Everything new, added or changed in Fortnite’s season 6

October is coming, both IRL and in Fortnite, with Fortnite’s new Season 6 Battle Pass.

A slew of new cosmetics and game mechanics just hit Fortnite‘s incredibly popular battle royale game mode. In the spirit of Halloween, both character skins and the game map has taken a creepy turn. But to balance out the darkness, Epic Games threw in some cuteness in the form of pets that players can now carry around on their backs.

Here’s everything that’s been added or changed for season 6.

Map Changes

Similar to how season 5 added a jaunty viking’s village to the game, season 6 has made a few changes to the map as well. Most prominently, there’s a floating piece of land hovering over Loot Lake, which was turned into a giant purple bounce pad toward the end of season 5 after the mysterious glowing cube fell into it. Now, the cube has awakened and is supporting the floating island amid a swirling tornado, as seen in the announcement trailer for the new season.

Also added to the game is an area with a spooky, medieval castle. To confirm that Halloween has arrived in Fortnite, a Halloween store has appeared in Retail Row.

Additionally, Wailing Woods has also been effected, with portions of it corrupted by more glowing cubes which have spawned mini cubes known as Shadow Stones. More on what Shadow Stones do below.

More changes to the map are sure to be discovered as players become comfort with season 6, and Epic Games will most likely also be adding more changes as the season progresses.

Game Mechanics

Shadow Stones are Fortnite’s newest consumable item, and it may be their most inventive one yet. Just in time for the Halloween season, Shadow Stones will turn a player temporarily into a smokey purple ghost. When standing still, the player will turn completely invisible to enemies.

Ghosting around in wraith form may help you get a slight jump on enemies, but while in shadow form you won’t be able to pull out a weapon. In order to engage opponents, you’ll have to exit your wraith form, which can be done by simply aiming down the sight of a weapon. If you have no intention of engaging in battle while as a ghost, you’ll be able to enjoy the wraith form for 45 seconds before you switch back to your regular form.

Your visibility isn’t the only thing unique about Shadow Stones. The game mechanic also comes with an ability called Phase, which allows you to propel yourself quickly forward in whatever direction you are facing and to morph through walls, a handy technique that may nab you kills and scares at the same time. You can use Phase to fly yourself straight up into the air to get a better aerial view, but make sure you’re back near the ground before your 45 seconds are up. You can and will eliminate yourself if you return to your regular form too high up in the air.

While in ghost form, you will be able to take rifts. However, you won’t get the option to launch your chute as you’re barreling down to the ground. Don’t worry, you won’t die. Once you get back to earth, you’ll simply resume your ghosting.

New Cosmetics

Two character skins lead the way for Season 6: Calamity and Dire. Both of these skins are ones that morph into more intricate versions of themselves as you level up your Battle Pass. Calamity starts as a simple cowgirl in a tank top and shorts, and ends as a black-clad and face-masked outlaw. Dire goes from man to werewolf.

The other new skins of the season also have a Halloween-themed flavor. There’s Fable, a girl dressed very similarly to Little Red Riding Hood. There’s Dusk, a pale-skinned woman in a black bustier that oozes sexy vampire vibes. There’s DJ Yonder, a man clad in illuminated pants and an electronic llama mask a la Daft Punk. There’s Nightshade, a woman with a tomato-head in a black cloak. And, arguably the best new skin of the season, there’s Giddy-Up, a man dressed in a costume that makes it look like he’s riding the Fortnite llama. Giddy-Up even has his very own emote exclusive to the skin where he pats his llama and gives it a tender kiss.

But for once, skins aren’t the most important addition that comes with a new season. This time it’s the addition of pets. Equipped as back bling, players can now carry around either a puppy, a chameleon, or a dragon in what looks like an unzipped cooler.

The pets don’t change anything about gameplay, but they will react to different situations in the game, like looking determinedly forward at your enemy when you aim down a gun sight. They can also make noises. The puppy will bark while the little dragon occasionally exhales fire. The chameleon changes colors.

Each pet comes with multiple different colorings, which means they can easily be changed to match any character skin. At the end of the day, pets are quickly becoming known as the best thing that Epic has ever added to Fortnite and they will probably be the only thing you’ll ever equip on your back moving forward. With how cute that puppy is, we are not complaining.