Fortnite Friday: Week 9 battle pass challenges, playground LTM (finally), season 5 teaser

Fortnite Friday is a weekly review of what is going on in the world of Fortnite. We cover the battle pass challenges, new game modes and any update information you need to know.

Fortnite Friday is a weekly column covering everything happening around the popular 100-person multiplayer showdown game, Fortnite Battle Royale. We’re seeing more hints and more map changes as the countdown to the rocket launch winds down and season 5 can’t come soon enough.

End-of-season weeks are extremely fun in the world of Fortnite. The buzz leading in to the new season, the rush to get the level 100 battle pass skin and the teases of what to expect at season’s change. It’s all very exciting.

Most importantly, though, we want you to get all your rewards. Let’s jump into the week 9 battle pass challenges right away.

Battle pass challenges: Week 9

Deal explosive damage to opponents (0/500) – Start tossing those grenades! This challenge will be much easier to complete if you have a rocket or grenade launcher, however you can do a great deal of damage if you hold on to grenades, stickies and c4. Try the c4 shopping cart — It’s a lot of fun and you can knock out two challenges at once!

https://twitter.com/BrycenGalbraith/status/1004545486316036098

Search chests in Moisty Mire (0/7) – Moisty Mire will see some action this week. The area is packed with chests but they are spread out sporadically and can be difficult to travel to because of the sludge. Pick either new or old Moisty and try to get a few chests per match. (Hint: Both the large tree and the treehouse at old Moisty often spawn two chests each.)

Use a shopping cart (0/1) – This may be the hardest challenge of the week, given that Epic keeps taking the damn things out of the game! The shopping carts are back now so collect your easy battle stars in your next match.

Visit the center of named locations in a single match (0/4) – This is similar to the previous challenge that had us visiting the center of the storm three times in a match. This challenge will be slightly easier though. Pick any four named locations and visit the center of them in a match.

Choose an outer area of the map with two locations close-by as you will be able to get the next two while working your way in. Junk Junction/Haunted Hills or Risky Reels/Wailing Woods would be good starting points for this challenge as there are many named locations on the way in to the center from these areas.

Follow the treasure map found at Haunted Hills (HARD) (0/1) – Epic Games threw a curveball at the last minute and switched out a couple of the challenges. Perhaps they are saving some challenges for next week, perhaps they wanted to troll the dataminers who have been leaking the challenges beforehand. Either way, here is your battle star:

Shotgun eliminations (HARD) (0/4) – This is mislabeled “hard” when really it is pretty simple. Get in close with other players and fire away. You should be getting a few shotgun eliminations per session anyway.

Eliminate opponents in Anarchy Acres – The lesser version of Fatal Fields (don’t @ me) is the focus of this week’s elimination location. Drop down to one of the barns, or the house if you want instant action, and start shooting.

Limited time game modes

Playground LTM – Finally, a way to practice your building skills and work through strategy with your friends! Fortnite fans have been waiting for a playground mode for some time now and we’ve finally gotten it (albeit with some server issues that will be resolved soon).

In playground mode, your squad of four can explore the map, practice building, work through strategies and friendly-fire upon each other in the ultimate Fortnite practice mode. You respawn immediately so open fire early and often! The possibilities here are endless so we’re bound to see some interesting videos on Instagram and Twitter in the coming weeks.

Final Fight: Teams of 12 – This game mode is similar to the other larger-squad LTM’s we’ve seen in the past but in Final Fight, the storm stops shrinking after a certain amount of time. Once the storm stops, a countdown begins and the team with the most members left when time runs out wins the match. It’s a fun game mode to mix in once in a while.

Update v4.5 patch notes and news

Dual pistols – The newest weapon added to Fortnite is actually an old weapon, doubled up. The pistol is underrated, especially in close-proximity battles. Providing twice the firepower was a great move by Epic as these Epic and Legendary weapons are sure to pack a punch.

Shopping Carts – Carts are back in the game once again after being removed, put back, removed, put back… you get it. Hopefully the bugs are finally fixed and we can get back to enjoying our cart rides for the rest of time.

Map changes – A new building is in the process of being built at Tilted Towers. It’s still under construction and the area is great for wood as there are pallets all over the place. The greenery continues to grow at Dusty Divot as well, providing more cover when having to cross the vulnerable area. Thank God. The entire list of changes is available in the thread below, but here is the new Tilted building:

The update contained a ton of small changes and Epic seems to be having some issues with  new bugs over the last two days. Hopefully they will sort out these problems quickly so you can get back to playing uninterrupted.

There are a handful of other bug fixes and weapon adjustments from v4.5 that you can read about here.

Skin teaser – Fortnite dataminers @TwoEpicBuddies seem to have uncovered some of the skins from the upcoming season 5. While these are not confirmed, they look great.

Elimination of the week

This week’s EOTW is a stressful watch. We’ve all been in this position, and most of us have been eliminated by it. Thankfully, @patrickkm23 was calm, cool and collected enough to throw up a trap for the winning kill.

Next: Each State's Nominee for America's Team

If you come across anything we might have missed or have any ideas on what should be included in these posts in the future, hit me on Twitter @TheRealBruin. Until next week!