Fortnite Patch Notes: Everything New In 7.20 Content Update, Including Sneaky Snowman

The latest Fortnite patch is now live, launching just days after the start of the Ice Storm event. This week's patch comes in the form of a content update that expands on what we got with last week's 7.20 update. It makes adjustments to various items and also introduces a new one, the Sneaky Snowman, vaults several weapons, and adds a limited-time mode. Here are the patch notes detailing what's new and different.

The very brief video below sums it up fairly well, but in short, the Sneaky Snowman is a wearable disguise not unlike the bush. It's a Common rarity item and can be found as floor loot or in chests and supply llamas. They drop in stacks of five (you can hold up to 10), and the reason for that is you can opt to wear it (by pressing Secondary Fire) or you can throw it (with Primary Fire) to create a destructible snowman. This way, your opponents will never be sure if a snowman they come across is an actual player or just a decoy.

Of course, enemies can destroy these snowmen by shooting them, but they have 100 health, so dispatching them won't be as simple as shooting them once. When worn, they function as a shield but are destroyed if the wearer switches to another item or goes into building mode. You can, however, still move around as usual; just be prepared to shed the new look if you want to actually use a weapon.

Alongside this, the new patch vaults several items, meaning they've been temporarily removed from standard Battle Royale game modes. Those include the quad rocket launcher, port-a-fortress, and grappler. And while they haven't been pulled entirely, several other items and vehicles are also now less likely to be found, and two types of potions have had their drop rates swapped. As detailed in the patch notes:

Altered Spawn Rates

• Reduced the drop chance of Gliders.
  • Reduced drop chance from Chests from 11.89% to 4.43%.
• Reduced the drop chance of Balloons.​​​​​​​
  • Reduced drop chance from Chests from 7.58% to 3.24%.
• Reduced the spawn chance of Quad Crashers from 100% to 50%.
• Reduced the spawn chance of X-4 Stormwings from 80% to 50%.
• Swapped the drop chance of Shield Potions and Small Shield Potions.
  • Shield Potion
    • Reduced drop chance from Floor Loot from 16.53% to 13.22%.
    • Reduced drop chance from Chests from 14.26% to 9.51%.
  • Small Shield Potion
    • Increased drop chance from Floor Loot from 13.22% to 16.53%.
    • Increased drop chance from Chests from 9.51% to 14.26%.

A new but returning limited-time mode has also arrived: Sniper Shootout. All weapons in this mode have scopes, floor loot is less common, and there is no reviving teammates in duos/squads versions. Since the last time this LTM was available, the suppressed sniper rifle has been added, and supply drops can now include the Legendary scoped pistol.

At The Block, you'll find Omega Pyramid, a new creation by player Directingpete. You can see it in the image below.

You can read on for the full patch notes, courtesy of Epic. Fortnite Creative sees a few additions, while Week 4 of the Cold Chaos event kicks off in Fortnite: Save the World. Elsewhere in the game, a new Ice Storm event began over the weekend, complete with new challenges. Week 8 challenges are also live and include searching between a mysterious hatch and other objects.

Fortnite 7.20 Content Update Patch Notes

Battle Royale

LIMITED TIME MODE: SNIPER SHOOTOUT

Summary

In this limited time mode, players will do battle using scoped weapons only. May the best aim win!

What's New?

• Suppressed Sniper Rifles have been added.
• Legendary Scoped Pistols have been added to Supply Drops.

Mode Details

• Floor Loot spawners reduced by 50%
• Reviving "Down But Not Out" teammates in Duos & Squads is deactivated - be careful peeking!
• Profile Stats (K/D & Wins) are tracked in this mode

