Fortnite Hotfix Patch Vaults A Bunch Of Weapons [Update]

Following on the heels of Fortnite's 10.20 content update, developer Epic Games has made a few more tweaks to the popular battle royale shooter. The 10.20.2 hotfix is now live on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Switch, and mobile, and it vaults a handful of weapons and makes numerous other gameplay adjustments. Read on for the patch notes. [Update: Fortnite update 10.30 is out now with its own, much more extensive set of patch notes. It adds a new Rift Zone among a variety of other things, and it's live on all platforms.]

First, three guns--the Combat Shotgun, Drum Shotgun, and Proximity Launcher--have been moved into the vault, which means they've effectively been removed from the game. As always, there is a chance the guns could be re-added to Fortnite in the future, but for the time being, you won't find them in the Battle Royale mode.

Those aren't the only weapon changes. The Suppressed Assault Rifle has been unvaulted; it's available in Epic and Legendary variants. Epic has also increased the damage dished out by the Automatic Sniper. "The Automatic Sniper was underperforming relative to some of the other Sniper Rifles. This adjustment to damage should make it more desirable as an alternative long-range weapon," Epic said.

Additionally, Epic has made more tweaks to the controversial BRUTE mechs; now they'll spawn less during storm phases 3-6. The developer has also increased the "duration of spiciness" of peppers to 60 seconds, and reduced the availability of Obelisks at Retail Row. You can see the full patch notes for the hotfix below courtesy of Epic's website.

Fortnite's aforementioned 10.20 content update added a new item to the game, the Zapper Trap, and also brought back another familiar element from a past season: the Floating Island. Fortnite's Week 6 challenges are also now live. This set is called Boogie Down, and most of the tasks revolve around dancing. You can find maps and guides in our complete Fortnite Season 10 challenges roundup.

Fortnite: Battle Royale 10.20.2 Hotfix Patch Notes

Weapons & Items

Vaulted

• Combat Shotgun
• Drum Shotgun
• Proximity Launcher

Unvaulted

• Suppressed Assault Rifle (Epic/Legendary)

Automatic Sniper

• The Automatic Sniper was underperforming relative to some of the other Sniper Rifles. This adjustment to damage should make it more desirable as an alternative long-range weapon.
  • Increased damage from 31/33/35 to 40/42/44

Gameplay

B.R.U.T.E

Lowered the spawn rate of the B.R.U.T.E in Storm phases 3-6 in core modes. Arena spawn rates will remain unchanged.

• With this change, we’re hoping to reduce the impact of B.R.U.T.Es on late-game scenarios, while retaining their presence in the early game.
  • Storm phase 3
    • New spawn rates
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 0
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 1
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 2
    • Old spawn rates
      • 25% chance to spawn 0
      • 25% chance to spawn 1
      • 25% chance to spawn 2
      • 25% chance to spawn 3
  • Storm phase 4
    • New spawn rates
      • 50% chance to spawn 0
      • 50% chance to spawn 1
    • Old spawn rates
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 0
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 1
      • 33.3% chance to spawn 2
  • Storm phase 5
    • New spawn rates
      • 83.4% chance to spawn 0
      • 16.6% chance to spawn 1
    • Old spawn rates
      • 50% chance to spawn 0
      • 50% chance to spawn 1
  • Storm phase 6
    • New spawn rates
      • Will no longer spawn.
    • Old spawn rates
      • 90% chance to spawn 0
      • 10% chance to spawn 1

Peppers

• Increased the duration of spiciness from Peppers to a 60-second duration from a 20-second duration.

Retail Row

• This POI is intended to be a high-risk, high-reward drop location, but we feel the reward has outweighed the risk. By reducing the availability of Obelisks, gathering rare loot will require a little more time investment.
  • Reduced the maximum number of Spawn Obelisks from 7 to 5.
  • Increased the time before Spawn Obelisks respawn to a max of 30 seconds (previously a max of 5 seconds).
    • The respawn timer for Spawn Obelisks is on a loop and time may vary between 1-30 seconds.
  • Decreased the chance to drop Rocket Launchers from destroyed Spawn Obelisks from 18.46% to 10%
  • Decreased the chance to drop Jump Pads from destroyed Spawn Obelisks from 50% to 40%