We’re only a few days into week 2 of Fortnite’s season 5. With all the changes happening around us, what better time to react and review what’s new! Since things are bound to change drastically, let’s keep this as brief as possible.
New Areas
As with season 4, season 5 teased many changes to the map. As we guessed, alongside many of you in our predictions/wishlist post, a desert biome was added to the map.
Paradise Palms
The most extreme change to the map occurred in the Southeastern part of the map with the introduction of Paradise Palms. Paradise is massive. It replaces Moisty Mire, my season 3 favorite drop spot (before it was leveled by the asteroids) – Prison, and upgraded the track with pavement and official racetrack buildings. (Just realized as I’m writing this that Epic also got rid of the giant crab structure south of Moisty…RIP)
It feels and plays like Pleasant Park had a child with Snooby Shores with the activity of Tilted Towers. It’s a great alternative to get lots of traffic and loot opportunities.
Lazy Links
Since we are in the grieving mood, hopefully everyone said their goodbyes to anarchy acres. I figured they might get rid of one of the farms (Fatal Fields being the other option) because they were practically mirror images of one another. I’m glad that Fatal won this virtual coin flip as it continues to be one of my favorite drops.
Lazy Links is a golf course which offers a 9 holes of open space. In many ways it plays similar to Anarchy in its openness and scarcity of buildings. It also provides an opportunity to utilize other changes introduced in season 5, covered below.
Viking ship
One of the themes that many speculated would be in this new season was Vikings. Turns out, that was only a small slice of the pie. Ignoring the logic of how it got there, the mountain north of Greasy Grove is now home to a Nordic town showcasing a viking ship at its center.
I really like this addition as that mountain was a cold spot in previous seasons, with very few players landing there each game. It was a barren drop with one house and is too high to climb in a typical rotation. Now we have an exciting point of interest looking over towns in every direction.
Dusty Divot
Dusty has been perhaps the most volatile point of interest in Fortnite’s map. First, it was nearly decimated by the main asteroid, reducing it from 3 sheds down to 1.5. Then the crater began to sprout with greenery as the number of trees increased throughout season 4.
In season 5, Dusty sports a forest that could rival the mats potential of a Wailing Woods. These trees provide great cover for a location which had previously been a death trap. With minor adjustments to the buildings, Dusty feels brand new… again.
Getting Around
Player 274 died in the storm.
In theory, we should see less messages like this because of two major additions to mobility added this season.
Rifts
The first was previewed in a similar fashion to the asteroids, with rifts appearing around the map and in the sky at the previous season’s end.
Rifts, which spawn around the map, are essentially portals to the sky above you, providing an opportunity to redeploy your glider and float down to other areas of the map. They act like launch pads but don’t require you to build up. Awesome ways to reposition yourself or escape the storm.
All Terrain Karts
“Fortnite will never add vehicles! It will break the game.”
“Vehicles will make fortnite just like PUBG!” ~ Us
“Hold our beer” ~ Epic Games
I definitely thought Epic was done with the shopping carts, but I couldn’t have been the only one thinking we need a way to get the whole squad involved outside of simply two carts.
Welp…
Sticking with the golf course and dessert theme, the fine folks at Epic blessed us with a cross between a golf cart and ATV. As a cherry on top, they added the ability to drift (and charge the drift into a boost) like you can in Mario Kart. What more do I need to say?
Oh, the carts can go through the rifts as well.
Other changes
Submachine Gun
The tactical smg has been replaced by a submachine gun. All in all, it’s not that crazy of a change. Close-quarters fighting is constantly being adjusted to ensure a fair experience and I don’t have too many complaints with the changes that Epic has made to balance things out from the extremely shotgun heavy gameplay from previous seasons.
New Emotes
Characters can now shoot a basketball, set a volleyball, and hit a golf ball via newly added emotes. Just another way to goof around on the island and, as we are seeing already in week 2, provided more options for challenges.
End Circles
Lastly, the change to final circles.
No longer do circles simply shrink in size within the previous circle boundaries. Now, they move into areas that the storm has already encompassed.
This, in my opinion, is one of the best changes they’ve ever made. Now the final circles are equally frantic and strategic since camping in the center may no longer be viable. Late-game plays will be much more dynamic and positional strength can change in a heartbeat. I’ve already had my own and witnessed other peoples’ plays that otherwise would not have happened in the ‘old days’.
Your Thoughts?
That’s it for now. So much for being brief…
- What do you love and hate about the new season?
- What more would you like to see in this season and beyond?
Apparently, there’s a pyramid under loot lake… Hmm…
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