WEAPONS + ITEMS

• Sneaky Snowman
  • Use Primary Fire to throw a projectile that creates a destructible snowman.
  • Use Secondary Fire to wear the Sneaky Snowman.
  • Sneaky Snowman has 100 Health and acts as a shield when worn by a player.
  • Sneaky Snowman is destroyed when its Health reaches zero or when the player wearing the snowman swaps to a different item or building mode.
    • This means that a player wearing a Sneaky Snowman cannot build or use other items. Movement of all types is allowed.
  • Available in Common variant.
  • Can be found from Floor Loot, Chests, and Supply Llamas.
  • Drops in stacks of 5.
  • Max stack size of 10.
• Swapped the drop chance of Shield Potions and Small Shield Potions.
  • Shield Potion
    • Reduced drop chance from Floor Loot from 16.53% to 13.22%.
    • Reduced drop chance from Chests from 14.26% to 9.51%.
  • Small Shield Potion
    • Increased drop chance from Floor Loot from 13.22% to 16.53%.
    • Increased drop chance from Chests from 9.51% to 14.26%.
• Vaulted the following items:
  • Quad Rocket Launcher
  • Port-A-fortress
  • Grappler
• Reduced the drop chance of Gliders.
  • Reduced drop chance from Chests from 11.89% to 4.43%.
• Reduced the drop chance of Balloons.​​​​​​​
  • Reduced drop chance from Chests from 7.58% to 3.24%.
• Reduced the spawn chance of Quad Crashers from 100% to 50%.
• Reduced the spawn chance of X-4 Stormwings from 80% to 50%.

PERFORMANCE

• Fixed an issue where building would cause a major drop in FPS.

EVENTS

• Added additional dates for Explorer Pop-Up Cup.
  • Updated additional materials gained on elimination to now drop with the eliminated player, rather than being granted immediately.

Creative

WHAT'S NEW?

This is an early release so you may experience client crashes, loss of progress, or other unexpected errors.

WEAPONS + ITEMS

• Sneaky Snowman
  • Use Primary Fire to throw a projectile that creates a destructible snowman.
  • Use Secondary Fire to wear the Sneaky Snowman.
  • Sneaky Snowman has 100 Health and acts as a shield when worn by a player.
  • Sneaky Snowman is destroyed when its Health reaches zero or when the player wearing the snowman swaps to a different item or building mode.
    • This means that a player wearing a Sneaky Snowman cannot build or use other items. Movement of all types is allowed.
  • Available in Common variant.
  • Can be found from Floor Loot, Chests, and Supply Llamas.
  • Drops in stacks of 5.
  • Max stack size of 10.
• Added to Creative
  • Light Machine Gun
  • Suppressed Sub-Machine Gun
  • Revolver
  • Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle
  • Smoke Grenade
  • Remote Explosives

Save the World

WHAT'S NEW?

Frostnite Weekly Challenge 4 - Cold Chaos

Focus your fire! Enemies gain modifiers when attacked, so work as a team and defeat the threat to unlock the banner and the Guardian's Will Sword.

Lynx Kassandra

A new Hero arrives! Fast on her feet with catlike reflexes, unlock her in the Event Store for a limited time.

MISSIONS + SYSTEMS

• Weekly Frostnite Challenge 4: Cold Chaos
  • Enemies gain modifiers when damaged. Focus your attacks for maximum efficiency.
    • Enemies receive a certain combination of mutators per wave: Quickened, Enraged, Exploding Deathburst, Frenzied Deathburst, and Smoke Screens.
    • Survive for 30 minutes (three times) to collect the Week 4 Challenge Banner.
    • Survive for 30 minutes to collect the Medieval Sword.
  • Available on January 23 at 7 PM ET.

HEROES

• Lynx Kassandra
  • Mythic variant of the Fleetfoot subclass.
  • Available on the Event Store from January 23 at 7 PM ET.
    • Note: Lynx Kassandra will be unique when the new Hero Loadout launches.

WEAPONS + ITEMS

• Guardian's Will Sword
  • Rewarded for completing the week 4 Frostnite Weekly Challenge.
  • A large sword with high damage and moderate impact.
  • Leap Attack
    • A Heavy attack that jumps to the targeted foe and damages nearby enemies.

AUDIO

• Improved Low Health state audio mix so that gameplay sounds aren’t ducked as severely.
• Updated Lefty/Right weapon equip/unequip sounds.
• Updated Decoy deploy and physics sounds.