Fortnite v5.21 Patch Notes - New Heavy Sniper Rifle, Soaring 50's LTM

News by James Billcliffe Guides Editor

Published on Sept. 12, 2018

The new Fortnite v5.21 patch is a quick one this week, but there’s still an interesting new weapon inbound along with the usual LTM. Save the World players can look forward to a new Constructor, Thora, too.

Fortnite v5.21 Patch Notes:

Heavy Sniper Rifle:

The Heavy Sniper Rifle makes its way into Battle Royale, and it’s an interesting one. Its large rounds deal a meaty 150/157 damage to players and a massive 1050/1100 damage to buildings.

A building damage archetype for weapons is quite underexplored in Battle Royale, and could help to shake up the base-heavy endgame by giving you more options to attack your opponents.

The Heavy Sniper Rifle comes in Epic and Legendary variants and can be found in all the usual places - like floor loot and chests.

You’ll get a chance to test it out in the returning Sniper Shootout LTM.

Soaring 50’s LTM:

With Soaring 50’s, the good ol’ 50v50 mode is getting a bit of a revamp. Now you’ll be able to redeploy your glider whenever you fall from a large height, including Impulse Grenades and Bounce Pads.

Hopefully this will give players more tools to get to the small Storm Circle in 50v50. Since there’s less immediate pressure on you the mode is popular with people completing weekly challenges, which can mean almost half your team end up dropping on the wrong side of the map to ride through flaming hoops, shoot clay pigeons or some such, then get lost to the storm.

The mode needed a bit of fine tuning, and extra mobility always seems to add some extra zip to the tried-and-true Fortnite formula.

This is the first week that Fortnite Android beta players can get a taste of the weekly drop, now that it’s finally live on the platform.

The full patch notes are below:

BATTLE ROYALE

LIMITED TIME MODE: SOARING 50’S
Summary
This mode is a twist on the traditional 50 vs 50 mode, featuring an extra emphasis on mobility. Gliders can be re-deployed when falling from large heights. Additional Impulse Grenades, Bounce Pads, and Launch Pads will be spawned throughout the map. Jump in and soar to new heights!

Mode Details

50v50 loot, ammo and resource levels
When in mid-air and greater than 10m up, press Jump to deploy your glider
Added Impulse Grenades to chests at double the standard spawn rate
Added Impulse Grenades to floor loot
Decreased Spike Trap spawn chances
Increased Launch Pad & Bounce Pad spawn chances
Profile Stats (K/D & Wins) are not tracked in this mode.

LIMITED TIME MODE: SNIPER SHOOTOUT
Summary
In this limited time mode, players will do battle using sniper rifles. May the best aim win!

What's New?
Scoped Assault Rifles have been removed.
The Heavy Sniper Rifle has been added.

Mode Details

Only weapon drops are Sniper Rifles.
Floor Loot spawns reduced by 50%.
Profile Stats (K/D & Wins) are tracked in this mode.

WEAPONS + ITEMS
Heavy Sniper added
Available in Epic and Legendary variants.
Can be found from floor loot, chests, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines.
Each shot delivers devastating damage at the cost of a long reload.
Deals 150/157 damage to players.
These large rounds deal increased damage (1050/1100) to buildings.
Projectiles fired from the Heavy Sniper have less bullet drop in comparison to other Snipers.

Minigun
Minigun headshot multiplier has been reduced from 2.5 to 1.5.

Bug Fixes
Grenades now properly grant progress for the Week 5 Challenge: “Deal damage to players with a Clinger, Stink Bomb, or Grenade.”

ART + ANIMATION
Cloth physics have been fixed and will now appear properly.

SAVE THE WORLD

MISSIONS + SYSTEMS

Weekly Horde Challenge - Bullet Proof Husks
Features bulletproof enemies that must be defeated with melee weapons, traps, or Hero abilities.
One time completion Quest Reward
1500 Gold
Repeatable quest reward
75 Tickets
Removed the Power Rating restrictions on Challenge the Horde missions.
These restrictions were blocking some players from accessing the Weekly Challenge Missions even though their Power Level was at the necessary level.

Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where the modifier between Challenge the Horde missions wasn’t appearing between waves.
The Constructor Leadership quest will no longer fail to advance when purchasing the skill tree node.
Atlas activation has been fixed in multi-gate Fight the Storm missions.
Track completion now advances the mission properly in Level 28 Deliver the Bomb.
Survivors and quest items no longer appear as orange boxes in the world.

HEROES
New Constructor Machinist: Thora added to the Event Store.
Available Wednesday, August 15th at 8pm ET.

GAMEPLAY
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue that could cause Rocket Launchers to take up a large portion of the screen.