Fortnite Friday: Season 6 reveal, week 1 battle pass, map changes and pets

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. Season 6 is officially upon us and there are some huge changes to the game that we have to cover.

The season 6 reveal trailer opens with the map’s biggest change, Loot Lake. For the first time in six seasons, Loot Lake is actually living up to it’s name. There’s also a new dynamic to the floating island that adds a ton of fun to the area.

Here’s the introduction video for Season 6:

The game also added pets in the form of backpack buddies. There are a range of puppies, dragons and a chameleon that you can unlock through the Battle Pass. They even react to your in-game moves, like growling when you’re in a fire fight.

Everything about season 6 seems really exciting so far and we’re excited to get into it! Let’s start with the week 1 challenges.

Free challenges

Pick up a legendary item in three different matches (0/3) – Kicking it off with an easy one, all you have to do to complete this challenge is loot. If it’s a bush, it’s as simple as picking it up and putting it back down where you left it.

Regain 150 health from a cozy campfire (0/150) – Continuing with the easy theme, this challenge requires you to set and gain health from campfires. The problem here may be finding the campfires, but playing in squads will give you more opportunity to use the fires.

Stage 1: Search 3 chests – This challenge starts off easy but gets gradually more difficult as stage two and three involve searching supply drops and a llama.

Battle pass challenges

Apply shield potion (0/500) – I feel like this one doesn’t require an explanation.

Stage 1: Land at Junk Junction (0/1) – The folks at Epic Games are handing out some gifts in the first week of battle pass. This challenge merely requires you to land at several named locations. Though easy, at least the challenges are different from previous seasons.

Dance under different streetlight spotlights (0/7) – You’ll notice a familiar tune as you approach the lit-up street lights. A faint season 3 throwback that you’ll recall from the dance challenge way back then. Here is a map of the spotlights. Get dancing.

Eliminate opponents in different named locations (0/5) – Simple task. No need to explain this one, just run through five locations and get those elims.

Update 6.0 patch notes and major changes

First and foremost, let’s cover the map changes. There are six changes in total, ranging from minor adjustment to full-blown new game play. Here’s a list of the biggest changes:

Loot Lake – Massive floating island, 1000 percent more loot, an updraft that you can use to fly, drop, escape or engage in battle. This area has been completely revamped and is now going to be one of the most visited locations, like it was in the OG season 1.

Haunted Castle – Everyone’s favorite semi-underrated drop-in, Haunted Hills, just got a huge addition. The top of the mountain above Haunted now has a massive castle on it. Hit this area often as it was good before but will be great now. Especially with squads. Oh, and right on time for Halloween!

Wailing Woods – Four cabins were added to Wailing Woods to spice up the area, the maze in the center of the Woods has been altered and the secret bunker below the Woods is open (and very fun to explore). Wailing Woods is going to be busier now that there is actually loot in it.

Corn fields – The farm fields at Fatal Fields now have corn in them, which you can run through, unseen. It’s chaos and it’s going to make for some interesting battles in the area! Great addition.

Corrupted areas – The glowing purple areas left behind from the cube are now corrupted areas that include “shadow stones.” When a shadow stone is consumed, a player becomes temporarily invisible to opponents. This is another huge game changer!

Other minor changes – Small 1×1 huts with chests in them are popping up all over the map, the villain lair and hero mansion are both crumbling and there’s a Halloween shop in Retail Row. Fortnite has been known to get into the spirit of holidays so get ready for more Halloween themed updates!

Weapon updates – The light machine guns, impulse grenade, suppressed submachine gun, bouncer and remote explosives have all been vaulted.

Cross-platform play

One of the biggest gameplay changes is that Sony finally opened up to cross-platform play. As of now, PS4, Xbox, Switch and PC can all play together.

This has been a long time coming and is great for multiple reasons. Mainly, you can now play with your friends who own Xbox systems for some strange reason (losers) or your younger cousins with Switches. Just kidding, they’re all good systems.

PETS

Perhaps one of the most exciting changes for the casual Fortnite player or animal lover has to be the addition of pets. Pets can be unlocked through battle pass (950 v-bucks) and range in various types and colors. They are worn as backpacks.

Pets also react to your gameplay. For example, they will growl if you are shooting at an opponent. Overall, they are a fun addition to the game.

Elimination of the Week

This week’s EOTW shows off some impressive work from Tfue that makes you forget how hard the game actually is.

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!