5 things to know from Fortnite’s season 5 patch notes

The rifts in Fortnite’s sky that have brought items from the game’s world into our own have spread, and now characters from different times in history or ready to do battle. Season five is here, and with it come a variety of changes that invite exploration and even more conspiracy theories about what exactly is going on in the game.

“Viking ships, desert outposts, and ancient statues have appeared across the island,” the Fortnite team wrote in the official patch notes for season five. “Hop in an All Terrain Kart (ATK) with your squad and uncover all-new mysteries and locations that await.”

If you wanted answers, I think you’re going to be disappointed. If you were in the mood for even more questions, however, we have some pretty good news for you.

Let’s explore the five biggest details from this extensive update.

Fortnite has a new vehicle

The All Terrain Kart emphasizes teamwork, and it’s going to be fun to watch squads wrestle with working together to use the vehicle to its utmost.

“Work together as rear passengers to leap over obstacles with the All Terrain Kart (ATK),” the Fortnite team explains. “Lean back and release at the same time for a higher jump ... Lean back by holding S on keyboards or holding back on the thumbstick for controllers.”

Epic Games

The kart is a fun vehicle to drive, especially when you get a bunch of people wiggling their hips back in forth in time to imaginary music. The passenger can also build while they’re being driven around, which opens up some interesting possibilities to competitive play. Having a portable bounce pad that you can drive around could also disrupt some of the vertical battles you often see in Fortnite.

You don’t need a Battle Pass to get weekly challenges

Fortnite’s Battle Pass is one of the best values in gaming, but Epic Games is now giving players who don’t pay a bit more to do.

“Weekly challenges are now split into two sections, free and Battle Pass,” the team states. “The first three challenges will be available for free while the last four are only available if you own the Battle Pass. The threshold to unlock the weekly challenge reward will remain at four.”

This is good news for players who don’t want to pay the 950 V-Bucks for the Battle Pass, while still giving players a good incentive to pay for the upgrade. This is one of those rare situations where everyone wins, and I’m into it.

The rifts make battles much more chaotic

The rifts that popped up around the map after the rocket launch in-game event were mysterious, and led and much speculation about what they were for and where they would lead.

“Test your courage and step through a Rift,” is all the patch notes say. “You’re in for a wild ride.”

Epic Games

So what happens when you do so? So far, it’s been warping us somewhere near the rift, but you warp back in high up in the sky and drop back down to earth. Again, this could be a major disruption to the large, vertical fights that you often see in the game, and rifts could give players another tactical option if they’re pinned down near one.

You’ll have more time with your challenges

Some players were grumpy about the time crunch that came from trying to reach level 80 in season four to unlock all the cosmetic options, and Epic has listened. Those challenges will now no longer be limited to a single season.

“Starting in Season 5, progressive challenges will no longer be restricted to a single season,” the Fortnite team says. “You can now complete progressive challenges at your own pace.”

And your season level is going to be taken out of the equation completely. “Progressive challenges are now completed by acquiring a fixed amount of XP and is no longer dependent on your season level,” according to the patch notes.

Hopefully this will calm players who felt like they had to grind through the last few weeks of season four to get all their rewards.

The Switch version gets motion controls

Fortnite is a great fit on the Nintendo Switch, and this update brings motion controls so you can waggle your Joy-Cons to aim at your enemies with a bit more precision. This isn’t huge news, but it’s one of the features that players have been asking for since that version of the game was released, along with the ability to use their Epic Games account even if they’ve played on the PlayStation 4.

Well, we got one of those wishes! You can adjust these options in the settings menu.

What else?

We don’t know yet! That’s one of the fun parts of this latest season; the patch notes clearly aren’t interested in telling us exactly what’s going on. We won’t know exactly how the map has been adjusted until we start to play, which is going to make the first day of season five quite the adventure.

See you online!