fires projectiles (snipers) and now fires the same as other Assault Rifles.
  • Base damage reduced from 45/42 to 42/40.
  • Uses the same damage fall off profile as existing assault rifles.
• Poison Dart Trap
  • Available in Uncommon Rarity.
  • Can be placed on walls, floors, and ceilings.
  • Found from Floor Loot.
  • Can be triggered up to three grid cells away.
  • Fires Poison Dart projectiles a distance of three horizontal grid cells (four vertical grid cells).
  • Targets hit by darts will receive a damage-over-time effect that applies damage directly to health, bypassing any shields.
    • 10 health damage per tick.
    • 8 total ticks over 7 seconds for a total damage of 80.
    • Subsequent hits will refresh the duration of the effect, but the amount of damage per tick does not change.
• New Foraged Items
  • Bananas
    • Instantly grant 5 health when consumed.
    • Can be found in the tropical biome.
  • Coconuts
    • Foraged by damaging palm trees.
    • When consumed, Coconuts grant 5 points of effective health over a short time. That means it will replenish shields if the player is at max health.
    • Can be found in tropical and desert biomes.
  • Peppers
    • When consumed, peppers instantly grant 5 health and also increase the player’s movement speed by 20% for 10 seconds.
    • Can be found in the desert biome.
• The Buried Treasure directional indicator is now attached to the player and emanates from the area of the treasure map in order to improve visibility, especially while moving.
  • The indicator will continue to pulse every 3 seconds while the item is equipped.
• Pirate Cannon adjustments
  • Adjusted the collision of the Pirate Cannon to ensure the driver’s seat is always enterable without needing to nudge the cannon.
  • Moved the seat prompt locations for easier entry into the cannon.
  • Increased the radius of cannonballs and player land explosions from 200 units to 250 units.
  • Reduced cannon impulse/knockback when firing a cannonball while driving or when launching a player. This is unchanged when coasting.
• Adjusted the equip time of the Epic / Legendary Pump Shotgun to match the Uncommon / Rare versions.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue where Clingers were damaging players through walls when stuck to another player.
• Fixed an issue preventing Glider item pickups from displaying their stack count.
• Smoothed out the motion of grenade projectile trajectories, which were lagging behind by a tick.
• Balloon Fixes
  • Entering a vehicle no longer plays the release sound of balloons if you have no balloons.
  • The balloon rope will no longer remain on your back when you run out of balloons.
• Pirate Cannon Fixes
  • Fixed an issue where players were flying out of a Pirate Cannon in a different direction than expected.
  • Fixed an issue preventing the ability to enter a Pirate Cannon when close to other geometry.
  • Fixed the ability for players to finely tune Pirate Cannon’s ability to aim side to side.
• Fixed an issue causing Buried Treasure to spawn loot on the Starting Island.

GAMEPLAY

• Marker pings are now allowed while DBNO.
• Added a unique elimination message when eliminated by a Lava surface.
• Increased relevancy distance for players being able to see explosions.
• That’s not all! Increased infinite dab from 13 hours to 14 hours in the lobby.

Bug Fixes

• Fixed an issue with the icy feet effect remaining on indefinitely while emoting.
• Traps now do damage directly to The Baller vehicle instead of dealing damage to the driver.
• Fixed issue causing some traps to be inside thicker structures, making them hard to see.
• Fixed a rare occurrence of a player being invulnerable while DBNO.
• Fixed the camera sometimes traveling too far when cycling to another player.

EVENTS

• New Feature: Arena Game Mode (Solo & Duos)
  • Compete any time and gain ‘Hype’ to advance to higher leagues and unlock exclusive tournaments, such as the Fortnite World Cup Online Opens.
  • Each League is broken up into several Divisions, with players working their way from Open League to Contender League to Champion League.
  • Scoring will update from division to division, with an increasing amount of Bus Fare lost with each match at higher divisions.
  • Note: Matchmaking in Arena is based on players with similar Hype. As a result, players in higher divisions may experience longer than normal wait times before a match is found.
• New Tournament: Luxe Cup (March 30th & 31st) [$100,000 in Cash Prizes!]
  • Duos Game Mode
  • Participation in this event requires players to have reached Contender League in Arena play prior to the start of the event.
  • The prize pool will be distributed across all server regions, with official rules and details released later this week.
  • Format:
    • March 30th – Round One: All Eligible Players
    • March 31st – Round Two: Top 3000 Players from Round One