Fortnite 9.01 Update Patch Notes: John Wick LTM, Tactical Assault Rifle, And More

Epic Games continues to roll out Fortnite updates at their usual pace, and the latest patch, v9.01, is now live, adding a new weapon and more to the hit battle royale game. The tactical assault rifle was previously leaked, but now we have confirmation it's real--and we also know just how deadly it is. The update is available now on PS4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch, and mobile. Read on for the full patch notes and to see what else is new.

Perhaps most notable is what's not explicitly in this update or the patch notes: John Wick. With John Wick 3 arriving in theaters this week, the character's house was added to the map as part of last week's Season 9 update. Combined with some leaks, it looked as if a John Wick-themed skin and event were coming to the game, not unlike what we saw with Avengers: Endgame in April. Sure enough, with the 9.01 patch out now, datamining has further confirmed that a John Wick skin and limited-time mode are coming. With the movie releasing on Friday, you can likely expect to see it soon.

As for what you will find in the game right now, there's the new tactical assault rifle, which is a fully automatic rifle with a 30-round magazine. It can be obtained from floor loot, chests, supply drops, and vending machines in rare, epic, and legendary variants. The gun deals 22/23/24 damage, depending what rarity you're carrying, and it also carries a headshot multiplier of 1.75. The trade-off of this new gun is that the combat SMG has been vaulted, meaning it is no longer available in-game.

Elsewhere in the update, The Baller has been nerfed. The hamster ball has seen its health cut from 200 to 150, as developer Epic Games says the vehicle "still has a little too much defensive agency." It's been an issue ever since it was first released, with Epic making numerous tweaks to get it in a better place. Also nerfed was the Drum Gun, which now deals less damage, while the Compact SMG has been vaulted, meaning it's been removed from the game for now.

For more on the Battle Royale changes in update 9.01, take a look at the patch notes below; you can see the full patch notes for Creative and Save the World on Epic's blog.

Fortnite Season 9 started just recently, introducing new challenges, skins, and more. We also know there'll be a Fortnite summer block party starting right after E3.

Fortnite: Battle Royale Update 9.01 Patch Notes

Weapons And Items

• Tactical Assault Rifle
  • Available in Rare, Epic, and Legendary variants.
  • Available from Floor Loot, Chests, Supply Drops, and Vending Machines
    • Fully Automatic
    • 30 Round Magazine
    • Deals 22/23/24 damage
    • Headshot Multiplier of 1.75x
    • This weapon has a tight spread in close quarters but is less effective at long range when compared to other Assault Rifles.
• Reduced Baller health from 200 to 150
  • The primary goal of the Baller is to provide fun and exciting mobility. We feel that it still has a little too much defensive agency - this change should reduce the effectiveness there while not impacting its strengths.
• Drum Gun adjustments
  • Reduced base damage from 26/27 to 22/23
    • Since its unvaulting, the Drum Gun effectiveness has been slightly higher than we wanted. This change should reduce its combat effectiveness while still retaining its flavor.
• Vaulted Compact SMG
  • Due to the recent addition of the Drum Gun and the brand new Tactical Assault Rifle, we wanted to reduce the availability of high rate-of-fire weapons.

Gameplay

• Slipstream adjustments
  • Slipstreams no longer block building.
    • Trying to build up to get into a Slipstream should be an easy & intuitive experience. We noticed some cases where players would build up to the Slipstream, but due to build restrictions would take a ‘leap of faith’ and not make the jump. This should make getting into a Slipstream easier.
  • Players flying in a Slipstream will destroy player built objects when they collide.
  • Slipstreams are now disabled after storm phase 5.
    • We’ve seen a number of cases where Slipstreams caused issues during late game circles - primarily around getting pulled into the storm unexpectedly. Since the value of Slipstream mobility is limited in those scenarios, we felt it’s better to simply disable them.

Performance

• Improvements made to level streaming performance on all platforms.
  • This will reduce cases of buildings not loading in.
• Physics optimizations to improve performance in conduits