Fortnite Friday: Battle pass week 5, new LTM, the shotgun is BACK!

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. Let this go down as one of the great days in Fortnite history: The shotgun is back!

On Tuesday, Epic Games released update patch v5.2 and with it came some big changes. A fun new LTM, a C4 nerf, and most importantly, a brand new double barrel shotgun. It’s easily the most powerful weapon in the game right now (at extremely close range).

Another welcomed addition was making incomplete challenges viewable on the map screen. Now, when you open your map, you’ll be able to see what battle pass or daily challenges you still need to complete.

Before we get into the fun stuff, here are the weekly battle pass challenges.

Free challenges

Search chests at Junk Junction (0/7)

Given that there are challenges at both Junk Junction and Haunted Hills this week, this portion of the map is sure to be very busy. Make sure you land near a weapon before running around searching for chests as you’re sure to meet others in the near vicinity.

Use rift portals (0/3) 

This challenge is pretty self-explanatory. The Viking base (or Valhalla as we call it) has a ton of rifts so land there if you want to knock this challenge out in one sitting. Here is a map of the rest of the rift locations.

Eliminate three opponents in a single match (HARD) (0/3)

This challenge is slightly more difficult than elimination challenges in the past, especially if you aren’t particularly good at eliminating opponents (which is who we’ll focus on for this guide).

If you aren’t regularly getting three eliminations per match, play more squads. The ability to be revived will give you a better chance at completing this challenge. It’s also easier to get eliminations when you have multiple people shooting at enemies.

If you aren’t getting three eliminations per match because you rarely see three opponents, land in a busier spot. It’s easy to get four or five eliminations at Tilted Towers if you just land on a rooftop and grab the first weapon available before anyone else gets it.

Battle pass challenges

Deal damage with clingers, stink bombs or grenades (0/300)

This challenge is relatively easy, especially if you complete it in the 50v50 LTM (cheater). The increase in grenade-related challenges this season seem to be Epic’s way of pushing the explosives. They are a very useful tool, especially when taking out bases at the end of games, so keep working on that lob trajectory.

Hit a golf ball from tee to green on different holes (0/5) 

Can we please add the ability to actually play golf to the game? Right now the ball disappears after a few seconds but how amazing would it be if players could play out a round at Lazy Links? Please make this a thing, Epic.

This challenge isn’t as difficult as it seems. Perhaps try to clear the area before you start golfing though, otherwise you’ll be out in the open and it’ll be easy for enemies to take you out.

Follow the treasure map at Snobby Shores (HARD) (0/1)

The treasure map is very clearly of Haunted Hills and the battle star is located in the Northeast building next to the large church. The building usually spawns two chests.

Eliminate opponents in Shifty Shafts (HARD) (0/3)

Players have mixed reviews about this challenge. It was featured in season 4 and personally, I love it. Running through the shafts with a shotgun or any other close-range weapon you can grab-and-go is a blast. The key here is finding a shotgun, as they are the best in tight quarters.

Update v5.2 patch notes and news

Double Barrel shotgun – In an attempt to mend fences with Fortnite‘s avid shotgun users, Epic gifted us the greatest shotgun of them all in the new double barrel shotgun. The new weapon is an absolute beast in close range, shelling out 143-150 damage based on rare or epic variants. This is a one-shot elimination in close quarters.

C4 (remote explosive) nerf – C4 is the net weapon being phased out of the game as it was proving to be a little too powerful for Epic’s liking. The C4 drops now only provide three explosives (down from four) and the maximum carry amount has been reduced from 10 to six. It seems epic is pushing grenades this season.

Vending machine… nerf? – In an attempt to get players to use vending machines more often, spawn rates have been brought up and material prices have been lowered. Here are the new prices for the different vending machines:

• Common – From 100 to 75
• Uncommon – From 200 to 150
• Rare – From 300 to 225
• Epic – From 400 to 300
• Legendary – From 500 to 375

These are very welcomed changes. Seeing a legendary or epic vending machine early in the game was nearly useless as it required time to collect 400 or 500 of whatever material you needed. Now with the max being 375, any vending machine is in play.

Other minor adjustments were made and can be found in the patch notes here.

Weapon and building balance – Well, this is a bit of a nightmare, but the ridiculously powerful P90 (compact SMG) had to be nerfed. It’s damage was dropped from 22 to 21 (Legendary) and 21 to 20 (Epic). It’s magazine now holds 40 rounds, down 10 from its previous total.

For some reason, Epic also destroyed the drum gun (a near-perfect weapon we all loved). Damage, accuracy and spawn rate were all lowered for this weapon.

Thankfully, the developers did give us something in return, by slightly increasing the strength of buildings, which they had slashed in previous weeks. Here are the notes from the Aug. 9 balance update.

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Limited time game modes

50v50 and Playground mode are still around, as the two remain the most popular (and efficient) LTMs. Epic added a brand new LTM this week: Steady Storm.

In the Steady Storm LTM, the storm begins at the beginning of the match, closing in slowly over a 15 minute span of time, leaving you guessing as to where the final area will be. The storm travels extremely slow, but will knock off 10 hp per second if you’re caught in it, which can be devastating.

Elimination of the week

This week’s EOTW comes from the great one himself, who is still way better than you at Fortnite. Wow.

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!